Yesterday my Internet modem lost it’s mind – literally! It just started talking to itself and nobody else. Not me, not my computer, not the Internet, not Earthlink, and not Brighthouse. It was unplugged from both electricity and its cable several times and left to ponder the error of its ways for many, many long minutes, and still it continued in its lunacy.
So, this morning it was carted off to the modem asylum for perpetually reconditioned modems to be tweaked and spanked and sent out to harass somebody else. Me, I have somebody else’s deranged monster calmly waiting in my library, busily passing data through its tiny little mind while it considers when and how it is going to sever my jugular vein, the epitome and purpose of an electronic life.
With the leak in the roof and the suicide of the modem, I’m eagerly (not) awaiting for the next catastrophe, for we all know everything happens in sets of three, bad and good.
This is a very old superstition, which mainly centered around deaths coming in threes, but today encompasses just about everything. The origin of the superstition is unknown, but the origin of the mystical usage of the number 3 are easily discerned. Nearly every religion or spirituality uses this number: Most pagans acknowledge a three-fold Goddess (Maiden, Mother, and Crone), Christians have Father, Son and Holy Ghost in the New Testament, and God’s Word, Spirit and Wisdom in the Old, Hindus have Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva the destroyer, Buddhists have the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), and Taoists have the Three Pure Ones (The Jade Purity, The Supreme Pure One, and The Grand Pure One). In Judaism, we find the Three Patriarchs, the Three Pilgrim Festivals, and three sections of the Hebrew Bible.
In most numerological systems, three is held to be a stabilizing number; thus, once three events of a similar kind have occurred, mental stability is achieved and the psychological playing field is leveled and reset.
I am now 2/3rds closer to mental stability!
Some liars are born that way, some are self-made; but the really great ones are elected to public office.
~Ledger D’Main, Bard of the Cornstalks, Still Not Dead~
My friend, Bob, sent me this email tonight.
“This guy is my latest ‘hero’ and I believe what he is doing is important – educating young people. I believe what he is doing will go a long way in combating radical Islamists in these countries. He will get a donation from me this year.
“His first book, ‘Three cups of Tea’, tells of his failure to climb K2 in Pakistan, getting lost in a snowstorm and being saved by the locals, and his promise to build them a school. Since then he has built 80 some-odd schools in the remotest regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, plus several trade schools. This guy pays himself virtually nothing (to the chagrin of his wife) and he stays in $2/night flop houses with no heat or running water when he travels in-country. He can build and staff a school for 5 years for about $50K – about 10% of what it costs the World Bank to do the same (because of the corruption and bureaucracy involved with large Gov’t agencies!). He has been awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian medal and was nominated for the Nobel peace prize this year.
“Check out his website. This is one of the few ‘non-profits’ that seems to actually be doing what they promise.”
—–Forwarded Message—–
From: Greg Mortenson
Sent: Dec 1, 2009 9:27 PM
Subject: Peace In Afghanistan: Stones Into StonesGreetings Robert,
Today, my book, Stones Into Schools, will be
releasing just as President Obama makes his historic decision on troop deployment to Afghanistan. This also coincides with you receiving our Journey of Hope III 2009 publication with updates on our 2009 work in Pakistan, Afghanistan and USA.We feel it is essential that the voice of those, who were never considered in the decision– the Afghan tribal shura (elders)– be heard. It is not politics that will bring peace, ultimately, only people bring peace. The decision to deploy more than 30,000 troops to Afghanistan (bringing the total to 100,000) was made behind closed doors and in secrecy, with no public debate, no testimony on Capital Hill, or no discussion from the media. For a democracy to progress, secrecy is not productive.
Promote Peace Through Books
Over the last six months, Central Asia Institute has been instrumental in helping dozens of Afghan shura (elders) from many rural provinces meet with the U.S. military commanders, without compensation or any benefit to CAI, other than to promote peaceful dialogue. This gave a chance for the shura’s vital voice be heard and recognized in making critical decisions that will determine the fate of their own country.
Stones into Schools
Please read our new book, Stones into Schools, for more information about the region today. Please contact your Senators and Congressional leaders to encourage them NOT to meet in secrecy behind closed doors about decisions that involve the American public and deployment of further troops. And please encourage our leaders strongly to invest in education and literacy, which is the greatest hope of all the communities we serve and work with, so that future generations of children have the right to attend schools.
Here are some other ways for you to help our mission:
1. Write a letter about Stones Into Schools suggesting that the U.S. leaders engage in further dialogue with the Afghan people.
2. Encourage local bookstores and libraries to carry Stones into Schools, and Three Cups of Tea, if they don’t already.
3. Encourage schools to use Three Cups of Tea or Stones into Schools as Common Read or Freshman Read (over 500 Junior and High Schools and over 100 Universities and Colleges use the book as a honors or campus wide read).
4. Encourage your book club to consider reading Three Cups of Tea or Stones into Schools.
5. A book makes a great birthday, holiday or mothers’ or father’s day present.
6. If you purchase at www.threecupsoftea.com or www.stonesintoschools.com and click on the Amazon.com or Indie (Independent Bookstores) banners, about 7% of ALL your book (and other) purchases will be donated directly to Central Asia Institute
7. Please forward this email to as many friends as you can to help us get the word out. Ask them to sign up for emails from me: https://www.ikat.org/alima/
8. You can now follow me on Twitter here.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to education and literacy.
Regards and Blessings of the seasons Happy Eid-ul-Adha, Kwanza, Diwali, & Christmas.
Greg Mortenson
CAI staff & Alima Editor
alima@ikat.org
August 2009
Since I don’t forward much email nowadays, I’m posting this instead, and I’ve ordered these two books. After I’ve read them, I’ll post reviews, but please don’t wait for my opinion. The prices at Amazon are reasonable and I hope you’ll get your own copies. Education and knowledge are vital to understanding and communication. Without understanding and communication, there cannot be resolution and peace. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.
The sun suddenly appeared today as though conjured from a hat and I rushed outside to feel its rays upon my face, shoulders and arms. It was glorious! I felt as though I couldn’t remember when I’d last seen the sun. Everything in the garden look foreign; shinning and verdant, bright and alive. I ran back inside to get my camera, which I had a bit of trouble reprogramming to view reality not in the context of a light box but through the warm glow of the Sun God!
The azaleas on the south side of the yard are still bravely hanging on:
As the skeletal arms of the crepe myrtles dance on the stucco of the house:
The ferns are gallantly growing in the crotch of the purple orchid tree:
The areca palm, smitten during last year’s winter, didn’t die, but it will be years before it attains it former 15 feet of glory:
And a volunteer Chinese tallow’s leaves are just now turning the colors of fall:
The philodendron are still wandering through the mondo grass that edge the planting beds:
While the hibiscus (which happily did not die from last year’s harsh winter) did not attain their full glory of towering higher than the fence, there are quite a few flowers the buds of which are responding amazingly fast to the sudden increase in temperature (yesterday it was 58°F, today it is 82°F!) and the burst of light, but only one is actually open:
A bird of paradise, past her prime, remains a bright spot:
And the azaleas on the north side of the garden are in riot:
Only one lonely elephant ear remains and only one leaf reached a meager 12 inches:
Majestically standing guard over her small offspring and the rest of the garden that is my backyard is this tall Lady, a Queen Palm, swaying in the gentle breeze and soaking up the rays:
Send me your links to beautiful snowy wastes, for I truly do love to LOOK at snow (and even briefly visit it), but this is why I love to LIVE in Florida – its winters.
Text of an email forwarded to me by my friend, Monica (thanks!):
Sometimes you are encouraged about our country’s future when you see something like this.
Specifically, there is an annual contest at Texas A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term. This year’s term was “Political Correctness.” The winner wrote:
“Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.”
*snert!*
The first sentence (or two) from the first post of each month in 2009. Memes and tweets and whatnot don’t count. An interesting way to gain perspective on the year. Thanks, Samsara!
January
The following was posted by my friend, Starra Neely Blade, on her MySpace blog. I hope you will take the time to read it, and my comment that follows, because I think it is extremely important that we all begin to take an active role in stopping the horrors occurring here upon our beautiful Mother Earth.
February
When I was in my second year of college at the University of Delaware, I worked as a research assistant for an English professor on sabbatical who was writing about Benjamin Franklin. I never ran across this saying in any of my long hours in the University’s library (I remember old Ben had lots to say, however, about the good effects of porridge) and wish I had!
March
Here are more finished jewelry projects, photographed outside this time since the weather was absolutely lovely today.
April
I took the past two days “off” from researching & studying, cleaning, the garden and the Internet to read for pure pleasure. It’s been quite a long while since I’ve done that, and it was a break I sorely needed.
May
Today I and my fellow neo-pagans celebrate the spirit of life returning to the fields and land, the greening of the May, the Queen of the May, the merry month of May – in other words, the beautiful sabbat of Beltane is once again upon us!
June
For those of you who have had the tenacity to follow the trials and tribulations of my most recent health crisis here on my blog, you know that two blood tests showed that I had recently developed kidney damage.
July
Life is slowly getting back to what is, for me, normal; that is so say, quasi-normal.
August
I saw my new nephrologist today to find out the results of the blood tests he ordered last week. Although he is not worried that Cinryze is any danger to me and this may be what is “normal” for me, my kidneys are only working at 60%.
September
I’m a tweeter, you’re a tweeter, we’re all a bunch of twits. Except now I’m also a Skyper.
October
Today is my debut as the new columnist for Fairies, Elves, and Other Kin at PaganPages!
November
There’s nothing like getting a little bit of recognition.
December
Okay, so I’m having a migraine and pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) symptoms, either one of which are enough to make me wish I were dead, let alone produce tears, and which make me more emotionally susceptible, and I keep reminding myself that whole idea behind my Etsy boutique was to to try and recoup the material costs I spent entertaining myself making the baubles while I was house-bound. So why do I have drippy, salty wet stuff welling up and spilling over my bottom eyelids?
Thanks to the folks at Inspirational Beading, my Sea Flowers bracelet sold yesterday! *SQUEE*!
Here’s the box I made to send this ocean treasure on it’s way:
I’m feeling much better about things since the “Black Depression Friday” weekend no-sale fiasco!
My fifth submission, Aurora’s Borealis Necklace, was accepted by CraftGawker today! I’m now 2 for 5.
*GAWK*!
*SQUEE*!
Blessings and thanks to Mama Kelly of 2 Witches for compiling these wonderful videos about why people chose paganism.
First up is Michael Gorman, “The Druid,” who tells the story of his spiritual journey from Catholic to Fundamentalist to Druid:
This is Sybil Silver Phoenix talking about her reasons for coming to the Path of Wicca and some the ups and downs she experienced along the way.
Here is Sic Witch Boi who shares why it is he calls himself what he does “with a touch of humor!”
After watching these videos, I was prompted to see what else was out there and found more YouTube videos.
This is Siren Star Song discussing the reasons why she is a Pagan after many years as a Christian:
Here we have Phoenix Rayneweaver explaining why she is a neo-pagan in response to a friend’s video about why he is a christian:
Blue Fire Witch is up next, defining her beliefs and why she believes them:
Now Tiger Heart provides an explanation about why she is pagan:
Kelto the Killer also responds to the Why I Am Christian video with a video about his personal religious path:
Let’s end with Paint Mary Conley, whose videos deal with path working and why she ended up with the belief system she has, “because in the past week I have had numerous people tell me I’m a Satanist, can’t be a conservative, I should convert, [and] I’m going to hell.”
Sometimes we Central Floridians take the proximity of NASA for granted and some of us may have lost our sense of amazement, being able to watch, in person, each and every launch. Well, we don’t get to watch them up this close, I guarantee!
This video took me back to grade school, when NASA and I were both young, and I felt once again in total awe of what NASA has achieved.
Thanks, Gary, for sending this my way.
