You really must read this.

As the title suggests, I got a haircut. I was envisioning leaving it a little longer, but on the other hand, it looks pretty good. In case you are curious, I went to “David & Friends” salon, on Bush Street, very near my apartment.

I have not decided if I will keep it short (the problem with that is I have to keep getting it cut), or grow it out again. I kind of like long-ish hair, but it had gotten a little bit too long and was kind of hard to manage. I might try to keep it shoulder-length or so. For now, I kind of enjoy the feel of something different.

Here’s what it looks like:

This time it is Leopard. Yes, I finall installed Apple OS 10.5. It’s kind of neat in some ways. I love spaces, which lets you have multiple “desktops” with different things on them. And yes, it’s been around for a long time. I remember using it many years ago on a Unix machine. I remember downloading some third-party apps that were supposed to do the same thing on a mac, but all kind of sucked. Finally, it is built into the system and works, and also looks slick. In fact, if you switch to an application in the dock, it will automatically go to the “space” you have that application open in.

Stacks are also neat. It basically lets you access any folder as a pop-up menu from the dock. Handy for internet downloads and such.

Time machine I haven’t tried yet, nor any of the snazzy new iChat features. Mail.app and iCal now have all the functionality of Microsoft Outlook, in that you can send meeting invites that get automatically added to the calendar, have pop-up reminders, and even create to-do lists in mail.app. Plus you can add stationary, or “annoying background pictures on all your email”, if that’s your thing.

There are a couple things that annoy me. For example, the security settings for email always seem to need to be re-set, which requires typing in my password two or three times every time I start up email. That means I am just going to turn the bloody thing off. Also, there is a pop-up warning every time you try to try to open a downloaded application. It says “this application was downloaded from the internet. Are you sure you want to open it?”
“Nah. I think I’ll just download a bunch of stuff and it can sit there forever…”

The most annoying part of that, is that I have not found a way to turn it off yet.

Also,  I was warned that some application have conflicts. The only one that will not work for me is Yahoo instant messenger; not exactly the end of the world. So far I am pretty happy with the latest in the large-cat-named operating systems.

Please read this article… at least the first half of it.

I like this kind of story. It is a reminder that no matter what faith you are, doing the right thing looks the same. I also feel sorry for the non-radical Muslims in this country; there is just no where near enough publicity of this kind.

Yesterday I took a business trip to a little town called Carmel. The official name of the city is “Carmel-by-the-Sea”, complete with hyphens. The deal with this town, is a bunch of rich yuppies got together and wanted to create a quaint little seaside town. They created a rather forced illusion of one. Let me give you some examples - they do not have street numbers. Apparently it’s not quaint enough. You have to give directions by cross street. They have a little row of quaint-looking shops, that sell replicas of art at ridiculous prices. The houses all look like bloated, mansion-sized versions of seaside cottages. There are little signs in front of the houses with names like “Tuckaway”. I imagine the town council has to approve every house design, and make sure it meets the minimum quaintness factor. The immediate impression I had upon entering Carmel, was a town artificially, sickeningly, quaint.

Apparently they have a nice beach front though. I didn’t take the time to check it out. I had to leave as soon as possible before someone came and tried to beat some quaintness into me.

Recently, I watched this video, and was inspired to download this emulator and play this game. Enough said.

In case you are wondering what to get me as a gift for my upcoming birthday (and you certainly do not have to), I have posted a wishlist of some random stuff I want.

Not much on it yet, but I am sure I will add things as I think of them.

From the realm of amusing food labels comes this, of a bottle of Pyrat (yes, it’s pronounced “pirate”) rum.

The first in a list of serving suggestions is, “Neat in a snifter with a lemon twist”.

Hee. Do people even talk like that anymore? I submit to you that they do not. It sounds like something out of an old film noir movie. “Better do what the boss says, or you’ll be neat in a snifter, buddy”.

For your edification and mine, from dictionary.com:

snif·ter [snif-ter] –noun

1. Also called an inhaler. A pear-shaped glass, narrowing at the top to intensify the aroma of brandy, liqueur, etc.

While the fourth definition under ‘neat‘ reads: “Not diluted or mixed with other substances: neat whiskey.”

So there you have it. I am sort of tempted to walk into a bar and order something “neat in a snifter”, but I think I am more likely to sit here and be amused.

I have been meaning to write another post in the ‘metaphysics’ category for awhile now, but my ideas keep changing and going back and forth so much lately. It has been impossible to narrow down a single topic I would feel confident writing about, without having to go in and change my post the next day.

There is one subtle doubt that has been the driving force of much of my philosophical ponderings lately.  What exactly is this ‘enlightenment’ people keep talking about? For a while I thought I knew, but as I come to understand more I have begun to realize I know very little. It is like driving for days and days, and just when you are approaching your destination, you realize it is not where you thought it was and now you have no clue at all where you are going. The obvious first question you will ask yourself is, “Is my destination somewhere else, or was it never there to begin with?”

According to the bible, Jesus suffered from doubt, fear, and pain. According to legend, Lao Tzu went into the desert because he could not bear to see the corruption of the people. If spiritual masters such as this are still not happy and content, what hope do I have? What am I reaching for? What am I trying to become? I always assumed that enlightenment would bring freedom from pain, fear, doubt, depression - in short, your soul would be free from angst. Perhaps Jesus and Lao Tzu had not reached the end of their paths. Perhaps I have been wrong all this time. I do not know.

In college, one year I took a class called “Magic in the Middle Ages”. During one session, we talked about meditation and the quest for enlightenment. As and aside, the professor said that sometimes people seeking enlightenment reach a state of opposite effect. An ‘endarkenment’, if you will. Perhaps they learn more knowledge than they have wisdom to understand. Perhaps they understand too much, but not quite enough. In any case,they come to the revelation that all existence is pointless and all effort futile. My professor then mentioned that the only way out of this state is to keep carrying on, until you come out of that sate and finally into enlightenment. Whether the time it takes is measured in years, or in lifetimes, is open to speculation.

It has always been a fear of mine that I would find myself in such a state; and in recent months increasingly so.  Struggling blindly for a goal you no longer believe in; trying to move forward when you cannot see anything; trying to keep going when you have lost touch with yourself. It sounds like a bummer. I desperately want to avoid such a pitfall. But, I worry that if I keep going the way I am - it may be unavoidable. Then again, I do not really know. It feels like I know increasingly little, these days.

One thing I do know, is that every culture and every wise person from the dawn of time until today has said that seeking enlightenment is the highest goal. I suppose you keep going forward because there is no place else to go. As long as you can feel something greater than yourself, you try to understand it and become it. Perhaps enlightenment is only that place you reach by continually reaching for what is one step away. Perhaps you never reach it. I do not really know.

Last night I had a rather successful cocktail party at my house. While discussing the finer points of rum, David brought up the Mai Tai. I said I could make one, if I followed the recipe I had. Naturally this lead into exactly how many Mai Tai recipes there are, and we decided to look up the original, which you can find here. I said I could do that to a close approximation. It turned out very well, and we finished out the night drinking nothing but Mai Tais. I have never liked the versions of this drink you can get in most bars and restaurants. The recipe below is what worked best:

Elegant Black Cat’s take on the Mai Tai:

• 1 ounce dark rum
• 1 ounce amber (gold) rum
• 1/2 ounce orange liquor
• 1/2 ounce orgeat syrup (an almond flavored coffee syrup)
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup (or 1/4 ounce rock candy syrup)
• 1 lime

Fill a cocktail shaker 1/2 full of ice. Pour in all ingredients except the lime. Cut the lime into wedges, squeeze juice into the shaker, and put the lime wedges in as well. Shake and strain into glasses over ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Another option is to leave out one edge of lime, and put it in the glass before you strain the drink over it. The mint leaf is actually important, it balances the tartness of the drink very well.

If you look on the Trader Vic’s site (same link as above), you will see they mention things like “snappiness” and “nuttiness” of rum blends. This is a load of frippery. Use rums you like, and the drink will come out well. I was using Cruzan Blackstrap, and Tommy Bahama Golden Sun.