Absolute Clownshoes

Dharma has been... well, enlightening.  I recently was encouraged (by multiple sources employing different mediums) to "PAY ATTENTION TO FLEETING THOUGHTS."  The most recent of these messages was delivered verbally by one Alexis Santos, whom I joined a sanga  to meet and am now just absorbing as much wisdom from as I am able to tenuously hold onto. I was issued this gentle suggestion on Sunday and on Monday afternoon, I was afforded the opportunity to notice one of these fleeting thoughts, so I put a rivet through it. As I was getting into my Forester to drive to the second day of the retreat, after having worked mostly from home in the confines of my glamorous bedroom come office come improvised gym come improvised yoga studio come changing room come storage closet come dry bathroom vanity come dinner nook come... maybe you get my drift: I rent a room and that's where I spend a more than ample amount of time.  I'd love to just blame the disparity of generational wea...

  Here is Larry's story, sans paywall Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf By Larry David Mr. David is a comedian and writer who created “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and was a co-creator of “Seinfeld.” Imagine my surprise when in the spring of 1939 a letter arrived at my house inviting me to dinner at the Old Chancellery with the world’s most reviled man, Adolf Hitler. I had been a vocal critic of his on the radio from the beginning, pretty much predicting everything he was going to do on the road to dictatorship. No one I knew encouraged me to go. “He’s Hitler. He’s a monster.” But eventually I concluded that hate gets us nowhere. I knew I couldn’t change his views, but we need to talk to the other side — even if it has invaded and annexed other countries and committed unspeakable crimes against humanity. Two weeks later, I found myself on the front steps of the Old Chancellery and was led into an opulent living room, where a few of the Führer’s most vocal supporters had gathered: Himmler,...

Checked in to Eldorado casino hotel at the Row in Reno. Prepaid $110 through reservations dot kahm thought inclusive. Wasn’t so. Neglected to read fine print so they served up a $40 resort charge on top. My bad I didn’t read and I booked it from playa via phone on Starlink at the 11th hour. Was gonna eat it.  Bathroom lightbulb was busted - turned it on and it was strobing, so I put my hat back on and my glo-vest and danced a little jig before calling the desk and asking a non-seizure bulb be installed. No problemo Doctor Teeth bulb en route. Cool. Ok TV time - haven’t seen this manner of screen in nigh a fortnight - perplexed when the only buttons working on the remote were the channel up and volume down.  Ok. Call #2 to the desk can I get a matching remote to the TV? (I’ve worked in hotels before and when hardware gets upgraded or replaced it’s far from an ideal system resulting in mismatched equipment as a common gripe received from guests - universal remotes are the standa...

  Day 1   for my trip brought PWM>EWR>LAX where I was picked up by Carrie and Zachary of Bigger Life Adventures. We are friends now of a few years and this is my retreat #2.5 having been to Baja (Rosarito, Mexico), Arizona (Rim 2 Rim in the Grand Canyon), as well as staking a place for a footprint near Lincoln, NH for a retreat this coming September in the White Mountains. So we’ve hiked together. This is a bit of info which will come in handy later. They’ve also seen me expose my inner child – what remains of my innocence, what I have left for fears – so. They know me and they knew this would be a good fit. A bit about Bigger Life Adventures: Carrie and Zach are partners in every sense and they bring a sense of harmony and collaboration to every conversation and experience – they’re funny, smart, curious and generally wonderful hosts, be that at their home near the Grand Canyon or anywhere on the road. The retreats which I’ve participated in have included yoga (Carrie’s...