A Quick Update….
Monday, 30th July 2007
Last week was busy and this week too…. basically:
1. Most of last week, I was spending a great deal of time preparing for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. It was last Saturday. And though lots of fun, was a bit stressful for me.
2. The slide show I’d been working on for months became corrupted and so was the software. Last Monday I had to start all over but I managed to create a new one and it was a big success. Everyone seemed to like it.
3. Tomorrow I have Jury Duty! Ack! Not again…
4. The past few days, my wife and I have been moving our oldest son, Cameron, to the residence hall at UC Riverside. It was a lot of work and emotionally hard to leave our son there, but it was something that had to be done.
5. Tomorrow I also have another gig with Jordano and Flamenco Nova at The Turquoise.
6. Thursday I’ll be in the studio recording with Flamenco Nova!
7. And the best news of all: I bought a brand new Nikon D40 dSLR digital camera, and am so happy with it. Finally, I have a decent digital camera to take photographs with.
8. I was offered another interview for a PHP programmer position, but I can’t be bothered with that right now. Family is more important than work.
performances…
Monday, 23rd July 2007
Tired… exhausted…. completely wiped out….
These are words that describe how I felt yesterday.
My last 4 gigs had been with Flamenco Nova!
. . . .
I’m just glad it was a Sunday and the family and I didn’t really have anything major to attend to or do.
So, for most of the day yesterday I just lounged around in my pajamas, got online (until the internet access gave out early in the evening).
[ I just got internet access back some minutes ago, so I'm a happy camper once again ]
Internet Addiction: It’s a way of life.
Anyway, I have to emphasize to “family” members that I need to be rested before performances.
After years of performing various types of venues and musical genres, I find I need certain things attended to in order to have a great performance:
- Rest: I need rest at least for 4 hours before any gig. People need to understand that a performer can give his heart and soul into a performance if s/he has rested and prepared mentally for the gig.
- Ginseng! I’ve run out, and I’ve realized that this herbal extract has always been my friend through thick and thin.
- Vitamin supplements! It really helps and I can feel the difference when I don’t intake some form of vitamin and mineral supplement prior to a gig. The liquid form is the best, and added with the Ginseng, one can’t go wrong!
- Caffeine! Together with the vitamins, minerals and the ginseng extract, it ensures that I have enough energy to get through the performance and then some.
- Yoga: I confess I haven’t been doing my regular daily routine lately. And it shows. And I probably wouldn’t need any of the above enhancements, if I just did Yoga every single day.
- Time: I need plently of time to mentally prepare, get to the gig early and setup, so that I can kick back and rest before the performance.
Nowadays, I don’t really practice at all. Maybe as long as I’m performing a lot during any given week, then I just practice on the gig, as Miles Davis used to say. Buddy Rich claimed to have never practiced.
And I think that, especially in jazz performance, one needs to spend a bit of time away from the instrument. Because you need to “miss it” so to speak. Then one approaches the instrument in a fresh and clearer way.
[ L-R: Nathan, Me, Jordano and Jeff ]
. . . .
Anyway, I performed last Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so I guess it’s understandable that I would be exhausted, given the level of musicianship and energy needed for these gigs.
So, I’m feeling like I was not happy with my performances by Saturday night. I felt like I really sucked bad.
Rest today. Yes, because tomorrow is another performance!
And I must buy some ginseng extract at the health food store!
Possibilities with Facebook
Saturday, 21st July 2007
Creating an application in Facebook:
I’ve been toying with the possibilities of intergrating Rice Bowl Journals with Facebook. I know that many members and friends of members also have accounts at Facebook, so it would make sense to somehow integrate the functionality of facebook with Rice Bowl Journals, or vice versa. Read more
upgrading rice bowl journals
Thursday, 19th July 2007
I’m opening up this entry for feedback….
I think it’s high time I made some rather significant changes to Rice Bowl Journals. Bring it up-to-speed with all those “social networking” sites out there that are really enormous “web apps” disguised as “social networking” sites.
Is there even a need to upgrade RBJ to that level?
Well, I’d like to bring RBJ to at least Web 2.0 standards….
Basically, I’ve noticed that sites like RBJ aren’t as popular any more. And those big “social networking” sites are gaining in mass popularity, from Facebook to MySpace to Twitter and so on…
Well, I think in order for RBJ to “survive” and not just fall by the wayside, I’m going to have to do some serious coding in the next several months, starting in August and continuing on into the Fall.
What are some of the things I’d like to see on Rice Bowl Journals?
Okay, let’s see….
- First, I’ve always wanted to have the site open to “EVERYONE”, and I mean everyone. So, I think it would be great to have a general sign-up for anyone to “create an account” so that they can track their favorite sites better, bookmark those favorites, and just have more options that they wouldn’t have if they didn’t have an account.
- I’d like members to know who has viewed their profile, sort of like MyBlogLog, in which members can see the last 5 or more visitors. And maybe have a widget on their site that could also display the visitors.
- And I’d like the Member Profile to show more info. Like, currently it shows readership for that blog or journal, but I’d like to also include “admirers” or “followers” of that blog or journal, so that the member of that site can decide to add followers as friends. And basically, improve the whole Profile page and do more with it. Like adding a “Randomguru is… feeling spiffy right now” or something like that….
- I’d also like to improve on the registration process. Make it automatic and with email verification and approval. Right now I’m approving new members manually, something I’ve done since the very beginnings of this community site back in 2000! So, definitely improve on the login and registration process…
So, any ideas you’d like to share?
What changes would you like to see at Rice Bowl Journals? I’m all ears….
i did live in tibet…
Wednesday, 18th July 2007
I was on Aein’s site just now, and she posted a link to this Past Life Analysis page.
Basically, you enter your birthdate and it comes up with an analysis of your last “earthly incarnation”.
What’s rather uncanny and strange is that I’ve always longed to travel to the Himalayas and Tibet. That general region has interested me ever since I can remember. Read my journal entry about wanting to travel to the Himalayas.
Anyway, here is my Past Life Analysis:
I don’t know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Tibet around the year 1800. Your profession was that of a seaman, dealer, businessman or broker.
Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
Bohemian personality, mysterious, highly gifted, capable to understand ancient books. With a magician’s abilities, you could have been a servant of dark forces.The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
The timid, lonely and self-confident people are everywhere, and your task is to overcome these tendencies in yourself and then to help other people.
Very interesting analysis….
And curious as to the algorithm used in this software, and went to the disclaimer which reads:
The analysis program is based on a 445 lines of Javascript code which perform relatively simple numeric calculations. If you would like to know the details of the algorithm, you can examine it using the “view source” option of your browser.
It is up to you how you interpret the information given by this program; however, you should know that this software is only slightly more sophisticated than an electronic fortune cookie.
Thomas Knierim
Editor & Webmaster
Electric Fortune Cookie!
Anyway, I was just curious and rather weirded out about the results in relation to my present life, and my longing to go to the Himalayas and Tibet.
what if you found $17,000…
Tuesday, 17th July 2007
I’ve been pondering about this story for quite some time now. I’m sure many of you have read about this, perhaps…
Philippine Driver Returns Lost Money
MANILA, Philippines—He needed the money for his sick wife and overdue rent, but honesty prevented a motorcycle taxi driver from keeping $17,000 left behind by a passenger.
Iluminado Boc returned the money to police in Tagbilaran city on central Bohol island last week, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported Monday. The woman who lost the bag of cash had just reported it to police when Boc showed up at the precinct.
“It was not mine,” Boc was quoted as saying.
Boc, 45, said he was struggling financially because his wife was taken to a hospital the same day he found the money, and they had unpaid rent.
The owner rewarded him with $32—about seven times what a motorcycle taxi driver makes a day.
If you were in this man’s shoes, would you:
1. Try and return the money to it’s rightful owner.
2. Keep the money and use it to help your sick wife.
. . . .
I actually asked my wife the other day if it was okay with her, had I found $17,000 that would help if she were sick and needed hospital treatment, would it be right to keep the money?
She actually told me that it would be wrong to use money that didn’t belong to us, regardless of our circumstances, or the need to use the money.
So, that was her opinion.
. . . .
I also asked a friend and colleague what he thought about this situation, and he also said that the right thing to do would be to try and return the money back to its rightful owner.
. . . .
Now on the other side of the coin….
If you felt that finding the money entitled you to using it, being that you did find it and the owner wasn’t in sight, then that would be your own personal reasoning. You found this money, therefore it is yours to keep and spend as you will.
I can understand that everyone might have any number of reasons for keeping or returning the money, but in reality, there are only two choices. 1. keep the money. 2. return the money.
If you believe that the money should be returned to its rightful owner, then chances are, you’re feeling that this large sum of money had an intended purpose by its owner. After all, it’s very rare that someone would be carrying around that much cash, especially someone who had to ride in motorcycle taxi. I was thinking that this lady who lost the money must’ve desperately needed the money for a determined and important purpose. So, if you’re feeling that you should return the money, then it must be to make sure the money is returned for that intended purpose.
If you believe that it’s your right to keep the money, now that you’ve found it, then you’re probably thinking this money was meant for you. Maybe it’s a destiny thing in which the money fell into your hands for a reason. And being that your wife (or spouse) is ill, then its intended purpose could be met by using it to pay for your spouse’s medical bills.
Either way, one’s reasoning would govern whether that money would be returned or not. That is the bottom line.
Now one might contend that it’s a situation of: “Finders keepers, losers weepers”.
That reasoning would fall into the option to keep the money for one’s own needs.
Others might contend that the honest thing to do would be to return the money.
Which is right?
Well, I personally would return the money. For the simply fact that it never belonged to me in the first place.
1. Someone earned that money, not me.
2. The money was not given to me as a gift either.
3. If I didn’t earn the money, nor did I receive the money as a gift, then I really shouldn’t keep the money for my own individual needs, regardless.
. . . .
This situation has brought about this whole moral thing that I’d been dealing with. Sort of like a Buddhist koan… a cryptic riddle that Buddhist monks are supposed to solve and upon solving the puzzle, enlightenment might be attained.
So, now I see this situation as a sort of “moral puzzle” or zen koan, if you will…
In Buddhist thought, as well as in other religious belief systems…. if a person didn’t earn the money outright, or if the person didn’t receive money as a gift, wouldn’t that be the same as stealing?
To be honest, I’m not so sure now. My inclination would be to return the money to its rightful owner. It just would seem to be the right thing to do. If I do some major soul searching on this whole dilemma.
I think that in an ideal world, possessions and money would belong to the people, or to whomever had a need for it. But we live in a society in which people have their own belongings… their own toothbrush… their own clothes and underwear, etc….
People own stuff, and if others take it away from them without earning or buying it, then they basically are stealing it.
So, I just don’t think that our world is at a point in which everything is community property and we share everything. It would be nice, but the reality is, people have the right to own their own homes, manage their own money, and to have possessions. We’re simply not at a point where everything belongs to the people.
And that’s why we have the poor. Those who have been down on their luck. The homeless and less fortunate. It’s not right and it’s truly sad, but life has varying degrees from the poor to the opulently rich, and everyone in between…
Would you keep the money? Would you return?
What would be the right thing to do?
Mutual Love
- Aigoo-Chamna
- Aiyah
- ajgazmen
- ALS Sucks!
- Cami
- Champuru
- Chi Speak
- Cindy Pon
- Cyn
- Earth-Bound Insight
- Echeng
- Fluttering Moments
- Joyceline
- Luchie
- Luckykat
- manny
- Marvin
- Media’s Memoirs
- Min Jung Kim
- Mommy Misadventures
- Pari
- raw2zen
- Rice Bowl Journals
- Sandee
- Shell
- Spitfire.cc
- Suki
- Sunfood Nutrition
- The Beauty Within
- Tokyo Rose
Reading List
