I got home not long ago and sat down for some sushi and sake. Warm sake is a great way to fortify one’s self against the cold of the winter currently beyond my windows. I’d actually never tried it before tonight, but I was compelled to get some when I failed to find any cider, which I was in the mood for when walking home. It may not have filled me with the memories of drinking cider at the home I grew up in, but it’s nice all the same.

This video can now be found beyond the more link.

As I mentioned in the video, I got a new camera on Monday. It has surprised me with its quality. I paid as much for it as I did for a cheap camera I bought a year ago and the features far surpass it. I hope I’ll take advantage of it to produce some new content here that will be interesting. No, not just a weekly feature on Mithra.

Sunday I used the Big Mind DVD that came with my ILP kit. It’s essentially a fast track to experiencing divinity using psychological and zen dialogue. It was really easy for me to slip into the different aspects of myself with it, whether it was the protector, the desiring self or the self that seeks the way. I found the process incredibly effective, but only a couple minutes after I shifted into the spaciousness of transendential consciousness I suddenly contracted my awareness and was unable to return to it easily. I’m sure I’ll be able to condition myself to be more receptive of the experience and look forward to when I do it again. The joy of that oneness is something to treasure. If you haven’t had that bliss of genuinely experiencing godhead, I hope you’ll talk my word that it is the most profound and altering experience one can have.

Monday, after some training at work, I picked up a copy of Collective Soul’s new DVD Home. A while ago I wrote here about buying the CD version, and I was floored by that. This, however, is an even more exciting experience. The one time I was lucky enough to see the band live was a wonderful experience and this recording is about as close to that as I’ll get without being in the crowd before them. The orchestal accompaniment to their music is exquisite and the band is at its best. The extra footage gave some nice shots of Atlanta and an awesome bonus song, “Georgia Girl”.

Now it’s time to retire with a bottle of Jones Soda and some chocolate-covered coffee beans.

Love.

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It’s been a busy week for me, hense the lack of time alotted to writing here. It’s been a mostly enjoyable few days. Valentine’s Day was pleasant, even considering my status as single.
I may not have a significant other, but I did have what was ended up called a “weblaunch date” with someone of enviable beauty and wit. I spent that evening working with my dear friend Alisha on her new website, A Hundred Lives. There’s still a fair amount of work to be done on it that I hope we can get to during my upcoming days off, but I like results of the modest start.

Wednesday night I went to dinner at Chives with four of my co-workers. I was incredibly impressed by the five course meal we were offered to get a feel for the restaurant, especially by how accommodating the chef was when I informed him I am a vegetarian. The soup, pasta and ample selection of desserts made for a truly memorable night, as did the interesting conversation among my co-workers (hearing of one woman’s near-death experience was facinating) and wonderful atmosphere of the building, which was once a bank (the safe now holds wine). I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Chives for anyone in Halifax in search of a stellar meal.

In the mail that day I received my ILP package, which has been a lot of fun to get started with. Though I haven’t had much time to work with the various practices included in it, the “1-Minute Modules” are ones I can easily do while waiting for a bus or while on my way here. I’m looking forward to trying out the three hours of Big Mind included tomorrow.

A few years ago one of my guilty pleasures was M2M. They were a Norwegian pop duo with what I perceived as a lot of potential. Six years after first hearing them, I’ve had the first single of one of the two, Marit Larsen, stuck in my head all week. The song, “Don’t Save Me” (you can watch the video at her site), is more of the pop both she and Marion Raven created for their two M2M albums, but it has a fresh and infectious feel that elevates it. I’ll now be looking forward to her full release with anticipation.

My new musical discovery of the week was Ursula Rucker and her most recent album, Ma’ At Mama. The album is a sumptuous mix of spoken word, hip hop, electronic, funk and an assortment of other bits. The esoteric “Humbled” and the erotic “Black Erotica” are my favourites at the moment.

I was pointed to Letterfu by my friend Mark. It offers printable templates for creating folding letters that don’t need an envelope to send though the mail. I imagine it’ll grow in time with Creative Commons contributions, but the two designs offered now are really nice.

Speaking of mail, my new camera is waiting for me at a depot. I’ll have it Monday and share some new photos with it then if all goes well.

I started reading Christy Turlington‘s Living Yoga a couple months ago and slowly worked my way though it as I dove through other books. I think it’s an excellent starting point for exploring yoga. Not only does it introduce some practical concepts and techniques, but also includes a wonderfully intertwined story of the author’s own experiences as they relate to the yogic path. I appreciated how she was able to integrate the disciplines and wisdom of various traditions into her Christian faith. The photos and illustrations throughout are beautiful and bring the book’s grace into focus. Having finished it, I feel more committed to developing my own practice; if I’ve gained nothing else, the book has been a blessing in that way.

The quote above was included in Living Yoga, and I think it’s one of my favourite reminders of how meditation is a path to joy rather than a self-sacrifice without reward. What could be more joyful than becoming more transparent to what is and cultivating love?
I’m looking forward more than ever to the arrival of my ILP package this week. I’m very enthused to incorporate yoga into an integrated practice.

I just tried out Interactive Johari Window, an interesting exploration of personality.

I’m hoping that those of you who have a fair idea of who I am will select five traits that fit me so that I can have a good idea of what I project to others. If you do it as well then please let me know so I can contribute to your window. To see my results you can view my Johari Window.

In less interesting happenings, my camera broke last night. I’ve ordered a new one that is a slight upgrade. I’ll actually miss my cheap black one. I’m looking forward to being able to record videos and have better results under various lighting conditions.

I get to eat for free Wednesday at Chives. I am looking forward to that.

I’m sitting here with my very first bowl of miso soup and a cup of peppermint chai. The soup isn’t bad, but I think the taste will take some getting used to. Seaweed isn’t something I can appreciate the texture of immediately. It sure looks nice, though. The chai is a nice contrast, with a complex and multilayered flavour. It’s very invigorating.

Now, on to the amethyst amid the rock of this post. For a while now I’ve been taking small steps toward having an integral life practice. I learned of the stance that combining practices in various aspects of our lives increases the effectiveness of each and have tried to apply it to my life as best I can.

Want to have more success in meditation? Start working out. Want healthier relationships? Start eating more mindfully. Health and unfolding may happen in different lines, but they do mesh together in overall wellness and evolution.
What I hadn’t done was actually take on reading or otherwise learning of a comprehensive system such as Integral Transformative Practice or Integral Life Practice. I had recognized the value of this, but kept putting off that final dive. Of those two approaches, ILP, seems the stronger, because it includes elements such as Big Mind that I’ve come to appreciate and largely because it’s a product of Integral Institute, an organization I have had nothing but the best of experiences with, it is no doubt expertly produced. That said, I’d still like to read ITP founders George Leonard and Michael Murphy’s book The Life We Are Given, which I hear is an excellent read.
So, in the mood for diving into change, Monday night I placed an order for Integral Life Practice‘s starter kit. It’s offered as a breakthrough in “evolving body, mind, and spirit in self, culture, and nature” and offers some techniques I’m very excited to work with. Included in the package are DVDs dedicated to Big Mind (“an elegant integration of Zen and western psychology”), meditation, body work (“integrating strength training (physical body), energy practice (subtle body), and releasing to infinity (causal body)”), shadow work (integrating hidden elements of psyche), and AQAL (an explaination of Integral theory, “the most comprehensive map of human awareness available”), and CDs and books presenting various parts of ILP and providing help in customizing a practice. I’m thrilled to be starting to deepen my efforts in unfolding and to have the direction to make it as effective as possible. The change I’ve witnessed in the past six months has been wonderful, and I look forward to seeing where more efficiency takes me.

I talk a lot about integral and the importance of evolving both as people and as cultures. This is one way I’m working on that. If you’d like to hear a bit about why there is a danger in the course we are on without evolving, listen to Ken Wilber speak about his new book, The Many Faces of Terrorism in this recent podcast.

I’m sitting down with some vegetarian sushi and some lemon chai. I just returned from an afternoon downtown, during which I decided to pick up the sushi. The last time I tried sushi was in October of 2003, when April, Wanda and I tried some from a stand in a mall. I definitely like what I’m having now a lot more. I’m afraid that I have a lot of practice ahead of me if I want to master chop sticks. Maybe I’ll hunt down a tutorial online sometime. Oh, and the tea is marvelous.

As I said, I was downtown today. It has become a usual Tuesday event for me to head there to hang out with Allison. We stopped by the library for a while between shop explorations and I spotted two books by Voltaire (the Goth musician, writer and visual artist, not the Enlghtenment writer). I’m expecting What is Goth? and Paint It Black to be tongue-in-cheek and very entertaining like his other works.

For years my favourite band was Collective Soul, who shaped my youth more than any other single force of art. I still follow the band and have enjoyed their recent output. I’m excited to hear their new release, a live album and DVD with accompaniment by a symphony, titled Home. It came out today, but I had forgotten about it until I’d already returned home. If you can block out the annoying announcer, you can get a hint of Home in a trailer.

Tonight I gave Emusic a try. Focused on indie music, it’s one of a collection of too few sites offering paid MP3 downloads rather than consumer-unfriendly rights managed files. if you sign up for the free trial you can grab 25 free downloads right away, so I decided to grab some songs by Kate Fenner, PUSA, The Marvelous 3, Snow Machine, Mercan Dede, Snow and Voices, Trembling Blue Stars, Love and Rockets and The Cruxshadows (I got some songs from Paradox Addendum to fill out my collection of their songs). I’d recommend giving the site a try, because it’s risk-free. The Cruxshadows are where I’d most recommend starting off.

Mark just pointed me toward a very exciting article. Word is that a cure for AIDS may have been developed and on the way within a few short years. “Has BYU prof found AIDS cure?” notes caution, but is clear this may be the breakthrough the world has been waiting for in the fight against the disease.

Let’s cross our fingers for those 50 million lives this has the potential to save.

P.S. I broke down and bought Home online. I’m loving the bonus track “Burn” and all the live renditions of the songs. “Heavy” is wicked with the strings.

I’m at work tonight, though I’d hoped to be spending it doing other things. I was called into work because a co-worker is sick. If he still is sick tomorrow I’ll not have my two days off and instead be in for a 10 day stretch. I could use the money, but rest and time to run some errands would be nicer.

It’s been an odd week, certainly one of the more unusual romantically I’ve ever lived. Oh, but it’ll remain shrowded in mystery, because that’s the sort of mood I’m in right now.

Saturday night I went to a gumbo gathering at Chris and Micheala’s place, along with other members of the Enfield bunch. It was a nice time of games playing, food eating and chatting. Micheala told us she had recently been searching for information about a local band on the internet and was suddenly reading about a night the gang had spent at Chris and Micheala’s old place and at a local bar. She was alarmed by this, so much so that she even called Chris to tell him. It turns out mention of my red hair clued them in to the fact that it was my website.

I’ve been feeling the need for another leap in my life. I always want to keep my evolution engaged and be flexible for new opportunities. I was planning to look into doing something to further that tonight, to dive into something exciting, but here I am.

One thing I’m starting to set as a goal is to definitely travel during the first two weeks of November. My lease will be ended on my apartment so I’ll move my stuff out at the end of October and then be on a plane for the first, heading for some unknown destination for two weeks of adventure. I’d appreciate suggestions, offers of excitement and information. Standing in the way of that is the financial aspect, of course, on which I’m going to start focusing some energy in order to have that going smoothly.
If all goes as planned, I’ll return from the adventure prepared to move into a new home and carry over the momentum of whatever experiences I might have into the following year. It’s an exciting prospect for me, one filled with mystery and possibility. I’d appreciate any help and advice that can be offered in making this a reality.

Notice the photo included with this entry? No, I haven’t dyed and cut my hair in the past week. It’s a photo from a few years ago when I had just cut my hair and had fading black dye in it. It’s there in part as a reminder to myself and to clue you in to a movement I’m about to do. Currently I have two separate places where photos are kept on my site, one containing all those since June of this year and one with all those from before then. The latter I’m going to remove and migrate most of its photos into five archive albums in my new, permanent gallery. It’s been fun looking through all those old photos and scans and reminiscing about some grand times. I hope to have the move done very soon.

I’ll put together a new website layout soon as well. I’m still brainstorming for that, though. I’m thinking of centering it more around making my identity clear on my main page. At least then I’ll not have my site cause alarm again.

My tea for this afternoon is a lemongrass and jasmine white tea. It’s one of my favourite cups I’ve had in a long while. It’s a very smooth, soothing and comforting tea.

Now, the reason for this post is to share a video of a recent Broken Social Scene performance of “7/4 (Shoreline)” on Conan O’Brien. It’s a wicked rendition and features the always magnificent Feist prominently. Watch the video here.

P.S. Also beautiful in video form are “Anthems,” “Almost Crimes,” “Lovers’ Spit,” and “Ibi dreams of pavement (a better day)” from Broken Social Scene and “Your Ex-Lover is Dead,” “Ageless Beauty,” “Elevator Love Letter,” and “Reunion” from Stars.

Enjoy.

I’m on to another cup of tea, a green tea flavoured with tropical fruits this time. It’s as good as Andrew, who tried it first, said. I’m attempting to try each flavour from a kit I was given for Christmas and this makes two of twelve. I’m in the midst of a sleep schedule adjustment, so it may be that I’m killing two birds with one stone. I’ll keep making these fairly rapid fire posts in hope that will keep me up too.

I take great joy in seeing others engrossed in the creative process and enjoying it themselves. Even when Pegah drew me as a five-year old alien, it was nice to watch her draw. I miss being deeply involved in creating. Typing entries can be rewarding, but I crave story creation a great deal. I’ve been drinking in media a lot to stir up the coals of creativity so that I’ll have no choice but to weave stories. I hope it will work.

I just came across Bounce Back to Life, a cross between a webcomic and a blog. Ol’Dan takes moments from his life and posts them as marvelous comics. I’ve added it to my frequently read RSS feeds and look forward to following his posts. I’m glad he has a feed because a frustratingly large number of webcomics and some blogs still haven’t adopted one.

I’ve moved on to a cinnamon apple green tea, which has a taste far too faint for me. While not disgustingly artificial like some apple cinnamon teas I’ve had, for this is made with natural flavouring, it could be distinguishable. The teas I’m currently trying ara all from Uncle Lee, in case you’re interested in trying the same selections I am.

Ever since I was a kid one of my favourite artists has been Tom Cochrane, a man as well known for his immense contribution to Canadian music as for his tireless dedication to social work around the globe. I found one quote by Tom about his biggest hit, from a recent issue of Greentoe to be worthy of sharing.

If any man lives that, it’s Tom; I’ve been endlessly impressed by his commitment to the wellbeing of others. Oh, and take a look at Tom’s iPod playlist for some underknown and well known tunes. Also on his list of all time favourites? Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Neil Young. The guy has good taste, no?

As if in answer to my wish to be writing, I’ve been recruited into script writing for Allison’s silent film that I’ll be playing the role of a minstrel in. It’s going to be an interesting one, that’s for sure. Drunken nobility, giants making princess stew and a two-four are already part of the plot. The Kidnapping of the Princess: An Epic Story of Danger and Love is going to be a blast to make, I’m sure. We’re looking to set part of it here.

I’m warming myself with some white tea, the first cup of it I’ve ever had, fending off thoughts of the massive amounts of snow that were dumped upon us during the blizzard that the night and morning were absorbed by. The tea is nice, with a subtle sweetness. I feel enlivened by the contrast between here and the outside.
It’s beautiful outside, but I imagine it’s less pleasant to be out in than to watch from the stairwell of my building. As beautiful as winter is, it doesn’t take long for me to be tired of it. Spring could arrive any day now and I’d be content with that. And no, it’s not just the promise of maple season, which I miss being a part of so very much.

It’s hard not to be concerned about what is happening in America; even though it is a failing superpower, it still has immense influence and can cause great harm (just as it could create wonderful good under the right leadership and cultural momentum). Spying on people within its borders and beyond, holding to mislead foreign policy, and poorly managing aid, among other issues, have troubled me constantly during the current administration’s reign. Matt Good recently touched on these and other points as he took on Bush’s recent state of the union address in “Captain America to Save the World“.

For Christmas I received a desk calendar that features quotes from the Dalai Lama for each day. One of the recent ones, “Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly,” especially resonated with me. I think it’s important to note the emphasis that great spiritual teachers often promote rule breaking. Afterall, how can we make discoveries without veering off the path?

Above are the current four photos in my photo cuff. I took a while to update it because my printer was out of ink. From left to right are Pegah, April, Wanda, Andrew, Nathan and Mithra.

Darwin Day is coming up on Feb. 12 and will celebrate Charles Darwin’s birthday and the anniversary of the publication of On The Origin of Species. We owe a tremendous amount to Darwin’s understanding of evolution and we certainly should be thankful for the many benefits that understanding has granted us. With narrow and disturbing movements among fundamentalists to hinder teaching of his theory and those like it, it’s important to be vigilant in our defence of knowledge and to value it. To add some humour to that resolve, these Charles Darwin Has A Possee stickers are a good fit.

Thanks to Mark for providing the image to accompany this entry. My own photos didn’t cut it so I asked for his assistance.