Category > Chuang-Tse Meets Jesus
Neither Jesus nor Lao-tse were writers. The 81 verses attributed to the first Taoist may have been spoken by him, but not put to paper by him. They didn't really have paper. Jesus may not even have known how to write his name. I never think of Jesus sitting at the table, pre-Last Supper, taking notes or drafting any sequel to the Sermon on the Mount. Although these two inspirations for this column didn't own pen or keyboard, they are …
| My phone never stops beeping. E-mails, text messages, and tweets, there’s always something. It beeps in meetings. It beeps during supper. It beeps when I’m in bed. It’s not a smart or fancy phone, just a plain, old LG VX-8350, but it’s a workhorse, set up for maximum text access. I really don’t like to talk on the phone that much (at all, actually), but I like the efficiency of text message systems. My relationship to Twitter started last June …
COLUMN ATTEMPT #1 My dear niece Jocelyn, The gears inside my head have been grinding for two weeks. Because of our email debate on the issue of health care, I have not been able to write a coherent column. I have tried everything. Every time the writing gets precious or clever, I give up and pitch it. To distract myself, I played a dozen games of Scrabble simultaneously on Facebook. I wrote haiku. I started taking more pictures for my …
As was widely reported, someone compromised the Rorschach ink blots. The New York Times headline asked, “Has Wikipedia created a Rorschach cheat sheet?” In 1921, Hermann Rorschach created 10 blots, some black and white and some in color, that have been used by psychologists ever since in assessing the mental state and psychology of their patients. Today, 80% of clinical psychologists engaged in assessment services still use the Rorschach blots. Because the blots are in the public domain, Dr. James …
My parents raised me in a one-room tarpaper house in the country. For five years, I grew up familiar with rural surroundings: cornfields, dirt roads, hollyhocks and an outhouse. On my first birthday, I had already fulfilled one complete year of living. That’s how they say it in Spanish. You don’t “turn” into your age like an enchanted pumpkin, you fulfill time. (Cumplir, to fulfill; cumpleaños, fulfilled years, or birthday.) As of last Thursday, I had fulfilled sixty such years. …
The tiny, yellow buds of roadside chamomile emit a fragrance that will dwell inside the boy’s mind forever. Before the sun reaches full glare, he pedals his sturdy 16-inch bicycle leisurely one mile, two miles, three miles through the countryside. The brick church building appears half a mile down the road, past blurring rows of corn stalks.Once he is inside, the first pews are filled with excited boys and girls, happy for their new summer vacation, ready to play and …
I have been commissioned this week to address two issues. One, Sarah Palin. Two, why calling someone gay is a compliment. And I will get to those issues. But, typically, my mind is all over the map this holiday weekend and I have to dispense with the koans and mysterious fragments that comprise it. "crane glides over creek, coyote dodges in corn, sun draws new shadows," I twittered - or is that tweeted? -- one morning last week. "Haiku! Gesundheit," …
from Tao Te Ching, Verse 50 The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings. He knows that he is going to die... He is ready for death, as a man is ready for sleep after a good day's work. (Stephen Mitchell translation) People died this week. Farrah Fawcett, Sky Saxon of the Seeds, and Michael Jackson at age 50. (Or, age 12 if you read The Onion). More than one friend of a friend on Facebook complained about …
My column last week was to be about health care reform, but it just didn't happen. I suspect the same fate awaits health care reform in AmerTruth is, this column writes itself. That doesn't mean it's easy. It just means the column has a mind of its own.Writing is a constant battle to elicit something personal enough to be interesting, but not so narcissistic as to put people off.Trying to be amusing and yet not too self-referential.Obviously failing on both …
The way we are all programmed by society, by the virus of language, well before we know what is happening to us, and then to remain submerged in mystery our whole lives, encourages the idea that the movie The Matrix is a documentary film. Without all the gooey pods and flesh jacks. The human capacity for self-deception is virtually bottomless. Nobody knows what is going on and nobody ever has. I think I’ve written this before. I don’t remember. I …
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Ok, just tell me when I can exhale - Just curious, since all the globalists, carbon traders, and pretty much anyone with copious amounts of wealth have weighed in on population reduction in recent years, i was wondering what yer magic number was. Some of the more…
Change is the only constant thing in this world. Change is just an indication that a particular place is improving or not. It is a good thing that there is a room for a change but it must be a change for the better. It is just…
Now that Olympian is probably a given, they’re going to have to rename the section between Willow and 45. Any suggestions? Now lets get onto Urbana’s next road to nowhere. Airport Rd., They want to extend it from Bartlow west to Lincoln thru 3 farm fields. One…
I had a great time reading around your post as I read it extensively. Gold
I’ve always suspected that there’s a direct correlation between projected land use for the Rt 150 corridor [Industrial / Commercial] and the drive to expand 74. See the CCRPC Future Land Use Map for details, and then take a look at who owns land there, and you…
The University does not subsidize the Airbus. For decades bus transportation to the airport was provided expressly for Institute of Aviation students. This service was paid for by the Institute of Aviation, not campus as a whole. Some of you may even remember the old orange or…
A book just published gives a very useful different perspective on the “growth for growth’s sake” model and its ecological unsustainability. It is “Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet” by Tim Jackson. The first chapter of the book can be downloaded via http://earthscan.co.uk/pwg . This…
I agree with most of the comments on the Orange “Krush.“ They are mostly immature, ignorant, college students who can’t wait for the next frat party so they can get wasted on Keystone light
“Since there is no congestion on 74, one wonders what he is talking about.“ - Duh. Perhaps the congestion is wishful thinking? And IL DOT is planning to spend $71 million taxpayer dollars widening I-74 between Champaign and Mahomet. I contacted IL DOT on the I-74 stuff. …
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Interesting about who owns land in the path of the Olympian Drive extension. My comment was in response to ‘Tony C’s remarks about the I-74 expansion. Just who owns land in the 150 [BloomingtonRd]-I-74 corridor?? Because the corridor is zoned for future use as Commercial/Industrial, I am…
(happy face)
Wow, great article. I wish you the best in your endeavors and hope you have a nice trip.
Um. Yeah — check out that “General Disclaimer” at the bottom of the article, folks.
As an adoptee, I can empathize—although I’m not an international adoptee, and I apologize if I’m assuming too much on the nature of your adoption. You can feel what you feel, but don’t be too hard on yourself. When I started a search for my birth family,…
I highly doubt a single dish is vegan at Bombay. Most Indian dishes use Ghee(essentially clarrified butter) as the base fat. While I guess they could make some dishes with canola oil, I would for sure ask the exact ingredients before I consumed if you are following a vegan diet.
You’re right! Every runner, in my opinion, is a real runner.
Congratulations on the AG place! In all of your accomplishments, don’t forget what it was like to think a mile was an impossible distance. Getting to the six-mile point takes a lot of training and preparation to acclimate the mind and musculature to so much pounding. Your…
Sounds like it!
I heading out on my 9 miler before my 10 hour work day right now. Do I have what it takes?
Nice, killer work pretty man…the channeled, one sided collaborated rhyming poem. An oft forgot genre. The ruckus was felt even here in my living room, which is normally a safe haven from ruckus.
wait, I was commenting on the wrong thing - sorry - he’s actually a gigantic sellout but who really knows what all this is about.
If the democrats didn’t have Kucinich, and the republicans didn’t have Ron Paul, where would both these parties really stand? These men actually mean what they say.
Joel, thank you for the opportunity to answer these questions and have them posted here. I really appreciate it! Yes, I was thrilled to see that Rep. Kucinich flipped today, so he will has committed to voting yes for health reform. I appreciated his comments which seem…
It appears to me that your reviewer did all that could be expected: she paid her money, saw the play and conveyed her impressions. The review (on the whole, laudatory) may have been rushed, in a generous attempt to publicize the production while it was still available…
Dan Schreiber’s chocolate is simply the best I’ve ever had. It’s a whole different ball-game; closer to very high-end wine than anything out of Hershey PA.
That settles it… Im going.
Vosges is pretty decent chocolate, but you should definitely try the locally-produced chocolate from Dan Schreiber, available (regularly?) at Amara, Caffe Paradiso, and Common Ground. I believe it is or will be at other places soon.
I read Kucinich flipped today. He must have read this and been convinced.
Bread Company can do some fantastic vegan dinner dishes! Several of their pastas are vegan or could be made vegan and their pizzas can be ordered (and taste great) without the cheese. I also recommend their roasted potatoes and their roasted garlic head appetizer.
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Interesting about who owns land in the path of the Olympian Drive extension. My comment was in response to ‘Tony C’s remarks about the I-74 expansion. Just who owns land in the 150 [BloomingtonRd]-I-74 corridor?? Because the corridor is zoned for future use as Commercial/Industrial, I am…