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Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
After three weeks of chit-chatting with cute French officers on July 14 or having tea in Harrods, I'm back to my good Buddhist ways... hopefully...
I'm still the old Wrong Speech Dragon chick, so...
Last night, I had a dream about wooden family home from my childhood. There was a thief and I saw him. He threatened to hurt my parents if I shout. I feel the chilling sensation in every cell of my body and woke up at 4.40am. It was horrible. Anyone got any ideas about good documentary or resources about dreams?
"Why did the TM practitioner refuse anaesthetic when he had to have a tooth pulled?
Because he wanted to transcend Dental Medication."
3
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
@mmo said:
Last night, I had a dream about wooden family home from my childhood. There was a thief and I saw him. He threatened to hurt my parents if I shout. I feel the chilling sensation in every cell of my body and woke up at 4.40am. It was horrible. Anyone got any ideas about good documentary or resources about dreams?
There are many sources, but nothing that would specifically deal with your situation.
I am of the opinion that our brain senses an emotion and builds a story round it.
You may think you felt chills and fear DURING your dream, but some research suggests that your brain activates a response emotion, then builds up a scenario to 'explain' it or give it reason or sense.
What the ACTUAL reason for your emotion was, is only something you can ponder on.
But I think the brain gives you something to 'watch' and you then don't focus on the real and actual reason....
Have an interview next week for a regular position (i.e. not temporary) at a hospital! Already nervous, but excited! Most new grads only get casual/on-call work, so I'm pretty pleased to be on the interview list.
Also, did some whisky "tasting" at a whisky bar the other day with a good friend of mine. Probably the closest to being flat-out drunk and the most I've spent on drinks ever. Not bragging or anything, just sharing. The next morning, let's just say I had some profound insight into the foulness of the body. Unintentional body meditation...
@Invincible_summer said:
Have an interview next week for a regular position (i.e. not temporary) at a hospital! Already nervous, but excited! Most new grads only get casual/on-call work, so I'm pretty pleased to be on the interview list.
After my early Sunday morning meditation, time to go visit a local Vietnamese unofficial temple garden. Perhaps photo the moon or sunrise with Buddha gnomes or pray to the Buddha Nature for sentient trees. This particular temple and garden is 'Mahayana, Theravada' and officially is not recognised by the local council. So the Hinh Son temple is meant to be only a residential property. They are clandestine, stealth practitioners. Illegal meditators. Backstreet Buddhists.
Temple gates all open, lights on in two front shrine rooms, milling around interior. What activity was about to begin? Could it be private prostrations, pre-breakfast chanting?
Found a side door open and removed my blue plastic clogs. Ah ha, this is how they sneak into enlightenment. Glided sock-like past the devotee shoe racking into the people empty, smaller shrine room with its fruit, flowers and Kwan yin with copper hands fanned out to welcome the needy cructaceans. I seemed to be in a remembrance shrine. No meditation cushions, seems the empty shrine was also dedicated as a memorial to the head of the order. The resident nun was dispatched to check out the unknown, which was me.
The yellow and white robed nun rang a gong and prostrating to kwan yin gave me the Buddha-eye. OK better go join the fraternity of Sunday criminals in their nefarious activities.
This was my second time inside, previously as the chanting had begun I snuck in through the basement. This time they seemed happy enough I was there. So we did some bowing. Then some chanting. Us males did not chant, me because I did not have the words or tablet app and the other male for his reasons. Then it all finished and the nun came to say a few words. Seems I was quite an event, from the bemused smiles of the grey robed women. The nun gave me permission to stay on to meditate. Yeah. My kind of invite!
So while the giggling Sunday worshippers changed from uniform to plain clothes, I was able to sit with one fellow devotee and eventually on my own for a while.
This is the third time I had seen the nun. She had been in the garden when I asked permission to burn incense. On my previous visit inside the temple, I had stayed on to meditate and they were dubious about me and kept ringing the gong to clear the temple of western mahayanists of unknown motivation.
It is a nice temple, all the statues get loads of fruit and even though I am a source of discussion, I am happy to go again sometime. No doubt they all speak great english but I prefer not to socialise with charming sangha. Might get attached to giggling. Buddhas I am happy to break fruit with.
3
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
^^ A great post ^^ Which also seems to clear up @lobster's gender-question once and for all....
As to me, my cute neighbour, the one with the sunkissed six-pack that has me drooling while tilling the garden, has invited me to join him on a four-day shopping spree to Milano.
Of course, since all my budget was already burned in Paris and London, I'll just chaperone him about down the Milanese streets.
So off we part Thursday at midday. He drives.
My husband accepted... just because... well, you know, he's a bit quizzical... like @lobster... otherwise...
I always manage to get myself into trouble...
This be a bit whiny but: why can't I study anything that would be useful and probably lead to a profession of some kind? (Well, I've already got a profession so it's my fault, why didn't I stay there yadayada.) My main subject doesn't give me much opportunities. But I can't quit either. I guess I'll just end up in "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology" or some other "it sounds good to your hipster friends but it's no use unless you're going to get professional on smartarsing". My apologies if someone finds cultural anthropology extremely vital, it just brings things like skull measuring and websites like Tumblr where white girls are throwing anthropology terms at each other to prove that they're are not racists....
So I almost enrolled at a course in Biblical Hebrew.
My laptop finally died. I think it was too old to run Windows 10 ....hahaha... I don't know how you guys type on phones...forget that mess. Using my tablet...but its peck and peck. It'll take me a few checks to get a new laptop...and work is upgrading browsers right now...so...kinda stuck reading with alot less talking.....
@person has a birthday coming this month!!!!! Happy B day!!!!!!
Edit...yes...I bought a keyboard for the tablet...but trying to set up (bluetooth)...about drove me to drink... Lololololpl....and I can't game on a phone or tablet..I need a mouse for all that....anyway,,,I'll be back in action soon....save me a seat....
@Shim said:
This be a bit whiny but: why can't I study anything that would be useful and probably lead to a profession of some kind? (Well, I've already got a profession so it's my fault, why didn't I stay there yadayada.) My main subject doesn't give me much opportunities. But I can't quit either. I guess I'll just end up in "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology" or some other "it sounds good to your hipster friends but it's no use unless you're going to get professional on smartarsing". My apologies if someone finds cultural anthropology extremely vital, it just brings things like skull measuring and websites like Tumblr where white girls are throwing anthropology terms at each other to prove that they're are not racists....
So I almost enrolled at a course in Biblical Hebrew.
I majored in Sociology, so I understand where you're coming from. By 3rd year (out of 4) of my undergraduate degree, I realized how it wouldn't directly translate to a career and had an existential crisis. Decided to finish up the degree anyway so I wouldn't have to spend more time and money in university and did the classic liberal arts graduate thing: studied how to teach ESL, did some tutoring, travelled, and of course sulked. Hell, even our department's t-shirts said "Painfully Aware" on them.
I also took random courses because I had so many elective courses... Chinese Cinema, Buddhism in China, Indian Cinema, etc.
I ended up taking a diploma in rehabilitation therapy and now work as a physiotherapy assistant. It's so much more rewarding.
Though looking back, those years in sociology did open up my mind and developed my soft skills for writing, critical thinking, research, etc.
What I'm getting at @Shim is that perhaps your degree won't lead directly into a career in Cultural Anthropology, but it'll give you a lot of tools under your belt to engage in the world in a different way. It sounds cheesy but I can guarantee it's true... for better or worse
If you're really looking for a career/profession-oriented field of study and can afford to, I'd look into doing a community college or professional diploma in an area you're interested in. Most of those programs are very practical and give you the skills you need to work in that field.
Thanks for the insights.
I might have been a bit unclear, though (note to self: never write anything on the internet while angry), I'm actually majoring in Swedish (even more useful!), but I need a minor subject as well an Cultural Anthropology was one option (which I'm not too excited about but it sounds like something that would allow me to explore other fields as well).
When it comes to career-oriented studies, I'm afraid our countries might differ a lot, here community colleges are something you can do as a hobby, though it's possible to some of the courses done there accepted as a part of the studies.
Then there is vocational school (which I've gone to, it was a wrong move) that leads to a qualification into a profession, it is very work-oriented and emphasises practical skills rather than academic learning.
And then there are universities of applied sciences, which is basically just like a university but a bit more practical and the studies are more structured than in universities (where you can pick whatever you'd like, at least in my field). That would've been my choice if there had been any branch that caught my interest.
Money is not that much a problem here, since there are no tuition fees (students even receive a small payment from the government.)
Perhaps I just have to hang along and poke my nose everywhere and grab whatever opportunity I'm given.
Btw it's funny how different school systems actually are in different countries. (Not that I understood them, I had to google some things.)
I'm back in action!!!! yeah baby!!!! .... within 30 days, you can restore back to a previous Windows really easy! * happy dance *
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Bad night's sleep. Dreadful cramp attacks. I looked it up.
Cramp of the sartorius muscle is apparently one of the most intense and debilitating pains there are. I had it.
Went to bed, at 11, could not sleep fot the pain, finally got up at 1am, and hit the sack again at quarter to three.... but I got stuff done. I wasn't idle....
^^^ good tip @federica. Mind and body can be distracted by activity, mental or physical ...
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Shit happens. I could either lie there, mentally agonise over it, and bewail and lament my physical state - or I could just deal with it, stand, move and be active. see the 'How to eat' thread (20th August 2015 entry) on just what I did to while away the (painful) time...
1
silverIn the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast.Veteran
Wow, I was forced to look up that muscle, @federica -- I've had many a cramp in my day, but never there. eeks. Lately, it's been my lower leg and foot (mostly right leg).
And now for something completely different: I've seen the articles lately on aol news, about California having some balls:
0
silverIn the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast.Veteran
Oh...plus we have a 2-3 day reprieve - it's only low 80's today - overcast so far, it's 8:30 a.m. - but in 5 days, it will be 90 (F). I sure wish they'd' taught us metric.
silverIn the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast.Veteran
I gave it a 7. And I liked this "I tell Ball that my wife, who also loved the sculpture, compared it to a huge mound of rabbit droppings, and that we’re now looking for a gigantic silver rabbit somewhere in the valley." I seriously like the idea of silver rabbit -- sitting next to it or whatev. I think he could've given it a little more thought - a little more interest added to. But hey, it's silver - worth every penney.
@silver They are both great. I would not recommend watching the movie right now in light of what you've posted recently. Very violent and action-packed!
There is nothing like a good Blues performance to make you feel life!! Went and saw Jimmie Vaughn last night ( Stevie Ray's older brother)....and Whoo....Weee!!!! He made that guitar cry and whine!!! He tore it up !!!!! The horns were fantastic! ( Tilt a whirl band)
Live Blues in Memphis....Ain't nothin' like it. These kids don't know the real 'Stanky leg'... until the music gets so funky, your leg wants to walk off....hahahah
@SpinyNorman said:
Yes, guv, there's a lot of them abart, bit shifty if you arsk me.
Yeah ....Never buy Dharma from a backstreet Buddhist...You never know where it's come from...it could be hot ie, fallen off the back of an Ox cart so be warned...
Green tea is really good. I remember here that @DhammaDragon mentioned about it some time back. At that time, I have sleeping problems and try to avoid caffeine like plaque. But green tea, especially matcha, is different. It doesn't cause heart pounding and somehow makes me sleep. It can even make me laidback, in a good way. Cool stuffs.
I'm a tea green Junkie, as @mmo rightly remembers, and I especially enjoy matcha, which is by far the beverage with the highest caffeine Content around.
Yet, my penchant for green tea has never interfered with my sleep, nor heart rate.
Comments
it's possible we already have one.... or maybe my memory's playing tricks on me....
....Anyone....?
Um, embedding videos, lots of them, would make the bandwidth used here skyrocket. Links definitely better for pocketbook.
That's what I thought, or something along those lines. I had a feeling it would be a problem.
Gawd blimey, you don't want to overload yer bleedin' bandwidth...
You have bandwidth..?
Lux..... oh, never mind......!
We never even had knobs to turn!
Well I think she's lovely. This is a truly beautiful shot. But then, I know I'm biased....
Same here.
There is something totally awesome about a sociopathic serial killer with a moral compass.
After three weeks of chit-chatting with cute French officers on July 14 or having tea in Harrods, I'm back to my good Buddhist ways... hopefully...
I'm still the old Wrong Speech Dragon chick, so...
I bought and avocado and cost $1.000 seems like the One
"Nothing that was worthy in the past departs; no truth or goodness realized by man ever dies, or can die."
-Thomas Carlyle
Yeah, @bookworm... We HAVE a Quotations thread.....?
Last night, I had a dream about wooden family home from my childhood. There was a thief and I saw him. He threatened to hurt my parents if I shout. I feel the chilling sensation in every cell of my body and woke up at 4.40am. It was horrible. Anyone got any ideas about good documentary or resources about dreams?
I just saw this really bad joke:
"Why did the TM practitioner refuse anaesthetic when he had to have a tooth pulled?
Because he wanted to transcend Dental Medication."
There are many sources, but nothing that would specifically deal with your situation.
I am of the opinion that our brain senses an emotion and builds a story round it.
You may think you felt chills and fear DURING your dream, but some research suggests that your brain activates a response emotion, then builds up a scenario to 'explain' it or give it reason or sense.
What the ACTUAL reason for your emotion was, is only something you can ponder on.
But I think the brain gives you something to 'watch' and you then don't focus on the real and actual reason....
Have an interview next week for a regular position (i.e. not temporary) at a hospital! Already nervous, but excited! Most new grads only get casual/on-call work, so I'm pretty pleased to be on the interview list.
Also, did some whisky "tasting" at a whisky bar the other day with a good friend of mine. Probably the closest to being flat-out drunk and the most I've spent on drinks ever. Not bragging or anything, just sharing. The next morning, let's just say I had some profound insight into the foulness of the body. Unintentional body meditation...
That's great @Invincible_summer No need to be nervous, best to just relax and hope for the best.
Good news
Good luck 
http://dharmagallery.blogspot.com/2010/09/white-jambhala.html
OM ZAMBALA ZALENDHRAYE SOHA
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11752771/When-seagulls-attack-A-birds-eye-view.html
Anybody having gull problems over there?
My neighbour has a pet seagull called Archie.
After my early Sunday morning meditation, time to go visit a local Vietnamese unofficial temple garden. Perhaps photo the moon or sunrise with Buddha gnomes or pray to the Buddha Nature for sentient trees. This particular temple and garden is 'Mahayana, Theravada' and officially is not recognised by the local council. So the Hinh Son temple is meant to be only a residential property. They are clandestine, stealth practitioners. Illegal meditators. Backstreet Buddhists.
Temple gates all open, lights on in two front shrine rooms, milling around interior. What activity was about to begin? Could it be private prostrations, pre-breakfast chanting?
Found a side door open and removed my blue plastic clogs. Ah ha, this is how they sneak into enlightenment. Glided sock-like past the devotee shoe racking into the people empty, smaller shrine room with its fruit, flowers and Kwan yin with copper hands fanned out to welcome the needy cructaceans. I seemed to be in a remembrance shrine. No meditation cushions, seems the empty shrine was also dedicated as a memorial to the head of the order. The resident nun was dispatched to check out the unknown, which was me.
The yellow and white robed nun rang a gong and prostrating to kwan yin gave me the Buddha-eye. OK better go join the fraternity of Sunday criminals in their nefarious activities.
This was my second time inside, previously as the chanting had begun I snuck in through the basement. This time they seemed happy enough I was there. So we did some bowing. Then some chanting. Us males did not chant, me because I did not have the words or tablet app and the other male for his reasons. Then it all finished and the nun came to say a few words. Seems I was quite an event, from the bemused smiles of the grey robed women. The nun gave me permission to stay on to meditate. Yeah. My kind of invite!
So while the giggling Sunday worshippers changed from uniform to plain clothes, I was able to sit with one fellow devotee and eventually on my own for a while.
This is the third time I had seen the nun. She had been in the garden when I asked permission to burn incense. On my previous visit inside the temple, I had stayed on to meditate and they were dubious about me and kept ringing the gong to clear the temple of western mahayanists of unknown motivation.
It is a nice temple, all the statues get loads of fruit and even though I am a source of discussion, I am happy to go again sometime. No doubt they all speak great english but I prefer not to socialise with charming sangha. Might get attached to giggling. Buddhas I am happy to break fruit with.
^^ A great post ^^ Which also seems to clear up @lobster's gender-question once and for all....
As I suspected.....
Yes, guv, there's a lot of them abart, bit shifty if you arsk me.
With @lobster you can never know...
As to me, my cute neighbour, the one with the sunkissed six-pack that has me drooling while tilling the garden, has invited me to join him on a four-day shopping spree to Milano.
Of course, since all my budget was already burned in Paris and London, I'll just chaperone him about down the Milanese streets.
So off we part Thursday at midday. He drives.
My husband accepted... just because... well, you know, he's a bit quizzical... like @lobster... otherwise...
I always manage to get myself into trouble...
This be a bit whiny but: why can't I study anything that would be useful and probably lead to a profession of some kind? (Well, I've already got a profession so it's my fault, why didn't I stay there yadayada.) My main subject doesn't give me much opportunities. But I can't quit either. I guess I'll just end up in "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology" or some other "it sounds good to your hipster friends but it's no use unless you're going to get professional on smartarsing". My apologies if someone finds cultural anthropology extremely vital, it just brings things like skull measuring and websites like Tumblr where white girls are throwing anthropology terms at each other to prove that they're are not racists....
So I almost enrolled at a course in Biblical Hebrew.
My laptop finally died. I think it was too old to run Windows 10 ....hahaha... I don't know how you guys type on phones...forget that mess. Using my tablet...but its peck and peck. It'll take me a few checks to get a new laptop...and work is upgrading browsers right now...so...kinda stuck reading with alot less talking.....
@person has a birthday coming this month!!!!! Happy B day!!!!!!
Edit...yes...I bought a keyboard for the tablet...but trying to set up (bluetooth)...about drove me to drink... Lololololpl....and I can't game on a phone or tablet..I need a mouse for all that....anyway,,,I'll be back in action soon....save me a seat....
I majored in Sociology, so I understand where you're coming from. By 3rd year (out of 4) of my undergraduate degree, I realized how it wouldn't directly translate to a career and had an existential crisis. Decided to finish up the degree anyway so I wouldn't have to spend more time and money in university and did the classic liberal arts graduate thing: studied how to teach ESL, did some tutoring, travelled, and of course sulked. Hell, even our department's t-shirts said "Painfully Aware" on them.
I also took random courses because I had so many elective courses... Chinese Cinema, Buddhism in China, Indian Cinema, etc.
I ended up taking a diploma in rehabilitation therapy and now work as a physiotherapy assistant. It's so much more rewarding.
Though looking back, those years in sociology did open up my mind and developed my soft skills for writing, critical thinking, research, etc.
What I'm getting at @Shim is that perhaps your degree won't lead directly into a career in Cultural Anthropology, but it'll give you a lot of tools under your belt to engage in the world in a different way. It sounds cheesy but I can guarantee it's true... for better or worse
If you're really looking for a career/profession-oriented field of study and can afford to, I'd look into doing a community college or professional diploma in an area you're interested in. Most of those programs are very practical and give you the skills you need to work in that field.
@Invincible_summer
Thanks for the insights.
I might have been a bit unclear, though (note to self: never write anything on the internet while angry), I'm actually majoring in Swedish (even more useful!), but I need a minor subject as well an Cultural Anthropology was one option (which I'm not too excited about but it sounds like something that would allow me to explore other fields as well).
When it comes to career-oriented studies, I'm afraid our countries might differ a lot, here community colleges are something you can do as a hobby, though it's possible to some of the courses done there accepted as a part of the studies.
Then there is vocational school (which I've gone to, it was a wrong move) that leads to a qualification into a profession, it is very work-oriented and emphasises practical skills rather than academic learning.
And then there are universities of applied sciences, which is basically just like a university but a bit more practical and the studies are more structured than in universities (where you can pick whatever you'd like, at least in my field). That would've been my choice if there had been any branch that caught my interest.
Money is not that much a problem here, since there are no tuition fees (students even receive a small payment from the government.)
Perhaps I just have to hang along and poke my nose everywhere and grab whatever opportunity I'm given.
Btw it's funny how different school systems actually are in different countries. (Not that I understood them, I had to google some things.)
I'm back in action!!!! yeah baby!!!! .... within 30 days, you can restore back to a previous Windows really easy! * happy dance *
Bad night's sleep. Dreadful cramp attacks. I looked it up.
Cramp of the sartorius muscle is apparently one of the most intense and debilitating pains there are. I had it.
Went to bed, at 11, could not sleep fot the pain, finally got up at 1am, and hit the sack again at quarter to three.... but I got stuff done. I wasn't idle....
^^^ good tip @federica. Mind and body can be distracted by activity, mental or physical ...
Shit happens. I could either lie there, mentally agonise over it, and bewail and lament my physical state - or I could just deal with it, stand, move and be active. see the 'How to eat' thread (20th August 2015 entry) on just what I did to while away the (painful) time...
Wow, I was forced to look up that muscle, @federica -- I've had many a cramp in my day, but never there. eeks. Lately, it's been my lower leg and foot (mostly right leg).
And now for something completely different: I've seen the articles lately on aol news, about California having some balls:
Oh...plus we have a 2-3 day reprieve - it's only low 80's today - overcast so far, it's 8:30 a.m. - but in 5 days, it will be 90 (F). I sure wish they'd' taught us metric.
California having some balls
Well, at least your balls serve a constructive purpose
yeah, and perhaps of interest is that one of the rabbits in Watership Down is named Silver.
I never read the book, and I think there's a movie of it - I had no idea!
@silver They are both great. I would not recommend watching the movie right now in light of what you've posted recently. Very violent and action-packed!
There is nothing like a good Blues performance to make you feel life!! Went and saw Jimmie Vaughn last night ( Stevie Ray's older brother)....and Whoo....Weee!!!! He made that guitar cry and whine!!! He tore it up !!!!! The horns were fantastic! ( Tilt a whirl band)
Live Blues in Memphis....Ain't nothin' like it. These kids don't know the real 'Stanky leg'... until the music gets so funky, your leg wants to walk off....hahahah
Thanks to @silver for my tea goody box I got in the mail today.
I got green tea, peach and Dandelion Root! How thoughtful! Thanks again, so much!
Love my online Sangha...
I'm warning you guys...If I have your address...you'll be getting a Zen raking set soon!
Yeah ....Never buy Dharma from a backstreet Buddhist...You never know where it's come from...it could be hot ie, fallen off the back of an Ox cart so be warned...
Green tea is really good. I remember here that @DhammaDragon mentioned about it some time back. At that time, I have sleeping problems and try to avoid caffeine like plaque. But green tea, especially matcha, is different. It doesn't cause heart pounding and somehow makes me sleep. It can even make me laidback, in a good way. Cool stuffs.
I could use some 'put me to sleep' tea now...
And I downloaded Insight Timer on my phone again!
I'm a tea green Junkie, as @mmo rightly remembers, and I especially enjoy matcha, which is by far the beverage with the highest caffeine Content around.
Yet, my penchant for green tea has never interfered with my sleep, nor heart rate.
I was trying to teach my cat how to deal with existential ponderings...
Oh that's funny - the real cat's whiskers!
This is the cat I want -
Antichrist elected leader of her majesties opposition
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/14/jeremy-corbyn-the-most-leftwing-leader-labor-has-ever-had/
... Refuses to sing her praises
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3235116/Jeremy-Corbyn-gets-message-paying-tribute-Battle-Britain-greets-David-Cameron-time-Labour-leader.html
... It is the end of civilisation as @SpinyNorman knows it ...
Civilization - seems I've heard that word somewhere. Can't quite remember where though.
It rained in Southern California today. Parents had to explain what that stuff falling from the sky was to their children...