Had a good ride up to Thinking Rock today. No rain. No bugs. Just me, the teacher birds and the cool pre-monsoon season temperatures. I think I dozed off for 15 minutes or so while doing deep, relaxing breathing up there...

360 Blog transfer is stupid: I set my blogs to "mature content" so that I wouldn't get TOSd by the "religious right" for talking about sex, or anything other than god for that matter. Well, Yahoo, in their wisdom has deemed it necessary to NOT transfer any "mature content" blogs over to the new profile. So I tried downloading an archive. Lovely. It made the archive which was 153MB and when I opened it up, there were SIX FUCKING BLOGS in the entire download. Out of 1,000 posts. Gotta love their thinking on how they are doing us all a great big favour! Har har har.

Got caught in the pouring rain again coming down the mountain. Eventually my cycling shoes are going to rot because they never seem to have time to dry! I wonder if my feet will rot before that......

I Think, Therefore I Figure

I got this shirt at 2nd Street.

It's black.

It's mesh.

It's airy & great for summery days (except for the black...)

It's kinda Flashdance-esque in the neck/shoulders area.

It says "John or Dave?"

It made me laugh.

Japanese English T-shirts crack me up.

It cost me JPY 300 ($3).

I THINK I figured out what this shirt is referring to...

Anybody have any thoughts?

I love you!

Cam

P.S. I don't look tooooo bad in it, do I?

Heisenji Single Track 090523

Over 10 years ago Max and I started riding this beloved 10km ride (down). It is a grueling 1-1.5hrs up, but the down made it all worthwhile.

However, in the recent years, the ski resort in the area started opening their slopes to the downhillers and then they started using this amazing hiking trail en mass. If you know downhillers, you know they love it fast, they love it rough so that means that they do a lot of braking while cornering. The route used to be so gentle and rideable, but these days so much of it has been worn down thanks to all the downhillers that a lot of it has gotten extremely technical. I don't like getting off my bike as much as I have to these days.

But anywhoo.... this is what it looks like. It still is probably the best 10km of riding I have ever done.

I love you!

Cam

Is Max Crazy?

Is Max Crazy, or What?!???!!

Yes, he's out of his frikkin' mind!

 

 8

No, I think he has a right to be a recluse if he wants to be.

 

 2

He should keep making love to his mountain bikes.

 

 1

I think he's gay.

 

 0

He's cute!

 

 2

I don't want him to "go for it" cuz I want Max!

 

 0

Wow, she's awesome! Can I have her if Max doesn't want her?

 

 0

Where do I sign up for a mail order bride?

 

 0

Ignore the two "drop your jaw handsome" guys in this photo. This blog isn't about us (private drooling acceptable)....

Max called yesterday and said he wanted to bring his friend Yamakawa-san over for a brief visit. Of course I said yes! It turns out they are going for a bike ride in the mountains. Well, so am I but not to the same place because although she is apparently a top contender for mountain climbing in Japan, she doesn't have a lot of history on mountain bikes. And that is perfectly understandable.

Max has been telling me about Yamakawa-san for a long time. They met through the traditional Japanese introductions. She is about 41, single (now), is a nurse, and exercises like crazy. She hikes, mountain climbs in all seasons, climbs waterfalls and all that stuff. When the two of them go hiking she leaves Max in her tracks.

He has been saying for some time that he isn't sure if she's "his type". And the way he described her I had a completely different image.

So when she showed up.. I was stunned. This woman is gorgeous! Slim, very athletic with a bright, laughing face, open eyes, friendly smile, totally relaxed. She has that long straight black hair that goes down to the waist... you know the kind that all North American guys seem to drool over? Yeah, that kind. Very very nice women all round.

She loved watching Max and I talk back and forth and even commented on how enjoyable it was seeing us talk with absolutely no reservations whatsoever. She didn't even once comment on "your Japanese is so good", which was a very nice breath of fresh air. We just talked, and laughed. And she can laugh! It rings out strong and true.

I gave her a tour of the house. She saw all of Max' work and was very impressed. I took her upstairs and showed her the Globalized Rug. When I told them how Stefnee makes them, and the history of all the material and how all the love and positive energy is infused in it from all of YOU, both she and Max were extremely impressed. Mission accomplished! She loved how bright and cheery and well-decorated Stefnee's room is.

I showed her my Hippy Dippy Bag and she absolutely loved it. I told her that if she ever wanted one, Stefnee has some on her online store, and she could even make a custom one if she wanted.

I told them both of the most recent "run in" (two days ago) I had with Dickhead's Dad (he is such a childish man... *shaking head, feeling sorry for him*) And she laughed.

I absolutely LOVED meeting her.

Max told me in the past that she considers him as a boyfriend, but he doesn't feel that. He's not sure... And of course if the chemistry isn't there it isn't there, right? But I couldn't make any of my own observations until I met her.

Well I met her...

And the next time I have Max to myself I am going to tell him that he is out of his fucking mind if he doesn't latch onto her.

I think that the problem is that Max is soooooo deep into his comfort zone that he really has no idea about what human inter-relations are like. In fact, I'm pretty sure he hasn't even had a girlfriend in 20 years and I am 100% sure that the only "person" he has made love to in that time has been his mountain bike (six of them). And yes, for us, each one of our bikes are personified... they all have their own unique characteristics (mine have names).

So what I wanna know is this: Is Max crazy, or what?!?!?

I'm off to the mountains myself, and will return in several hours (maybe with more photos) because the weather is soooo nice today. Let me know what you think.

I love you!

Cam

Notes from the Universe: Wishes

My wish for you, Cameron, is that you succeed beyond your wildest imagination. That you find love in places that astound you. And that you have friends who call you "just because."

I dream that you go barefoot more than you wear shoes. That you play as hard as you work. And that you laugh more than you cry.

I want you to set the bar high, but not too high. To reach for the stars, but with your toes on the ground. And to never, ever stop dreaming.

But most of all, Cameron, I wish for your happiness.

And these dreams of mine are what started it all.

Besos,
    The Universe

P.S. You're right on track, Cameron

Thank you.

I love you.

Cameron

Coffee Makes Your Head Smart 3: Coffee Snobbery or Pure Stupidity?

This is the third, and most recent installment in the "Coffee Series".

Enjoy!

 

 

If you missed the first two installments, you can watch them here (but they are old):

Coffee Makes Your Head Smart 1: Live & Learn

Coffee Makes Your Head Smart 2: If at First You Don't Succeed...

I love you!

Cam

Spiritual Liberation

I purchased the book, "Spiritual Liberation" by Michael Beckwith, on Amazon recently, and have begun to settle into reading it. It is time, once again, to begin reading and expanding my understanding and knowledge, and FEELING of the NOW, and how I may attain more liberation, through spirituality.

The concepts in this book are all in harmony with everything we have discussed, ARE discussing and WILL discuss on spirituality, harmony, unconditional love. This falls perfectly in tune with our Globalized Love desire to share love, and grow with one another, sharing positive energy, reaching our highest goals in existence, through changing our thoughts, changing our beliefs, focusing on the positive energy in the world, and taking our mind off of all the negativeness that flows about us. What we create in our mind, we create in our life.

Here is a quote from Dr. Michael Beckwith that will show up at the end of the following six minute video showing a variety of his most excellent quotes for you to think about, believe, FEEL and enact in your life. I AM.

Enjoy the music....

I love you!

Cam

I believe that you are great; that there's something magnificent about you. Regardless of what has happened to you in your life, regardless of how young or how old you think you might be, the moment you begin to think properly, this something that is within you, this power that is greater than the world, it will begin to emerge; it will take over your life. It will feed you, it will clothe you, it will guide you, protect you, sustain your very existence... if you let it. Now that is what I know for sure.  - Michael Bernard Beckwith

Green Green Rice of Home

It is 7.30pm and I'm contemplating dinner. I think I shall create the following:

* Thinly sliced strips of beef sauteed with mushrooms in ginger and olive oil.
* Broccoli and bok choi steamed to an "al dente" texture then drizzled with a yogurt-moustarde-soy sauce.
* A simple salad consisting of lettuce, Japanese cucumber (not slimy as you know), tomato and broccoli sprouts.
* A glass of wine, and a glass of water.

The other day as I was heading up for a ride above, over and around my mountains behind the house I found one lone farmer planting his rice. The rice planting season was mainly done during Golden Week, the May long holiday at the very beginning of this month. That will be the Koshi Hikari variety. There is another variety known as Hana Echizen that is also planted. This crop usually goes in a few weeks later so I think that what I saw was the Hana Echizen going in. Stefnee, this is the field right behind my house, so you will remember it all dry and possibly full of weeds.

 

I recalled as I was passing by that during my Rice Cycle blogs last year Stefnee had mentioned that she wanted to see the workings of the rice transplanter machine. The way these machines operate is quite intriguing. Sod-sized pallets of rice seedlings are placed on a back plate of the machine. As the planter moves through the fields heavy with water and mud, wheels with many teeth on the back rotate, and clip off one seedling at a time, then plan in straight rows in the wet soil. You can see the action in this little animated graphic I have included.

 

I did not take my video camera on this day (unfortunately), but I did have my digital camera. So I took these two photos. I hope you can click on them to see a larger size, then zoom into the mechanism at the back for a better understanding of what I am trying to explain.

Now I know that two simple photos are not going to do it to satisfy the desires of Stefnee to learn more about this machine. Coming from an agriculture culture, and possessing a researcher's mind, I have the sneaky suspicion that she needs more.

So...

Here is a little two minute video (in Japanese) with very loud music typical of Japanese commercials (CM) showing exactly how the Iseki Sanae PPZ (Classic) transplanter operates at the back. Truthfully, this is better than I think I could ever provide with my own webcam and reporter skills.

If you would like to see an example of a LARGE transplanter, watch this video.

And although there is no video to show you, many "hand driven" machines are still in use where the farmer walks behind the transplanter and guides it, almost like guiding oxen or horse in a field.

It took me a year to get this information for Stefnee, and I've been thinking and looking into it all year. Well, Stefnee... there you go! I hope this satisfies your wonderful quest for knowledge concerning the Japanese way of planting rice.

And now it is time to cook.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. It is now 8:18, so it took me 50 minutes to put this little blog together. And now. I. AM.... hungry.

Wisteria Lane

It's raining today, quite chilly and very high humidity making it rather unpleasant in the house. But that's just another day in a continual string of NOW moments, and before I know it the sun will be shining, the air will be fresh, dry and warm, and I'll be out there on my bike again soaking up the mountain energy, smelling the aroma of green...

Speaking of which...

The other day when I went on my ride up, along, and over the mountains behind my house I took a picture of the "fujii" or wisteria. I love seeing these vines strangling trees in their glory! The fragrance of the ones I passed on my ride actually stopped me (I was going downhill). I turned around, rode back and sat there with my face buried in their flowers for a good few minutes... lost in the flowergasm of life!

Murasaki Shikibu, considered one of the greatest writers of Japanese literature (c. 973–c. 1014 or 1025c.) wrote three famous works in her lifetime. The wisteria are prominant in many of her stories and when you see them and immerse yourself in them, you know why.

Let me tell you what Wikipedia says about wisteria, and if you are geeky enough you can visit there and check it out for even more info:

Wisteria is a genus of about ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and the East Asian states of China, Korea, and Japan.

Wisteria vines climb by twining their stems either clockwise or counter-clockwise round any available support. They can climb as high as 20 m (20yards) above ground and spread out 10 m (10y) laterally. The world's largest known Wisteria vine is located in Sierra Madre, California, measuring more than an acre in size and weighing 250 tons.

The leaves are alternate, 15 to 35 cm (divide by 2.5 for inches) long, pinnate, with 9 to 19 leaflets. The flowers are produced in pendulous racemes 10 to 80 cm long, similar to those of the genus Laburnum, but are purple, violet, pink or white, not yellow. Flowering is in the spring (just before or as the leaves open) in some Asian species, and in mid to late summer in the American species and W. japonica. The flowers of some species are fragrant, most notably Chinese Wisteria. The seeds are produced in pods similar to those of laburnum, and, like that genus, are poisonous.

Wisteria is an extremely popular ornament in China and Japan.

I love these little snippets of life and love that I come upon quite by chance while enjoying life, love and breath in my mountains.

Ahhhh... you gotta love The Goddess!

I love you.

Cam

Meet PhoEeebe, My New Hot Taiwanese Babe

No long story tonight; I just want to quickly introduce you to my new love interest:

Meet PhoEebe, my new mini-notebook, made in Taiwan.

It is an Asus HA900 with 160GB hard drive, Intel Atom Processor, 1GB memory (can take up to 2GB), built in speakers, mic and webcam, built in Wi-Fi (they all do these days so no biggie). It runs Windows XP which I am glad about (because Vista is not all that great it seems). And it is fast! The startup and shut down is faster than any other computer I've owned. It is quieter than my Toshiba (the Atom processors use energy differently so the heatloss is a lot less, i.e. less fan sound). And the battery life, although they claim 5hrs, I still get about 4hrs on one full charge which is way more than any other notebook I've owned.

They come in three colours (I think): pearl white, black and pink. I got the pink one just because I'm tired of the standard computer colours and I wanted something sexy, not masculine. Imagine the eyes turning in Starbucks when I whip out my pink mini-notebook and put it on the table next to my coffee! Ahh...

You can check it out (or buy it) from Amazon.com for a really good price in the USA. They have a much more detailed description of this baby than I'm giving with a lot of good reviews at the site as well.

Do I need another notebook? No. So why did I get it? Because I. am. a. technology. geek. Period.

And I wanted to see how well a $300 computer would run.

And it runs! It kicks ass, actually.

It has more HD storage than my $2500 desktop replacement Toshiba Dynabook (which I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE), and is uber easy to carry around with me. In fact, it is smaller than a lot of hardcover books.

It is very light @ about 1.2kg (2.5lbs). Even the power cord and that annoying ginormous power box that goes with notebooks is miniaturized so transport is more painless than anything I have experienced. One thing I have always hated about traveling with notebooks is that they end up being an entire piece of luggage on their own. Not anymore! I can even slip this in my backpack and write my thoughts deep in the mountains if I so desire.

Sure the keyboard is tiny, and because I'm a 10 finger blind typist (and pretty fast) I hit a lot of double keys at the same time, but that's minor. The purpose was not to write billion character blogs, or essays or MBA research papers. Nope. The purpose is to have something small that I can take with me easily, or travel with and connect with YOU!

This would really be an awesome computer for kids because they have smaller fingers than we do

 

I love PhoEeebe.

And I. Love. You!

Cam

Today's String of NOW Moments

I had a lunch meeting with Osaka-san today (Zeniya/Chocolate Fountain guy) but he called at 11:30 to say he was in the hospital with a swollen eye from a stye that came up in the night.

So...

I decided to go for a ride.

And it was an... 

Awesome ride!

3:20hrs round trip from door to door

2000ft vertical elevation climbed (first 1500ft in 4miles, 1hr 7mins)

37km/22mi total distance logged

2 hardboiled eggs, 1 pack of german sausages (6pcs) consumed

1 pair of tuckered-out knees (which will probably keep me up all night).

Came home, ate some tuna.

Crashed on the chesterfield-ette for 45 minutes.

Got up.

Had a shower.

Ran the bath with onsen bathsalts.

Fell asleep in it for 1.5hrs...

I'm hoping I don't cramp at 4am like I usually do...

It was a great adventure!

I love you.

Cam

Holy Crap My Legs are Long & Skinny!!

Well... that wasn't the original title for today's thoughts. I had planned something more eloquent or elegant, something like, "What a Big Fat Pig!"

But then I looked at the photo I took of myself in the mountains today (with a precariously balanced clamshell cell phone perched on my bike parts) and even I was shocked by my own legs! If somebody who didn't know me saw those stilts, they might seriously wonder if I don't have some bizarre muscle-devouring disease that makes them look so ... gaunt! GAWD!

Anywhoo...

Today I spent my latest "full time job" which is spending the entire day looking for work. I had an interview with a recruit company (in Japan, in Japanese, for the Japanese market) who just needed extra info for my registration, as well as explain to me the "rules of engagement".

I decided to pay my translator that I use to outsource translation work (yes, I'm a "translation company" and no I don't do it myself - are you crazy??) to translate my current English resume which I need to submit to the recruit company. I had to do a lot of other online stuff with them as well.

I worked on a few other angles, took breaks and stuff, and then finally the heat and humidity got to me.

So I changed clothes and at 5.30 got on my bike and rode up to Thinking Rock. This is a picture of me sitting on Thinking Rock. I know I know I know you may not be able to see the rock for the legs, but try hard. It is under my bony arse.

It was a good ride, I did a lot of deep breathing, and calmed down my semi-spinning mind. The weather was perfect, the bugs were not bothering me.

And... on the way down... while I was doing very relaxing deep breathing and screaming down the mountain at break-my-neck-if-I'm-not-damn-careful speeds... I turned a corner just in time to see...

the most GINORMOUS wild boar I have EVER seen! OH MY GOD! It was HUGE! GARGANTUAN! (make a great pig roast...) It was about as tall as my bike frame (Stephanie knows how huge it is but nobody else here), and a meter (3ft) wide! I'm not kidding, it looked like a monstrous giant "tawashi" (traditional Japanese scrubbing brush: http://tinyurl.com/ot2mro) on legs!

As soon as we met it turned around and barrelled into the forest, down the mountain and was gone. But I got to enjoy it for several seconds as it trotted down the road into the forest.

For the rest of the ride home I continued my deep breathing, relaxing, sporting a huge cheesy grin and repeating over and over,

"Thank you for this glorious day, Universe. I appreciate everything you bring to me. Thank you so much. I love you!"

Wow.... that inoshishi (wild boar) was really the biggest boar I have ever seen!
Wow.... my legs are skinny.
And long!
Especially those damn shins!
Now you know how much it hurts when THESE shins cramp. There's a lot of muscle going on under the skin of these babies.

I love you!

Cam

Let the Chocolate Games Begin!

OK OK OK... I have a part time job catering a chocolate fountain to wedding receptions. And you know what? I LOVE IT!

I also have an MBA... and you know what? Aside from learning a lot, it hasn't done shit for me since I graduated March 2007.

I sent my friend/mentor in Asheville my resume (looking for new work) and he helped me tweak it for his market. He told me to take the chocolate fountain work off the resume because... and I quote... "It's not something someone with an MBA would do." Screw that.

Several years ago I helped a restauranteur here import a chocolate fountain. Then we imported a different one. Then he did two more by himself. He keeps one in his restaurant flowing all the time as one menu on the dessert chart. The others he uses for catering to weddings and events.

In March I visited my friend and had some food there after a workout. It was just on a whim as I hadn't been there for probably six or more months. I told him how my business has basically shut down (i.e. almost no income). I tried to explain to him that it was my request to the Universe coming true. You see, I want to close my business down, and leave Japan. And the Universe is giving that HALF of my request to me. I still can't find work in N.A. but keep looking. I WILL find something, it is in the channels and the Universe will deliver it when the timing is right. But I still live on "borrowed yen" until that day comes.

My friend Kotaro told me that he could really use my help because he is the only one doing the fountain catering now and he is very busy with his restaurant (it's a second business for him). The stuff is heavy and the female servers really have trouble moving it all around. The male servers are also just as busy at the restaurant so he is short (they are all short compared to me) and needed help. So I came to him at just the right time.

What I do is take the fountain, melted chocolate, dishes and fruit to a wedding reception, set it up, get it going, and keep the food dishes full. When the reception is done, I break it down, clean it all up and take it back to the restaurant. It is usually an 8 hour day.

And I love it!

I love it because there is so much positive, loving, happy energy flowing at wedding receptions that I can't help but feel really good when I'm there. I'm also a people person to the nth degree and working alone in my house here for over five years has made me crazy. I need to get out, to see people, to interact, to share, to give, to love, to support, to talk, laugh, cry, converse, and just... BE.

So this is great for me.

It seems that there have been only one or two jobs a month (usually on Sundays). It isn't a lot of money, but I'm not doing it for the yen. I'm doing it for the Love.

Love of people.

Love of life.

Today there was a really drunk guest who tried to stuff chocolate-covered fruit down my throat. He also put his dirty fingers into the fountain, sucked them off and did it again. I ended up getting lots of chocolate all over my lovely white dress shirt. Oh well... that's all part of professionalism, I guess.

Another day at the chocolate factory.
Did I make people happy?

You bet I did!

Therefore...

Mission Accomplished!

I love you!

Cammy Wonka

P.S. See the guy in the mirror in the background? He's kinda cute, don'tcha think? I do!

P.P.S. They were ALL animals today! There was chocolate everywhere!

Japan Seaside Ride 090509

The weather was so amazing today that I just HAD to get out. And what better place to enjoy a relaxing ride (oh my knees!) than the Japan Seaside!

The wonderful thing about this ride is that it is pretty flat, and that there is a large variety of terrain to enjoy from concrete, to singletrack. It is a great place to ride if you ever want to go riding with me!

I love you!

Cam

Listen to this De-Stress Kit for Changing Times

Well, once again the Global Coherence site sent me an interesting email in which they offer a free download of a pdf or mp3 version of The De-Stress Kit for Changing Times. Instead of reading the pdf (probably kind of boring), I downloaded the mp3 version (read by the CEO of HeartMath, one of the organizations working with the Global Coherence Unit) burned it to a CD and listened to it on the way to and from Max' today.

It is NOT meditation, just in case some of you really aren't into meditations. It is very different from the Processes that I talk about all the time, but a lot of the concepts are in there. I listened to it and found several aspects that when spoken to me, just helped to reinforce a lot of the stuff I am already learning and implementing in my meditations. I also got a different perspective on some aspects of de-stressing which was good.

The mp3 is 30MB zip file, and is 35 minutes of talking. The narrator simply reads the pdf that was written by the founder of HeartMath, Doc Childre (hmm... one of those "newage wackhead shit" names if you ask me). It was a good listen. Simple, straight forward and listenable. I did not, however like the last 5 minutes of the talk as it goes against a bit of what I believe, however that is fine. We can't all be on the same page all at the same time, right? The important thing is to take from it what works for me (or you), and use it to decrease your stress levels, and increase your wellness.

Here is a blurb from the site with the links that you can access and download on your own if you so desire. I recommend it. I love you! - Cam

_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/

(doesn't that give the coolest illusion of an embossed parallelogram?)

We all know that millions of people are experiencing extra stress. Much outgoing care and compassion is needed to help ease the emotional pain that so many are increasingly experiencing. Doc Childre, founder of HeartMath, a leading stress research institute, has written a free booklet De-Stress Kit for the Changing Times that provides a few simple practices to help people intercept and manage stress during this period of challenge and uncertainty.

Click for free PDF Download  (English Version)
8.5" x 11" PDF (four-color)

Click for free Audio Program Download  (English Version)
MP3 Audio File (30.5 MB)

Swine Flu: Coming Soon to a Rice Bowl Near You

Here are a few things to ponder:

1) There have been, to date, no confirmed cases of the "Hiney Flu" (H1N1 or the swine flu), in Japan.

2) Mayu just informed me that there are three confirmed deaths in HAWAII from the swine flu.

3) HAWAII is THE #1 holiday destination for Japanese during Golden Week.

Keep your eyes on the news to see whether or not the "confirmed cases in Japan" changes.

And for all my friends in Japan... as they used to say on the oldy but goody TV show, Hill Street Blues, "Let's be careful out there".

Especially since June, the rainy season, where it is sooo easy to catch colds and flus, is just around the corner.

I love you!

Cam

Golden Week, Golden Friends

Yukiyo, Mayu's best friend, came for the Golden Week Holidays. She arrived in the evening on Sunday May 3rd. On Monday, Yukiyo and Mayu went to Kanazawa to visit the "massage therapist spiritual healer guy" who also sees the spirits of the former lives of people and tells them what spirit he sees at that time, and what that former life was like.

They had dinner here at home so I cooked a big meal for the three of us. We spent the evening talking, smoking, laughing.

On Tuesday Mayu had a hair appointment so she went into the city alone. Yukiyo and I went up waaay up into the mountains to a lookout point and spent some time up there. For those of you who remember Yukiyo, you will understand the significance of that spot. For those of you who don't...

Several years ago Mayu and I went to Tokyo at the year end, and we visited her father in the hospital. They told us he was sick and had to have a back operation. He had a lot of pain, but I made him laugh, and we talked a lot. I promised him that since he always wanted to come to Fukui but couldn't, when he got better and came I would take him up into the mountains. Several days later he died of cancer. I told Yukiyo and her mother that I wanted to honour my promise to he father so if they ever wanted to bring some of his ashes to Fukui I would take them to a very high, very special place where he could always be looking down on my Shangri-la. And they took me up on that offer.

Over the years they would come and visit, and either Mayu or I would take them up to the lookout point so they could spend some time with father.

One of the reasons why Yukiyo came this Golden Week was because she really needed to spend some time with her father. So, while Mayu was in Fukui, Yukiyo and I went up into the heavens to commune with the spirit of her father.

The weather was perfect, we didn't get lost (this time, unlike most other times because it isn't a place I drive or ride to regularly). We did a lot of deep talking as good friends do; talking about life & death, happiness & sadness, work & play, and more. It was a good time.

On the way down Yukiyo wanted to try the famous ice cream so I took her to Heisenji (where I took Paula, Stefnee, Rob and pretty much anyone who ever has visited or ever will visit) because the ice cream is so damn good there (are you reading this, Jaime?) Then because she had never actually seen the Heisenji temple grounds (shock! gasp!!) I took her for a walk there. And this time of the year... it is glorious! Unbelievably green, and warm, and just so stunningly quiet. Yukiyo even commented how she loved this place because it was old and quiet, unlike Eiheiji temple where there are monks running hither and thither, trying to make money selling their "junk" (just an euphamism, the stuff is impressive).

Then we both got really hungry (damn carb ice cream) so went to Curry House CoCo #1 where Stefnee had coffee jello for the first time (and fell in love with it). The weather was changing so we stopped by the house, grabbed Mayu's jacket and headed to Starbucks to meet her for coffee. They did some shopping after that (girl stuff, girl talk) and I came home.

Mayu cooked a great dinner of pork chops (even though I'm burned out on pork) and made this fantastic chutney-style sauce which used slurried kiwifruits, ketchup, soy sauce, onions. It was delicious! We spent the evening talking and laughing and smoking. Yukiyo doesn't have the enzyme to break down alcohol so her one fruit cocktail drink knocked her out and gave her a pounding headache.  Mayu and I stayed up late "talking shop" until about 2:30am.

This morning about 11:30 Yukiyo left.

And now it's ... "business as usual" I guess.

Isn't it always amazing how when people come for a visit they always bring such life, such happiness... that you can feel the air change? And then when they go away... suddenly...for a while... everything just seems so empty.

And then you move on in life. "Always move"....

I love you!

Cam

Change Your Mind, Too

In.......................

 

Out....................

 

 

In......................

 

 

Out.....................

 

 

I'm sitting at the kitchen table munching on salad, sipping miso soup, and stirring natto. There is no coffee in the house so I need to busy myself with other things. The sun is out, it is a wonderful Saturday morning. I'm doing laundry, airing out the futon, washing the sinks and tub, vacuuming the floor. Everything is peaceful, everything seems to be flowing smoothly. At this current moment of NOW the only problem I perceive is that of the absence of any coffee in the house for three days. But that's not such a big deal. However, as NOW moments change from step to step, different perceived problems come into our minds and affect us to varying degrees.

 

All problems are perceptions of incidents created by our minds which can only see current events based upon the filters and the experiences of our past. And we DO have the power to change how we see things, so we do have the ability to change our minds. To learn more about this, please visit Stefnee's blog, "Change Your Mind".

 

 

It takes time and practice, and it is necessary to learn how to still your mind and be the observer of your thoughts. The ego often tries to resist these changes because it invests itself heavily in all those good and bad ideas running around in your mind, and often that stuff leads to fear and inability to move forward into new challenges today. But you do have the ability to change your mind, and give up the old for the new. Giving up the old way for the new way means giving up that which you have been comfortable with, that which has defined you for a very long time. But it also means giving up the negative payoff outcome which is fear, discomfort, pain, sadness, grief, and often paranoia or SPINNING that can go with a great many problems that we as thinking and reasoning mammals PERCEIVE.

 

Here is something I have recently begun to do whenever I perceive a problem - any problem - in my life.

 

Relaxing my mind and breathing deeply is key to the success in this exercise.

 

Whenever I meditate using one of the Processes that I have been using for the past year and a half (purchased when I went to Asheville, NC for a leadership convention), "P5", or "Change Your Mind", I envision myself at the river, in a boat, floating from right to left. I visualize this river down to the tiniest of details, watching the minnows swim around the bigger fish. I see the twigs and branches and the trash swirling in the eddies, caught in the bushes and trees to the side of the river. I feel the wind on my face, the cooling breeze in the summer as it refreshes me and dries the sweat from my chest. I can feel the hard concrete tetrapods beneath my feet, my buttocks, my thighs as I move over the pilons, and sit quietly watching myself approach on the river.

 

I am the observer of me, and in this case, I am not my mind, but I observe my mind, and my mind is envisioned as me in the boat with my problem....

 

In the boat are the problems that I perceive as problems. As the boat floats by, I take time looking "up the sleeve" to find out what the real source of my perceived problems are (they are never what we say they are, or originally think they are).

 

Once I identify the source of the problem for me, I create a new image with a positive outcome so the problem no longer looks like a problem in my mind.

 

Once that is done, the chemistry of the body responds by emitting chemical responses to my thoughts and emotions known as peptides which flow through my body and rewire my neural net.

 

In so doing, if I repeat this several times, I am able to rewire my neural net so that what I once perceived as a problem is no longer seen as a problem to me.

 

And once that is achieved, the negative payoff outcome that is usually associated with problems fades away, just as the boat laden with non-problems continues to flow past me along the river and into the distance.

 

I have changed my mind.

 

And so. can. you.

 

I love you!

 

Cam