Congratulations Ottmar Liebert

For your Grammy award nomination in the New Age catagory and for your outstanding album One Guitar. If I were a member of the Grammy organization I would do as many faithful Chicago voters do, and that is to vote early and vote often.

No more coffee pleasure

As some of you know I was seriously ill for about month. I am ok for now. But I am curious about one thing. I have lost all interest in tasting or smelling that morning cup(s) o'coffee. We're talking talking 40+ years of enjoying java. What happened?
I don't know.
I developed my taste for coffee when I was very young, maybe 9 or 10. When visiting my grandmother she would set me up with a small cup of very sweet and creamy(evaporated milk) coffee usually a brand of decaf called Sanka, against my mothers wishes. I kept it a secret until now and I told my 88 year old mom, and her response was "she did what!"
Well, I did try a cup and it was totally unappealing and bitter; one sip and I threw it out.
Does anyone out there know why this happened?

10.3 oz = 200 books

Amazon's Kindle is a wireless reading device. I saw Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos being interviewed by Charlie Rose a couple of weeks ago and thought I would look into this thing

Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
More than 90,000 books available, including 100 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
New York Times® Best Sellers and all New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times—all auto delivered wirelessly.

Here is the link to Kindle. Besides the paper that is not being used, just imagine college students being able to download their texts into something that weighs like a paperback. This is amazing, and so is the price at $399.00. Have to put your name on a waiting list if you want one now. You know somehow the smell and feel of a book is comforting.

Solar Decathalon Winner is..............Germany

The Solar Decathlon joins 20 college and university teams in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered home. The winner was Technische Universität Darmstadt. I could live in a home like this if it were walking distance to a Trader Joe's, a good coffee house, a half-price bookstore, a sangha and friends with similar interests.

Humanity may split into two sub-species

Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.
Spoiled by gadgets designed to meet their every need, they could come to resemble domesticated animals. Social skills, such as communicating and interacting with others, could be lost, along with emotions such as love, sympathy, trust and respect. People would become less able to care for others, or perform in teams.

BBC reports here.

A letter from Thay

All over the world we are also waiting for the spiritual leaders in the United States to stand up to provide that spiritual leadership, in order to end quickly the suffering and loss of lives in Iraq. Spiritual leaders should stand up simultaneously with a clear voice to help wake the people up and show them the way. When the people have a clear vision, and the people have made up their minds, then the government has no choice but to follow. The war in Vietnam ended because of the awakening of the American people at the time.

On October 6th 2007, when we had a day of mindfulness for 1,800 psychotherapists in the University of California in Los Angeles, the monks and nuns of Deer Park and Plum Village put on the Sanghati robes after the Dharma talk, chanted May the Day Be Well and evoked the name of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara to send energy to the monks and lay practitioners in Burma. The governor of California and his wife also came to attend that whole day of mindfulness.

UNESCO reported that each day about 40,000 children die because of hunger or lack of nutrition. Meanwhile, corn and wheat are largely grown to feed livestock (cows, pigs, chickens, etc.) or to produce alcohol. Over 80 percent of corn and over 95 percent of oats produced in the United States are for feeding livestock. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equivalent to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people, more than the entire human population on earth. Eating meat and drinking alcohol with mindfulness, we will realize that we are eating the flesh of our own children.

If our human race continues to live in ignorance and in the bottomless pit of greed as at present, then the destruction of this civilization is not very far away.

Read full letter here from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. (PDF file) Blue Cliff Monastery was founded in 2007 and is located near Pine Bush, NY.

You're not nuts, just eat more of them

I don't know where the phrase "You're nuts" came from but in actuality, the reverse seems to be true. By including walnuts and other nuts and seeds in your diet one can elevate or stabilize the mood, relieve "brain fog" and create happier thinking. Good article here on brain foods.This picture of a walnut does resemble the brain.
I eat nuts and ground flax seed regularly but recently I've increased my consumption of walnuts and I have noticed that I am sleeping so much better. Now this is very annoying to my cat. Since he wakes me up at 4 in the morning by pushing against my back or biting then pulling on my pajama legs when I'm in bed: he does this so that I can get up and pet him while he crunches on his breakfast. I think he's neurotic, co-dependent and not a self starter. He makes a great companion.

Hand Drawn Digital Clock

Yugo Nakamura sure had some patience photographing, writing and programing this digital clock.

Who's your Dalai?

The Dalai Lama says his successor could be chosen among a group of senior monks, rather than through the centuries-old tradition of reincarnation.

Read about it here.