Neon Tube

Ben asked if anyone would
like to make a twisted neon
tube so I volunteered. He
showed me how to keep the
glass moving & told me to
do it in a zen way. I asked
him what that meant & he
said "be aware."

See Ben's work: http://www.beneon.com/
See Ben's blog: http://spirithousesafari.blogspot.com/

I'm Rite

I asked my son a question
if I was right or if the guy
I argued with was right.

Viewer Art Artist

Does the
viewer talk to the art or the artist?

He said it just
depends on the art, the ar-
test, and the viewer. My next
son will say I'm rite.

Soul Mate

I have quite a few socks
that have no partner. If I
was wreckless with my money
I'd throw them all away &
start anew. But, Alas, I live
in hope that even an old
sock from college will
find its soul mate.

Socks
of a feather
don't flock together.

Dad U R insane!

I sometimes do things over &
over to get them "right"
only to realize that nothin-
g is other than what it is.

Just one more time . . .

Dad U R insane!

Renunciation

Ok, but how do I renu-
nciate by urges?

Massage?

I decided to get a massage
2 day so I asked 4 recomme-
ndations**. I got many. Some
were too far away or 2 busy.
Finally I found one but she
spent the whole time curing
my aches. She gave me an
exercise to do that I can't
remember. We ran out of
time to do a massage.

*=aches

**=I hyphenate things
incorrectly to keep my deceased
English teachers on their toes.

My Back

I could tell you about
the x-ray of my back, but
I found out today that a
friend lost his favorite
uncle which is much sadder
than my back which has
functioned pretty well for
most of my 62 & some years.

Dedicated to E.W. (also
the initials of one of
the greatest of artists.)

Crooked Hypochondriac

So I'm at the local chiro-
practor (I'm skeptical) who was
voted best in Austin (2002) so
he sees how crooked I
am so he straightens me
out & wants xrays
so I insist on
MD qual-ity
rays &
(these panes are spring loaded 4 auto-adjusts BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE)
went to get those. Now at another doc.
who specializes in crooked hypocondriacs (sic) but he makes
me wait so I have time to draw.

Mom"s Stocking

My sisters and I had a
phone conf. 2 see who was
adopted. My yoga teacher
SAID it was my hamstrings
that were problematic. We
ended up laughing about
my dad wanting to give
his maid my mom's stockings
with runs.

Fire in Calif

Austin

Conf.
call to
determine
pamaternity

DNA Testing Indicated

My older sister said she
could never touch her toes
so I decided it was a family
trait [and hence I should give up].
Then my other sister
SAID she had no problems
toe touching. Stay tuned 4
the DNA results.

Ouch!
Good DNA
12
DNA
SUS-
PE-
ct

Sister 1 / Sister 2

A nice Buddhist story below:

Is That So?

A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter's accusation, he simply replied "Is that so?"

When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. "Is that so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.

For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. "Is that so?" Hakuin said as he handed them the child.

A Waste of Time?

I tried again to bend
at the waist and touch
my toes to no avail. I could
n't find my waist & my
fingers couldn't get
near my toes.

Waist?

A waste of time?

Gremlin Merit

A gremlin broke into my
house and put my lost hat in
a paper bag with my oryoki
kit. I was so glad to find
it there (especially there). Thanks
gremlin. You'll hopefully get
lots of merit for this deed.

3 oryoki bowls
star gremlin
bag
X hat
lost hat from San Deigo

I need some . . .

I need some inspiration.

. . . get caught up.

I'll see u 2morrow if I
get caught up.

PATIENCE

Lost Cap

I lost my cap last week.
It was black with an or-
ange "x." It me made
think of the X the
Texas prison gangs
wore on their shirts indic-
ating where they were 2
B shot if they run off. S-
ince I work with
my brain I thought I
should be shot in the
head [if I run off]. I'm not sure if
losing the hat is a less-
on 2 teach me to detach
or if the hat is pursuing
its buddha nature.

Oh where oh where did my hat go?

. . . standing s till.

I didn't know if I
was coming or
going
until I
stood st ill.

This isn't really . . .

This isn't really happen-
ing to me.

I don't know . . .

I don't know if you are
aware . . .

Help!

Help!

In Buddhism we help people by being compassionate and giving them strength to help themselves.

Perfection . . . Almost

Each one of us is per-
fect the way we are

and . . . we can use
a little help.

Click here for a koan from Shunryu Suzuri about this apparent contradiction.

. . . the rope!

Now don't forget the rope!

Hemlock Society Manual

At the doctor's office today I overheard one elderly woman say to another, "Now don't forget the rope." I imagined the last "nag" a wife might give a husband as he announced his intention to go to another world (suicide is on my mind since I have just been given some warm clothes from a couple who shared a house with someone who decided to leave planet Earth).

And then there is the tragedy of any election—that almost half the country doesn't get what it wanted.

Nandina Invasion

The plant was so in-
vasive it grew ever-
ywhere.

(We have been digging out nandina plants from our new garden. Actually burned out my Sawzall cutting roots and dirt.)

Free Stones

Someone announced on our neighborhood listserv that they had free building materials to give away.

We filled the car with
free stones, but couldn't
move the car.

Free stones.

3 Armed Lady

He snored as he
practiced the new
dance step with the
3 armed lady.

Real Halloween

I brought $42 of nuts and
my wife bought $2 of pea-
nut butter cups. Guess
what the kids chose.

Yoga

Went to a difficult yoga class today.

Difficult, that is, for me,
not for the rest of the class.

I asked the teacher how often
I should be coming.
"Twice a week," she said.

My daughter said, "everyday, Dad."

Go figure!

Pregnant Couple at Doctor's Office

Newsw
k

They (mother and child) held a magazine in front of
her face as they waited for
his (the child's) coming out party.

Have you noticed how everyone
(other women)
asks a pregnant
woman "how r u doing?" in a very
compassionate tone?

What about the kid? How's he
doing, wading in darkness
like there was no tomorrow?

Whispering

HalLoween

Hapi HalLoween

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