"Security Device" Secured

It was a quiet day at home, just working on the site. One nice thing happened, though.

When I opened a bank account at HSBC in Hong Kong in late March, they said they would send me a "security device," a little doodad that generates a password for doing your online banking.

One of the perils of expat life is not knowing always being sure exactly where you live (officially). ("Where's home?" people ask, and the answer never comes easily.)

So I asked my mom to watch for the doodad's arrival at my parents' home in California (my "legal" residence), and checked with the school office here occasionally (my "local" address).

It never came.

Today a friend found it in a box in the teachers' office, a room I don't even have a key for. Postmark: April 4.

Oh, well. At least it's here.

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Today's publications:

• 365 Secrets of Happiness: Find a Way of Living (since we "lost our 'religion'" yesterday, what do we replace it with?
• Meet Joe Campbell: Idea #5: The Hero's Journey (one of Campbell's first and perhaps his best-known work)
• My Photo Galleries: Sun Yatsen Memorial Hall, Guangzhou (from a trip to Guangzhou in May)
• The Philippines: Kidlat Tahimik (a cultural icon, and Lila's revered teacher)

A Red-Letter Tuesday

A Red-Letter Tuesday

A couple of milestones passed today:

1. I went to the police station to get a visa for another year (much easier than last year, in the Philippines); and
2. I signed my contract for next year.

So as of today, my next year's activities seem fairly secure.

I saw our friends Aswini and Sudha in the police station, too. It was nice to run into them.

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And now for today's posts:

• 365 Secrets of Happiness: Lose Your "Religion" (but not necessarily your belief)
• Buddhism Simplified: The Education of a Prince (Siddhartha goes to school)
• Aphorisms of a Derelict Yogi: "'Tolerance'" is a load of horsesh*t..." (hot or cold, but not lukewarm)
• America: Deer Park Monastery, Escondido, CA (Thich Nhat Hanh's family in California)

Monday Monday

Back to work. Not much to report, so I thought I'd take a shot of something that has been cracking me up.

Take a look at this "baby goods" shop. Nothing unusual, right?

Now take a closer look at the sign:

You can just make out that, in the upper left, it says "Blue Spirit" next to the blue moon.

Kinda cute, yeah?

But then look at the website address.

I don't think they had an "English consultant" in on this, because there's something very unattractive about the idea of a "blue baby" isn't there?

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Lots of posts on Mondays:

• 365 Secrets of Happiness: Break a Bad Habit (quit smoking or...?)

• At the Feet of Sri Ramakrishna: One Substance, Many Forms (several similes on the many manifestations of God)

• Meatless/Mooless Monday: The Cows and the Amazon (Beppo Grillo's Blog on the cattle/forest nexus)

• My Bio and more: Meeting a Master: Venerable Ji Qun (link to an article about my encounter with one of China's great modern Buddhists)

• Japan: Statue Molesters, Japanese Style (rub that bronze...)

Sweaty Sunday

Lila and I braved the heat and humidity today for some almost-Mexican food and sightseeing.

We ate at Amigo's in Shekou. In fact, we ate too much, a bad idea before sightseeing in the heat.

Then we took a cab to seek out Chun Niu Tang ("Spring Cattle Hall"), a Ming-period building a short ride from where we ate. We had to cast around a bit to find it, but finally there it was, just in front of the "Nanshan Dangxiao" (Shenzhen Party School) bus stop on Dongbin Lu just east of Qianhai.

The hall was once used for a rather odd ceremony. Quoting this article in the Shenzhen Daily:

ACCORDING to the traditional Chinese calendar, Feb. 4 or 5 marks the start of the spring ploughing season with a special ceremony--the whipping of a cattle statue made of earth--held to encourage farmers to begin sowing their crops.

In Shenzhen, the Chunniutang, or the Spring Cattle Hall, was established during early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to hold the ceremony at the northern foot of Nanshan Mountain, near the current Nanshan Party school on Dongbin Road.

...

Whipping the earthen cattle was one of the most important official ceremonies at that time in Shenzhen, then called Xin'an County, with the county's magistrate himself hosting the ceremony to guarantee a good year's harvest. [Xin'an County then covered the area now occupied by modern Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Dongguan. -James]

...

The hall, 23 meters wide and 43 meters deep, originally had 15 rooms in three rows forming a typical traditional Chinese compound.

But over the years, due to the lack of protection, only the back hall, the enclosing wall, and an ancient well, all in a dilapidated state, have withstood the passage of time.

...

Here's Lila's shot of the main hall (the only full building still standing):

Though it is indeed "dilapidated," you can see that it was once a graceful old thing.

After that, we headed up to Nantou (as Lila said, "Might as well; we're already sweaty") to see the nice little museum at Xin'an Gucheng (Old City).

We then walked through the "Ancient City" itself, and into Zhongshan Park, to the large statue of Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yatsen). From there we gave up, hailed a cab, and headed for home, a shower, and a nap before a late dinner.

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• One item was published this morning, the daily "365 Secrets of Happiness" entry entitled "Count Sheep" (a technique for calming the mind, even during the day).

A Lazy Saturday

Saturday was a lazy day. We mostly stuck around the house.

We watched most of a film, The Namesake, before the DVD went wonky; then we watched Kill Bill Vol. I thinking that we had Vol. II on hand. We didn't, so now that's on our "to see" list.

Oh well.

And that, as they say, was that.

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A couple of things were published this morning:

• In 365 Secrets of Happiness: Build a Bridge (make new friends)
• And in Meet Joe Campbell: Idea #4: "Follow Your Bliss" (his most famous--and perhaps most misunderstood--dictum)

Another Mega-Post

Once again, instead of a daily blog, I'm hitting you with a summary of the week almost identical to the Newsletter.

Yup, another hellishly busy week in which I've been posting far ahead on most pages (some are now finished through the end of July) while developing two more Projects, the Centerings and Free Daily English Lessons (which may not be daily after all--some friends have told me that the trial lessons are so complete, they could only do one or two a week!) So we'll see how that turns out.

Meanwhile, here's what was published this week on www.JamesBaquet.com:

Wisdom Blogs:

☼ 365 Secrets of Happiness: 7 new posts: Listen to an "Old Favorite" Album or CD, Have a Mini-Reunion, Create a Plan to Save Some Money, Start a Collection, Stop the Noise, Go to Starbucks, and Build a Bridge. We're starting to get comments from the "fans" on Facebook (around 90 fans so far), but no comments on the page yet.

☼ At the Feet of Sri Ramakrishna: 2 posts: Red or Green? (about the many ways God appears) and The Blind Men and the Elephant (ditto).

☼ Buddhism Simplified: 2 more posts on the life of the Buddha: Siddhartha and the Sages and The Death of Maya.

☼ Meet Joe Campbell: 1 more post on Campbell's ideas: Idea #3: What Exactly is a Myth?

☼ Aphorisms of a Derelict Yogi: 2 posts: "You gotta scratch your own balls" and "Blah f*cking blah." (No nasty letters yet; is anybody reading this stuff?)

Projects:

☼ Meatless/Mooless Monday: 2 posts: More "Meatless Monday" on Facebook about other Facebook MM pages, and Mega-Meatless Monday Resource about a major "Meatless Monday" homepage. Don't miss my Meatless/Mooless Monday page on Facebook either.

About James:

☼ My Bio and more: Post on Hannah and Her Sitter (Lila's niece and I read in a mall)

Places:

☼ America: Post on The sign of refreshment, Rock Springs, WY (a Coke ad)

☼ Japan: Post on The Froggie is In (dance and mental health?)

☼ China: Post on Under a Spreading Chestnut Tree... (what is this strange set-up?)

☼ Philippines: Post on Banaue Elders (I mean really elder)

☼ Asia: Post on Guia Fortress Chapel, Macau (I break the law on the highest point in Macau)

June 6, 2009: Content Summary

This is my first daily (or near-daily--maybe not on Sunday) summary of what's been done.

Since it's the first, and I've been publishing stuff for a week now, it may be a bit long. Looks more like the weekly newsletter!

Anyway...

Here's a summary of this week's publication on www.JamesBaquet.com:

Wisdom Blogs:

☼ 365 Secrets of Happiness: 6 new posts: Just Do It, Create a Bliss Station, Get on Your Bike, Find a Guru, Get a Bird, and Get a Kid. I also started posting this on Facebook.

☼ At the Feet of Sri Ramakrishna: 2 posts: Can You See the Stars in the Daytime? and Water and God Have Many Names

☼ Buddhism Simplified: 2 posts: The Buddha's Family and Society and The Birth of the Buddha

☼ Meet Joe Campbell: 2 posts: Idea #1: Metaphor and Idea #2: The Four Functions of Mythology

☼ Aphorisms of a Derelict Yogi: 2 posts: F*ck can be a mantra if you say it right and Even an ugly girl can have a nice ass

Projects:

☼ Meatless/Mooless Monday: 3 posts: Easing into Meatless or Mooless Mondays (three ways to go veg); Lest We Forget (one good reason to go veg); and Make a Cow Happy! (about HappyCow.net). I've also started a "fan" page for MMM on Facebook

ABOUT JAMES

☼ My Bio and more: Post on Achille Joseph Baquet, My Dad's Dad

PLACES

☼ America: Post on The Fry-Bread Seller, Acoma "Sky City," NM

☼ Japan: Post on "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil"

☼ China: Post on The Stone Pagoda Temple, Yangzhou

☼ Philippines: Post on The Rice Terraces of Banaue

☼ Asia: Post on Sri Krishnan Temple, Waterloo Street, Singapore

That's all for the past week; watch for more on Monday, June 8th

Peace.