Very practical wisdom in that book. You don't have to be Buddhist, or sit in meditation, and there's no spiritual or religious component. I remember reading it, the act of reading her words, was itself a calming experience.

thanks for the fix!

sure thing. you want to "think small" and that book contains passages like this:

3

If you overesteem great men,
people become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.

The Master leads
by emptying people's minds
and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition
and toughening their resolve.
He helps people lose everything
they know, everything they desire,
and creates confusion
in those who think that they know.

Practice not-doing,
and everything will fall into place.

OR

8

The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
It is content with the low places that people disdain.
Thus it is like the Tao.

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don't try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.

When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.

OR

9

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

(etc.)

===

these are modern translations i found on a university website. can't tell you how accurate they are, though they read "easy". the versions i've read before are a bit less on the nose, more metaphorica. probably best to find a scholarly/well-annotated one. the book is ancient, the language archaic, and the meaning hidden in symbolism, so it requires a big leap (even for modern chinese people)-- but it does challenge the "western" striving/goal oriented/individualistic/perpetually unsatisfied mind. so maybe you'll spot something useful there.

there are explanations of taoism flying around, most famously by alan watts, who by some accounts was some sort of sex maniac? or something. anyway, there's that. here's to finding/enjoying.

ps - oh! also chuang-tzu. who can be HILARIOUS.

meant to go to sleep hours ago, but got on a wikipedia k-hole, and you know how that goes. i wanted to look up something from the j-archive, and now i have database theory/heloise d'argenteuil/12th century latin literature/pitcairn islands open in four tabs and i can't really tell you how i started. ugh.

luckily i don't have plans up until 10 pm or so tonight... wait...

Joe Rogan sez be a hero of yr own life. A little embarrassed at how affected I was by this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTuElM6T50w

ha ha ha

that was me on monday night-- didn't fall asleep till 3 or 4 am

so tuesday was... ughhh

Yo yo. Im doing great. Been busy with things...life. havent been online much other than occasional fb posts n sutff. Also been playing a lot of SF3 still. That game has consumed me along with my gf and cat. We got a kitten and her name is audrey. She and my gf run my life.....in a good way....not the bad way. Also been ooking fo another part time gig. This dog place cut my hours and business is Not doing so well...

You know, I manage to help improve the lives of like everyone around me but I can't seem to improve my own situation. Indeed its always seeming to go backwards, uphill, and in a smoldering wreck at that! I'm like Midas, everything I touch turns to gold, but I can't have the benefit of any of it. And hey, you'd think I'd find some philosophical solace in being able to help so many people overcome their own problems, difficulties, and bad situations, but somehow it always feels like a hollow victory when I sit and look in the mirror...

is what it is. gonna get shitfaced drunk tonight, fighting off the dreadful urge do use substances much worse than that..

on the positive note my sister is likely getting into grad school and thanks to great advice !@#$%! helped me with before I am helping her find grad assistantships.. however in my own grad department, there are none, and the university in its infinite wisdom decided I am not a worthy candidate of scholarship of any kind while the banks also decided I am not worthy of a sizable loan to cushion the blow and Uncle Sam FAFSA said nope too..

and this year the district decided not to offer me a contract so I am not teaching next year either :(

Wow...heavy.....im really sorry to hear that.

thanks.. I'm kind of used to it all.

oh, shit!!! no school/no work? that is a major blow, man.

uffffff....

i don't know what to say, i know getting drunk when i'm angry only makes me worse... brawls, accidents, damaged relationships. dont' know what works for you, but i only drink when happy these days-- it amplifies whatever you're feeling.

go talk to yr ethiopian monks maybe? they gotta have some advice & connects.

you have a record which maybe makes things difficult so... try to stay cool and don't make it worse!

but yeah it sucks major huevos. i can only advice patience till a new door opens. for now... uffffff... breathe deeply and hang in there.

ps- congrats to sister souljah

I don't have a record actually, just really bad luck.

I was teaching on emergency credential year to year so I'm not entirely surprised, that is why I am in the process of making it "free and clear" in university program (I'm still in the program just got to find alternative funding source) but things just got infinitely more difficult..

well if you have no record-- lots of school systems need teachers desperately. some will even pay for your licensure!

don't be afraid to leave hellay...

No, I don't have credential. The district I have been working with took the gamble because they had a big hole to fill and not time and everybody likes me there when I was an aid then a long term sub then emergency credentialed, but it was out of their hands to have to replace me with somebody with permanent credential.. state laws etc etc...

Teaching is a very competitive industry, it took me two years just to find the job I had, and really it fell into my lap, so who knows, something else is bound to happen. Just really bad timing right now, I wasn't in the most optimistic moods to begin with!

PS- A QUICK SEARCH TURNED THIS UP:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6834874.html

close enough to visit home every now & then



==

ps- didn't see your post above. but like i said, some schools systems will pay your licensure if you don't have one. not sure if vegas does but checkit.

Got to stay in this university program locally, it took me two years just to get into it and I only have a year left.. if I don't get a permanent credential I'll be in this limbo FOR EVER.

The Devils just trying to discourage me because I am good at what I do, I care about ALL students, and like I said, I got the Midas touch in helping people.. whether at my (former) job, in my family, at my parish, randomly on the street....

so I just got to stay focused. Worst case scenario it crashes and burns and something else rises out of ashes, I wasn't always a teacher nor did I initially every really want to be one..

[quote=SuchFriendsAreDangerous]Worst case scenario it crashes and burns and something else rises out of ashes/QUOTE]

ha ha ha! that's the story of my life.

..

okay. gotta put one more hour of work in before the internet conks out. best wishes w/ all that.

thank you kindly :)

life is hard. I get the curiosity juices rushing out of contemplating my neg rep scores. people brush up against you and add different colors to the self-evaluation. pondering for a minute whether I should feel down or guilt. what is this or that? shame on my fingers? my heart says "fuck it".

You must spread some POSITIVE Reputation around before giving it to rebeccagotcursedout again

I understand yr hard times Such. fuck summertime dragging. I could mime yr problems.

youll get the credential, dude

i'm hoping i'm approved for the room in this fucking apartment, or i'm stuck at square one and pretty screwed.

it's funny to me that mercury isn't in retrograde anymore because things seemed better when it was.

also, i went to a swing dance class tonight. neither here nor there, but it aws fun.

i think i got misunderstood here yesterday

credential = teacher's license // i think the name varies by state but it's the same concept

and i know of some school districts that will PAY YOU to get your licensure, i.e., pays for your educational expenses to get "credentialed."

so there would be no financial concern in that, because your employer covers your school.

here's what i'm talking about

http://teachnm.org/new-teachers/lice...rtunities.html

i know for a fact that some school districts will pay you to attend those programs listed there. credits are transferable from other isntitutions of course.

anyway, not saying "go to new mexico", ha ha ha ha, but... it's a supply & demand game. in some places there's so much demand for teachers they will do anything they can to hire one.

Listen.. i know my field particularly how it works in California. What you are talking about is called an "internship" but they aren't easy to find. Here in CA Districts paid for credentials in the early 2000s when they were short handed.. now there are more credentialed teachers than current openings. That is why i am in a program currently, once i complete the program it is likely that if i am flexible i will find a gig hence why for better or worse i am geographically locked in here to the local university where i am in the program and doing quite well. If i don't complete the program i will never find the gig. Ive worked with an emergency cred in past, already pulled off enough miracles trying to do it an unconventional approach, time to suck it up and do it the "legit" way like 40,000 other people did..

I appreciate your advice, i got this down. Its just about making the ends meet

ahhhhhhh

welll...



SRSLY a good gig FT/PT while you do other things

Ohhh do I wanna work at one

in my area i think they pay $17/hr

great gig if you're an artist, writer, musician, painter... even blogger ha ha ha

there are maybe two employees at the one i go to not covered head to toe in tattoos. i'll fit in just fine.

new mexico likes to feature the precolumbian mummy style earring




mostly dudes get those-- here anyway

...

to which this old lady says



"bring it, punk"

i assume that anyone with those is a fifteen year old angry punk kid, or majored in like, semiotics or something. they're all awful.

ha! some of these people look to be pushing 40-- one manages the pet store, plus many of his workers have them too; another manages a local TJs (though TJs seems to have mutiple people in charge)

albuquerque has more tattoo and piercing shops per capita than any other place in america, it seems

what else can one do all day?

I'm sorry to hear this, SFAD! Hang in there.

yeah, the dept managers then store managers... that dude and i ended up not panning out, i think i brought that up in the food thread, but i now know how to cook a few dishes pretty well.

really? for christmas i think i'm going to start planning my next tattoo... all depends. it'll run me fairly deep so it'll be a process.

Thank you all for your kind empathy and help for me, i sincerely appreciate it all.. i had a rough couple of weeks but my hopes are improving gradually, especially with the help of my friends :)

lol i hate to sound like a dad but beef up your savings first! :p

oh yeah, it's not a priority, just a flight of fancy but eventually it's a treat. i just got denied for a student loan (and my mom co-signed, too) so that's yet another blow to the head.

oh, shit, well, unlike credit cards student loans are non-dischargeable in bankruptcy, so count your blessings.

lucky for you most good writers are self-taugh. the reason for the sorry state of contemporary american literature is the overabundance of "writer's workshops" that coddle writers all the way into MFA programs where upon graduation they proceed compete fiercely to for barista jobs, which pay better than being an adjunct.

start writing today. keep at it on a daily basis. 4 years from now you'll be much better than any college graduate.

i'm only saying this because you already like to write and need nobody to give you "assignments." school is for the untalented--they're the ones who need instruction. hA!

and all you need for feedback is a proper salon. in these internet days... that's easy to find.

well not that easy-- definitely not in the youtube comments ha ha ha. but there are a lot of smart people out there, all within reach.

Indeed this is massive suck. Ol' Al Bundy would completely understand

Perhaps I can provide some momentary diversion by talking about something irrelevant about myself.

One thing I am working on is becoming a more effective speaker. I don't mean as in giving speeches. I mean in daily conversation. I want to slow down my speech patterns, speak more thoughtfully as well as emphatically.

Have you noticed how fast many people talk? It makes me nervous, agitated, annoyed, and I find I concentrate less on what the person is saying, retain less of what the person has said. The people I enjoy listening to, on the other hand, use slow, deliberate speech patterns.

Any thoughts? Any advice?