I recently rediscovered an oft-forgotten perk of public library membership: you can check out music CD's and movie DVD's.
The boys are really into Indiana Jones as well as anything Star Wars right now. This week we checked out "The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration" (John Williams with the Boston Pops Orchestra) CD. We also checked out "Raiders of the Lost Ark" on DVD. We will have it for two weeks and it cost nothing. Free! Plus we won't get any phone calls from Blockbuster's home office stating we've not returned the movie (even when you drop it off in your pajamas in order to meet the return deadline). I refuse to say more about my Blockbuster feelings.
I checked out the "Wall-E" movie soundtrack. I enjoyed the movie, so it's been fun to listen to the "space opera" soundtrack. It's not something I would purchase, but I'm enjoying listening. We are on a waiting list for a CD of film favorites from Steven Spielberg.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
"Travels" by Michael Crichton
I am a huge fan of author Michael Crichton. Unfortunately, he died Dec 2008. He was a Harvard medical school graduate, who turned author/moviemaker. Among his novels/movies are: Jurassic Park, The Great Train Robbery, The Andromeda Strain, etc.
I recently read "Travels," which is his self-discovery journal. He thought the best way to discover himiself was to travel to obscure, remote areas. He was a mountain climber, hiker and scuba diver. What follows are a few things I learned. In some places I've quoted directly. I've cited the pages where I got the information. Please read the full book to get the whole story. You very well could take away different things through his journeys.
Page 60 - We cause our diseases. We are directly responsible for any illness that happens to us...it is helathier to assume responsibility for our lives and for everything that happens to us. When we take responsibility for a situation, we also take control of it. We are less frightened and more practical. We are better able to focus on what we can do now to ameliorate the illness and heal. Doctors are not miracle workers who can "magically" save us, but rather, expert advisers who can help us with our own recovery. We are better off when we keep that distinction clear.
Page 129 - Keep an objective record of a subjective mood. Put a mark at the page edge of an unmarked diary page. The top of the page is the best mood and the bottom is the worst mood. After a few weeks, review. Read Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography.
Page 148 - We all can work ourselves into hysterical panic over possibilities that we won't look at. What if I am faced with some terrible thing that I don't know how to deal with? That hysteria always goes away the instant we are willing to hear the answer. Even if the answer is what we feared all along. Then the question becomes, What are you going to do about it? Subsequent emotions may not be pleasant, but the hysteria stops. Hysteria accompanies an unwillingness to look at what is really going on; it promotes an unwillingness to look. We feel we are afraid to look, when actually it is not looking that makes us afraid. The minute we look, we cease being afraid.
Page 146 - Institute of Mentalphysics in Lucerne Valley. The science of mentalphysics ("The Faultless Philosophy of Life") was founded by Edwin J. Dingle, who had been to Tibet in the 1920s. Brugh Joy was Crichton's teacher.
Page 261 - People who get angry and complain are bores. It is ultimately reassuring to see all the diferent things that upset people. It makes you less harsh with yourself. We are all in this togther. Nothing is better or worse. They are just exmamples of getting stuck, making yourself miserable by your opinions and beliefs. As if protecting your opinions is more important than having a fresh experience and rolling with the punches.
Page 261-262 - If you stand beside a person who lies on his back, and move the palm of your hand slowly down the midline of his body about a foot above the skin, you will feel some distinct warm spots. These are the chakras. Sometimes the chakras don't feel warm, but tingly and breezy instead - as if the body had little fans that blew breezes up against your hand. You need to be relaxed to feel the chakras, but it isn't a special or spiritual kind of relaxation. You need to calm down for a few second before you begin. It requires about as much calming as you would need to thread a needle. Most people discover that one hand is more sensitive to energy than the other. After a while, some peple can't feel anything in their hand any more. Your subject shouldn't wear belts or jewelry. The energy looks like streaks of yellow mist extending beyond your fingertips. The mist is strongest close to the fingertips. It looks like yellow fuzz around your fingers. You should be relaxed to see the energy. Once you know what to look for, you'll see it.
Page 263 - People get rigid when they assigned fixed values to things.
Page 352 - Sometimes it's better just to sit and watch. There are plenty of people to help on inner explorations. Keep looking until you get what you want. Watch out for anyone who implies they have the answer. Nobody has the answer for you except you. Personal development is only temporarily associated wtih any particular group. Watch out for those interested in your money. Expect results, but not overnight. Don't be afraid to experiment. Trust your instincts.
I recently read "Travels," which is his self-discovery journal. He thought the best way to discover himiself was to travel to obscure, remote areas. He was a mountain climber, hiker and scuba diver. What follows are a few things I learned. In some places I've quoted directly. I've cited the pages where I got the information. Please read the full book to get the whole story. You very well could take away different things through his journeys.
Page 60 - We cause our diseases. We are directly responsible for any illness that happens to us...it is helathier to assume responsibility for our lives and for everything that happens to us. When we take responsibility for a situation, we also take control of it. We are less frightened and more practical. We are better able to focus on what we can do now to ameliorate the illness and heal. Doctors are not miracle workers who can "magically" save us, but rather, expert advisers who can help us with our own recovery. We are better off when we keep that distinction clear.
Page 129 - Keep an objective record of a subjective mood. Put a mark at the page edge of an unmarked diary page. The top of the page is the best mood and the bottom is the worst mood. After a few weeks, review. Read Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography.
Page 148 - We all can work ourselves into hysterical panic over possibilities that we won't look at. What if I am faced with some terrible thing that I don't know how to deal with? That hysteria always goes away the instant we are willing to hear the answer. Even if the answer is what we feared all along. Then the question becomes, What are you going to do about it? Subsequent emotions may not be pleasant, but the hysteria stops. Hysteria accompanies an unwillingness to look at what is really going on; it promotes an unwillingness to look. We feel we are afraid to look, when actually it is not looking that makes us afraid. The minute we look, we cease being afraid.
Page 146 - Institute of Mentalphysics in Lucerne Valley. The science of mentalphysics ("The Faultless Philosophy of Life") was founded by Edwin J. Dingle, who had been to Tibet in the 1920s. Brugh Joy was Crichton's teacher.
Page 261 - People who get angry and complain are bores. It is ultimately reassuring to see all the diferent things that upset people. It makes you less harsh with yourself. We are all in this togther. Nothing is better or worse. They are just exmamples of getting stuck, making yourself miserable by your opinions and beliefs. As if protecting your opinions is more important than having a fresh experience and rolling with the punches.
Page 261-262 - If you stand beside a person who lies on his back, and move the palm of your hand slowly down the midline of his body about a foot above the skin, you will feel some distinct warm spots. These are the chakras. Sometimes the chakras don't feel warm, but tingly and breezy instead - as if the body had little fans that blew breezes up against your hand. You need to be relaxed to feel the chakras, but it isn't a special or spiritual kind of relaxation. You need to calm down for a few second before you begin. It requires about as much calming as you would need to thread a needle. Most people discover that one hand is more sensitive to energy than the other. After a while, some peple can't feel anything in their hand any more. Your subject shouldn't wear belts or jewelry. The energy looks like streaks of yellow mist extending beyond your fingertips. The mist is strongest close to the fingertips. It looks like yellow fuzz around your fingers. You should be relaxed to see the energy. Once you know what to look for, you'll see it.
Page 263 - People get rigid when they assigned fixed values to things.
Page 352 - Sometimes it's better just to sit and watch. There are plenty of people to help on inner explorations. Keep looking until you get what you want. Watch out for anyone who implies they have the answer. Nobody has the answer for you except you. Personal development is only temporarily associated wtih any particular group. Watch out for those interested in your money. Expect results, but not overnight. Don't be afraid to experiment. Trust your instincts.
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