The dickens of a chuckle

The following (most recent) achewood comic has a number of elements of note:

http://achewood.com/index.php?date=07312006

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight, rising up to the challenge of our rival

Is so on the power mix.

Argh

When I am not on a computer I have several ideas of things that I should find on the internet, but I forget them when I am on a computer. I should write them down when I am not at a computer, but I only remember to do that when I am at the computer after forgetting the idea. You see the problem.

Post

For future reference, if I am not lying about something like my previous post, I will throw in an occasional "by the way I am being serious and not joking."

Anyway, my family reunion was a lot of fun, and I went white water rafting for the first time in my life. I fell out and it was cold, but then I got back in and I was still cold. I learned a new card game and a couple of drinking games. All in all, a good few days.

Incidentally, I am planning on maybe going to Toronto for a couple days or something. We'll see.

Tomorrow

I am leaving again. This time for good. I've had enough of America, and I am going to move to Toronto (I'll be living at the temple). I don't plan on coming back any time soon, if ever. I'll probably get on a computer at some point when I get there.

Bye.

Yesterday

I hung out with Simon and Kaitlin. AT THE SAME TIME. Just kidding. Different times (I was only kidding about the same time).

Peel peel peel

The skin on my shoulders is peeling! It's an exciting time.

Camera!

Heh, I guess it is kind of vain to make a post with only the purpose of placing a picture of yourself. But I am. I noticed a bunch of old pictures that never got removed from my camera. And I really like this picture of me. It was taken in the Toronto Botanical Garden on the day I left the monastery. I really like this picture, and I have no idea why.

WHAT AM I DOING RIGHT NOW

Not listening to the Eye of the Tiger. I am not listening to the Eye of the Tiger.

My Blog Entry For Today

I really want to write something here and I feel like there is something I should write about, but I have no idea what these somethings are. So I guess I'll settle for writing a couple of sentences, because there isn't much more to write about that I want to write about, and I can't think of a different subject that I want to write.

Back in general

I am back from Watervale. I read 7 books and spent most of every day wandering around with or without a camera (usually without). I decided that I am going to get my own thing to develop film in, but that is a problem because I don't know what it's called. Photographers! What is it called! It's that black can thing with a spool that holds the film so that I can put chemicals in it. I need help figuring this out.

Right now I am in a really anti-social mood, and have been for some time now. In fact, I've been in varying degrees of anti-social for the past couple months. I kind of wonder if it is just a long-ish phase, or if I just don't really like people. Anyway, I decided that it's ridiculous and I am going to start doing some serious hanging out. You heard me.

I decided that I am going to make some mood mixes. Right now what I mean by that is mood mix, because I've only thought of one mood that I want to make a mix for. I am putting together my Power! Mix. The idea is that when you listen to it, every song makes you feel like you are awesome and that you can do anything. So far, it has four songs, and only one of them is the Final Countdown (the other three are by the go team). I have high expectations for this project.

Also while I was gone I had a bunch of realisations about, uh, everything I guess. Mostly spiritual or psychological stuff, so I'll spare you most of it. But my favourite one was about honesty and compassion.

I was thinking about how so many people favour being nice to being honest. So if I have a booger hanging out of my nose at a nice dinner party, is anybody about to tell me? No of course not. A smaller number of people hate that, and will then be honest always. I used to look at this as an "I guess that's the best thing". Until I realised that it isn't just about honesty, and it's also about compassion. See, the majority of people tend toward dishonest compassion, while those who rebel against that are honest, but without compassion. Thing is, you can actually do both, and pretty easily as long as you're mindful of it. And picking one or the other is bad no matter what. Dishonest compassion makes you a bumbling fool, while honesty without compassion becomes cruelty.

Night.
-Matt

Back on the 22nd

Well I'm leaving for Watervale. I don't really want to go. Actually, I really just don't want to go. But I'm going. Then right after I'm at a family reunion until August. See you in August.

AAAAA

I CAN'T DO IT

NEVER POSTING AGAIN

Let's see how long I can do this

Snakes on a Plane

It's real. I saw it advertised at a movie theatre. For a while I just assumed it was a fake movie. I mean, the only evidence I saw of it was a bunch of fake trailers made for it on the internet, and the IMDb, which is also on the internet (I don't trust the internet for reliable information, ever, by the way). But I saw a movie poster, and it said it was coming out on the 18th of August. Dang. August is going to be kickass. Ditty Bops on the 17th, Snakes on a Plane on the 18th. I'm like, "daaaaang!"

Summer 용맹정진 2006

Yeah I'm just showing off putting Korean in the title. It transliterates to "Yongmaeng Chōngjin" (pronounced kinda like "youngman junction" — I used to think that was how it was spelled when people talked about it), and it means "Ferocious Effort." In Korean monasteries, for the 7 or 9 days before Buddha's Enlightenment Day (usually in January), they will hold a Yongmaeng Chōngjin. This means they meditate all day, and then all night, and then repeat, until Buddha's birthday arrive (they don't go to sleep). Some monasteries hold Yongmaeng Chōngjins at other times of year as well, but that is the time that all of them do it.

I did not do that. In the west, we have a much less hardcore version. Here is our schedule:

5:00 - Wake up / cold rub-down and stretching
6:00 - 108 prostrations, then the first meditation period
8:30 - Breakfast
9:00 - Cleaning practise
10:00 - Rest
10:30 - Second meditation period
1:00 - Lunch
1:30 - Rest
2:30 - Work practise
6:00 - Optional snack
7:00 - Third meditation period
10:00 - "Bed time"
11:00 - Candles off on the alter

Okay, uh. Cold rub-downs are pretty-much what they sound like. You stand there naked in a small bathroom with about 15 other naked people and buckets full of cold water. You put a towel in a bucket, and rub yourself vigourously. You do your whole body 2 or 3 times (takes 15-20 minutes). It is definitely a way to wake up.

Meditation periods consist of a half-hour sitting meditation, a 10-minute break, a half-hour sitting meditation (with interviews), a half-hour walking meditation, and a half-hour sitting meditation (continuing interviews). The third meditation period has a fourth half-hour sitting.

Work Practise: I will now reveal the story behind yesterday's post. Yesterday's post is a lie. I did not come across any stinging nettles. I was upgraded to harvesting this weird tree that had it's trunk and all its branches covered in thorns that were bigger than my thumb. I'm like, "daaaaang!" My mom said she thinks it was called buckthorn. To me that sounds too innocent. I think it was called Murderthorn: The thorn plant that murders.

It was definitely an experience. I'd go into more detail about things that happened, but they're all meditation-related, and so I won't bore you.

Oh wait. There was one thing that happened. See, when we did walking meditation, we would go outside and jog in a line. Then we'd walk, eventually walk inside, and then walk really really really slow. While we were jogging on Saturday and Sunday, we were all shouting. The retreat is silent, so I guess that is to get all the built-up noise out of our systems. It's quite a spectacle—35 or so Buddhists running in a line shouting and screaming (not words, just sounds). Sometimes crowds would gather to watch, take pictures, or heckle us. But one guy liked it so much that he decided to join us. And then he went inside with us. And sat with us. And went up for an interview. It was during the interview that Sunim discovered that he was not from some other temple, and in fact just wandered it. Apparently he even signed a release form (retreaters sign a form that releases the temple's liability for things like being stabbed repeatedly by ridiculous thorns).

Well, this guy was actually in line next to me for interviews. Not behind me, or in front of me, like he was supposed to be. And he kept nudging me and trying to ask which of us should go first. It was pretty irritating, and I just ignored him until he said "okay you go first." I assumed he had just arrived from Chicago or Mexico. After my interview, I never saw him again. I was getting really worried that I had hallucinated him, and was all "what is this retreat doing to my head!" But then Sunim mentioned the guy when the retreat was over, and I was like "oh good I'm not crazy."

Otherwise, I have some ideas for my web site, and in the next month, they should happen.

OH SHIT STINGING NETTLES (part 3)

OHHHHHHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!