Sit Properly

1) Eating Fruit Loops dry will cut up the inside of your mouth. However, that will not deter me from eating the entire box in one sitting.

2) The reason that I cannot remember anything is because of all the mid-80′s rap and metal songs stored in my brain. If I turn on the “Old Skool” rap station at any moment, I will be able to rap along with whatever song is playing. Last night it was “Paul Revere” by the Beastie Boys and “Buddy” by De La Soul. The night before, it was “Rock Box” by Run DMC and “The Message” by Grand Master Flash. I haven’t heard most of these songs in 15 years. What the hell is wrong with me?

3) I am not the only one who can smell the gasoline I spilled onto my pants yesterday.

4) I’ll tell you later.

5) People who don’t bother to talk to me much anymore regularly read my blog. Interesting. Are you one of them?

6) In the wise words of Thomas Jefferson, “Back up your important files or you’ll spend every waking moment re-entering them into a new computer.” Wise words indeed.

7) I have over 300lbs. of “Hare Krishna” books.

Some people don’t (or at least one person doesn’t) understand the difference between “grains” and “a grain of salt.” Salt, though it is referred to as a “grain of salt” isn’t actually a grain. At least, no more than a grain of sand is. And don’t get me started on wood grain. Amazing.

9) Pet Shop Boys always make me dance. Remixes make me dance even more. You wish you could see, but you can’t. No.

10) Al Gore is a douchebag.

I never said that this was going to be interesting.

I’m liquidating my life.

Here are some devotional items. Dig it.

First up is a blue Balarama Mrdanga. It’s in great condition, no cracks or anything like that. Newish heads that are a delight. No strap and no wrench for tuning, but those can be picked up anywhere. $125 shipped. They go for $240 on krishna.com!

Next is a lovely harmonium. It’s a little dusty, but plays wonderfully. $130 shipped. I think I bought it for about double that.

And next is an original painting by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. I’m not 100% convinced to sell this. I’d take $220 for it. It’s in a plastic/wood frame that wouldn’t ship with it. It’s just in there for protection from the elements. some of the painting is covered by the mat.

And lastly is a “poster size” painting that I picked up on ebay a few years ago. It’s cloth and has a foamboard backing. $50 shipped.

And that’s what I’ve got!

Haribol!

Well, most of the day wasn’t so bad. Until 4pm rolled around and the store’s computer died. It won’t boot up. Completely dead. That means all of my financial records are gone. Sure, I have paper back ups, but that’s it. Yeah, I know that I should have backed up, but here we are anyway. So that’s gone.

And then I went to pick up my taxes. Turns out that I have to come up with about $2,500 in three weeks. Awesome, huh?

So to take my mind off things, I decided to remove the starter engine from my scooter. Heard it was pretty simple.

And after four hours of swearing, I removed it.

Horribly stupid set up. Explode in hell, starter motor!!! You basically have to have Jedi powers to do this. Thankfully, my swearing is mythical and momentarily took the place of my missing Jedi powers.

Clean hands now! It was a dirty job.

I cleaned up (as you can see) and headed to Jason and Margaret’s for an evening of board games and a bunch of fun times. I almost didn’t go because I was pretty tired and bummed and just frustrated about the shitty day. But I’m glad I did. We placed “Encore.” And that was a big bunch of fun. Woo!

Also, as promised, here’s the picture of the books that I have, as per my last post.

Yep. Whole lotta books.

Time for bed.

PS – I did find this today. Fun.

So here’s an idea… I’ll be traveling this summer and fall. I would very much like to keep most of my books about Krishna consciousness. (I’ll be keeping a box or so of my other books, but we’re not talking so much about that right now). However, while I’m traveling, I really don’t have much use or need for them.

So here’s what I’d like to do. I’d like to loan someone my entire collection. Here’s what I’ve got: Everything Srila Prabhupada ever wrote… and a BUNCH of other stuff. God, to list it would take a LONG time. I have a good wall’s full of books. I’d say 10 or so boxes.

I couldn’t ship it. Well, I could, but I’m not going to. Well… maybe I will. We’ll have to talk about shipping costs for that.
So what’s in it for you? Well you get to read all about Krishna for an entire however long it is that I’m away. And then when I get settled, we can work out a way for you to ship the books to me in California. Don’t worry, I’ll pay.

And for doing all this, you get a FREE set of Srimad Bhagavatam! It’s the big volume set.

Srimad Bhagavatam Set [12 Deluxe Vols.--1979 edition]

I might be letting go of some other SP books as well. Maybe the Caitayna Caritamrita as well. I have the big set of that as well.

If you’re interested, let me know. It *will* be a pain in the ass. I promise you that. We’ll have to figure out a way to meet up to give the books to you and then we’ll have to figure out a way to ship them.

But you get a free SB and maybe CC. And maybe others! All depends if I can get Vedabase to work with Linux.

I’ll post pictures of my collection tonight. The books will be available pretty much anytime from now till whenever. I’d be wanting them back in October/November.
I’ll also be getting rid of my cooking stuff. ALL of it is pure, having never touched meat.

Well, as much as I wanted it to be, it wasn’t divine intervention. Nope. Turns out that I’m a dumb ass.

Here’s how:

When I found the bead, I figured it came out of no where! My strand wasn’t broken and I don’t have loose beads just lying around.

But what I didn’t take into account was that I’m incredibly dumb. No. You’d think by now, I’d just automatically figure that into nearly any equation.

As it turns out, I’ve been wearing two strands of beads for nearly a year now. One that is fairly tight and one that isn’t. Or rather, wasn’t. It’s the set that wasn’t that isn’t.

I was getting ready for beddy bye last night and the rest of the necklace fell out of my sleeve. I didn’t feel it. What the hell is wrong with me?!

I’m not really sure how I missed it. I honestly didn’t remember that I had two strands around my neck. But I did. I checked old photographs.

See?

So… Yes, I’m a dumbass. A big dumb dumbass.

I apologize.

I’d like to say it wouldn’t happen again, but it will. I apologize for that as well.

Something really weird just happened to me.

Ok, for the past 13 years or so, hardly a day has gone by when I didn’t wear a Tulasi necklace of some kind. They’re commonly called “neck beads” and they’re made from the wood of the Tulasi tree (pronounced “Tul-see”). Devotees consider the Tulasi plant as sacred and the wood from Tulasi is made into beads. Some are used for chanting, some are used for neckbeads.

I was sitting at my desk when I felt something moving, sliding down my shirt, against my skin. At first I thought it was a bug. I hate bugs, especially bugs that get under my clothes. Ew. So I slowly and hesitantly lifted up my shirt and behold there was a medium sized Tulasi bead.

The first thing I thought was “dammit, I broke another strand of neckbeads!” Neck beads, like any other necklace, break from time to time. I felt up around my neck. Nope… beads still there.

So then I figured that the bead cracked and the came off the cord. Nope. The bead is whole, no cracks, no nuthin.

I took off the necklace to take a closer look. There were no beads missing. Not only that, the loose bead was a bit bigger, a different color and longer than the beads on the strand of neck beads.

Ok then. If the neck beads didn’t break, and the bead wasn’t cracked… where did it come from? It’s not like I just changed neck beads, I’ve had these on for well over a year now. And it’s not like I’ve got a bunch (or any) loose beads just floating around. I don’t live near other devotees and as far as I know, no devotee has been up under my shirt. So where did it come from?

I’m really baffled by this.

What better way to end the daylight part of my day than a 70 mile ride through the sprawling (in a good way) countryside of the central Susquehanna valley? Honestly, I can’t think of one.

It’s so freeing to just ride on evenings like this. Work wasn’t so great. Nothing really bad happened or anything, just was a slow day. When I’m riding, I don’t want to do anything but ride. Even allowing myself to get off the bike is a chore.

When you’re riding you notice things that you wouldn’t notice when you’re caged in a car. The temperature changes so suddenly from hill to valley. The warm air will first hit your legs and slide up to your chest. But the cold air hits your neck when you ride down into a valley.

And it’s the cold air that makes me remember the chilly mornings camping with my family at Halfway Dam. It must be the crisp air that brings out the smells of the evergreens.

You notice other drivers more so than when you’re in a cage. You notice that they don’t see you. They’re simply not looking for you. Many aren’t really looking for anything. But even those who are looking, the “cautious” drivers, they just don’t see you. So you learn to watch for them.

It’s a weird, very untrusting relationship between me and any other car on the road. That’s the one thing about riding that I dislike. I enjoy trusting people. And most people can be trusted. But on the bike, you can’t afford to extend that trust. It’s much easier to figure that since any other thing on this road can definitely kill me, it probably will. You ride a lot safer that way.

When death is so close, you tend to think a little differently. At first, you ride conservatively. Slowly, very rigid and tense. But the longer you ride, the more you relax, the less freaked out you become.
I didn’t ride much in the winter. Mostly just to and from work. And now that it’s warmer, I’m riding a lot more. Like I said, 70 miles this evening. But when you’re getting back to riding the longer rides, you realize that you’ve lost a bit of confidence. I noticed that once again I’m stiff and pretty conservative. I am fully aware of my almost-certain death at the hands of any oncoming or following car. It’s real and it’s constant.

But in a few weeks I’ll lose that totally. And I’m not sure why. Is it because I’ve come to grips with my own mortality? That I realize that death can come at any time, for nearly any reason. Do I realize that my death could come whether I’m walking down the street, sleeping in my bed or doing 70mph down a hill on 10″ wheels – if it’s my time, it’s my time; if it’s not, it’s not.

Or do I just grow apathetic? Lazy. I don’t have any lofty realizations about death. Hell, I’m pretty freaked out by the whole affair. So for me, I’m not facing death. I’m not staring death in the eyes and spitting on death’s face. No, I’m just scooting along, doing my best to avoid being hit by cars and ignoring the obvious.