zen category archives

“practice the way as though saving your head from fire” [dogen zenji]

Tuesday 8 July 2008 | 2 cookies in the jar

At the end of June, California began its annual burning; and, as happens every ten or twenty years, the national forest surrounding the Beautiful Trench began to burn as well. [Here WordPress ate my original post.] Mandarin was among those evacuated during a sudden fiery surge in 1999; this summer, her ex is one of [...]

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if richard dawkins did not exist

Wednesday 25 June 2008 | 10 cookies in the jar

Yesterday’s amused quotation (of the gentleman from Balliol’s bleak little homily on an impassive universe) may have kicked off the very first comment thread which outstrips the original post completely, in volume if not in vehemence. And your distractable, lawbreaking narrator still hasn’t yet made it to the DMV. Ensuite to the Brujo’s last comment, [...]

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heart-cockle-warming review

Tuesday 6 May 2008 | someone left a cookie

Behold this nice blurb from Publishers Weekly, in re: the Dying Book. Not starred, but a decent review anyway; and maybe they don’t even give starred reviews to Buddhist self-help books? Notice how it says, “clarity”; and, “supremely readable.” Notice too how I’d much rather have a copy of Martha Sielman’s art quilts book, also [...]

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this was going to be a bleary post about cash flow and grading papers

Wednesday 2 April 2008 | 6 cookies in the jar

…but then I looked at all of these and now it’s not.

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trying to catch up an old college friend

Friday 21 September 2007 | 4 cookies in the jar

It’s always revelatory to me to see what I leave out, what I choose to include. Maybe not so engrossing for my readers, but here’s the illustrated précis anyway (with most as thumbnails cos I got carried away uploading pictures). And now I betake me back to bed, where the menstrual faeries are slowly and [...]

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in the midst of course prep, this from mandarin makes me snort my tea

Wednesday 29 August 2007 | I like a cookie

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after a twelve-hour marathon

Wednesday 8 August 2007 | someone left a cookie

THE DYING BOOK IS TOTALLY DONE.

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farewell dinner with zen fairies

Saturday 14 July 2007 | I like a cookie

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self-discipline and punish (with insincere apologies to foucault)

Wednesday 27 June 2007 | 3 cookies in the jar

So I had this lying-around-sweating naptime conversation with the Brujo, in which I redacted the orthorexia post to him and he offered his thoughts, one of which was the innocent observation that he doesn’t feel guilty about eating. Ever. I was incredulous. “You’re saying you don’t, like, eat ice cream and then feel bad about [...]

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umpteenth letter to mandarin

Saturday 23 June 2007 | I like a cookie

Dear one! It’s Saturday afternoon and Pride Week in San Francisco and you are off marching around, waving your feather boa, possibly wearing silver eyeshadow. The Brujo is in the other room napping and I am trying to type quietly. I would probably leave you a voicemail were it not for the aforementioned napping—but I [...]

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