First, know that I remain oblique.
We live, then we die.
I will benefit others with my life, and they will help me live.
The Koans as the end of The Art of Unix Programming. The Way of the Carpenter in Miyamoto Musashi' s Book of Five Rings..
I think one can tell a lot about someone by perusing their personal library.
Dune, by Frank Herbert. All six. None of the later ones, although House Harkonnen was adequately dark.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Not as much as Dune, though.
James Cameron's Avatar. By far the best movie, like, OMG, ever!
Forrest Gump. We invested in a fruit company and now we don't have to worry about money.
I don't get attached much to movies, to be honest. I have seen a lot of them, and I prefer good books.
In no particular order.
Prince. The Beatles. John Lennon. Lady Gaga. Kina Grannis. Garth Brooks. Charles Aznavour. James Horner and John Willams. Mozart. Beethoven. Mendelssohn. Francis Cabrel. Yves Duteil. Gilles Vigneault. Alka Yagnik. Indochine. Dvorak. Ayumi Hamasaki. Dylan. Pink Floyds. Britney Spears (I know). Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Renaud. Evanescence. France Gall. Mika Nakashima. Grumbletummy. Idir. Mary Black. kokia. Madonna. Johnny Cash. Kelly Clarkson. Serge Reggiani. The Cars (thanks to Talitha Davies). Wallen. Rammstein. Bjork.
The list goes on. I have over 15,000 tracks in my collection, so I'm leaving some out, but this is a good sample.
March 2010 has been: Avatar movie sountrack and Stairwells by Kina Grannis. Exclusively.
I am a Christian.
I'm going to put a huge caveat to that, however. I also believe that religion is a man-made device meant to tackle the problem known as "the tragedy of the commons".
I study Zen.
My wife is Shinto-Bhuddist and believe in the christian god. She comes to church with me. I go to the temple with her each year.
I am also scientifically-minded.
We have one omamori in each car, from the Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles.
In Chinese astonomy, I am a monkey (1968) and specifically a Earth Monkey.
geomancy.net says:
Monkeys are fun loving, full of energy, fantasy and plans.
A Monkey person is clever, cunning, agile and lively. They are good problem solvers.
Monkeys are intelligent and adapatable and sociable.
At parties they are at the center of attention due to their charm and humour.
They don't hide their emotions, like jokes but are restless.
Monkeys are immune to insults.
Monkeys can be unscrupulous, selfish and devious. They can be dishonest and inconsistent. Monkeys have litle respect for others, easily gets jealous and are yields to temptation.
They further explain that earth monkeys are:
Hardworking, quieter and conscientious. He makes a good teacher. He is keen on a stable relationship with spouse and is a family man. Also, he needs constant praise. He aims for perfection and is detailed and likes to be consulted. He is compassionate and charitable.
I will say more on that later.
Sometimes I feel like this: http://xkcd.com/695/, so then I write.