Italy Day #7

Morning edition: 2.5 hr morning Italy education. We learned about the recent history of Italy, from 200 years ago to the present. The evolution of the area as a country, as a divided country ruled by a monarch and the top rich 2%, and then its progression to a citizen Read more…

Italy Day #6 – Capri

Capri!! We rode with one of our guides Vincenzo today to the top of Capri, called AnaCapri. He is such a blast! The winding drive to the top on a road chiseled out of the side of one peak was fun. Some cars are very small, with gas prices at Read more…

Italy Day #5

Herculaneum is the name for the ancient town at the base of Mt. Vesuvius, which is only 1.5 miles away. On the photograph draw an imaginary line from the left slope and the right slope to center, and it is easy to see the source of the millions of tons Read more…

Italy Day #4

(early riser edition – later edition covers trip to Mt Vesuvius) Mitch had a four hour afternoon/early evening nap yesterday, and was able to paint the town red until 3:30am. this morning. NOT US! Sharon and I are still recovering from jet lag/poor sleep, and were in bed early. Sorrento Read more…

Italy Day #2

The stressful lead up to this trip was amazing.  We needed to have a 48 hour precedent COVID negative test, plus a European Union passenger locator form,  in addition to our vaccine records, to be able to even fly on United Airlines.  Once we received approval to fly, oh my, Read more…

Introduction ( part one), Book #8: The Personal Cost and Benefit Of Speaking Truth ( add to another chapter)

There are times shells, or walls, are necessary..  Neither hiding nor revealing ourselves will prevent our share of pain, but in being who we are, we get to be part of the Universal stream, not just a nut in a shell waiting to fall.–Mark Nepo Danny B…….s and I were Read more…

Chapter 10 Book #8: There Is Something Fundamental Here

In the complete seeing of a problem, insights are derived pointing to solutions  for its resolution and to ultimate liberation from their damaging imprisoning effects—-Elisha Scott. A person who reports that they have had the experience of insecurity, isolation, grief, loneliness, and/or poor self esteem knows well the ravages of Read more…

Conspiracy Of Silence, Conspiracy Of Inaction

What is your choice? . I have been criticized, especially by my own self-talk, yet I still find a way to thrive, in spite of the ill informed opinions and ignorance of others, and my conditioned reluctance to speak my truth.. . Speak our truth, and hold our self, and Read more…

Introduction to Book#8: Revisiting A Troubled Past, Finding A Way To Live In The Present

The process of writing a book has been a great challenge for me.  First, I am new to writing, having written very little in my life until the fall of 2016.  So I am learning a bit about writing, while also learning a lot about myself and my world through Read more…

Chapter 7 Book #8: Knowledge, Wisdom, Intuition, and The Whim

Are you wise as an owl? What is knowledge? What is a fact? What is an illusion? What is truth? What is a lie? What is a whim? What is insight? What is intuition?   I have been pointing to potential answers to these questions throughout the book, with this Read more…

Chapter 6: Pain, Revisiting The Labyrinth, Meeting The Minotaur

Be mindful, oh Mankind, of all of the painful secrets that we must keep, For, by our suffering silence, we will not awaken, but just die alone, powerless, and asleep–Elisha Scott HURT, Sung by Johnny Cash, written by Nine Inch Nails https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHCfZTRGiI After the  death of my father, on September Read more…

(use in Book 8–needs edit) The Dream Of Isolation and Loneliness

Dream:  I am in the midst of thousands of people.  Everywhere I walk, there are thronging crowds of human beings.  I wander over the entire city of Portland, meeting the multitudes, yet nobody recognizes me.  I feel an oppressive loneliness, wondering why nobody sees me.  At the end of the Read more…

Chapter 10: A Dialogue On Anger, Mastery, and Speaking Our Truth

But you can’t get to any of these truths by sitting in a field smiling beatifically, avoiding your anger and damage and grief. Your anger and damage and grief are the way to the truth. We don’t have much truth to express unless we have gone into those rooms and Read more…

Letter To A Dear Friend About The Potential For Spiritual and Physical Healing

    I have been sub-optimal in health the last three weeks.  I had a terrifying and painful experience with a kidney stone that literally wanted to “stone me” to death.  The laser surgery was last Wednesday to remove it, with continued internal bleeding ever since then.  I was prescribed five Read more…

Chapter 3.7 Wisdom, Knowledge, Intuition, and The Whim (Needs Extreme Edit)

Are you wise as an owl? What is knowledge? What is a fact? What is an illusion? What is truth? What is a lie? What is a whim? What is insight? What is intuition?   I have been pointing to potential answers to these questions throughout the book, with this Read more…

Asteroids, Ureteroids, Laser Lithotripsy, And Kidney Stones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYSupJ5r2zo . Amanda V., my urologist and surgeon for Wednesdays Asteroids game, er, surgery, hopefully has practiced up on this old classic. She will be, wait for this, sticking a laser unit up through the penis and the bladder into the ureter (the tube between the kidney and the bladder) Read more…

The Potential For Evil Embodied Within Catholicism and Other Organized Religions

.(inspired by unearthing of unmarked graves of thousands of indigenous children in Canada, and now America) . There is no relationship between awareness, and faith. Awareness is a fact, faith is only a belief—-Jiddhu Krishnamurti . I can just see the “wink and a nod” by Catholic insiders as they Read more…

Patriarchy and Toxic Masculinity Makes Catholicism An Incipient Evil

(the following article is from New York Times, the blog following it is from me) . In 1898, the Marieval Residential School opened its doors and it closed its doors, in 1996. The Roman Catholic Church overseeing the gravesite, the Catholics and the prayer and religion overseeing the grave site, Read more…

Chapter 2.5: The Common Knowledge Game and The Lemming Effect

Each and every one of us has the capacity to be an oppressor. I want to encourage each and every one of us to interrogate how we might be an oppressor and how we might be able to become liberators for ourselves and for each other. — Laverne Cox The Read more…