mourningdove

The Philosophy of Packing

I really admire people who have put in their 10,000+ hours to become expert at some particular craft or art. I am not those people. My friend Jen and I were just talking about this last night–how we’re both too interested in too many things to dedicate the time it takes to become really expertContinue reading “The Philosophy of Packing”

Other People’s Lives

I came across something the other day that reminded me of a time about 12 years ago or so that I briefly cyber-stalked this couple who ran adventure biking tours in the Himalayas. Well, cyber-stalked is an exaggeration, but I did end up spending literally hours Googling to find out what had happened to them,Continue reading “Other People’s Lives”

Aikido and Rhetoric: Emptiness

If you have notLinked yourselfTo true emptiness,You will never understandThe Art of Peace. Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace This one of you, O human beings, is wisest, who, like Socrates, recognizes that he is in truth of no account in respect to wisdom. Plato, Apology As martial arts aimed at resolving conflict, both aikidoContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: Emptiness”

Ceramics Saturdays: Picasso

I’ve never been a fan of Picasso’s paintings, certainly not of his treatment of women, but I surprised myself by finding his ceramics utterly charming when I first encountered them in the Albertina in Vienna several years ago (where I took the picture of the goat dish above). They’re joyful, whimsical even, but paradoxically spareContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Picasso”

Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up

This one’s heavy on cute animal memes that should be nice unicorn chasers for our current omicron state of mind: This momma ferret seems pretty sure her human is one of her babies. I’ve always been fascinated by meteorites, and so I’m looking forward to watching this documentary on them by my favorite wackadoodle director,Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up”

Drama Queen: Word of Honor

So, after Rise of Phoenixes, I got sucked into another Chinese wuxia epic on Netflix, Word of Honor. There are several similar shows right now on Netflix themed around an epic bromance and/or love triangle (see also Untamed, Handsome Siblings, My Country), and I’d tried watching a couple of them and gotten all of 10Continue reading “Drama Queen: Word of Honor”

Makgeolli Round 2

This time around I’m using a recipe from kimchimari and adding chestnuts! Day 1 already looks really different–a lot dryer. I can hear it bubbling, though, and it smells nice and yeasty! Update: It turned out really well–better than the first recipe. Sweet, full-bodied, and fizzy at 10.5 days. Strong, too: I had to waterContinue reading “Makgeolli Round 2”

The Three Perfections

The redwing blackbirds are back in the wetland at the park near my house, and coincidentally, I found this tea painting I made while sorting through some old sketchbooks, so I thought I’d do a post on the Three Perfections. Song Dynasty scholars called the arts of painting, calligraphy, and poetry the “Three Perfections,” whichContinue reading “The Three Perfections”

Aikido and Rhetoric: Where to from here?

One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace (aikido). Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train. Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace Most are at odds with that with which they most constantly associate — the account which governs the universeContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: Where to from here?”

Getting Onion Smells Out of a Wooden Cutting Board

Or garlic smells…. My sister just refinished this beautiful red maple cutting board for me out of a chunk of the countertop of my old house. The story behind those counter tops is interesting: they’re the old beds from the county jail. They had to get rid of them because folks who were drunk wereContinue reading “Getting Onion Smells Out of a Wooden Cutting Board”