Just this ...

Just this, you in my arms.

Borrowed words -- Home

Saw this in the banner over at Good News Network.

Beyond ambition, beyond attainment, is home.
Contentment, without content; peace, uncaused.
--A. H. Almaas

Brain Cache

I keep looking for interesting things to blog that don't require me to do any new thinking or work. I have another try. I don't know about you, but I carry a bag. I guess its my purse equivalent. Somewhere between there and a binky and an external cache for my brain. I am going to list the contents of my bag as it is today, no editing. *

It's a messenger style , black nylon bag. It has one large, zippered pocket in the flap. It contains:

• 1 bottle Ibuprofen
• About a dozen cards I apparently think I'll send to people someday if I just carry them long enough. Mostly from despair.com.
  
• Checkbook
• 1 J. K. Drummond Watercolors business card

When you flip back the flap, the exposed front of the bag contains a mesh zippered pouch, a solid weave Velcro closed pouch, and 3 cylinder pouches for writing utensils. These contain:

• 1 yellow highlighter
• 2 mechanical pencils
• One ball point pen
• 1 Leatherman (original)

The main compartment contains:

• 1 TI scientific calculator
• One collection Edward Abbey essays
• Elementary Algebra for TVI Math 100A
• One Mead Five Star one subject notebook, plastic cover
  
• "What is Web 2.0?" essay by Tim O'Reilly
• Printout wikipedia article, "First-order logic
• Printout wikipedia article, "Algorithm"
• Printout artcile, "India gets biofuel mobile power"
• Supplement to magazine Sys Admin, Training and Certification
• One legal notepad, notes from work
• Printout article from The Economist, "Rich Man, Poor Man"
• Printout article from The Economist, "In the Money"
• OK, turns out there are more printed out articles in here than I can possibly list
• Copy of Penny Saver classified adds
• Letter from City saying we must remove pile of dead branches from back yard
• About 10 DVD's a friend at work burnt for me of TV shows I"ll never watch
• A copy of Money magazine

You will notice the self-improvement, professional, "serious" theme. It's a ruse to make me feel cool. These little games we play with ourselves.

*If you believe that "no editing" part, I have same river front property in New Orleans for sale.

moon scribble

Full moon in the day sky,
pulling my blood in strange tides.
Load your gun with silver, if
you treat with me , this turn of the remorseless earth.

Jae Day

Today is Jae's birthday. It's a good reminder of how grateful I am for every day with her.

Snowshoeing

Going snowshoeing later today, after it warms up a bit. These are my snowshoes, which Jae's parents got for me a couple Christmases ago. We usually try and go on a weekday, because you'll see almost no one, but monday is Jae's birthday. I'm hoping the Superbowl will thin the crowd.

The shoes

This is the area I'll be snowshoeing in, up at Sandia Crest.

Sandias in Winter

Matt rocks St. Baldricks

Most of you already know what this is about. For those who need an introduction, every year Matt participates in a charity event which raises money for childhood cancer research. The event is called St. Baldrick's. Shavees volunteer to have their heads shaved for donations from nice people like you all. From now until March (the exact date is not yet published) they raise money from everyone they can. And then on the event day they go into downtown Chicago to Fado's Irish Pub at a big, fantastically fun event and donators can see Matt get his head shaved, can bid on auction items, and can have a few beers, free bar food and just hang out. I haven't been able to attend the event, but I hear its a blast.

Matt says the standard donation is $50, but he's been pleased to receive donations as low as $1 and as high as $250. His largest donor gets the added benefit of taking the first swipe at his head with the shaver. Last year he exceeded his goal of $5000! This year he's increasing his goal to $7500. Here's a tip for maximizing your buck, check with your employer for matching contributions.

Matt started participating in this event when his cousin Nathan (my nephew) was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma on April 1, 2003. He is now 6 years old and still fighting.

St. Baldrick's main website is here:

St. Baldrick's

And Matt's page is located here. Look for the donate buttons at the upper right corner.
Matt's St. Baldrick's

Thanks,

Josh

Poems for February

On her blog, on February 1st, Anna blogged a poem about February. Fitting. I'll reply with one about winter, that fits February, and will particularly fit tomorrow when I am snowshoeing.

Go to the winter woods: listen there, look, watch, and
the dead months will give you a subtler secret than
any you have yet found in the forest.
- Fiona Macleod, Where the Forest Murmurs