A sometimes tongue-in-cheek look at the lives and times and travels of the denizens of Steinstrasse, Herford, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Monday, December 24, 2012
A Buddha's Birthday
For me, it is a special time, even here on Steinstrasse, where I am alone, but not lonely. My meditation today will be a special one in which I bring everyone I have ever loved or been loved by into my mind. It will be crowded, but it will be wonderful.
I remember many things about Christmas Past, including trains and planes and tinsel and ornaments from the old country, carols and kolendy, and on this morning, running about the neighborhood wishing all of the neighbors "Na szczęście, na zdrowie, na tę świętą Wigilię!" in the hopes of receiving a few coins, an orange, or a handful of nuts.
It's okay, I've got enough coins, oranges, and nuts for one old man, you don't owe me anything, except maybe if you'd keep your Christmas Spirit everyday. I'd like that, so would all of the Buddhas.......Merry Chritmas!!!
Monday, December 17, 2012
The Moat Behind the House
I put bread I've forgotten to eat on the table on the balcony and my winged friends come to eat it. It puts them at ease with me and I am given an occasional concert for my small efforts. The birds and the water come together to form a small meditation of their own which makes me even more certain that the chain of cause and effect has placed me on this perch and it is my task to make the best of it. Given the time of the year, the lateness of the sunrise and the shortness of the days, the moat is a sustaining factor in holding sanity close and the primeval depression at bay.
On the other side of the house, is the Gaensemarkt, where, in this time of year, a village of huts house fairy tale characters, little automatons who recite their tales for children. There's Frau Holle who makes it snow, Hansel and Gretel, Rotkaepchen (Little Red Riding Hood) and the Wolf, and a little railroad that carries the children around and around. With fairy tales surrounding me, it is a good winter day. May yours be even better!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Tales of the Weihnachtsmarkt......
The Woman Who ate Potatoes
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Another Rainy Day
There’s not much to say about the weather, other than it’s been wet. Walking has a reduced effect as a seasonal depression manager when it’s done in this weather. Abby thinks a light box would help. I like the idea. It’s cheaper than moving to the desert. And anyway, I’d miss the moat, and the churches, and the cafes.
Other than the rain, the Weinachtsmarkt is what’s happening. It’s especially fun to walk through my neighborhood and listen to the little automatons in the wooden booths telling their own fairy tale. It’s even nicer to check out the looks of astonishment on the faces of the little kids. With Fairy tales and Christmas, not even the rain can dampen the spirits. I’m going to take a walk.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
A Cold, Dark Sunday in November
The intersection of certain memories when the weather is like this brings Neruda to mind, the gray beret and its time and place, cafes and theatres. One of the interesting aspects of mind is its ability to formulate vignettes on the recollection of a word or phrase, a scent or sight.
I like my mind and all of its peregrine wanderings.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Christmas is on the way.....
Thursday, November 15, 2012
What next?
Enough of you, then, let's talk about me. I am fine. Thank you.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Oppressive Silence of Contentment
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Crooked Cucumber
At 66, I don't think my chances are very great at becoming a teacher of Zen, so I hope my actions in the last section of a life that has swung from being a promising poet to wearing a coat and tie and creating wealth for the captains of industry to be an unofficial zen monk who sits and carves and walks and sees will be enough to lighten my load in the next round. If I've learned anything form zen practice, it is that all creatures deserve compassion and that all creatures are capable of giving it. If I can be a positive infuence on one other creature, it will be a start. I'll be putting more thought into this blog, become everthing happens on Stone Street.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Poland: the Motherland Discovered
My good friend Maciej Janowski, with whom I worked for a few years here in Herford, invited me to visit him in Poznan. He was coming to Herford and we could drive there together. I accepted, and we went.
Note from my journal:
Tomorrow - Poland
I've been close for years. A six hour drive. By American standards, a day trip. Something always held me back. Books and websites gave a good enough picture. It's a hundred years later (fifty since the last letter). Germany's the same thing. My Polish is pathetic.
It is the Summer of 2012. My 66th birthday is next week. I won't live forever and Maciej's in Herford extending an offer. Poznan, Warsaw, Lipno-the Americans are coming. At least this one is.
Welcome to Poland
Just after crossing the border into Poland and about 50 kilometers from Poznan on the recently completely A2 (E30) autobahn, everything stopped. We were in a line of traffic two lanes wide, 2 kilometers in front of us, and before we started moving again, at least another 2 behind.
Background
Bamberka |
Polish, Prussian, Soviet, the people are the people and Poznan survives and flourishes. If you speak German or English, you can get around in the city with little trouble. Of course, it helps if you speak a little Polish.
Poznan was the last stronghold of German resistance against the oncoming Soviet Army at the end of WWII and the story is told at the Cytadela, a beautiful park and museum of Polish Military History as well as a cemetery where, along with Polish heroes, the graves of Russian soldiers of WWII and British soldiers from WWI can be found.
There's a lot more to tell about Poznan, and Warszawa is another story, but for now, it's Sunday, I need to take a walk.....(to be continued)
Poznan Continued
There is not only a sense of history in the city, but a sense or irony and humor. One evening, Maciej and I met a colleague of his in the city and in our touring they took me to a cafe that was done up in the finest of Communist Time decor: white walls and black and white photos of butcher shops and grocery stores with bare shelves, newspaper articles about Stalin and company, bright light, and, or course, lots of vodka.
For Sunday lunch, Maciej took me to a restaurant of the same genre, where the food came to the table on a well-worn wooden cart. Despite the austere appearance, it was delicious (not to mention, ample)!! I don't photograph inside of cafes or restaurants, but I did get this example of the wistful humor with which the city remembers the Communist Time:
Comrade Lenin's New Tie |
The Fountain |
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Maybe I Should Have Said Nice
You're not just what you eat. If I were, I'd be a fish swimming in a sea of rice and vegetables. If you've got a Higgs boson handy, you can throw it my way and see for yourself. Having a boson of any sort around takes a lot of work, so I'll assume you don't, and save you time by admitting it: I am not a fish.
I am however disturbed by concepts of good and evil, god and satan, Illuminati, the zeitgeist of the new millennium politics, religion, and economics. Let me talk for awhile before you hit the back button. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, fundamentalist preacher, new age prophet, or guru of any flavor.
The question of context keeps coming up. And the context is often dreams.
Dreaming of bridges and tunnels and lights and shadows is vague. Amorphous ideas resound in dreams, at least in mine. They are always things becoming. The big ones are most difficult to retrieve. Some small detail which might give me a clue as to why I think the way I think, the things I think, is always missing. No small matter. Although matter, without energy, is nothing to think about. It's the energy that keeps it all in motion. So I eat the fish, the rice, the vegetables in order to stay in motion. Since matter without energy.....
Monday, August 6, 2012
Happy Birthday Sprot!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
The Return of the Polak
I was in the United States for three and a half weeks. I started out in New York, moved over to NE Pennsylvania, and closed the chapter with more New York. It was a lot of living outside of the Stone Street Monastery. It was a lot of human contact. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of experience.
You'd think a 65 year old would just say something like 'it was nice' and get on with his preparations for death, but you'd be wrong. The reason for this is linked very subtly to the Android operating system. I don't mean the one by Google, I mean the one envisioned by guys like Alan Turing, Norbert Wiener, and, more recently, Ray Kurzweil. On top of the science, we have guys like Charlie Stross and Verner Venge giving us the futurist view of 'post-singularity' society.
What's this got to do with my summer vacation?
An observation.
An experiment.
AI (artificial intelligence) is all about behavior. Intelligence is the the way a brain responds to decision making and problem solving (a multi-branching decision tree). Decision making is contextual. Dickson and New York cities are contexts. Your living room is a context. If you understand the concept of original mind, you understand the problem of artificial intelligence. If you understand the concept of context sensitivity in language, you understand the problem of human behavior. If you understand the problem of human behavior, you understand the problem of artificial intelligence. The problem with artificial intelligence is this:
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Guten Rutsch!!
The place was full, with a lot of dancing and camera flashing, lively conversation, and camaraderie. Simple, elegant way to say Happy New Year.
I am not, as anyone who knows me, a wildly enthusiastic marker of anniversaries. For me, every time I open my eyes after sleep, it's the start of something new, which makes everyday an anniversary, and for celebrations on such a grand scale, it wouldn't leave time to live a quiet life. If you believe that time is linear, that is, but that's a topic for the next entry.