Improvising our lives . . .

Maya Stein's YES

2012-01-19T09:47:00.000-08:00

In my book, Improv Wisdom, the first maxim is to say YES. It has implications. I have rarely read a tribute to yes which says it better than this remarkable poem by Maya Stein. Please visit her blog.

yes
yes
after a violent rain,
bloody battle on the roof
mud-inked, wind-broken
roots chunked and hazardous
the velocity of the river a cause
for posted signs and nervous dogs
yes
yes
to blisters on shoulders from too much
sun, mouth woolly, limbs limp
as old dandelions yes
to skinned knees and black-bruised
egos, shyness and tongue-tripping yes
yes yes to the slow crawl of indecision
to remorse to hideous mistake
to saccharine and over-salted
to no vacancy and lost chances
yes to the ugly failures in front
of the hometown crowd
to oversized and under-whelmed
to cheats and lies and cowards
yes to the rips in your new silk dress
to torn up and torn down
yes to the conversation
you didn’t want to have
to irrational, irreconcilable, irreversible words
yes to cracked throats and busted ankles and spent light bulbs
and burned batteries and whatever dies after
it has lived
yes
to a broken promise or three or nine hundred
yes to the time it takes to tell the truth
yes to desert and dry spells and lunacy and lost hope
yes to the middle of a blind-white October
yes yes yes
to sharp and scrape and cauterize
to discard and done for
yes to ducking under yes to darkness
to breaking in two
or more pieces
than you can count
yes to the disappointing lunch
to the disappointing summer
to the disappointing marriage
yes to the seesaw fear of stillness and escape
yes to the bad haircut in eighth grade that ruined your chances
yes to the fumbling in the back seat that led
to your bad reputation
yes to beyond repair
to what’s done is done
to a change of heart mid-stream
yes to bad art
to old age
to out of shape and shapeless
yes to where have you been
and why didn’t you call
and how many times do I have to tell you
yes all of it yes
not a moment too soon or too late
this yes, this yes
this ripe and mad and fleshy terror of a thing
this yes will save us
tie our restless shoelaces and stroke
our fevered cheeks and pay off our
inglorious debts
this yes, this yes
this aching starved animal
will bear down until we open ourselves
to its wet mouth and slip our skin
under its teeth and feel its dark heart beating
ruthless against our lungs and let our heaviness fall
like a string of dominoes until we sing
our fragile, damaged beauty
into the waiting arms of the world.

Best intentions . . .

2012-01-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

Greetings in the new year. There is optimism about the possibility presented at the beginning of days. I am stoked with resolve. Today I received a weekly post from one of the best poets alive, Maya Stein. She just kindly gave me permission to share her poem of the week. It resonated with me and I bet it will with you.

my watercolor of Pomponio Beach, CA

10-LINE TUESDAY B Y M A Y A S T E I N

the drift

Sometime last week, after the revelry of the new year had passed,
that bright resolve to steer the ship of my life in a freshly purposeful direction
was dismantled by sudden doubt, like a flash frost blinding the windshield.
I wandered the morning half-awake, wasting good daylight on a section
of a tricky crossword, mindless with my meals, stingy
with love. I could feel it, momentum draining out of me, trouble troubling
the water, and all my proclamations about change and opportunity
fell silent as old rocks. The day tumbled on, without visible meaning,
until bed, when a sliver of moon rose behind the house. It wasn’t an answer,
exactly, but I understood this: A journey calls for sea, not shore.

To meet Maya go to her website and then visit her blog.

Invitation

2011-12-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

My task this week following Christmas is to pull together a serious pile to take to the Goodwill, or rather our local Coastside Senior Opportunity Center store. One of the pleasures of sorting and stacking used books and clothing is to find shards of memorabilia. Stuffed as a bookmark in a copy of a fading paperback was a 3 x 5 card with this poem handwritten. I can't discern a date, but the back of the card was used to score some game when Ron and I partnered against our niece Elissa and her brother Ryan. I wonder what the game was? Here is the poem.

Invitation

You served breakfast on the beach

broke bread with thousands at a hillside picnic

celebrated with many at the marriage of Cana –

exciting events all of these.

But this morning it’s only me

on an ordinary Monday

requesting the honor of your presence

at my kitchen table

for coffee and conversation.

Comfort comes in knowing

you require neither

feasts nor crowds—

only an invitation.

Joan Rae Mills

from “St. Anthony’s Messenger”

a Catholic Magazine

Madsons Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-24T15:31:00.000-08:00

The Madson’s Year in Review 2011

I was reasonably sure that the past year was not memorable, with the exception of the journey to India and Bhutan in November, until I sat down with a pencil. “I don’t think we did much to report,” I said aloud. But then we both got out our trusty iPhones and began skimming the quick pictures starting from last January. We were happily surprised to discover that it had been a year filled with family, warm adventures and lots of happy social times. And, now dear friends, we foist this laundry list of “doings” on you.

January-March was Stanford women’s basketball. Most of you know that we are rabid fans and attended nearly ALL the games, following our women all the way to the Final Four in Indianapolis, only to experience the heartbreak of losing to Texas A & M in the semifinals. In April – I taught a weekend workshop at the Esalen Institute. Winter quarter I had taught for Continuing Studies: “Everyday Spontaneity: Improvising our Lives,” a ten week class. And speaking of improv, I’m happy to report that 2011 was the year that my book, IMPROV WISDOM was published in Japan in March (the same day the Tsunami and earthquake hit. ;-( ) In July the first Chinese edition went on sale in Taiwan. Later in the year, rights were sold to publishers in Italy, Mexico and, most recently, mainland China. My little book is really traveling!

Family events this year included the visit of our great niece, Jysenia in February, resulting in the Madsons learning to ride a Segway. We all took the San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf Segway tour. In May we were part of the wonderful wedding of our niece, Sarah Louise Offenbacher to Lejon Douroux in Big Bear, CA. July saw us travel east for the wedding of a dear friend and former student, Victoria LaBalme to Frank Oz in the Adirondacks. We coupled this trip with a visit to our best friends who live in Gananoque, Ontario, Dalla and Jeremy Brown. Ron was treated to a surprise birthday party in August and we had a lively visit by my brother Michael and his wife Lynn in October. This occasioned another trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Thanksgiving was at our house (photo below) and Ron’s brother Gary, his wife Cheryl and ALL of their children and grandchildren came from far and wide. They all made the dinner! We were still in jetlag from our big trip.

Our family expanded by two when we welcomed two crazy new Himalayan kittens into our life in July. Meet Bodhi and Dharma, brother and sister and the newest occupants of our hearts and litter boxes. In October Patricia held court at Stanford with a reunion of the past 20 years of Stanford Improvisers, the group she founded. The weekend was an ecstatic celebration of living the life of YES!

November saw us take the BIG TRIP to Bhutan and India, a long awaited adventure. Ron is still sorting the four thousand photos. In India we got to meet our Tibetan “daughter” Pasang Dolma. She and her sister traveled from Dharamsala to meet us and spend a day at the Taj Mahal. Bhutan remains a poem of an adventure. The Buddhist culture, art and smiling people are engraved in our hearts.

Ron’s love of photography has grown this year as he took several classes in Photoshop and camera craft. He was one of the wedding photographers for Sarah and Lejon. Oh, and Patricia had her 15 minutes of fame this year when the New York Times interviewed her for an article on “What I would do if I were President.” She would send them all to improv school. And the best news is that we have both flown through this year with good health. 2012 promises to be a quieter year . . . unless our Stanford women go all the way to Colorado!

And, news just in this morning: Aaron and Brenda Offenbacher, our nephew and niece in Richmond gave birth to twins, Holden Drake and Stella Jade Offenbacher. Welcome to our family! It is indeed a holy day when children are born. Here they are with their smiling mother on the day they were born.

This overlong newsletter brings with it the warmest of wishes for a New Year filled with good sense and good health. (Although with the elections looming the “good sense” part may be a stretch.) Blessings for 2012.

The Madsons Christmas tree 2011

2011-12-21T21:34:00.000-08:00

When my husband Ron built our house he created a 16 foot ceiling at one end of the living room. I didn't know until our first Christmas came around that he had a purpose in this. Each November we go over to Pastorinos on highway 92 and select the largest tree that Ron can get me to agree to bring home. It's always a struggle since I like "little things" and Ron clearly likes big ones. So a family tradition was born. Put up the biggest tree you can find, and decorate it with the thousand ornaments you have collected over the past forty years. Our friends know that we have a large tree and so, many of them give us lovely ornaments. Our stash includes the complete White House ornaments collection. This was started by my brother, Michael who gave us one a decade ago. Now we have them all.
And, here stand I with another family tradition: dressed for my birthday dinner at Gary Danko. Ron treats me like a princess and takes me to the best place in town. Truly it is. So, I bring you today our fondest wish for a year of health and strength. And I'm wishing the world a dose of common sense and down to earth-ness in 2012. I know that's a big order in an election year. Perhaps if we are lucky we can find that still center which is at the heart of this season.

The Art of Listening

2011-12-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

A recent article in the Sunday New York Times by Henning Mankell, a writer living in Africa makes an important point about listening, an art we have seem to have lost. Further he talks to us about storytelling and the need we humans have to share stories. As a teacher of improv I find both of his points compelling.
He relates a story about two old African men who return to a friend's home to hear the end of his story. Unfortunately, the man died before telling the end. He relates their lament: “That’s not a good way to die — before you’ve told the end of your story.”

Have you told the end of your story? Have you told your story at all?
Check this out

Leaving Bhutan

2011-11-19T17:56:00.001-08:00

It's an unexpected surprise to find free wifi at the Paro airport lounge. We are poised to leave this extraordinary land. What sticks in my mind is the image of prayer flags everywhere. These good Buddhist believe that each flap of the cloth bears a wish for peace and harmony into the universe. While they don't believe in a God as such, they do trust deeply in reality. Every chance he had our guide could be heard mumbling prayers. Om Manu Padme hum a prayer of hope for enlightenment in this life. Well these hard working people with their reverence for art and beauty strike me as embodying this wisdom. And of course not everyone is a Buddha all the time (even Bhutan has its share of jerks) on the whole the behavior of these people is something to admire. I look forward to time to digest these experiences and write about them. Now my prayers are for safe and uneventful travel over the next 12 thousand miles.

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Day 11 the Central Market, Weaving Museum

2011-11-18T03:46:00.001-08:00

The Central Market full of smells, kiddos, dried meat and fish was a sensory delight. Lots of photos but will keep this short due to bandwidth.

The Textile Museum had fabulous DVD. Bringing it home to share

The Paro Dzong majestic and full of artworks.

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Day 10 back to Thimphu

2011-11-17T01:20:00.001-08:00

Today is a religious holiday and our guide took us to the most important local temple. We received a blessing on our heads by the presiding Lama. No photos inside but here you see the ever present prayer wheels.

Here the main prayer Om Mani Padme Hum is written on the walls everywhere. These are at the top of the pass Dochu La. 10,300 feet up where we hung prayer flags we brought from California.
Finally we visited a nature preserve home to the Takin an animal ONLY found in Bhutan. Horns like a goat about the size of a small cow.

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Location:Thimphu Bhutan

Some images of the Chorten and Dzong

2011-11-16T04:34:00.001-08:00

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2011-11-15T17:15:00.001-08:00

Many buildings in Bhutan celebrate fertility. These paintings are everywhere.

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Crossing the Pelela pass

2011-11-15T16:59:00.001-08:00

We had a long travel day from from the village of Trongsa (elevation 7472) to the village of Punakha (elevation 4600). On route we went over a high pass is around 10,399feet. We hung our own prayer flags on the chorten at the summit. Lunch was in a rustic village. Here is a photo of the restaurant. Paintings of phalluses are on the sides of many houses and buildings. The Bhutanese are really into honoring fertility.

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More pictures from Bhutan

2011-11-15T04:07:00.001-08:00

The Trongsa Dzong. These handsome buildings are part local government and part monastery and temple.

This is the cave featured in the film Travelers and Magicians.

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Bhutanese society

2011-11-12T07:00:00.001-08:00

A quick footnote: you got to love a country that has 1.Outlawed smoking. 2. Requires that citizens in the major cities walk or bike to work two fixed days a week. (fully enforced save the air days) and 3. Has two months a year (April and Sept) when eating meat is forbidden. Oh, and you must be formally dressed to go to school, temple or into a civic building. Here was a sign outside a hospital.

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Buddhist temples and images Day 5

2011-11-12T03:57:00.001-08:00

Today seems like it had 50 hours. We saw so much. After the festival dances this morning we were taken to the three main Buddhist temples in Blumthang. Breathtaking interiors of shrine rooms. No photos were allowed inside these holy places. I found myself on the verge of tears many times seeing the statues and holy relics. One of the temples housed a sanctuary with the largest statue of Guru Rinpoche in Bhutan. He is the saint who brought Buddhism to Bhutan in 764 ad. Photos below are of dancers at the festival, a painted mani wall and the main trio of temples, Kurjey Lhakhang.
Moving tomorrow to the town of Trongsa. No Internet for the next four days. Bhutan is a country that is very wise.

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Day 6. Blumthang and Jambay Festival

2011-11-11T23:41:00.001-08:00

Our sixth day in Bhutan is a colorful one. After a tasty breakfast of buckwheat pancakes, a local speciality, we set out to arrive early for the Jambay festival. This is a Buddhist festival that celebrates fertility. The people see these festivals as major social events and show up dressed in their finest with picnic baskets full of food and drink. Revelry is not uncommon. One of the events our guide did not take us to is a midnight naked dance. Lots to say but our tour guide is pulling us away.

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Day 5 Bhutan

2011-11-11T00:20:00.001-08:00

It has been quite an adventure. After a full day of delights in Thimphu we set off for a distant area called Gantey where we were to stay in a primitive farmhouse. The drive which took eight hours covered rough and narrow roads but the scenery was breathtaking. Arriving at the farmhouse at dusk Ron was not feeling well. We were at 9300 feet elevation Our kind and helpful guide checking his symptoms judged that he was suffering from altitude sickness. The only way to treat this safely is to descend to a much lower altitude. So at night our driver brought us back down the mt to the town of Punakha a three hour dusty drive. Near midnight we took Ron to a local hospital (which is a story in itself). The Bhutanese doctor who was called from home examined him and judged that he was going to be okay. We stayed overnight in the Primeministers guest house. (another long story)
On day 4 we had another all day drive arriving for the night in the town of Trongsa. Both of us were pretty wiped out. The acclimatization is taking longer than we imagined. But today day 5 we had only a three hour drive through beautiful forests to get to Jakar. Along the way we hung prayer flags at the highest pass (thanks Jim,for good idea) then got to see a rehearsal for a Buddhist festival. We've at last arrived where we will be staying for three nights. We are at 8400 feet and it's cold. Our room has a tiny wood stove. They light it at night. The weather has been PERFECT. Cool clear and dazzling. Taking lots of photos and videos but will wait to post when we have stronger Internet.
So you see it has been quite an adventure. I think the hardest part altitude wise is behind us and we'll get stronger and mor

e able to enjoy this countries many blessings.
Here are some prayer flags.

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More images from day 2

2011-11-08T03:26:00.001-08:00

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Location:Thimphu

Day 2 Thimphu National Memorial Chorten and the art school

2011-11-08T03:15:00.001-08:00

After breakfast at our hotel we were taken to the Chorten in Thimphu.
This is the Buddhist shrine that local Bhutanese visit, many of them
daily. It is a form of morning prayer. The faithful circumnambulate
the structure spinning prayer wheels and stopping from time to time to
do full prostrations. A local women jumped into a photo with our
guide Thinley. The devotion of these people is impressive.

Next we visited the large national school of traditional Bhutanese
arts. This place is where all of the traditional arts are taught and
preserved. Thanks painting, sculpture both wood and clay, embroidery,
archery, weaving. Students study eight hours a day for six or seven
years to gain mastery. These painters are who do all of the
astonishing painting on the buildings all over Bhutan. There was a
sign on a classroom wall that struck me: "If you are a good human
being, then the skills and knowledge you acquire will benefit the
whole society. Otherwise, it's like giving a weapon to a child.". We
watched these students at work.

We had a traditional Bhutanese lunch of red rice, vegetables and
chilies with Kesang Namgyel the owner of Gangri Tours in Thimphu. In
the afternoon we spent three hours with a master thanka painter, Mr
Pema Tshering. He gave us a private lesson in beginning thanka
painting and lectured on thankas. He invited us to a private puja for
the Green Tara being held in his residence. Seven monks were
performing a ritual in his family shrine.

Then we visited a paper making factory. The day has been overwhelming.

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Arrival notes from Ron

2011-11-07T18:00:00.001-08:00

Today's post is by my husband Ron who shares his impressions of our landing yesterday.
"We have landed in a lot of places scattered around this great globe, but I have never been choked up with emotion and the warmth I felt emerging out onto the tarmac here. We stayed there on the tarmac, for quite a while just taking in clarity and purity I feel here.

Paro International Airport is a short single runway nestled in the Paro valley, cradled by small mountain ranges running the length of the valley and tall snow capped peaks at the tailing end. The crispness clarity and cleanliness stands in such marked contrast with all that India seemed to embody. All the buildings of the airport itself and around the landing strip are traditional Bhutanese, colorful and beautiful. Lots of carved wood and Buddhist iconography. This is not an airport, it seems, but looks and feels more like a monastery.

Lots more to share, but it is a.m. now and we've got to run to breakfast then meet with our guide for a day around Thimphu. This is the capital and it is beautiful and wonderful and not a tourist town at all.

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Landing in Bhutan

2011-11-07T02:59:00.001-08:00

We have safely landed in Bhutan. Our guide greeted us with kata blessing scarfs. We were driven through beautiful valleys filled with smiling people. This is a magical land in every way. The air is fresh and clean. The snow capped mountains surround us. We were led to the gorgeous Galinghka hotel where our corner suite looks out over the town of Thimphu. It feels as if we have literally gone to heaven. I cannot express my profound joy. Now the grand adventure begins. And as icing on the cake our hotel has wifi. I know it's heaven.

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Location:Thimphu Bhutan

Leaving our Tibetan daughters

2011-11-06T17:09:00.001-08:00

We came to India to meet face to face with a young woman, Pasang Dolma (on right) and her sister Tsedon Llamo. They are Tibetan refugees who fled Tibet into Dharamsala over ten years ago. We have been sponsoring them over the years and writing letters of hope and encouragement. At last we met for a brief but emotional weekend. We leave them now to go on to Bhutan. It was a memorable time. We stand with a gift of the Tibetan flag they brought as a gift. Blessings on your journeys home, dear ones.

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Location:New Delhi, India

India day three

2011-11-06T08:03:00.001-08:00

Amid the chaos and pollution and eternal pursuit of the rupee lies an India of deep spirituality. This is the Bahai House of Worship usually called the Lotus Temple. Dedicated to the unity of all faiths it is truly a place of peace. A highlight of this trip was the chance to sit in silent prayer inside this magnificent structure.

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Location:New Delhi INDIA

The Taj Mahal

2011-11-05T19:46:00.001-07:00

Here I am in front of one of the seven wonders of the world. It's sheer beauty dazzles. I'm holding a Botjoy, a little icon designed to bring happiness to whoever owns him. For more on Botjoy check out artist Gary Hirsch. Heat, dust, chaos, indescribably mad traffic, serene beauty. All in one place.

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First Day in India

2011-11-04T03:33:00.001-07:00

We landed in the middle of the night to find thousands of other swarming travelers. The New Delhi International airport is a glittering place. This sculpture of a mudra graces the wall. Staying in Delhi at the Star Grand Villa. Tomorrow we go to see one of the wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. Life is good.

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The trip of a lifetime . . . Going to Bhutan

2011-11-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, November 2, 2011 Ron and I set out on a world journey. We travel via Hong Kong to New Delhi, India first. There we meet a young woman, Pasang Dolma who is a Tibetan girl living in Dharamsala. We have been her sponsor for a number of years and now will finally have a chance to meet her face to face.
After four days in India (which includes a day at the Taj Mahal) we move on to Bhutan. We have two weeks in the country which will take us out into the Blumthang region to attend the Black Crane Festival in Jakar. While I won't be posting from Bhutan I hope to share some images and impressions when I return. Wish us good fortune and safe travels. Home on November 22, 2011. This photo is of the famous Tiger's Nest, a monastery perched on a hill outside of Paro.

Follow up on "If I Were President"

2011-09-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

Priya Parker, visioner, mediator and dancer has done an interesting follow up to my New York Times quip a few weeks ago. I suggested that the solution to our nation's problems could be addressed if I gave an improv workshop to our legislators. Priya took me to task on this and invited me to put my money where my mouth was. Read her blog and the follow up interview. Priya Parker's Blog

If I were President

2011-08-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

My friend Jesse Kornbluth had a creative idea for a Sunday think piece in the New York Times. I was invited to give my thoughts on what I would do if I was President of the United States. Tired of reading what only the political pundits were saying he asked a bunch of ordinary folks what we'd do with today's chaos in Washington. Click on my photo.

My remarks may seem a bit flippant, given what is at stake, however improv training does offer us a more positive way to look at everything. Think about it!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/21/opinion/sunday/20110821_Kornbluth_President.html?ref=opinion

Improv Wisdom goes to Taiwan

2011-07-17T06:37:00.001-07:00

I am grateful to my translator in Taiwan. Her name is Hsiao-Hsien Wu and she has singlehandedly been responsible for the book's birth in her country. She reports that the book was published in Taiwan in Chinese on July 7, 2011. Readers from Hong Kong have already bought the book. Here is to the world of improv in the Chinese language. She holds copies of the book with it's "wrapper". The sales pitch invites the reader to share some of the secrets of innovation used by American companies. The Chinese title is: "Successful Creativity Come Effortlessly"--"13 Improv Lessons to get creative energy nonstop." Thank you, Hsiao-Hsien. You are my shero.

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Meditating on the flow

2011-07-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

Last week my capable husband undertook a grim job: cleaning the koi pond. It has been over two years since we have done this ritual and time has done its work on our small pond. We have six fish: four koi (the Marx brothers: Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Gumbo) and two all white goldfish that are about six inches long. The angels are shy and hide a lot in the caves Ron has fashioned to keep the fish children safe when predators come a calling at our sushi bar. Over the six years we've had the pond and fish we've lost three to a hungry heron and a clever raccoon. With this pond clean out Ron installed a device called a "scarecrow" which is a motion detector over the pond. When something comes in its way the device squirts streams of water at whoever is in or over the pond. It squirts adults, too.

This morning the sun was high and we took our breakfast by the pond on our deck. I took this short video of the koi children to remember just how peaceful they seemed today. The water is clear, the waterfalls are singing and all is right with the world. I invite you to sit for the fourteen seconds of this video and enjoy the beauty of the flow.

Shredded wheat/Candied Ginger Scones

2011-06-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

It's rare to have a rainy day in late June in our part of California. Being inside during a rain brings on the baker in me. I love the smell of cakes, cornbread, scones, brownies filling the house. Today I promised Ron I'd make one of his favorites: Shredded Wheat Scones. We got this recipe from the SF Chronicle food pages about fifteen years ago. I've made it dozens of times. I've added a frosting to make it wicked. I get a jar of Lavender sauce (lavender elixier in a sugar syrup) at the Farmer's market. I use the liquid to moisten powdered sugar to make an icing. Yum. Here is the recipe.

Harvey’s Shredded wheat and Candied Ginger Scones

1 cup crushed shredded wheat cereal (two large or about two cups bite-sized)

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

2/3 cup candied ginger cut into tiny pieces

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter at room temp

½ cup milk (or can use half and half or cream for even richer taste)

1 egg

(a few tablespoons of milk to glaze tops before baking)

Icing (Mix sugar with liquid until consistency of icing to dribble)

1 cup powdered sugar

Lemon juice or Lavender syrup or just milk(about 1 Tablespoon)

Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees

Stir and toss together cereal flour, sugar, ginger, baking powder, salt. Once well mixed add the butter and with your fingers or a pastry blender mix the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. (Will not be fully consistent or smooth. Bumpy is good)

Mix egg and milk together well. Then add liquid to flour mixture. Stir until combined. It will be sticky and soft. Now turn this gloppy mess out onto a counter or board that has lots of flour. Knead gently about 10 times until you have a ball all holding together. Flatten ball unto about a half inch- 2/3 inch. Cut the whole thing into triangles or square small biscuits. Brush tops of scones with milk. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 16-20 minutes watching to make sure they don’t burn. Golden brown but not too much. Careful not to over bake. They continue baking after you pull them out.

While partially cooled drizzle icing onto them. Let cool, (if you can stand it) before eating. Enjoy.

Radio Interview on Saturday evening

2011-06-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

At 6:05 Pacifiic time on Saturday, 6/18/11 I'm going to be on the radio. You can listen on the internet. Here is the announcement from Good Vibrations Radio:

"Patricia Ryan Madson will be a guest on Good Vibrations Radio™: Tools for Transformation with Solarzar & Kyralani on AM 540, KRXA, Monterey, California on June 18th, from 6:06 PM to 6:57 PM (PDT). The full show broadcasts from 6-9 PM (PDT) and can be live streamed on the Internet using the Live Link at the home page of www.GoodVibrationsRadio.com. To join in the discussion listeners may call 1-831-899-5792 (KRXA)"

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

2011-06-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean—

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and for the

instead of up and down—

who is gazing around with her enormous

and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and

thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll

through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

by Mary Oliver

What is compassion in action?

2011-06-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

This article was written in April, 2008. It was never published. I found it today as I was cleaning a hard drive that holds backups.

"One morning Joshu was walking in front of the Zen Hall, treading on the deep-drifted snow. He accidentally lost his footing and fell in the snow. He cried out loudly, 'Help me out! Help me out!' A monk heard him crying, came running, raising clouds, and instead of helping the Master out of the snow, 'threw himself in the snow too.' That is, the monk laid himself down in the snow like the Master. Joshu, who could very well have given the monk a blow of his stick, quite calmly returned to his room.”

"Now, did this monk help the old teacher out or not?" (Shibayama, 1970, p. 226)

What is compassion in action? How can I help? asks the title of a 1985 Ram Das book. This koan is a clever reminder that help comes in many forms. The answer to Shibayama’s question is both yes and no. No, he did not help: Master Joshu had to get up out of the snow by his own efforts. We are essentially alone in this life, and it is by our personal efforts that we live, move and advance. No one can live your life for you, no one can do your work, take on your burden, and settle your debts. And, while it is natural to cry out for someone to lift us out of our problem, it does not work that way.

However, it is arguable that the monk did help in joining his teacher in the snow. Sometimes there is no fix, no cure, no balm that can change the reality facing a person. Although we might wish with all our hearts that we could “help” at a fundamental level there is suffering that must be borne alone. But this is not to say that a compassionate heart may leave the scene. Simply staying in the room, listening, abiding silently can offer some relief. We are not alone. And, yet we are. We will each face our own deaths very much alone. And, yet there is a kind of solace in having a warm presence near at hand. When someone is in trouble or pain my strongest reaction is to call for help . . . run somewhere to get an expert. It is uncomfortable to stay next to the person suffering. And, yet, staying is often exactly what is needed. It is often all you can do.

Just weeks ago I learned that my best friend who lives half a continent away in Canada was diagnosed with a virulent strain of cancer. One day she was fine, healthy, active, a locomotive of grace and action . . . doing what needed doing—running a household and breaking in a new job (in what was to become a terrible irony) as a cancer counselor for the highly respected Wellspring of Canada, and on the next day she was scheduled for a radical mastectomy. Mounting discoveries pointed to a type of cancer with a high incidence of recurrence. Her team of oncology specialists set forth a yearlong course of aggressive treatment, including six rotations of chemotherapy. While there is every reason to expect a good outcome, there is much that remains unknown and unknowable.

And so I take a nosedive and join her in the snow, in the cold. How am I doing this? I have decided to do all I can not to turn away from her suffering. I want to stay focused and listen intently when she tells me about her treatment and her fears and feelings. I want to hang in there with her when the going get tough and to celebrate when there are moments of triumph or special happiness. We are instituting a weekly telephone “date” on Monday mornings. At 8:00 am California time and 9:00am her time we will ring each other and have a gossip fest. I am sending her a hand made card each week, and small gifts as they appear. Also, I’ll be reading for her, looking for quotes that might appeal or inspire or simply divert. I’ll send or recommend books and music and internet sites.

In yet another irony Trudy recently made her swansong as Associate Editor of Thirty Thousand Days, a quarterly journal published by the ToDo Institute in Vermont. In the final spring issue she published a brief article on being an “all weather friend” and on the importance of choosing to be the kind of friend who is reliable and creative. Now, I aspire to take her advice and to be an “all weather friend” to her during this crisis . . . and beyond.

In the “monk in the snow” koan the young monk chooses to be IN the snow with his teacher. This is clearly different from standing nearby, warm and secure, possibly saying encouraging words. By jumping into the snow the monk selects to suffer with his friend—to feel the chill and experience the panic of the situation. Sometimes what we can do is to suffer with someone."
Patricia Ryan Madson April 28, 2008

Note on June 13, 2011. . . I am happy to report that Trudy, the friend mentioned here, has had a wonderful recovery from her ordeal with breast cancer. Her life now is flowering in wonderful ways. During her year of treatment she kept a daily blog that has been a balm to many.

Temple Grandin the movie

2011-06-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

Once a decade a film comes along that is profoundly uplifting. That film is Temple Grandin, made in 2010 by HBO. It won Emmys for Best Made-for-Television Movie, Best Director, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Music Composition, and Best Camera Editing at the 62nd Emmy Awards on Sunday August 29, 2010. It is the true story of a modern heroine. Claire Danes plays her with deep understanding. And the supporting cast is masterful. Autistic from birth this young women showed courage, brilliance and determination to change the world's understanding of animals. She has literally changed our world. I urge you to find this film to rent. Netflix has it on DVD (but not streaming at this time.) You will want to know more about this astonishing woman. Her website is an inspiration.

Anonymous Poem

2011-06-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

An Anonymous Prayer from England

17th. century

Lord, thy knowest better than I know myself

that I am growing older and will someday be old.

Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say

something on every subject and, on every occasion.

Release me from craving to straighten out

everybody's affairs.

Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful not bossy,

With my vast store of wisdom it

seems a pity not to use it all.

But, Thou knowest Lord

that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind from the recitals of endless details.

Give me wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips on my aches and pains.

They are increasing and love of rehearsing them

is becoming sweeter as the time goes by.

I do not ask for Grace enough to enjoy the tales

of other's pain but, help me endure them with patience.

I dare not ask for improved memory, but, for a

growing humility & a lessening cocksureness

when my memory seems to clash

with the memories of others.

Teach me the glorious lesson

that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet

I do not want to be a Saint.

Some of them are so hard to live with.

But, a sour person is the works of the Devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in

unexpected places

and talents in unexpected people.

And, give me, O Lord, the Grace to tell them so!

I am indebted to Richie Mommers of Brownfield, ME for sharing this wonderful poem. It perfectly expresses my current hopes and dreams.

The Lanyard

2011-06-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

The Lanyard

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly

off the pale blue walls of this room,

bouncing from typewriter to piano,

from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,

I found myself in the L section of the dictionary

where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist

could send one more suddenly into the past----

a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp

by a deep Adirondack lake

learning how to braid thin plastic strips

into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard

or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,

but that did not keep me from crossing

strand over strand again and again

until I had made a boxy

red and white one for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,

and I gave her a lanyard.

She nursed me in many a sickroom,

lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,

set cold face-cloths on my forehead,

and then let me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,

and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard,

Here are thousands of meals, she said,

and here is your clothing and a good education.

And here is your lanyard, I replied,

which I made with a little help from a camp counsellor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,

strong legs, bones and teeth,

and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,

and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.

And here, I wish to say to her now,

Is a smaller gift-not the archaic truth

that you can never repay your mother.

but the rueful admission that when she took

the two-tone lanyard from my hands,

I was as sure as a boy could be

that this useless, worthless thing I wove

out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

By Billy Collins, The Trouble With Poetry

Today's flowers

2011-06-03T14:49:00.001-07:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Prayer by Mary Oliver

2011-06-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

Praying

It doesn’t have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try

to make them elaborate, this isn’t

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.

By Mary Oliver

Your Facebook Persona

2011-05-27T16:19:00.001-07:00

Your Facebook Persona

Much is written about “privacy” and Facebook. I wonder if those of us who use and peruse this marketplace of social, political and commercial exchange have noticed how each of us over time is displaying a distinct personality?

After watching my friends’ posts for a year it is easy to predict what kind of a status line they are likely to add. It’s even easy to predict how often a given friend will weigh in on something or offer an idea. Most of us have become wildly predictable on Facebook and seem to develop a consistency that is slightly alarming. It’s easy to tell who is seriously addicted and needs to post round the clock. Others show up intermittently. You know who you are.

Whether or not our “real” personality is like the reflection of our posts it is clear that each of us is in danger of having a FB Personality. Here are some of the archetypes I have observed: (perhaps some of your friends fall into these profiles, eh?)

1. The Complainer. This person only chooses to post when they have something negative to say. “I hate Mondays” “My boss is such a jerk.” “Why are doctors such poor listeners?” “I got a ticket while texting today. Boo hiss for patrol cops!” “Feeling stupid this morning.” The Complainer is an equal opportunity complainer- saying negative things about both self and others.

2. The Politico. This person only posts links and clips of articles about their political point of view. Count on a YouTube link to some political rhetoric or a NYT editorial. This type is often trying to raise money for something. Beware Paypal links to “worthy causes.”

3. The Major Family Announcement Messenger. This person only posts when they have something BIG to announce: a death in the family, an engagement or wedding, or an x-ray of a broken fibula. “I got fired this week.” “The dog got run over.” Would also quality.

4. The Jokester pointer. This person is privy to every weird or comic YouTube. Count on getting a link to a video of kittens pooping on Grandpa’s lap while he is sleeping.

5. The Literati. This person is fond of showing off his wide intellectual range by posting links to poetry, art and criticism. Clips of classical music abound. Look for a Yo Yo Ma video.

6. The Jetsetter. Count on this guy to use the location/Place entry liberally. “Here I am at the Taj Mahal.” “This is me at the Sands in Vegas.” “Climbing Kilimanjaro this week.” “Just checked in at the Paris Hilton.” “Eating crab off a boat in Patagonia.” All of these are accompanied by IPhone photos.

7. The Spiritual Guide. This friend seems to be connected to complete information about some (or many?) spiritual path(s). Count on links and photos of gurus, temple bake sales, books on The Way. Often there is simply a quotation to uplift you spiritually.

8. The Self Promoter. This friend only seems to post links to the thing that they are selling: “Click here to buy my book.” “Only thirteen spots left in my Seminar!” “ Three ways to contact my Agent.” “Did you know that I’m selling my pottery at a 10% discount this month?” “Come see my show tonight. It’s awesome.”

9. The Artist. This writer likes to post photos of current art work or photography. The hope is that they can garner praise by getting a bunch of “likes” and thereby validate themselves as artists.

10. The PartyHound. This writer only posts when they have a bunch of photos of themselves wasted and hanging on the necks of other drunken friends. This type is sometimes a subset of the Jetsetter.

11.The SmileyFace. This friend only says NICE things. It’s common to use their status posts to thank people or wax poetical about how great life is and how lucky they are. (Definitely the polar opposite of the Complainer.)

12.The Enigmatic. This writer seems to write in code. Posts are cryptic and usually indecipherable: “Gve RQP some tips. Need more windows.” “Took 6 h to finish. Phew . . .Did you?” “Why does K go in circles?”

(What is she talking about?)

Oh, and a few of my friends are combos of these profiles. I guess each of us gets to use FB for his own purpose. Different strokes for different folks, they say. I am sure I have missed a few. Would love to have you add some I've missed.

Nothing lasts . . .

2011-05-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

This artwork is by Dan Jones of Telford, England. He creates thought provoking doodles. I love this piece. I shared it with a good friend who made the tiniest of adjustments. The second image is the "improved version." Don't you like the new one? Dan did.

The most wonderful man I know

2011-05-23T19:57:00.001-07:00

I snapped this photo of my amazing husband Ron Madson with an IPhone at Sarah's wedding. Here he is intent listening to a young woman of around 30 years who has been doing Genealogy for 15 years. He loves finding a kindred spirit in family history. He's the kindest, strongest, goodest man I know.

2011-05-20T08:59:00.001-07:00

It's four thirty on a tuesday afternoon. I'm sitting next to our gas hearth and reveling in the quiet. Ron and Joan are both away. Bodhi is sleeping soundly in his kitty bed. The world seems gracious and good. Few states provide more healing for my spirit than that of silence. Actually silence isn't accurate. There is the ticking of two family heirloom clocks that Ron has going. They strike alternately doing a gentle tick tock dance. The gas fire has a soft whine and periodically there is the sound of a car driving up El Granada Boulevard. Otherwise there is a kind of silence.

In this silence my thoughts can rest. I am not pulled by offers to add something to my world or news of the latest update on Japan's tragedy. I am not massaged by music or song. I can slow my body/mind and troll for what may be important or useful now. Or I can avoid selection and simply take this now into consciousness. Silence feels like cool water on my soul. In a noisy world I rejoice in the blessing of silent moments.
(note: this essay was written several months ago when our beloved Bodhi was still with us.)

March 22, 2011

Painting the Farmer's Market Bouquet

2011-05-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago our local Farmer's Market of Half Moon Bay launched its 2011 season. So much to celebrate seeing the fresh local produce, bakery goods and even fresh caught salmon. For only $5 I brought home a multicolored bouquet. Since this week has been filled with spring rains it has been a good time to paint indoors. Here I share a recent painting of the flowers with our White Tara thanka in the background.
All hail the spring!

Talk less. Do More

2011-05-15T16:42:00.001-07:00

Energy Crisis in America

I’m not talking about the oil crisis. Have you noticed the outlay of energy expended everywhere all day by the act of criticizing, complaining and venting negative thoughts? The media is overwhelmed by it. News channels thrive on it. Comic satirists make their living doing it. Anyone with half a dozen or more friends on Facebook knows already that each of us has a preferred sense of what is worthy of posting. I can predict in advance which of my friends and relatives are likely to use their status lines to vent rather than express something positive or point to resources that are constructive. Even writing this I fall into the category of critic: the very thing I seek to deter.

What if instead of voicing criticism or complaining (“What about those ****’s who hog the highways?” “Don’t you just hate it when it rains on game day?” “I look like a bag of trash today.” “Those blasted politicians are off their rockers . . .” each of us used the same amount of time to DO SOMETHING constructive? If I picked up a single piece of trash for every time I complained about someone else, the world would be a better place.

I am arguing for two things: Talk less. (Especially useless complaints and negative reflections) and Do more. Do more good. Tiny constructive actions. (Clean something. Put something back in order. Contribute a single dollar to a cause you believe in. Help a friend. Send a thank you note. These are tiny actions, doable at any moment.

Our opinions and commentary on the world (“The Republicans/the Democrats/the Capitalists/the greedy oil companies/my inlaws . . . etc. fill in the blank here . . . . . . . ) are the problem. Blaa blaa blaa . . . ) does nothing to change our reality. However, everything you do (or don’t do in the case of ecology) matters.

So, when you notice yourself going off about the latest thing you don’t like, stop. Quit complaining. Take some small action to make anything better. If we all heeded this advice just think about the amount of improvement we could make. This is an energy crisis we can fix on the spot. And, while it won’t bring down oil prices at the drop of a hat, it’s a better use of time, don’t you think?

Talk less. Do more

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Painting the garden at Esalen

2011-05-07T16:39:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I taught a workshop titled "Everyday Spontaneity: Improvising Our Lives" at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. During our afternoon break I was able to sit in the beautiful garden and do watercolors. No art can truly capture the vibrancy of the color. I dedicate this small painting to my mother, Virginia Louise Pittman Ryan (1920-1998). She was a flower.

Location:Big Sur, CA

An essay by Susan Piver

2011-05-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

I was not among those celebrating and cheering wildly upon the news of the death of Osama Ben Laden. I am grateful that he is no longer alive, but it seems that this is a somber time. Like many I have been searching for words to express what I really think and feel. Susan Piver's thoughtful essay says it well. She makes sensible suggestions in the wake of this event. I commend it to you for reading.

Osama bin Laden is dead. One Buddhist’s response by Susan Piver

This is a watercolor of Pillar Point Harbor in Princeton, CA near my home.

Reflections by John Tarrant on Gregory Willms death

2011-04-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Reflections by John Tarrant on Gregory Willms death

CASE 55 OF THE BLUE CLIFF RECORD

Sesshin Teisho by John Tarrant RoshiJune 26, 1994 Day OneCamp Meeker, California

A few weeks ago we were here in sesshin and it seems to me that we're still in sesshin. So this is a very favorable time to go deep; to take another step in the Way. A few weeks ago Al Einhorn's ashes were on the altar during sesshin and since then I've been to two more funerals. So I thought I should talk about death today.
Death is something that's like birth and taxes; it's always with us. Until you can be at ease with death, you are not at ease with life. Often it's thought that the measure of a person's meditation is whether or not they are at ease with their owndeath. If, when you're dying, you can say, "Yes," then that is a good thing. Since you're going to do it anyway, it's not much use saying, "No." I don't know whether this is a quote of his or whether he made it up, but at the beginning of one of Robert Haas' books of poems, he says, "What shall we do with a beast so enormous, so intractable, so difficult to deal with?" And the answer is, "We shall praise it." That is our life, we must praise it.

The two funerals I've been to recently were for Gregory Willms and Anne Aitken. Both of them knew they were going to die fairly soon and did it well, so it wasn't really a shock. Let me talk about those two deaths a little.
I realized that Gregory was going to die soon when he arrived at my place with some paintings and stuff that I knew he liked and he started distributing his goods, distributing the objects of his life. He was kind of into objects, so that was significant for him. During his last months he spent a lot of time setting things in order, giving little things away to people. In a way s of unpacking his life. We spend all this time collecting things and now he was dispensing with them. While most of us knew he was going to die in a few months, he didn't know he wasgoing to die at that time, but because he had this attitude towards death, that it was his last journey in this life, then he really didn't make too much of a fuss about it. When the nurse called Gregory's partner, Leonard Gabriel, and said, "We'relosing him. You better come into the hospital really quickly." Leonard jumped into his car and came in. The nurse and the physician were trying to stabilize him so that Leonard could arrive and he had been stabilized by the time Leonard arrived.Leonard said, "They tell me that you're dying." Gregory said, "I don't know. It's okay." So they spent the night talking and when the dawn came on he would drift in and out and his speech would get very soft. When the dawn came on, he roused a little and saw the stars fade and heard the birds and then stoppedbreathing. When I heard I figured probably everyone was still at the hospital, the body was still at the hospital, so I jumped into my car because I had agreed with my friend that I would chant for him. So I went round and chanted and some other people came around, Roberta. It was quite a party in the hospital room. Because it's a new hospital and the AIDS wing, they left us alone to do our thing, I guess. We were in there for hours and chanting. It was very interesting because it was very easy. There was this very easy serene feeling in the room. It was veryplain that clinical death does not mean entire death. You can really feel somebody's consciousness around in the room before it's gone out further. I began to understand how the Tibetans wrote their manuals of dying which was just by being with a lot of dying people and watching what they experienced and what they noticed.

What I noticed was that Gregory was quite comfortable being there with his friends and seemed to have no impetus to leave. There was a sense of this benign, amiable presence in the room. But as we chanted, then something would release and he'd be moving on and moving through. So one has that sense of chanting somebody through and that the chanting is a very, very powerful thing to do at such a time because it goes so deep into my heart and everybody's heart. And that was very easy with him. When Roberta's dad died a few months ago, she arrived in the hospital room not long after he was clinically dead. He had struggled; he had fought very hard for the last two days. They took him off code, which means that if he died they wouldn't revive him, and he knew he didn't have enough heart muscle left to survive, but he kept himself going. He started his own heart quite a number of times when it stopped. Through those two days he struggled while his family was gathering. He bought some time that way so that he could say goodby to people. Roberta said that struggle was very much in the room. As she chanted him through and she didn't have a lot of help because everyone else was not familiar with this concept. She's sitting there alone with her dad with her meditation beads chanting, talking to him, while the nurse came in to check on her every now and again to see if she was okay. It was kind of sweet. She said that the room was much thicker, much more turbulent with her dad, but as she chanted, then everything smoothed out. His mouth closed, his face smoothed out and he went on. She could feel him moving away as she kept chanting. Rather quickly, actually. Until by the time she left after he was completely cold, he was gone.

We feel the differences in the kinds of deaths people have. We feel the truth that we shall face this ourselves one day and that those we love will face it. I think that the great poignancy of human life is that if you don't love, you're the walking dead,and if you do love, it's a contract that either you'll be at that person's death bed or they'll be at yours. So it's good to become at ease with it and be able to expand the heart around this kind of transition. This kind of coming and going that we do so busily.
(borrowed from John Tarrant's website)

Reflections on death

2011-04-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

April 26, 2011

Everyone of us reading this, and every person we know are all going to die, and we don’t know when. This is a simple truth, but not something we bring to our attention very often. I have been considering death recently as we watched our beloved Himalayan cat fall into a death spiral. After a week of tests, x-rays and attempting to revive his body and spirit it became clear that Bodhi was dying. Forcing food and water finally did not work and our efforts to help finally seemed an indignity. He would accept no water, food or touch. And he constantly sought a cave to lie down in. It was time to let him go.

The young Siddhartha wandering out of his palace was struck by the omnipresence of disease, old age and death. It must have been everywhere he looked in the poverty around him. These days death is not on our radar very often. And, it is likely you have not ever even been in the presence of a dead human body. . . . or one that was not embalmed and presented peacefully.

As I was reflecting on all this I came upon a letter written nearly twenty years ago by a close friend who was a Buddhist and a psychotherapist. He was in the last year of a life that was being dismantled by the HIV virus. As I was hanging out with him and being a support, I invited him to “consider his purpose” during these last months. In response to my question he wrote this letter:

January 28, 1993

Thanks to Patricia

Thanks to Patricia, I’m finally sitting down, writing. In particular, I want to record several key ideas that have somehow been distilled in the course of the years that I’ve been dealing with HIV.

For me, one of the most difficult and challenging aspects of this journey has been each confrontation with treatment decisions. AZT? PCP? Prophylaxis? Antibiotics to treat skin problems? Slowly, I’ve come to realize that THERE IS NO OTHER PATH than the one I am now on. There is no alternate life out in space in which I took AZT and increased my energy and my life span. Or sabotaged my own health and died early. Further, NO ONE KNOWS what the outcome of my decisions will be. This seems especially true to me now, as all of the men with HIV who were sure of what I should do are now dead. Seeing this reality clearly, that there is only the life I am living, is sometimes comforting, especially when I am facing another confrontation with a physician and her ideas of what I should do. More consistently, though, it gives me a solid foundation of reality on which I might build with my day-to-day actions.

This writing all sounds so dry, in sharp contrast with the moment of panic, despair and rage in which I struggle with decisions of which way to go next. Of course, I understand all of this as a quite natural expression of my desire to prolong my life and relative health, and my fear of pain and death. So, if no one really knows which decisions will lead to longer life, on what basis can I make my decisions? Slowly, and only in retrospect, I am coming to see that the course of treatment I am following are quite consistent with my values, and that the options I have rejected run contrary to them. More specifically, I see clearly the immense and perhaps irreparable damage that has been done on this earth by the human use of poisons to solve an immediate problem with little or no attention given to the wider consequences. Many of the standard treatment options that have been urged on me seem so similar. Take AZT and slow the replication of the virus—but what about the bone marrow? Use antibiotics to prevent pneumonia from finding a home—but what about all of the helpful flora in my digestive system and the rest of my body? I see now that the ways I am dealing with HIV are very close to the ways I treat my yard and garden. I can not say that would never use any toxic substances there, but that is my general guideline. Further, it would take a lot of talk and research to convince me to do otherwise. I’ll do the same with my body. If I treat my body in a way that is consistent with my life and values, in a way I have already “won.” If I make my treatment decisions only in an attempt to stay alive, I will eventually ‘lose.”

One final bit of clarity that has come my way. In the last decade, as the pace of the epidemic has increased, I have had my share of opportunities to see the horrors and suffering that can come with the loss of the immune system. Far too many of my darker dreams and fantasies play themselves out in my own private horror show. In cognitive moments it sometimes helps me to realize that all of that is not happening now, and that whatever comes it will certainly be a “fresh” Gregory who will do what needs to e done. Though I know this to be true, it has only occasional power to cut through the delusion of WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN. Moreover, this delusion is also a product of the natural mind, leading me to prepare in the ways that I can for increasing debility and eventual death. In its darkest aspects, it reminds me that from a realistic perspective, like many people faced with the final wasting of this disease, there may come a moment when suicide is what needs to be done. Still at THIS MOMENT the sky is a remarkable blue, diarrhea has finally passed, and I am able to receive these thoughts and haltingly record them on the Mac which dear Leonard has kindly let me use. Yes, it is ever so useful to be here now! I have found it useful to finally come to a simple statement of my purpose, that I will do what I can to live well and long until I get very sick. This statement—so ridiculously simple—has been very helpful to me in rallying my resources to what needs doing now. Future action can be taken in future moments.

My sincere thanks to Patricia Ryan Madson and Gregg Krech, without whose kind urging and nagging these words might never have come to paper.

Gregory Willms (photo above)

1/28/1993

Gregory Willms died of complications resulting from AIDS in the early hours of June 2, 1994 just as the morning star appeared in the dark sky. His Buddhist name, given to him at the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center, meant “Morning Star.”

When we allow ourselves to actually meditate on the reality of death . . . our own deaths and those of our loved ones . . . it is possible to find a clearer view. The miracle of life begins to overshadow any petty problems or issues we face.

I invite us all to consider death. The purpose is not to become morbid, but rather to look with deeper realism and purpose into our daily life.

Patricia Ryan Madson

April 26, 2011

Contemplate Impermanence

2011-04-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

Truth or illusion?

2011-04-11T17:55:00.001-07:00

"An image reflected in a mirror, a rainbow
in the sky, and a painted scene
Make their impressions upon the mind, but in
essence are other than what they seem
Look deeply at the world, and see an illusion.
a magician's dream."

7th Dalai Lama

The poetry of Maya Stein

2011-04-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's not change I'm after
By Maya Stein

The way a haircut can reframe a face. The move to a zip code that gets less fog. More of this or less of that – I can think of a thousand ways to prove my eagerness to trade the current reality for its fresh and scrubbed alternative. It’s so tempting to believe a transformation of even minor proportions will be epic, felt somewhere in my deepest deep. But in the interim, we grieve
for what we don’t or can’t have, and that ache is paralyzing. I see it’s not change I’m after, but peace.
Tranquility and rootedness for everything that craves release.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Blog in transition

2011-04-06T10:05:00.001-07:00

In case you are a reader who checks in from time to time I wanted you to know that I will be starting a new blog focus soon. I am contemplating sharing biographical stories. I compiled a list of "indelible moments" and perhaps I will share some of these. Meantime thank you all for dropping in. I'll be back soon.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Off to Indianapolis

2011-04-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

Our love of Stanford women's basketball is taking us to the Final Four. We are on route to Indianapolis where our women will play Texas A&M tomorrow night. Call us crazy. It is sweet to be a fan. Isn't Nneka Ogwumike a beauty? We are cheering for you.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 365: The Circle Closes

2011-03-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

Nearly a year ago I started this blog with the purpose of casting a daily eye at the things in ordinary life that serve me and my family. My life has been the grist for this mill. Sometimes my focus drifted from things to poetry, art, or travel trivia. This year brought waves of travel adventures: ten trips, as far reaching as Ireland, Sedona, Arizona; Richmond, VA, Los Angeles and Spokane.

My purpose was also about discipline. I wanted to challenge myself to do something every day. I would write every day, regardless of inspiration. This proved to have its ups and downs. On the up side I captured everyday treasures that would otherwise have been overlooked while I was waiting for inspiration or for "something worthy" to write about. I came to learn that all of life is worthy. One simply needs to train the eye. It isn't necessary to have a shiny thing in front of you. Some of the most thoughtful posts came about when there seemed to be nothing to write about. The discipline kept the writing muscle going. The down side was that all of the 365 pages of writing went unedited. And one thing I have learned is that editing is essential for writing to be readable. Every post would be improved with a clear editor's eye.

Somewhere along the way I got the count wrong. Here it is the last day of March and I find myself on Day 365. I seem to have lost nine or ten days. I'll find them along the way as I read over the whole blog. I plan to use "Blog2print" to turn this into a book. It will be my diary of the past year as a blogger. I don't really mind the mistakes. Those who know me understand my enthusiasm for "making mistakes."

I would like to thank my dozen readers, especially my cousin, Mary Frances Wood and my sister Kathleen Ryan. I think that Susan Landor Keegan also has checked in from time to time. And, my beloved Ron got roped into reading it regularly. It has been pleasing to know that someone is reading this. I am grateful to other bloggers and friends from whom I have borrowed ideas. We are surrounded by stimulus and recommendations. If one can sort through the daily offerings on Facebook and Twitter and the "dear gang all" emails that stuff one's boxes there is often gold. Thanks to others for sharing what they find worthy of attention.

I have noticed that making a habit of looking around for "the things that serve me" is easy. There is never a moment when I am not in the care of someone or in their debt. People and energy and objects are at my disposal. And even in those moments when I find myself complaining I am still being served. I am in the debt of others. This computer facilitates my writing. The Google Blogger app makes this all possible. My Comcast provider creates the network that allows these words to float out onto the cloud of the WWW so that you may read them. My teriyaki- broccoli rice bowl nourishes me tonight so that my body has energy to write. This chair supports my back. This tiffany lamp lights my way.

When ordinary life is the WAY there is much to do and even more to be grateful for.

Day 364B: Flying high above the earth

2011-03-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today, March 30, 2011 was a travel day. Here Ron plays a word game as we wait for our boarding call on Alaska Airlines. In the past year there have been many changes in US airports. A majority offer free WiFi. This allow us to check email, make a post on Facebook, find a poem or new article or check a sports score. With the world of information in the palm of our hands airport waiting time can become productive or recreative. I find that I rejoice when I discover the availability of WiFi connections as we move around the world. I'm sure that someday our young nephews and nieces will marvel at the world of the past in which you had to drive to Starbucks to hook up your computer or phone to the Internet. That is, if our natural world lasts that long. The images of the Japan earthquake and tsunami remind us that there are uncontrollable forces greater than ourselves.

Day 364: Saluting the pioneers of healthcare in Spokane

2011-03-29T16:00:00.001-07:00

Our visit to Spokane has given us an extra day to relax and enjoy the city. Although the weather has been rainy and grey I set out for a walk in the River Park today. This city has an exceptional number of public sculpture. This series is dedicated to those pioneers who made the health care system in Spokane. The life-sized sculptures here show a man with a wheelbarrow and a nun with a trowel doing the physical building. I wonder how often we consider those laborers whose work led to the creation of those buildings in which we receive care? Many hands and strong backs made it possible. Thanks to those workers.

Day 363: Beautiful birds and nature sounds

2011-03-28T09:27:00.001-07:00

An old friend, Ellison Horne, posted a link on Facebook to this calming video of colorful birds. The sweetness of their bird sounds reminds us of a world beyond our electronic devices. Take two minutes and let nature's magic bring you wonder.

Day 362: The many ways of coaching

2011-03-27T13:20:00.001-07:00

Our seats at the quarterfinals here in Spokane placed us seven rows up from the Louisville TN players bench. (In the second game we were behind the UNC women). This vantage point allowed us to get a bird's eye view of the coaching styles. The coach for Louisville Jeff Walz coaches by intimidation. Apparently the women are under strict orders ONLY to follow his directions. He screamed into the face of a player "YOU PLAY MY GAME, you hear!" He then berated the player for acting on her own impulses. Throughout the game he did a lot of angry screaming at the players and at the refs. At one point he was so angry at a call that he kicked the table where the officials preside. This earned him a technical foul allowing the other team to make a free throw. A Louisville fan told us that he does this most every game. How sad. There are many ways to inspire and teach. His style full of hubris, ego and emotion seems one of the poorer choices. It makes me even prouder of our own Tara Vandeveer and her positive style of communicating. Stanford did win last night. We beat UNC by a margin of 7 points in the final minutes. We go on to play Gonzaga on Monday night.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:E Grace Ave,Spokane,United States

Day 361: The Quarterfinals in Spokane

2011-03-26T09:35:00.001-07:00

The atmosphere here in Spokane is full of sparks as the Sweet 16 teams face off. We are here to cheer on Stanford and hope we continue on to the Elite 8 on Monday night. Spokane is a charming city and the weather is cooperating kindly. The Lady Cardinal went on to defeat first University of North Carolina with a score of 73-65 and a day later we routed hometown Gongaza 83-60. These victories send them to their fourth consecutive Final Four in Indianapolis. What a privilege to watch them shine.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:E Grace Ave,Spokane,United States

Day 360: The smell of a new car

2011-03-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Madsons are serious fans of Subaru. For the past two decades we have been Subaru Forester owners. And so, after 105K miles on our gold Subaru we said a fond farewell and moved up to the 2011 Forester. This our new car sits proudly in the driveway. I love the soft grey green. Sage green, it is called. We look forward to many happy and safe years of driving this vehicle. "The Golden Snitch" (the name of our previous car) still sits in the neighborhood. Ron's sister, Joan, became the proud owner on the day ours arrived.

Day 359: The Best Guide on Bali

2011-03-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago my husband's son, Jason Madson and his wife Karen (pictured here) arrived in Bali, Indonesia for a two week vacation. A longtime friend of ours, Dana Lee, who is a professional guide on Bali, agreed to assist them during their visit and help make introductions to "the real Bali" including members of his family. In addition to touring the island Dana arranged for them to take a class in wood carving from a master craftsman. Both Jay and Karen are artists and deeply appreciate what it means to be a craftsman in the old tradition. It is thanks to the kindness of Dana that these special opportunities were available to make their trip a "once in a lifetime" experience. All hail and thanks to Dana for helping to make this happen. Here Jay carves a plumeria.

Day 358: My little teapot

2011-03-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

Nearly a year ago when I started this blog I began with a photo of this hand painted mug. It's my favorite cup and I am rarely far from it. The little steel teapot came from England. It's the type used in cheap teahouses. I love it because it holds just the right amount of tea for one big mug plus a few fingers of tea to top it off and warm it up. I have a number of ceramic teapots large and small, but I usually turn to this practical, easy to clean steel pot. I enjoy looking around each day to determine "what is serving me today?" As the winter storm winds blow this week I am warmed by my tiny teapot and favorite cup.

Day 357: The Restorative Power of Silence

2011-03-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

It's four thirty on a Tuesday afternoon. I'm sitting next to our gas hearth and reveling in the quiet. Ron and Joan are both away. Bodhi is sleeping soundly in his kitty bed. The world seems gracious and good. Few states provide more healing for my spirit than that of silence. Actually silence isn't accurate. There is the ticking of two family heirloom clocks that Ron has going. They strike alternately doing a gentle tick tock dance. The gas fire has a soft whine and periodically there is the sound of a car driving up El Granada Boulevard. Otherwise there is a kind of silence.

In this silence my thoughts can rest. I am not pulled by offers to add something to my world or news of the latest update on Japan's tragedy. I am not massaged by music or song. I can slow my body/mind and troll for what may be important or useful now. Or I can avoid selection and simply take this now into consciousness. Silence feels like cool water on my soul. In a noisy world I rejoice in the blessing of silent moments.

Day 356: Folding Laundry

2011-03-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog nearly a year ago my purpose was to cast a spotlight on ordinary things. Today what comes to mind is laundry. I have always loved doing laundry. I find the smell of clothing fresh from a warm dryer to be comforting. As I fold I think of the service which the item has performed and I often thank it. "Thanks, dishtowel, for helping to wipe the counters and dry cups." "Thanks, t-shirt, for covering Ron's body and keeping him dry when he runs." This might seem silly, but it reminds me of a relationship that I have with the ordinary things in my life. These clothes and towels DO serve me. It is fitting that I keep them clean and put them away folded.
You may notice that the two dishtowels in the front of this photo, one yellow and one orange, are folded differently. One sits as a square and the other is more rectangular. This is because I folded the orange one and Ron happened by while I was folding and helped. He folded the yellow one. He prefers this way of folding a dishtowel. In days gone by I would "correct" Ron and show him the right way to fold a towel. These days I have learned that we each have a right to fold the towels as we like. There is no "right way" . . . Life is easier when I don't try and impose my preferences on him. It's just fine to have things folded differently.

Day 355: Blow ye winds . . .

2011-03-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

This week the Bay Area is beset by storms. Last night 100 mile an hour winds pummeled our world. When we looked out on our deck we noticed that our weathervane. a tall copper heron perched on a N/S/E/W axis, had blown down and was lying on our deck next to the pond. This large sculpture weighs a lot. It must have taken quite a wind to catapult it from its strong mooring. It made me think about impermanence. No matter how well situated, no matter how strong or how healthy we are, no matter how much insurance we have, how much security we have amassed it can all turn on a dime. Everything can change in a heartbeat. The Japan earthquake and tsunami reminds us of this. So we know that it is sensible to put our houses in order and take care of our health, and pay our bills and put away something for "hard times;" it only makes sense, however, to cherish and appreciate the moment at hand. Thank those who help you. Acknowledge those whose work makes yours possible. Go beyond petty squabbles or beefs and make whole torn friendships. Life can only be lived forward, although it can only be understood backward. Carpe diem. Honor today.

Day 354: NCAA Basketball Championship is underway

2011-03-19T13:20:00.001-07:00

Today begins March Madness for the collegiate women's basketball. Ron and I are court side at Maples Pavillion to see round one. Game one is between Texas Tech and St. Johns. Texas Tech has distinguished itself by beating Baylor this year. They lost, however, today to St. Johns 55-50. At 3:30 today Stanford faces UC Davis at Maples. Stanford triumphed over UCD with a final score 86-59. On Monday night we play St Johns of Manhattan. What a joy women's basketball is to watch. Go Cardinal.

Happy fans!

Day 353: The Birth of Improv Wisdom in Japan

2011-03-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

March 11, 2011 is a date that will remain historic for Japan. It is the day that the devastating earthquake and tsunami stuck Japan. I learned today from Tomoko Nozu, my wonderful translator in Japan that March 11, 2011 was also the publication date for my book, Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up in Japan. This date the book went on sale in bookstores and on Amazon.co.jp. Yesterday Tomoko reported that the book was #39 in sales on Japan's Amazon site. As the world watches Japan work to heal itself and come together again as a country it is my prayer that this small book can be a help to those who read it. I am indebted to Tomoko for her skillful work bringing the book to life in her country. Arigato gozaimasu, Tomoko-san.

Day 352: St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T12:08:00.001-07:00

"May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of His hand."
~ Gaelic Blessing

Day 351:Gorgeous crazy quilt by Allie Allen

2011-03-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Check out this wonderful blog: Plays With Needles

Day 350: On blessings

2011-03-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Day 349: An unexpected gift

2011-03-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

This past week I received the most remarkable letter and gift. The handwritten number 10 envelope had a name and return address in New York City. I didn't recognize the name. When I opened the envelope the first thing that struck me was a personal check made out to me in the amount of $250 from the sender of the letter. His typed letter, dated January 25, 2011 read as follows:

Dear Ms. Madson,
I just wanted to take the time to write a letter to you to let you know how much your book, "Improv Wisdom" influenced me. On a surface level I am a musical theatre actor, and so technically I appreciated what you had to say! On a much deeper level I found that the "maxims" that you have outlined in the book really helped me to think about my life and the way that I approach each and every day!

Every time that I would read a chapter or a "maxim" principle, my soul was literally rejoicing and it began to really make sense to me what you were trying to convey. I certainly don't claim to have a handle on it's entirety, of course. However, it has motivated me to do forward and attempt to put those principles into practice in my own life. The principles were like fresh water poured onto my soul. I tend to be a rigid individual and even though I have been working on that, this book has been not only confirmation that I am heading in the right direction but also instrumental in my letting go and "just showing up"! It is a book that brought such sweet conviction to my soul.

Now for the second reason that I am writing this letter. No doubt you may have been a bit interested in what was in this envelope when you opened it. I will attempt to explain this as seamlessly and quickly as possible.

I am a person of faith, and I am learning that money is energy and God in motion. I attended a lecture last year given by Edwene Gaines, author of The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity. As she spoke about the first Spiritual Law of tithing I became interested in her words. She instructed that our tithe should go wherever we receive our spiritual food. She said often times that will be our spiritual home or church. However, oftentimes you will receive your spiritual food from an artist, author, painter, waitress, etc. Regardless of where your spiritual food comes from you simply need to tithe your money to where you are receiving spiritual food.

I am attempting to be faithful to that. I have received much spiritual food from the work that you have produced and it has enlightened and encouraged me more than I can say.

When I first feel the call to do something like this the ego begins to be involved saying things like "Nathan, Ms Madson is going to think that you are a crazy person or, some sort of super fan!!" What I have come to realize is that all of that ego talk doesn't really matter. I could spend time here justifying why I am doing this, or giving examples as to why I am an appreciator of your work, and yet not a "crazy super fan", but frankly that's not what it's about. It is about me returning provision where I have received spiritual food so as to do my part for the continuing flow of the Universe. I am simply the conduit that is being used for a greater purpose.

I have explained this as briefly and efficiently as possible. I trust that you will be able to receive this gift not only in the spirit that it is given, but also as a manifestation from God/Goddess honoring he/her people when they step out in faith to do the work intended for them to do.

I pray continued peace and blessing upon you!
King regards.
(signature)

The gentleman who sent the letter, whose name will remain anonymous, kindly gave me permission to share the letter. What a moving tribute. I can only say I was speechless. What a brilliant and sensible idea: to tithe in the direction of one's spiritual food. Where do YOU receive your spiritual food? Think about it. And, my deep gratitude to the sender of the letter and gift. I hope it is an inspiration to my readers.

Day 348: Japan's natural disaster

2011-03-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

A person walks through a vast area of tsunami-devastated Shizugawa district in Minami Sanriku of Miyagi prefecture, on Monday, March 14. Thousands of people were feared dead after last week's earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

As life goes on here in California, the Japanese people are facing a natural disaster of enormous proportions. Our prayers go out to those affected by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear scare. This week the Constructive Living newsletter included a selection by Dr. David K. Reynolds. His words ring true and offer sage advice to us all. I quote him here with his permission.

"Do you already know that you can't hold on to anything? Health will come

and go; love, too; intellect, friends and relatives will leave in one way or

another. Religious belief will merge and fade and merge and fade, sometimes

forgotten. Even the precious routines and rituals you use to hold on to life

will be disrupted and evolve. Life can't be preserved with paintings or

photos or solid houses or dependable cars or secure jobs or careful

monitoring of your health, or dutiful application of cosmetics. Watch

everything change over time. So treasure the now. Reality has to keep

finding new ways to support you, whether you realize it or not."

by Dr. David K. Reynolds in his reflections on The Imitation of Christ, 2011

(unpublished manuscript)

Day 347: PAC10 Tournament today

2011-03-12T11:05:00.001-08:00

Most of you know that we are serious women's basketball fans. Today is the final championship game in LA. Our Stanford women play UCLA for the title (which we already hold from the regular season). This photo shows our band giving the team a big SENDOFF this morning. Women's sports are inspiring. Go Stanford. It was a thrilling game. UCLA dominated the first half, shutting down the Ogwumike sisters. At the half Stanford trailed by nine points. Things looked bad for the home team. However in the second half our girls came alive. Freshman Toni Kokenis scored an astonishing 17 points. The final winning score 64-55. What a joy to watch them win. Back home tomorrow.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 346: New haircut

2011-03-11T05:59:00.000-08:00

So after almost three years of growing my hair long and longer I got a haircut. My stylist, Mary Barrako, did a good job, I think. Instead of having to pull the long hair back into a pony tail most of time I'm able to wear a shoulder length, breezy look. This is the new look. I'll be wearing it along with my Stanford retro letter jacket this weekend at the Pac10 conference in LA. Go Cardinal! Beat everybody!

Day 345: Help is at hand

2011-03-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Recently we added to the growing mountain of electronic equipment in our house by purchasing a new HP wireless printer/fax/scanner. This pictured device is the second piece of hardware; the first one out of the box was defective. It took quite a while to set it up and get it communicating with our computers and IPads and telephone lines. All seemed to be working well until some problems with the print quality arose. After trying all of the detailed advice on the website I got on the phone to HP and reached a helpful operator sitting in Canada. As he walked me through various instructions and I complied, he would add encouraging remarks such as: "Good work, well done" "You did that very well." At each step of the "do this, try that", he was with me, coaching me along cheerfully. If something took me a while to execute he waited patiently and then, said: "Good job" when I would complete the task. At the end of the troubleshoot it was determined that my printer cartridge had actually run out of ink and needed replacing. This was not obvious to me since we had owned the machine less than a week. I discovered that new HP machines don't ship with a normal full cartridge. Instead you are given the equivalent of "training wheels" and expected to buy a normal full cartridge rather soon. I was disappointed in this finding, but accepted it and went on to order new cartridges, which arrived, free shipping, the next day. What struck me today was the miracle of customer service help which is very often at hand. I am (I'm ashamed to say) easy to complain and criticize technology when it does other than perform perfectly and on cue. I am less quick to show my appreciation for the help that is at hand for many fine companies. I have always had good luck with HP and their customer service. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the technicians who sit in windowless offices around the world helping me here at home. Thanks, HP.

Day 344: Kudos to my readers

2011-03-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

An author's dream is that her work is received in a positive spirit and that what she has written can become of use or inspiration to her reader. This week I was delighted to received fan mail from a reader in Atlanta who is the Director of Admissions at Emory University. Her name is Allison Gilmore and the photos below are those of her copy of my book, Improv Wisdom complete with markings and bookmarks. I am thrilled with this. Here is part of the email she wrote:

Good morning, Professor,

My name is Allison Gilmore and I have been performing improvisational comedy in Atlanta for almost 30 years. A few months back, my business partner and I discovered your book and it has so greatly informed our work. We have our own company, DuMore Improv, and we teach improvisation as leadership to folks in higher education, corporations, and non-profits.

Thank you so much for writing this book. It is truly amazing and so insightful. . . .
We recommend your book to every group we teach – and lately that’s been a lot of folks! We even list it in our recommended reading. Would love to the opportunity to meet / discuss our mutual work one day. Let me know if you’re ever in Atlanta. I’ll be teaching at Berkeley this summer as well. Maybe there’s an opportunity here somewhere!
_____________________________________________________________
Allison Gilmore, Director of Admissions and Student Services
Goizueta Doctoral Program | Goizueta Business School | Emory University

I really appreciate the depth of her study of my book and of her taking the time to share this enthusiasm with me by sending these delightful photos. I am one lucky author! Oh, and I learned yesterday that Random House signed a contract with Apple to place 17 thousand of their titles (including Improv Wisdom into the bookstore at the Apple Store. So for only $9.95 you can instantly download a copy of my book onto your IPad or Mac computer or even your IPhone. Having the search function allows the reader to find a passage they liked. Thank you, Allison, for writing and sharing the photos. Good luck on your work teaching improv to others. Go girl!

Day 343: Trusting the Moment by Jeannie Lindheim

2011-03-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

Recently I received an autographed copy of a new book by Jeannie Lindheim, called Trusting the Moment. She is a fascinating women who juggles many balls, teaching creativity as well as clowning. An earlier book, The Art and Joy of Hospital Clowning shares her expertise in this unusual occupation. She did me the kindness of allowing me to see earlier drafts of this manuscript. Now it lives as a "real book", blue guiding star and all!

The publication of a book is right up there with the birth of a child in momentousness. So, great good luck to Jeannie and the life of this book.

Day 342: Found Blessings by John O'Donohue

2011-03-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

In the poet John O'Donohue's wonderful book To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings (Doubleday, 2008) he offers essays and poems to use on the occasions (ordinary and extraordinary) of our lives. In the epilogue he write this essay called "Found Blessings." I quote him here.

"It was Kierkegaard who said that life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backward. Most of the time we are unaware of how blessed our lives are. Poets often refer to an occasional poem as a "found poem." In contrast to the usual travails, frustrations, and endless versions through which most poems come to life, this a a poem that practically wrote itself. Perhaps in terms of blessing, we could say the same: there are around our lives "found blessings." Friendship, for instance, is one. Yeats once said, friendship is the only house we have to offer. Without the blessing of friendship, we would never have become who we are. In the climate of love and understanding that friendship provides, we take root and blossom into full human beings. Our friends are the mirrors where we recognize ourselves, and quite often it is their generosity of spirit that has enabled us to grow and flourish. There is also the blessing of health: the ability to see, to hear, to understand, and to celebrate life. The found blessings also include the gifts that we find coming alive in our lives, abilities that sleep in our hearts that we never suspected. There are also the blessings of our discoveries and modest accomplishments. All of these have been given to us; on our own we could never have merited or earned them. The more we recognize our found blessings, the more they increase around us."
p. p. 213

I'm not sure why I chose to use this bushel of lemons to accompany this inspiring quote. We have a large Meyer lemon tree and just harvested a bounty. These, too, may be among the found blessings of our lives.

Day 341: Kaleidoscopic Turkey Loaf

2011-03-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

Kaleidoscopic Turkey Loaf

This basic recipe from Martie is very versatile and very forgiving. Simply use what appeals to your family and you can’t miss.

1 lb. ground turkey

11⁄2-2 Cups finely chopped vegetables—a mix of any of the following according to season (be careful not to add more than 2 Cups or it is hard for the meat loaf to stick together and stay a loaf!): onions (always); red, yellow or orange

bell peppers; carrots; squash; parsnips; apples; celery; cranberries; nuts; fresh chives; mushrooms; corn, fresh from the cob or frozen; peas, fresh or frozen; capers

1 large egg, or 1⁄4 Cup cream or 1⁄4 Cup catsup to bind

1 tsp. salt

1⁄4-1⁄2 tsp. PENZEYS FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER, to taste

2 TB. fresh herbs (sage, basil, oregano or marjoram) or 2 tsp. dried

1 TB. MURAL OF FLAVOR, TUSCAN SUNSET or ARIZONA DREAMING or use Chili Powder!

1⁄4-1⁄3 Cup panko or regular bread crumbs, preferably whole wheat

2 TB. butter

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, your choice of chopped ingredients, egg, salt, PEPPER, herbs and SEASONING. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pat into a standard loaf pan. In a small frying pan, melt the butter. Add the bread crumbs and stir to coat with butter. Spread over the loaf. Or, spread the bread crumbs over the loaf and dot with butter. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes.

Notes from Martie: “The wonderful thing about this family favorite is that it can be varied with the season—green onions, celery, mushrooms and fresh green peas for spring; peppers, carrots, parsnips or squash and onions for winter; and apples, cranberries, nuts and celery for fall. Or what have you! It can also be Chinese-influenced with soy sauce and chopped water chestnuts, CHINESE FIVE SPICE and topping with Chinese noodles;

or it can have an Indian flavor by using GINGER, TURMERIC, CURRY POWDER and CINNAMON; Italian with chopped tomatoes, catsup, OREGANO and BASIL and a little olive oil if extra moisture is needed.”

Prep. time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 40-45 minutes Serves: 4-6

Nutritional Information: Servings 4; Serving Size 2 slices (235g); Calories 330; Calories from fat 150; Total fat 17g; Cholesterol 170mg; Sodium 1100mg; Carbohydrate 15g; Dietary Fiber 3g.

Several times a year I look forward to receiving the PenzySpices Catalogue. Each catalogue has wonderful free recipes. You can access the whole catalogue online as well. I copy here a new favorite recipe. It is like "kitchen sink turkey loaf" for it encourages you to be creative. Try it!

Day 340: Bad Art Night

2011-03-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

So, thanks to Laura McHugh of Half Moon Bay for being our host for a serendipitous Friday BAD ART NIGHT. Seven intrepid artist showed up with a variety of materials to play together. Last night I was working on cards. These are a collage style using fabric that I painted or dyed recently. It is delightful to pull together different materials and see what I can make. I have always loved color and texture. There is something liberating about going out to do "bad art" . . . that is something that we can succeed at. ;-) And, sometimes, the bad art ain't so bad.

Day 339: The Secret of Happiness

2011-03-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

Readers of Improv Wisdom know that one of the daily rituals of my life is "making the marriage bed". I point out that the three minute activity of smoothing the sheets, pulling up the bedspread and setting the pillows starts my day, every day, and gives my life a sense of order. Ordinary rituals contribute to my mental health and well being. Recently a student in my evening class on "Everyday Spontaneity" sent me this link to an article by a psychologist about the proven benefits of daily bed making.
What surprised me most in the article was the statistic that 59% of those polled don't make their beds in the morning. A stunning 12% have someone else make the bed for them. Wow. Lots of folks with housekeepers. Wow. Most people give the excuse: "I don't have time." The actual time it takes to straighten bedclothes in under three minutes, depending upon how many pillows and accessories you have to arrange. Three minutes. Not a bad investment to start the day with order and a sense of accomplishment. Try it, if you are part of the 59%.

Day 338: I'm an Award Winner!

2011-03-03T04:53:00.000-08:00

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011

I am in the debt of the amazing Diane Walker, whose blog: "Contemplative Photography" never ceases to inspire me. She recently named me as one of those whose blog she admires. This is itself an amazing compliment. Apparently this award comes with a set of rules that the recipients need to follow. Here are the five rules that those who I nominate should follow:

1.✦ Link back to the blogger who bestows the award. (✓) (Contemplative Photography for me and this blog for YOU if you are a winner.)

2.✦ Display the image from the award creator (see graphic above). (✓)

3.✦ Pass the award on to five (5) other bloggers who must follow these rules. (✓)

4.✦ Link the post back, so Jillsmo can follow its trajectory. (✓)

And then the fifth: TA-DA!!

5.✦ List five (5) facts about yourself, four (4) of which must be lies.

Drumroll . . .Here are my the Bloggers of Note that I admire and to whom I give this award:

Patti Digh 37 Days
Steve Pressfield Writing Wednesdays
Colleen Wainwright Communicatrix
Susan Landor Keegan A Little Painting Everyday
Susan Elliott Plays With Needles
Cate Serendipity

The five facts about me:
1. I absolutely LOVE octopus.
2. I was the youngest person to ever graduate from Wayne State University.
3. I suffer from acid reflux.
4. I've written two books that have been published.
5. I have a trip to Ecuador planned for this fall.

Day 337: Why Creativity, Why Now?

2011-03-02T10:35:00.001-08:00

This article sponsored by Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning (see details at the end) makes a persuasive case for the necessity of teaching the creative process. Improv has been a vehicle for this work for decades. Education is finally getting this.

Why Creativity, Why Now?

by Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet of Eastern Kentucky University, and is #55 in a series of selected excerpts from the National Teaching and Learning Forum (NT&LF) newsletter reproduced here as part of our "Shared Mission Partnership."

In 2006 the Association of American Colleges and Universities surveyed 306 businesses to determine the most valuable skills that institutions of higher learning should be teaching, and the Top Three were (in order) teamwork, critical thinking, and communication. Yet in 2010 when IBM's Institute for Business Values asked 1500 chief executives what leadership competency they championed
above all others, voters selected none of the winners from three years before. Instead, the new American idol was creativity.

Retrospectively, more seismic signs of this tectonic shift were visible in this past decade. In 2001 Anderson and Krathwohl revised Bloom?s Taxonomy to situate "Create" as the highest of higher-order learning skills. Richard Florida stressed in The Rise of the Creative Class (2002) the importance of the creative class in economic growth. In The Whole New Mind (2006) Daniel Pink, while using an oversimplified metaphor, concluded that right-brained people will rule the world of the future, and Erica McWilliam, in The Creative Workforce (2008), declared creativity the cornerstone of contemporary education.

As the body of evidence on the importance of creativity grows, maybe the first question educators should be asking is, can creativity be taught? Ken Robinson, author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative (2001) argues that "we can teach generic skills of creative thinking, just in the way we can teach people to read, write, and do math," and to do so "the pedagogy is designed to encourage other people to think creatively. You encourage kids to experiment, to innovate, not giving them all the answers but giving them the tools they need to find out what the answers might be"(26).

A Creative Pedagogy

How do we teach students to write the next Carrie, to invent the i-Pod's successor, or simply to solve simpler problems? More specifically, if a good education is, above all, a habit of mind, and choreographer Twyla Tharp claims that "creativity is a habit and the best creativity is the result of good work habits" (7), how can we intentionally develop in students a creative frame of mind?

Experts in creativity break its study into the four Ps "person, process, product, and press (environment)". Let's assume we want our person/student to be capable of creative products (e.g., short stories, songs, paintings, new processes, or simply innovative solutions) and focus mainly on the other two aspects, the creative environment and the creative process.

The Creative Environment

Establishing the most conducive environment for creativity starts with an open atmosphere where students feel a freedom to take risks, where bad guesses aren't pounced on, and where every answer isn't necessarily right or wrong. This safety urges them to look at things in different?even radical?ways without fear of punishment, condescension, or even a bad grade. In fact, this creative atmosphere accepts, even encourages, missteps and errors, thus minimizing the stress of pure correctness. Scott Adams of Dilbert fame says simply, "creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes." In fact, research demonstrates the atmosphere needs to be not only supportive, but fun. Do you know one reason Southwest Airlines is the only profitable airline in this country? Check out their mission statement: "People rarely succeed at anything unless they are having fun doing it."

Even the physical surroundings of the environment can promote creative thought. Coming out of the Industrial Revolution, our schools have throughout the past century been dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge. Picture the typical static classroom: neatly rowed chairs and desks for note-taking fronted by a lectern. The 21st century has not only brought new knowledge, but also new methodologies and audiences with a new way of learning. Even the more recent active learning approach has been replaced by a cutting edge pedagogy that Erica McWilliam calls in The Creative Workforce "meddler-in- the-middle"; students and faculty co-facilitate the development of knowledge in groups, sitting at tables, in comfortable chairs, with the instructor smack dab (physically and educationally) in the center of the environment.

Since researchers concur that creativity often comes out of extant knowledge, it is important that students have access to that knowledge as a foundation. New technology helps that process. At Eastern Kentucky University, we have developed an incubator classroom to promote this creative environment. By bringing together experts from the fields of educational research, instructional communication, pedagogy, technology, and instructional design into a learning community we call L.E.A.F. (Learning Environment for Academia's Future), we have created an atmosphere that embodies all the features necessary for creativity. We have even studied the optimum room temperature and amount of illumination. Moveable tables with wireless laptops and wickedly comfortable chairs surround an instructor, who has control of the laptops, the screens in all four corners of the room, the data readers, clicker technology, and a multitude of software. Student assessments constantly reference the relaxed atmosphere of the classroom and the freedom provided by its instructors as major factors in helping them express ideas and approaches.

The Creative Process

But creativity demands more than what has been called a "softly fascinating environment" to express itself. After all, creativity is more than a freedom to range wide with our thinking, or as Walt Whitman held, "For freest action form'd under the laws divine." To foster creativity in our students we must develop a process by which to coax that creative impulse from them, then shape it in discipline- specific ways. That process necessitates our students learning certain skills key to creativity, skills often not taught in traditional classrooms.

Goal-Orientation is important because students, inventors, and even artistic geniuses rarely have eureka moments wherein a bolt from the blue suddenly strikes them and they write an epic, paint a masterpiece, or invent the next i-Product. As a wise person once said (maybe it was Bill Cosby), "You can?t make Jell-O without a mold." Whether it?s a 500-word theme or a twenty-minute speech, give students a goal to produce.

Brainstorming occurs when you ask students to generate individually and collectively as many ideas as they possibly can in a defined period of time. Quantity is the goal, not quality; all ideas initially live.

Piggybacking often occurs right after brainstorming. Students are asked collectively or individually to build upon an idea, such as those just generated. David Kord Murray has written an excellent book called Borrowing Brilliance (2009), where he points out that so many great inventions occurred because someone stood on the shoulders of a previous giant. Darwin's theory of evolution comes out of Lyell's geology and economic theory. The i-Pod needed the Walkman to precede it. "The secret of creativity," Einstein believed, "is knowing how to hide your sources."

Perception Shift is the ability to look at something from a different angle and see something new. For instance, you are doing a cross- word puzzle and for a four-letter word you see the clue "First place."Athletically inclined, you immediately try to fill in "GOLD," but it doesn?t fit and you find yourself stuck. Perception shift is the skill of being able to back away from the object/clue and see another possibility. Maybe the four-letter word is seen through the prism of biology and you write "CELL" or "WOMB"; maybe you also have a religious side and fill in "EDEN."

Combining/Synthesis is the process of connecting the dots or finding what Henry James called "the figure in the carpet." Intelligence analysts look at threat analyses from all over the globe to try to locate a pattern. Literary and music critics try to discover motifs in etudes and epics. Divergent thinking, as illustrated by these examples, demands more than memorization. In fact, it often demands applying, analyzing, and evaluating"the higher-order skills of Bloom's taxonomy" as necessary precedents for creating.

Recognizing and Pursuing Glimmers is a highly metacognitive skill. Students have to be taught to listen to others and themselves. For instance, when we were typing this article, we did not want to outline it beforehand. Instead, as we typed the first draft and while we were on one idea, another"FLOW"would suddenly come to mind. Rather than concentrate solely on the concept we were putting into a paragraph, we would just stick the "glimmer" or the embryo of another idea right into the text. As a result, we wouldn't forget that we wanted to include something on . . .

Flow is how cognition experts describe what athletes experience when they suddenly hit seven three-point shots in a row. Psychologists tell us that when it happens we are in intense concentration upon a subject.

Why teach creativity now? Because we can?t afford not to.

Day 336: Out of Print

2011-03-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

This evening at the Mill Valley
Library my friend Susan Landor Keegan's wonderful art work will go on display. There is a reception from 6-8 open to the public. Susan is a remarkable artist who had devoted herself in the past few years to a project called: "A Little Painting Every Day". Her blog keeps us abreast of her current work. The paintings are small (usually around 6 inches by 8 inches). She paints in oil on canvas usually. Her current exhibit at the Library focuses on a collection of painting on the subject of books. She finds reverence in the ordinary. And this ability is anything but ordinary. I bought these two of her paintings a year ago and love looking at them. I hope you will go to her website and enjoy her remarkable work. Perhaps I will see you at her reception tonight. Brava, Susan.

Day 335: the world of modern medicine.

2011-02-28T13:59:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting in the ENT department of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF). Ron and I recently joined this medical group and chose a doctor who is part of the Family Medicine practice. One of the features of being a patient here is that your communications are established online. As I sit here waiting for Ron to have a routine appointment (nothing really wrong just a checkup) I checked my IPhone App and found a message from the Gastroenterologist who did some tests on me last week. How cool is this? Receiving reassuring heath news through a private web site transmitted to an app . . . Well this feels like the future. The painting I post with this writing is original art which is hanging on the wall here. Everywhere you go here there is lovely, comforting art. What a wonderful world.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:El Camino Real,San Jose,United States

Day 334: Filoli Artist Day

2011-02-27T11:11:00.000-08:00

A few times a year the lovely Filoli Gardens and estate are open to artist and photographers. This Sunday was such a day. The gardens were overflowing with families and artists enjoying the chance to paint and photograph the lovely grounds. We are just at the beginning of daffodil season. I sat and looked at an amazing moss covered elm. My rendering doesn't really capture it's unique beauty. It was a joy to sit in the gardens and paint. Aren't the Hyacinths lovely?

Day 333: Stanford wins Pac10 title

2011-02-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

Saturday's decisive victory over U of Oregon (99-60) clinched Stanford's seat as the 2011 PAC10 champions in women's basketball. Defeating all nine other teams twice in the regular season made them the uncontested winner. What a joy it has been being part of the cheering crowd. Next is the rather silly PAC10 tournament in LA in mid March. Then the NCAA regionals. March Madness indeed. Kudos to our talented players and coach Tara Vanderveer.

Day 332: Bye bye, Jysenia

2011-02-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

Early this morning we said goodbye to our beloved niece, Jysenia. If you read this blog you have seen some of the images of her visit this week. On Tuesday Ron took her to the Monterey Bay Aquarium where she communed with the seals, jellies and seahorses. On Wednesday we had a glorious day in San Francisco (clear, mild weather!) compliments of the City Segway Tours. We saw the city wharf and Marina as if we were floating on air. If you haven't tried a Segway you haven't lived. I'm something of a sissy but was won over by the end of our three hour adventure gliding around the most beautiful city on earth. We had a look at the crookedest street in town, Lombard hill and then had dinner at Zero Zero Pizza. They specialize in "build your own Sunday." Many calories here. We went to the top of Twin Peaks for a few photos of the panorama of the city. Then we visited the Vaernet family. On Thursday we visited Spanishtown outside of Half Moon Bay to see the rusty dinosaurs, and then on to the Stanford women's basketball game. Jysenia saw Stanford whip Oregon State by a forty point margin. What a team. Jysenia is herself a soccer player of note. She is the goalie for her Hamburg, NY Jr. High School team. It was a whirlwind visit, but lots of fun. Here are a few more photos of our sightseeing adventures. We just learned that her second leg of the flight home has been changed to a later flight. She gets to stay at JFK for three hours before moving on. Safe journey, our dear Jysenia. Our cat Bodhi is missing you already.

Day 331: Jysenia's busy day

2011-02-24T18:01:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was our amazing San Francisco day. We rode Segways all around the Fisherman's Wharf. Today it rained a bit and we came over to Stanford to see the Stanford women play Oregon State. Here is Jysenia with dinosaurs and Buddhas. Tomorrow she flies home to Buffalo. We will miss her. It has been a marvelous trip. She sports her new black Stanford jacket and soccer ball.

Day 330: Jysenia at the Monterey Aquarium

2011-02-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

Jysenia and the jellies at the Aquarium! Cool, eh?

Day 329: Jysenia arrives

2011-02-22T04:58:00.000-08:00

I love being an aunt. Late last night my favorite niece, Jysenia Dunlavey, arrived from Hamburg, NY. She is twelve years old (very shortly) and this was her first solo flight. Jysenia is a brilliant soccer player. Hooray, Jysenia. Our hope is to show her a proper San Francisco welcome and treat her to some of the delights of living in the Bay Area. Lets hope the weather holds kindly so that we can do some of it outdoors. Welcome to California, Jysenia.

Day 328: Some thoughts on intimacy

2011-02-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

John O'Donohue, the great Celtic poet and philosopher is in my top ten authors list. His book Anam Cara is a book to savor and reread. I opened the book today in search of inspiration and stumbled on this quote:
"In a world where the computer replaces human encounter and psychology replaces religion, it is no wonder that there is an obsession with relationship. Unfortunately, however, "relationship" has become an empty center around which our lonely hunger forages for warmth and belonging. Much of the public language of intimacy is hollow, and its incessant repetition only betrays the complete absence of intimacy. Real intimacy is a sacred experience. It never exposes its secret trust and belonging to the voyeuristic eye of a neon culture. Real intimacy is of the soul, and the soul is reserved."
p. 17 Anam Cara

Day 327: A weekend of victories in the Southland

2011-02-20T17:15:00.001-08:00

So what does a loving couple do to celebrate 22 happy years of marriage? We fly to LaLaLand to attend two basketball games. We are nearing the end of the PAC 10 regular season and our final two away games were in southern CA. The Friday evening game against USC in the Galen center was a nailbiter. We only led by two points at the half. Then there was the awful moment when our highest scorer Nneka Ogwumike crumpled to the ground coming down on her ankle. She lay without moving for what seemed forever. Then trainers helped her limp off to sit out the rest of the game. Our hopes for a national championship title held in her fragile hands. But we won that game by a slimmer margin than anyone would have predicted. Two days later our team had to face #9 in the nation UCLA Bruins. I must say we were afraid our time was up. Nneka was in street clothes but walking around wearing a special orthotic shoe. Toni Kokenis stepped up and played an inspired game. We breathed deeply as big Red won pulling ahead to outscore UCLA 67-53. This was the best anniversary present we could have had. As I write we are in LAX awaiting our flight home. Jeanette Pohlen gives an interview after the game. She is our rock.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 326: the Japanese book cover

2011-02-19T00:00:00.001-08:00

As I was waiting at SFO for our flight to LAX I received an email from the Japanese translator of my book IMPROV WISDOM. She kindly sent me a copy of the mockup of the cover design for the book which will go to press next week and go on sale in early March in Japan. I think the Japanese subtitle is something like Stanford Improviser. It is a thrill to see this as a reality. I wish to thank all of my Japanese literary family who helped bring the book into being. Tomoko Nozu, translator, Issei Mizuno, editor, and Hiroyuki Fukuda and Dr Takashi Takao who collaborated on a forward to introduce the book to the Japanese people. My gratitude is overflowing for all of their generous help and effort. May this edition provide helpful advice for those who read it. Arigato gozaimasu.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 325: A Visit to La La Land

2011-02-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

Our beloved Cardinal women are playing the two Pac10 Los Angeles teams this weekend. On Friday night they face USC at the Galen Center and on Sunday noon they play second seeded UCLA at home. Both of these games will be the most challenging of the Pac10 season since the beginning of January. Today, Friday, February 18 is our 22nd anniversary. So Ron and I decided that the best possible anniversary present we could give each other was a trip to see these games live. We'll stay in a nice hotel on the beach in Redondo Beach. It is hard to express just how happy I have been being married to Ron Madson. He is my perfect friend, helpmeet and partner in life. A good marriage is among life's greatest blessings. Here is a favorite photo of me and my sweetheart. Happy anniversary! And, go lady Cardinals.

Day 324: the fish symbol

2011-02-17T16:15:00.001-08:00

Books have a life of their own. When Improv Wisdom:Don't Prepare, Just Show Up was published by Random House in 2005 I had a dream. The dream was that the book would live for a long time and find it's way into the hand of people all over the world. And this dream is coming true, little by little, book by book. Three years ago the book was sold to publishers in Germany and Korea. Last year a Japanese publisher bought the rights. I've been working for over a year with the translator to help bridge the cultural divide. A publisher in Taiwan bought it last fall and the Chinese language version is underway. Just today I heard from a friend and blogger Giorgio Paparelle that he had interest from a businessman in seeing an Italian translation. Perhaps these rights will be sold soon. And there is a friend of a friend hawking it in Mexico now. What kindness. Books move through the world because people speak about them. If you know a good book, tell someone. Or better yet buy a copy and give it to a friend. I want to thank everyone who has been helping my book grow in popularity. Word of mouth rules.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 323: Farewell to Friday Night Lights

2011-02-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Five years ago I began watching a weekly tv drama called Friday Night Nights. It is set in Dillon, Texas in our time. The story revolves around the lives of a high school football coach, his wife who was a school counselor (and later a principal), his family and the individuals on the football team. The extended family includes other parents, girlfriends, siblings and school personal.

I fell in love with this show from the beginning. The acting is realistic. The stories are true to life, and the morality is something greatly to be admired. Real men and women struggle with change, conflict, growth, dreams, sexuality, religion and the basics of life in a rural small town where the Friday night high school football game is the most important thing going. The characters became friends and family, and I watched every episode for the five years . . . some of them many times. While it never garnered a large media audience it developed loyal fans and began to win coveted TV prizes for excellence. Direct TV had a special deal which allowed it to show the final year during their fall lineup. So, I got to see the series finale last week.

I can't remember when I have had more emotion watching a drama. The writers very kindly gave their public what they wanted: resolution to many of the issues and outstanding questions. Couples got together. The coach made a stunning decision to follow his wife's career and the promise of a new football world in the town of Dillon was given shape. I shall always be grateful to the writers and actors of this show for giving so much of themselves. I highly recommend borrowing the DVD of the first season and following it through for the duration. It doesn't get much better than this.

Day 322: Plein Aire painting

2011-02-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

I'm part of a Wed morning Plein Aire painting group. We show up rain or shine to set up our easels and sketch and paint the landscape. This photo shows me in Ireland at a beautiful estate, the Bantry House in Cork. The umbrella and rain gear help. Tomorrow we are scheduled to paint at a fruit stand along highway 92. But the weather promises heavy rain. As romantic as this photo is I must say that painting in the rain is quite a challenge. I'm actually holding the umbrella under my arm. If it does rain on Wed I think I'll paint next to our gas fireplace and forgo the romance.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 321: Herbed Corn Bread

2011-02-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

I love the smell of bread baking. But I'm hopeless at doing the proper kneading and rising, etc. Over 10 years ago a friend gave me a breadmaker. It turns out that I LOVE using it. I make bread once a week and enjoy the smell of it filling the house with wholeness. On Facebook yesterday I mentioned I was baking. So here goes the recipe:

Herbed Corn Bread

(a rising bread)

½ cup + 2 Tablespoons WATER

1 cup milk (can use evaporated, too)

¼ cup vegetable oil

3 cups bread flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ cup coarse cornmeal

2 teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoon celery seeds

1 ½ teaspoon dried sage

½ teaspoon marjoram

½ teaspoon dried ginger

Throw it all in a breadmaker.

Enjoy! (or do what you do to

Make ordinary bread in the oven)

This is NOT cornbread, but rather

Like a whole wheat herbed bread that