Only Dogs Can Hear

Facebook

Facebook is so crazy!  In some ways it's fantastic.  I'm keeping in touch with friends around the world.  That's great.  In other ways it's just plain weird.  Like so many people that I haven't spoken to in years...ON PURPOSE?  They've found me. 

Thanksgiving 2008

This is the first time since 2000 that I have been in the US for Thanksgiving.  It feels odd to be in the US at all for the holidays.  I just don't have the holiday spirit thing going on anymore.  I left it somewhere in South Asia, then I became a Buddhist. 

This year though, K and I were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends who will be visiting their family in the US between assignments in Afghanistan and El Salvador.  We were really happy to get the invitation and are very much looking forward to going. 

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm planning to cook yummy things to add to their table.  Specifically I'm attempting this and this.  Here's hoping both recipes turn out ok! 

Near enemies

The near enemies are qualities that arise in the mind and masquerade as genuine spiritual realization, when in fact they are only an imitation, serving to separate us from true feeling rather than connecting us to it. . . .

The near enemy of loving-kindness is attachment. . . . At first, attachment may feel like love, but as it grows it becomes more clearly the opposite, characterized by clinging, controlling and fear.

The near enemy of compassion is pity, and this also separates us. Pity feels sorry for "that poor person over here," as if he were somehow different from us. . . .

The near enemy of sympathetic joy (the joy in the happiness of others) is comparison, which looks to see if we have more of, the same as, or less than another. . . .

The near enemy of equanimity is indifference. True equanimity is balance in the midst of experience, whereas indifference is withdrawal and not caring, based on fear. . . .

If we do not recognize and understand the near enemies, they will deaden our spiritual practice. The compartments they make cannot shield us for long from the pain and unpredictability of life, but they will surely stifle the joy and open connectedness of true relationships.

- Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart

Mammograms and insurance

After months of putting it off I called the imaging clinic to schedule a mammogram.  Yes I realize I'm in my early thirties, but these days that magic number 40 doesn't seem realistic for the commencement of regular mammography.  Even if only 5% of women with breast cancer are younger than 40, shouldn't young women still be given the benefit of clinical screening?  Anyway, I digress.

The receptionist at the clinic found my referral and told me that unless my doctor were to put a more convincing reason than "cancer screening" it would be unlikely for my insurance to cover the cost of the mammogram.  What?  But my 33 year old sister has stage III breast cancer.  Well your doctor should have put that on the referral.  Okay...so what now?  Well, I'll call your doctor and ask her to resubmit the referral. 

Why is the medical system in this country so incredibly skewed to benefit insurance companies rather than patients?  I'll admit that I should have scheduled the appointment 3 months ago, but this crappiness would have happened then too.  We need a revision of how medical care works.  Shouldn't it be about health and wellness?  Of everyone?  Not just those with the money to pay for a mammogram at any age?

Cancer sucks

So my older sister, also in her thirties, has breast cancer.  She's done the chemo (and was allergic to it), the radiation (and got all the miserable sores and other side effects), and has been put in menopause through hormone therapy.  What do you do when you look at your body in the mirror and realize that it's turned against you?  When you are at battle with yourself?  How do you trust after that?

The last group you can be openly bigoted about

It's so unfortunate that Obama's victory is overshadowed by something as ridiculous as "protecting marriage" with the sledge hammer of Prop. 8.  That one stupid amendment diminishes the great victory of equality to nearly nothing.  And what, pray tell, are we protecting marriage from?  All the abusive hetero spouses?  All the ridiculous married-today-divorced-tomorrow hetero celebrities?  Hmmm? 

“It’s difficult to explain to a five-year-old why it is people don’t want your parents to be married,” he continued. “They’re young enough that there was a chance they could have grown up thinking all their lives that their family was equal and accepted. Now they’re not going to have that chance. They’ll have to spend at least part of their lives knowing that their family is something that people don’t feel is acceptable.”

Pan's Labyrinth

We've had this movie on DVD ever since it was available...pirated in Asia.  We finally watched it tonight.  It was brutal and beautiful.  And it looked so much like Hellboy.  So much like Hellboy.  I wish I had seen this in the theater.  Although I'm not sure I could have taken the face bashing scene at full scale.  It was bad enough on the small screen. 

About Minnesota

My friend Amy lives in Minnesota.  I called her while I was reading Gail Collins' column this morning.  I said, Jesse "Ace" Ventura, Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, Al Franken, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Fred Thompson...only in California and Minnesota.  She said, yeah, but it makes more sense in California.  We agreed that Minnesotans must like to get all ironic in the voting booth.  Still, makes for good copy.

"About Minnesota. Right now, the incumbent Republican, Norm Coleman, is about 200 votes ahead of the Democratic challenger, the former comedian Al Franken. In a race where 2.9 million votes were cast, Coleman is leading 41.99 percent to 41.98 percent.

You may notice that there are a lot of percents missing. They went to Dean Barkley, an underfunded Independence Party candidate who did rather well by running on a platform that boiled down to: 1) Not crazy 2) Not Norm Coleman and 3) Not Al Franken. "

Only in Utah

People invent new "religions" with incredible frequency down there don't you think?  Ok.  Maybe not entirely new "religions" everytime.  Sometimes it's just a new take on an old idea.  Should there be a redefinition of separation of church and state?  And where exactly does free speech begin and end?

"The primary issue today was a somewhat arcane debate over whether the city's decision to accept the 10 Commandments monument made it "government speech," rather than private speech, which would mean it doesn't have to be balanced with other viewpoints."

Things that shouldn't be on the ballot #1

"Garnering support for gay rights in Arizona, in Arkansas, even in Florida, are difficult challenges that will still probably take years of work, but to get a gay marriage ban passed in California smacks of enlightened rich liberals not trying hard enough."