Holy cow - 2.7%.  Does this statistic surprise you?  Is this higher or lower than you would have thought?  Is this cause for celebration - or commiseration?  Discuss.

They come like flares

then vanish to unwritten graves

The clock - it’s ticking.

Take the Tai Chi Challenge!

Every day for 81 consecutive days read one chapter in the Tao Te Ching and do a little Tai Chi.  If you haven’t done Tai Chi before, you can start with this short Qi Gong form shown in the video.  Qi Gong is a part of Tai Chi.  If you are unable to stand for whatever reason, you can do this form seated.  The idea is to get in touch with your experience within your body.  Breathe deeply - in when you go up, out when you go down.  Smile while you do the form.  Smile all throughout your body, each part and organ.  Care for your organism - it’s half of who you are.

Why the Tao Te Ching?  It has 81 very short chapters.  Each fit on a page.  It’s message is simply this: seek harmony with reality - with nature, with people, and most of all with your self.  Tai Chi teaches you how to be a more complete human being, in touch with all of your interconnected parts, and in touch with the world around you.  It will settle your mind, ease your body, and put your priorities into focus.

Yeah, I know it looks hooky.  Just give it a try, alone if you have to.  Pay attention to how you feel before, and how you feel after.  If 81 days is too many, try it for 3.  I promise you won’t regret it.

P.S. It may help to read chapter 25 first….

Osama Bin Laden was a rabid dog that needed to be put down.  Remember, however, that we were all once upon a time young and impressionable children, even Bin Laden.  Bin Laden’s path led him to commit heinous acts against many people, and the belief that his actions were righteous.  It’s sad.  Because of his dogmatic adherence to a code of violence against his fellow man, Bin Laden’s death was necessary.  But it’s a shame.

Let us not fool ourselves that justice has been served.  It hasn’t.  Justice would be if the 9/11 attacks had never happened, if those who died still lived, if the firefighters and others at ground zero still had working lungs, and if Al Qaeda had found a peaceful way to have their voices heard.  What has been served is revenge.  Cold, bitter revenge, yet with the quiet satisfaction of knowing that one great threat to mankind is now gone.

Osama Bin Laden will not be the last rabid dog the world will have to deal with.  Let’s come together as a world and reflect on the fact that we are all in this together, that violence, while sometimes necessary, should only be a last resort, that diplomacy can topple oppression, and maybe, just maybe, we can “all just get along.”  Here’s to hope, and however improbable the dream of World Peace may be, still - it is a dream worth striving for. 

Note to self: do not leave your Crocs sandals in the car’s rear window for three months.

Caribou Coffee puts all the rest to shame! Try the iced lavender white mocha latte (yes, lavender). It tastes like a campfire.

Romance, Friendship, Family, Life’s Work, Spirituality, and Play.  Can anyone think of any others?