Friends, Acquaintances, and Lovers

And when I clear my mind and join the table once again
I nod as if I get the joke and then I wryly grin
The conversation moves along and I just move away
Really, I just don't have anything I want to say

I look at all these faces of the people that I know
Suddenly aware that I could easily let them go
They’re just like all the others that move on from year to year
My friends, acquaintances, and lovers always disappear
My friends, acquaintances, and lovers always disappear


Walking home that night their voices echo in my head
Even though I don't remember anything they’ve said
Their faces shift in shadows long beyond the street lamps glow
And in my mind become the same as ones I used to know

Inside my door, I turn the key, a satisfying "click"
There in my room up on the walls my memories hang thick
Those faces so familiar are all strangers to me now
My friends, acquaintances, and lovers fade away somehow
My friends, acquaintances, and lovers fade away somehow


Sometimes I think my dreams often reveal a truer me
Untarnished by what I believe reality should be
And in that chaos world of mind freed from all time and space
I play every character and I wear every face

So how is it much different then, when I am wide awake?
The constant flow of faces and the impact that they make
In my life they come and go and yet are all still here
My friends, acquaintances, and lovers never disappear
My friends, acquaintances, and lovers never disappear

Taking Pause

As the sun rises, and the frost clinging to the window pane glows in crystal brilliance, I take pause to reflect on the year past and the dawning of the new which tomorrow will bring. And as always the moments spent have been all things at different times. There is good and bad as we experience the world, but this is only in our mind. As each experience is ultimate perfection and as it should be. Anything less would be impossible to fathom. Every moment springs from the seeds of our own planting and blossoms from the warmth of our being. It can be no other way.

It is this that I reflect upon this morning. Not the specifics of what went right and what went wrong with the year, or even many years, past, but rather how I let those objects on my path determine the road ahead. What course do I steer with such winds at my back and how do I navigate the gales and doldrums of life moving ever forward? Ever forward.

You will be there as our paths cross. If those paths run parallel, I am glad for the company, if only for awhile. If they merge for but a moment then diverge, if by choice or by chance, I wish you fare well. All in all it is the same and those things I learn from you I will carry with me forever. From this year to the next. From this life to the next.

There is no destination, there is only the road ahead. And how we manage that road is entirely in our hands. Each moment is but a prelude to the moment that follows it, winding off into eternity. And the reaction to this will determine the color and shape of things to come.

It is a grand adventure this life.

The Mystery of the Missing Cell Phone

It was a dark and drizzly Sunday evening when my wife, Andra, came home in a deep, concerned funk. "I can't find my phone," she said as she proceeded to search the house for the absent device.

I called her number with the hope that the sound of the phone singing "Linus and Lucy" would act as a homing beacon and lead her to the missing device. After several of such attempts, it was determined that the iPhone 4 was not on the premises.

"Maybe it's at work," she said unconvincingly. "I'll search there tomorrow."

Monday came and went with no sign of the AWOL handheld. I occurred to me that something that goes by the moniker of "smartphone" should be able to find itself and save its owner much grief. With this in mind I checked online for a way to track the phone. But unfortunately, all of the methods I found involved setting the phone up prior to being lost. Which were pretty much useless to us now.

The search continued.

Tuesday came and went.

On Wednesday, Andra found a solution. AT&T offers a service called FamilyMap which is intended to track family members (or at least their phones). This seemingly invasive service, I assume, is useful to parents who want to know the whereabouts of their children every moment of the day or night. And it has a free 30 trial which would serve my immediate need just fine.

After setting up the service on my iPad and putting in the household phone numbers, the service first successfully tracked my phone to within 12 yards of the coffee table on which it sat. Then it pinged Andra's phone.

It was in Lacey, Washington on Thornbury Ln SE, smack dab in the middle of a residential area where, I confirmed, my wife had not been. Putting on what I considered some "don't fuck with me" clothes, consisting of a black leather jacket and badass boots, I headed out the door.

A half an hour later, I was standing in front of one of the two possible houses which could be holding the phone.
I knocked on the first door. From outside I could hear the noise of a household full of teenagers with no parents present. And a teenaged girl answered the door. "Yes?" she asked.

"My wife's cell phone went missing a couple of days ago," I said. "And when I pinged it, it shows up at this address. Did anyone here happen to find a cell phone near Capitol Medical Center a few days ago."

A look of panic spread across her face. "Um, let me get my sister," she said and turned around and screamed at her sister to come to the door.

When her sister arrived at the door, I again explained the situation to her. She hemmed and hawed a bit before saying that her parents weren't home and could I come back when they were there.

This irritated me. I was sure that the phone was in the house, by the reaction I was getting. "Yeah, I'll be back," I said in my most intimidating voice. "And when I come back, I'll be bringing the police with me. I want that phone back!"

I stared her in the eye for a moment before she meekly said, "Okay," as I turned and walked off.

I went to the second possible house and knocked. A pregnant woman with three other kids in tow answered the door. I explained the situation. She smiled and said no she hadn't seen it. I asked her if she knew if she knew anyone in the neighborhood who might work at Capitol Medical Center. She said she didn't know, but the lady at the house next door, the house with all the teenagers, might be a nurse. I thanked her and left not ruling her out for having the phone.

I went back to my car and decided to ping the phone once again. But when I tried, the phone could no longer be found. I called the number from my phone and it bounced immediately to voicemail. The phone had been turned off. I had struck a nerve. The phone was indeed in one of those two houses.

I called Andra and told her what was going on. She decided to come down to help.

I then called the Lacey police. After being transferred to dispatch and then an officer, I explained the situation in detail and he said that I should stay there, he would be by in a few minutes to try to help resolve the situation.

Andra was in the car when I spoke to the officer and after I was done speaking to him, we decided to try to ping the phone again. And a funny thing happened, the ping located the phone at Capitol Medical Center.

Andra and I looked at each other, puzzled. How could that happen? Using my phone, she called her phone. A security officer from the hospital answered and told her that someone had just turned the phone in to them.

When the police officer arrived. We explained the situation as it now stood. He asked if I had seen anyone leave the house, I said I hadn't. He was convinced as I was that someone had turned the phone off after I confronted them, snuck out the back, and took the phone back to the hospital. It was far too coincidental for it to be any other way.

I thanked the officer for his help, he smiled and said it was no problem. Andra went back to the hospital and was much relieved to have her phone back. We now have "Find My Phone" set up through Mobile Me on all of our devices.

Who had the phone? I really don't care. But I think it's cool that I can still scare someone into doing the right thing.

New Years Resolution

Do you go through this every year? You know, a list of crap that you want to do in order to improve yourself. I do it - and the list is pretty long.

But a very wise friend of mine once told me that I should make one, and only one, real resolution a year. Something that will move your life in a positive, productive manner. You see, my friend is a Geshe in the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism so he understands how everything is interconnected. The idea being that if you improve one aspect of your life the other things you want to change will be affected by that improvement and also change in a positive manner. And it is, of course, easier to maintain one resolution than many.

So how am I going to choose that one thing from the many? I have no idea. Perhaps I'll choose the most simple resolution to maintain. Then perhaps I'll find some success.

Blessings all!

Good Luck To You. Goodbye.

Following my nose, I grabbed my bag and hit the street.
Trying not to step upon the cracks in the concrete.
Some habits do die hard, it seems. And some they never do.
Just hang on tight and hope that they don’t get the best of you.

The scent that I was following had made me turn my head
I thought to run away from it but walked toward it instead.
I found a fire was smoldering, and bellows they did blow.
A testament to God above, sent from the crowd below.

A blonde haired, blue eyed man of God now stood upon the stairs.
He spoke of times that never were and claimed the past was theirs.
Unwavering uncertainty drew faithful to his word.
I stood in disbelief and thought it all to be absurd.

But as the crowd surged forward then, I knew it was no joke.
The man of God distracted them with mirrors and with smoke.
As he invoked the saviors name and as his voice grew higher
The faithful drifted to his words as moths are drawn to fire.

Those followers went near and far to spread the words they heard -
The line between their faith and politics completely blurred.
And then their lightning pierced the sky and thunder split the air
Replacing hope and freedom with oppression and despair.

And as I watched the ground grow black there in the fire’s wake,
It staggered me how deep the wound and how much was at stake.
I cannot understand why people need to be so cruel;
How Mammon burns within the heart and uses faith for fuel

The last time I saw Jesus he was waiting for a train
He shook his head and said to me, “It’s really quite insane.
The shit that’s going down ‘round here, I don’t know what to say.
I never would have thought of twisting words in such a way.”

“People only hear the things they really want to hear.
Intolerance and hatred generally spring forth from fear.
I guess it goes to show you how intentions go awry.
So sorry for the trouble caused. Good luck to you. Goodbye.”

Good Luck To You, Goodbye <---Play Song

This Is What I've Been Up To Lately