Spiders

I need to find a culture or religion that has the same reverence for spiders as Hindus do for cows. If I were to find said group of people, here's what I'd do: I'd invite 3 people to my home. The first, the current leader of those people. The second, another highly respected member of that community. The third, a representative from the "common folk", if such a class exists in the aforementioned community.
I might learn a few words of their language.
I would not reveal to them my expectations or desires. I would simply invite them into my home. No words would be necessary after they crossed the threshold.
I would immediately become their new leader. They would see the spiders, the webs, the cobwebs, the cobwebs on the cobwebs. They would stand still for just a moment to take it all in and they would look down to find a spider attaching a new web to their ankle. And then they would look behind them and see a cobweb attached to their back indicating that in those few seconds since their arrival a spider has not only come, but he has also seen and conquered.
My visitors would recognize that the owner of this home, me, has such a deep and symbiotic relationship with spiders that I must indeed be the holiest of holy figures in their world.
I'm fairly certain the current leader would peacefully transfer the mantle of leadership. In case he, or she, demonstrated some reluctance, I have complete faith that the other two would hold me in such esteem that, with a simple nod of my head or point of my finger, they would subdue him, or her.
It would be good to be king.
In the meantime, I'll just have to amuse myself by watching the spiders in my home. Poor things have started to build little traffic lights where their webs intersect each other.

Sicko

I wasn't really in the mood to see Sicko. I've seen a lot, I mean a lot, of documentaries this past year and I'm a little documentaried out. Especially when it comes to documentaries which focus on some aspect of how we're killing our planet or each other. My eyes are open already! Stop beating me over the head with bad news please! Yes, you could say I was sick of them.

Which leaves me all the more impressed with Michael Moore's latest offering, Sicko. Yes, there was bad news. Yes, it demonstrated how we're not nice to each other. Yes, big business and the government (sorry for being redundant) are not to be trusted. But he did a really good job of telling his perspective on that story. He mixed in enough humor and communicated enough hopefulness that I left feeling better rather than worse.

I highly recommend it.

Ratatouille

My expectations of the latest Pixar offering, Ratatouille, were far too high. Here's the deal: The Incredibles is a fantastic film. Being a comic book geek, that movie punched all of the right buttons for me and was appealing to non-comic book geeks as well. Writer and director of that fine film: Brad Bird.
I'm not much for research, but The Incredibles was so well done that I hopped onto IMDB.com to find out what else Brad Bird had a hand in. Lo and behold - he's the head cheese on Ratatouille. Advanced reviews hailed it as the funniest Pixar movie yet, which is saying something. End result of my research? Very high expectations for a movie about a rat who can cook.
It's good, and worth watching, but don't go in expecting The Incredibles.

More movie reviews (a.k.a two new and a rental)

In inverse order of how highly I rate them: "Fur" (the rental), "The Waitress" (limited release) and "Knocked Up" (wide release).

"Fur"...for the majority of the movie Robert Downey, Jr. is covered completely in fur as a result of a genetic condition. And it's a serious love story. Nicole Kidman being the other ingredient necessary for a love story. To the credit of the creators, I watched the whole thing. The acting was good and the story was interesting enough. They really did try to pull off a serious love story between Nicole Kidman and Chewbacca. Unless you're really hankering for another installment of Teen Wolf, I wouldn't recommend it though.

"The Waitress"...got good reviews, looked light-hearted. Wasn't quite as light-hearted as I expected and not quite as good I hoped based high ratings, but worth seeing. Nice performances, especially by some of the supporting cast. I laughed enough to recommend it.

"Knocked Up"...don't usually go for stupid movies, but this one got such good reviews. Really, really funny. And surprisingly touching at times. Highly recommend it. I'll watch it at least one more time at some point. So many good lines.

staring at the blue
moon he thought, I wonder how
often this happens

DBMonteith

Away From Her

Up next in the movie review section:
Away From Her

If you're ever in the mood for an excellent love story, check this film out. It pulled a few tears out of me.

And inspired this beginning of a poem...

Catching your breath
My heart unfurls
Like a thousand sails

~DBMonteith

I've mostly avoided posting cheesy, romantic poems so far. Just like the other stuff, they spring to mind occasionally though, so I'll shove my fears aside and share them too.

Movie Review

I watch a lot of movies. I subscribe to Blockbuster online and have the plan that allows me to have 3 movies sitting at my house waiting to be watched at any given time. I'd say I watch an average of 2 movies a week, so I'll pass along a review every now and again.
For my first: The Last King of Scotland.
It dawns on me that I need some sort of rating system, or maybe I don't. Regardless, I don't have one right now, so I'll just list some of the things I liked and some of the things I didn't.
Liked:
"based on real people and events", specifically Idi Amin and his reign in Uganda.
the acting
Gillian Anderson. It was a small part, but I don't recall seeing her since the X-Files. She's cute.

Didn't like:
Not knowing which events were real and which were dramatized. I didn't bother to check the "special features" though.
The choice of time period.

Overall, I liked the movie and feel good about recommending it. I think I would have liked it better if it had focused on a different part of Amin's history. I would rather know how the wacko, Amin in this case, gets to power than what he does when he's in power. Alternatively, I would have like more actual news footage interspersed throughout the movie. It felt a little surfacy to me, and I'm not very well-informed about global political events.

mind your words; like gems,
rareness yields epic value.
so claims the haiku.

I'm in a poetry phase

Let me sleep,
electric night!
Pregnant with storm
you rumble and flash
impatient actors
uncued behind a curtaincloud
"Now!?"..."Now!?"..........."Now!?"...
..."Now!?".."Now!?".."Now!?"
asks lightning that never touches ground
Thunder, wind shakes the leaves
But still no water soaks these trees.

To no avail,
I close my eyes.
You will not be ignored,
electric night.

"All that glitters..."
your lights remind.
Unrested, I know
All that is darkness
is not night.


DMonteith

I may think this stinks in the morning, but it's giving me something to do on a restless night. :-)

existential crisis

I received a piece of mail today and it's thrown me for an existential loop.
On the outside of this piece of post the upper left-hand corner reads "If your mailing address is not correct, please call us!"
In the center, it's addressed to "current resident" at my address.
I don't think I need to call them. Or do I?

just for fun

palindrome haiku
write to left and left to write
haiku palindrome

~DBM

Really short country song? or haiku?

It's true I may be
my own worst enemy, but
you're a close second.

~DBM

I like the sentiment, in a humor sort of way, but I think I could do better with the wording. Wanted to get it down before I forgot it.

Agave

On my list of things to do please add:

Learn to play "Amazing Grace" on the harmonica.

Been thinking about getting one (a harmonica) for the past couple of weeks, so I don't know if counts as an impulse buy, but I bought one for myself yesterday. Splurged a bit and got what I hope is a nice one. Research isn't my strong suit, so I'm trusting the guy at the music store.
I felt like it would add a bit of legitimacy to my goal of limited musicianship if I named my new harmonica.
I call her "Agave".
Pronounced as you would the plant that produces tequila.

Brokenfast

That's it! Today was the last day of the Bahai fasting period and the end of my first fasting period as well.
I've been too busy for the last couple of days to reflect on the experience, but I think I'll do it again at some point. I like the idea of doing it as the seasons transition from Winter to Spring or Fall to Winter, but I plan to avoid Daylight Savings Time. Eating late isn't worth the extended breakfast time.
Back to work on applying for my National Board teaching certification. It may be a month or so before I post regularly again because of work, but here's a teaser of what project I'll be tracking when I do...
I'll either be documenting my progress on turning a trampoline into a greenhouse in my backyard,
or
I'll be documenting my progress on turning a futon frame into a multi-purpose shelf.
Stay tuned! And thanks for the comments. :-)

comments for the questions

Have you lost weight?
I don't think so. I'd lost quite a bit from marathon training. I'm pretty sure I've just kept it off. I don't have a scale, so I can't say with certainty.
Do you binge in the mornings or nights?
Yes. Both. Well, mostly at night. I'd like to in the morning. I try to in the morning. But I'm just not that hungry in the morning. That's probably due to my body adjusting a little and storing the food for longer than normal. Also probably due to not eating until 8 p.m. thanks to daylight savings time.
Do you get shaky during the day?
Nope. I got headaches for the first two or three days, but by day 4 those were gone.
Do people taunt you with food?
Yes. But not nearly as much as I would taunt them if the roles were reversed. :-)

Only 3 days to go!

Temptation

Maintaining the fast (why is it called a fast anyhow? not sure why that question hasn't occurred to me before now)...Maintaining the fast has been more challenging today than any other. I'm not sure why. I don't think I'm any hungrier than I have been in days past, but I resent the hunger that I feel. Prior to now, I'd looked at the food in my kitchen and reached for it out of habit and then caught myself. Today, I have to actively not reach for it. And it makes me a little angry.
The flip side is that the anger also makes me feel a sense of accomplishment. I like having to work for it. I'm not so sure about my strategy for "working for it" though: grocery shopping. It made sense that I would give myself something to look forward to by purchasing the fixin's for my meal. Then I got to the store. stupid. stupid. stupid. I made it out with my empty stomach intact, but it didn't improve my mood any. :-)

Two young fasters

A couple of young men, who happen to be fasting, are going to pick up two lovely ladies for a night on the town. Doing a quick appearance check before knocking on the door of their dates, one of the boys smiles wide, looks at the other and asks, "Do I have any food in my teeth?"
"Nope. All clear"
"That's too bad. I'm really hungry."

buhdumpbumpbump
My attempt at a little humor in the face of hunger.

stuck

I'm stuck on the ideas of snacking and consumption. Walking my dogs today and the hunger started walking me. I thought about what I would do if I wasn't fasting. I'd think about what sounded yummy. I'd go get it.
Prior to fasting I'd been wrestling with consumptive behavior and I'd gotten to the point where going and getting it would no longer mean driving to a restaurant fast-food or otherwise. At most it would mean bicycling somewhere nearby. At best, I'd eat something from home. I wonder if I'll take it to the next level as a result of fasting. I'm not even sure what the next level is. Growing my own food? A fruit tree in the backyard? I think this experience will strengthen my convictions, but I'm not sure about new or unique revelations.
More on musings while walking the dogs...
The hunger is most noticeable when nothing else is. That got me thinking about the degree to which consumption relates to boredom. For me, the pattern looks/looked a little like this. I'm bored. Thoughts of what I want enter my head. Not what I need; what I want. Might be food. Might be a movie. Might be a new gadget or game. I then relieve my boredom by acquiring whatever is I want. Assuming it's within my means to do so.
What's the grand conclusion from that observation? Don't be bored? I don't think so. I'll chew on it for a while and let you know.

Day 10 or maybe it's 11

Yet another reason to do away with Daylight Savings time: it means dinner starts really late. I'd rather get up at 6:00 a.m. and get to eat dinner at 6:45 than get to sleep in and eat dinner at 7:45. I get really lethargic after eating dinner. It takes between 1-2 hours for the food to turn into energy, so eating at 8 p.m. pretty much shoots the evening for anything except watching TV or going to bed early. Speaking of which...

Day 9

The Bahai fasting period lasts until March 20. I'm looking forward to that day. I suppose I could stop at any time, since I'm not doing it for religious reasons, but it would feel like a cop out. I recently completed my first marathon. At some point in my training, I realized that I didn't really know why I was running the marathon. I just decided to run one and did it. I had that same realization about fasting today. I don't really know why I'm doing it. I just decided to do it and now I'm in the middle of it.

Snack time

I'm becoming very aware of just how much snacking I do. I'm also becoming aware of how little snacking I need to do. And of how convenient food is for some, myself included.
Where's that line? That line that separates excessive from...not excessive. Is it right at the edge of need? I've thought for a long time that the word 'need' is one of the more overused words. Seems like a rationalization of 'want' more often than not. I hope this experience helps me more clearly define what it is that I need. And makes me more conscious of when I'm just taking what I want because it's convenient. I'd like to resist the temptation of convenience more frequently.

As an aside: Fasting and watching a movie changes the experience a bit. I went to see "The Lives of Others" today. Very, very good movie, but I found myself hyperaware of all of the scenes that involved food. I'm not sure it was the director's intent that I salivate while a character casually crunches a piece of toast, but that's exactly what happened.

Made it through Week 1

Empathizing with the hungry: check. Though I can't imagine not having food. I can't imagine going to bed without food and waking up without food. During the middle of the day, every spare thought is "I'm hungry."
I'm still looking for the mantra that I can follow those thoughts with.

I'm curious about noticeable spiritual effects. I wonder if they'll happen if I my fasting isn't coupled with meditation of some kind.

And consumerism. I've become more conscious of it in recent months. Fasting seems like a natural extension of my attempts to consume fewer material goods.

Stress

Stress intensified the hunger of fasting today. Stressful day at work and I was about to gnaw my own arm off. I don't get headaches anymore though. When eating on a normal schedule, hunger makes me irritable. That's not the case these days. I'm not bouncing off the wall with jovial energy, but I'm not any grumpier than normal.
I keep thinking I should have some sort of mantra for myself when I'm conscious of the hunger. Nothing's come to me yet.

If I continue with this blogging, here's a sneak preview of what's to come after the fast: turning trampoline into a ...

Day 6

A little late with the Day 6 report. I keep thinking that my body is going to get used to it, but that hasn't been the case yet. I still get hungry right around 10:30 a.m. and stay hungry until sunset.

Day 5

I like chronicling. Something about it appeals to my goal-oriented nature. Not much new to report. Day 5 was similar to Day 4. The hunger mellowed me out in the afternoon and I still enjoyed the sensation of hunger.
Dinner tastes twice as good when I've skipped lunch. And I'm more conscious of eating a healthy dinner and breakfast.

Day 4

I kinda like being hungry. Gives me a little edge. Of course, I have the luxury of knowing that I'll eat when the sun sets. On days 1 & 2 the irritability came with the hunger. On day 3, it energized me. On day 4 it mellowed me out.

Time flying

Time may fly when you're having fun, but it definitely doesn't when you're fasting.
My breakfast of 1 apple, 2 organic pop tarts, yerba matte and vitamin C lasted about 3 hours. Sunset seems a long, long time from now.

Unexpecteds in the early days of fasting

The first Saturday of fasting was tough. No snacking. The day off and no snacking. And I can't really sleep in. If I sleep past sunrise, then I miss breakfast. I wonder if I'll be able to wake up, eat, and then go back to sleep.
And I've decided against the "no water" aspect of the Bahai fast. I think of water as a physical cleanser. It takes some of the waste and toxins out, so I'm going to allow myself water.

Fasting

The "haiku and humor" format was a little to narrow. I've expanded the scope of this blog, mostly because I have a question and this blog seemed a good place to post it.

I've always wanted to fast during Ramadan (spelling?) but never done it. A lady I work with is of the Bahai faith and she shared with me that the Bahai have a similar fasting period, which started two days ago. I decided to join her during her fasting period. Or at least for the month of March. Fasting in the case of the Bahai tradition is no food or drink, including water, from sunup to sundown.

My primary reason for fasting is to build empathy for those that are forced to experience hunger everyday. I'm also exploring hunger as a spiritual cleanser of sorts.

My question is this: Does the Christian faith have a similar tradition in which one of the primary goals of the tradition is to build empathy with the less fortunate?