If you want to know the past, to know what has caused you,
look at yourself in the present,
for that is the past's effect.
If you want to know your future,
then look at yourself in the present,
for that is the cause of the future.

– Majjhima Nikaya

I don't know what I would do without nice thoughts like this. I think I'm finding my own personal mantra in here somewhere in these things.

Which is good. Very very.

Be back later. Gotta hydrate the rest of my brain.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.


Whether you and I and a few others will renew the world some day remains to be seen. But within ourselves we must renew it each day.

– Herman Hesse


What you do may seem insignificant, but it's important that you do it.

– Mahatma Gandhi


Focus, not on the rudenesses of others, not on what they've done or left undone, but on what you have haven't done yourself.

– Dhammapada, 4, translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

:~: Today's Boody-ism :~:


Phenomena are preceded by the heart ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart, then happiness follows you, like a shadow that never leaves.

– Dhammapada, 1, translated by Thanissaro Bhikku


I feel better now that I got my coffee. I still don't care for rednecks and big vehicles though.

Whoever built the parking garage here should probably be prosecuted.


It's no different than any other day. Except that I woke up very late, had no coffee, broke a water dish on the floor when the rolling pin roll-lll-lled off the edge of the countertop smack on top of it; then I resisted the urge to smash even more things with said rolling pin -- althought I did fantasize for a moment of me smashing all things glass like an angry Buford Pusser.

And everyday, it's a similar frustration for me: parking in an old, four-story, once-department-store-now-parking-garage... thing. I'm here to say it is not fun. Because most department stores built in the early 50's weren't designed to, say, have cars driving around in their basements, especially. It's an ungodly task to drive between old car-torn pillars, over old glue spots and carpetlines, just to find a place to stash your car for 8 hours or so. Sure the cars of the 1980's were smaller when this rennovation occured. I remember compact cars. Every now and then, I'll even see the raised-lettering under a black swash of cover-up paint. And it still faintly reads: "Compact cars only", marking where a 1982 Toyota SR5 would've fit quite nicely.

Finding a space is one thing. Wedging a car into it without busting your bumper on something is a complete 'nother. And then, I guess what makes me madder'n hell in the summertime heat of Alabama is attempting to sandwich my car in between the walls of SU fricking V's.

It's like putting toothpaste back into a tube.

And it wasn't even the (you haven't got a scratch on that tank) SUV's taking up the most room as it was the rednecks taking up more than their allotted one space allowed. If you think I'm being rude and just calling people rednecks, you are wrong. This one in particular sports a (can you call it a) vanity plate on the front of his (did that really pass inspection) Ford Truck (or what's left of it). The hardened dirt and grime seem to hold parts of it together.

It's too easy to talk about, so I am going down the street for coffee. I wish I had some of this caffeinated soap instead -- http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/5a65/

I'm getting some of it. If you're like me and either too lazy to click the link or too afraid to jump off your train of thought in fear it'll pull away from the station and leave you stranded (again), I'll explain this soap. It's caffeinated, and the caffeine is absorbed through your skin. Yes, you can absorb things through your skin and get it into your system much quicker than if you were to Traditionally Ingest it. Sure it's true. Take a look at what all the incidental, environmental hormones in everything -- from new carpet to nail polish -- have done to the 12 year old girls these days. They're exploding with hormones and with boobies. I gotta get some of this soap.

Plus, it'll save me that Precious Time in the morning. Let's see, it takes about six minutes to get a fresh percolator full of coffee going in the morning, and everybody knows that six minutes in the morning is prime real estate that can make or break you. You can either get up early, get a jump on the rest of the schmoes and finally Be Somebody, Be an Early-Bird Achiever Who Employers Are Just Dying to Promote to Fiduciary Success, or you can roll over and miss it all, Jack. Yeah, I said "Jack." Just like that, you're still the Same Old Loser, Consistently Missing a Whole Busload of 'Now' Opportunity. Again. But not now, not me, not with something like this magic caffeinated soap. Don't think I'm not getting it. I can now either (1) set off to work six minutes earlier and conquer a whole world or new opps, or more likely (2) sleep six more Precious Minutes. If nothing else, it's got peppermint in it. Man. I love shopping online. How did we ever do Christmas before the internet?

"Heyarh's a prezzent fer ya, Daddyy... it's a liiie-sunse plate fer yer truck that I gots at th' hardwarr store... it sezzz 'Redneckk'! Ain't that funny?"

Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards.

– Soren Kierkegaard

And therein lies the boody-ism.

– Bubbles

Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.

- Oscar Wilde


Every time I run across some small witicism chortled by Oscar Wilde, I stop and think to myself, "Boy... I bet he was a tremendous pain in the ass to be around."

Happy New Year to everyone. It's gonna be a good one. I swear it is. Don't worry about the impending war crisis (-es). Seriously. Who cares anymore. Don't beat your head up over it, it's going to be a good year. I'll be damned if it isn't.

Last year at this time, I was being downsized "due to the numbers." Damn those numbers. I think one of those numbers was 240 lbs. while the other two came in at around 408 lbs. combined. But, as I say, "let auld acquaintance be forgot". And as Ron says, "Let them eat our butts."

And when he says that, I picture it as a slicing off of a serving of our butts, much like the Grinch carved a big piece off the roast beast and passed it around the table. There's plenty for all, even though our servings will be a leaner and less padded version of those partaking.

There are many things for me to be thankful for. One is that I actually balanced my checking account in Quicken. Finally. After five months of avoidance behavior, I took the bills by the horns and balanced the whole thing. Three times in a row. I feel like I just hit it big in the stock market. I feel like a financial wizard.

And everyone who is a smarmy, pot-stirring, self-appointed jerk can eat my butt, and let God sort through the rest later.

Where did that come from? Oh that's right; it came from my experience with numbers.

This year will be a very good year indeed.