Hippo, birdie, two ewes...

... to johno!!!! Have a great one!!!

Done yesterday (20110928 We)

( raw notes )

Hmm. I spent most of yesterday feeling tired; I don't think that an under-two-mile walk contributed much to that even if it was the first in over a week. Also, my eyes hurt. Probably need to get new glasses.

Turns out there's a Trader Joe's only a mile from work. Easy walk.

I filled up the van and it cost me as much as a monthly bus pass. On the other hand, with a 17-mile round trip it's almost exactly even, and that's only if I always take the van and not the Honda, which gets 50% better mileage. I'll revisit this calculation in mid-March when I qualify for a senior discount. Um... Right.

A minor triumph -- I did something minorly stupid (I forget what) and actually said "Silly bear!" to myself, instead of the more usual "Idiot bear!" I thought "idiot bear", briefly, but I didn't say it. That's big. Bigger than it sounds, maybe.

That segues nicely into the link of the day, the Charter for Compassion and this talk by Karen Armstrong at TED (courtesy of liralen. It makes a lot of sense, this idea that "The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves."

If more than a handful of religious people actually believed it, this would be a much different planet. Unfortunately, most religion right now appears to be in bed with politics, and when that happens you don't need to ask who's on top -- you know who's going to get screwed.

I'm a little surprised that I was able to come up with that last aphorism before going to bed last night and still remember it in the morning.

Thankful Thursday

Hmm. Today I am thankful for...

• Colleen. And recovery, even if it's slow.
• Averted disasters.
• A room in the con hotel when we needed it.
• My daughters, and especially Chaos, who helped make our weekend in Seattle a huge success.
• Music, and dear friends who help me make it.
• Compassion. Including some for myself -- that's the hardest one.