More Things To Contemplate

Okay - it took me a while to make some adjustments to Firefox, in regards to the size of the font it was displaying.  I don't know it well enough yet to easily make adjustments. I have to carefully and slowly weave my way in and out of the various controls - and even then I am not entirely sure what I am doing.

I would categorize it as a typical working Monday - not without it's successes, not without it's challenges and at the end of the day - done.  We get to do it all again tomorrow.  Except not quite the same. In our lives, that sense of repeating the same day over and over is an illusion - each day is different, each day has its own set of nuances.  I made a bit of headway today, so it felt like it was kind of productive.

I got home in the evening, had a burrito for dinner, watched the most recent episode of "Once Upon A Time", then did another hour or two of incidental work virtually, mostly scheduling meetings and running reports.  These are the sort of maintenance related tasks that I would like to do during the day, but that always get pushed aside by the more important stuff, or by the stuff that other people designate as being more important.  Whatever the importance was, at six p.m. I updated my time and called it a night, at least as far as work is concerned.

I then lit a pair of candles and spent ten minutes sitting in my comfortable chair in the living room and just breathing.  It is a wonderful form of meditation and it was very relaxing and it is allowing me to move into this part of the evening with a clearer head.

I've been working on my New Year's resolutions these first two weeks and so far they've been going pretty good.  I think I am doing better in regards to Body and Spirit and now so focused on Mind.  I think it is because what I need to do to work on Mind is find something that I can focus on learning.  Exercise, a better diet, meditation and prayer, those seem, to me, to be easier to attain then thought, then disciplined learning, then a focused approach to developing the mind.  So, tonight, after I finish up with this entry, I am going to try and focus on learning something.

Of course, at this point, I have no idea what I am going to focus on learning, what I am going to focus on doing to expand my mind. It did just dawn on me that I could spend an hour or so reading the most recent issue of the New Yorker.  There ought to be something in there that will catch and hold my attention. For reasons not entirely known to myself, but probably worth exploring, I don't seem to think of reading fiction as being mind expanding, even though it most definitely is. I think that's because I look at reading fiction as a very pleasurable activity and part of me seems to think that expanding the mind doesn't count if its fun.

I could also play a computer game.  They are also one of those things that I don't think of as being particularly mind expanding, but, depending on the game, they certainly have that ability. I seem to think that studying should be a serious thing.  That is probably a through back from other points in my life.

Ah well, more things to contemplate in my meditative times.

May All Beings

There is a decision point that I seem to hit every other weekend or so.  I try and decide if I am going to do any work on the weekend. If I thought that by working on the weekend I could gain some ground on the week, I would be more tempted to do it. But, the general result is I work extra hours in the weekend, and then I still end up working extra hours during the week, so it is definitely a zero sum game. 

This weekend was no different, but, here I am, Sunday night, watching Once Upon A Time and quite happy that I didn't work this weekend - with the full awareness that I am going to be working long days this week.  I have one major task that I want to accomplish this week, so I am going to try and stay focused on that, try and keep a disciplined approach to it.

Today was a good day, all in all.  The switch in time impacted me this morning when I woke up at about 4:00 AM, so I expect to pay for that by hitting a hard wall before too long.  I can already feel the first edges of sleep trying to steal over me, so I suspect it will just be a question of "when do I give in", followed by a bit of tossing and turning, then a swift and smooth journey into the land of sleep.

I feel like I need a day off, but the Thanksgiving holiday is just around the corner, so I may hold out until then. I also may take a day between here and there.  Perhaps to celebrate one of the milestones at work as it passes. We can list that as one of the failures of our current project management, they do not celebrate the milestones that we reach and pass.  This is just another thing in the litany of things that make this program the object lesson in how not to run a project.

I had an easy afternoon, alternating between reading and watching the DVR, then I had dinner with Tony over at Mama Mia's on Hamilton.  Excellent pizza and Tiramisu. Earlier in the day we'd gone to Cupertino Square to see RZA's "The Man With The Iron Fist", which was an enjoyable old-style Kung Fu movie. One of the players in the movie was the actress Jamie Chung, who happens to be portraying Mulan on "Once Upon A Time".  She is a very beautiful and talented actress. 

On that note I am as ready for the end of the day as I can be. I hope you had a good weekend and, as the sign on the wall in my office says:  May all beings find happiness and be free from suffering.

An Industrious Day Dancing With Dragons

I was industrious today. It was mostly just the mood I was in. I slept in an hour or two, then showered and started the day. I ironed and folded laundry. I cleaned the bathroom. I cleaned the kitchen. I had breakfast with friends. I strung Christmas lights. I wandered Fry's. I stopped at the market for groceries. I watched two episodes of "Once Upon A Time", I shot two hours worth of pool. I had dinner at an Italian place (Mama Mia's on Hamilton). I visited with TR. Now, as the day winds down, I am going to continue finishing up George R.R. Martin's "A Dance with Dragons", A good day and an industrious day under the belt.