Facebook, the new-age helpline

Have you noticed (I'm sure you have) that it's not only possible but encouraged to comment on and approve of people's status updates on Facebook? This even applies to your own updates: I saw an update from one of my friends complaining that another friend liked her own update; there is nothing wrong with that, for status updates are our new self-therapy, aren't they? Facebook has become the new-age self-help portal that everyone was secretly longing for. On the one hand they give us all a chance to claim our own 'seventeen minutes of fame'; on the other hand they offer us the opportunity to feel that we are genuinely useful. We side with a hurting friend: 'Hey girl, don't give up. He's just a stupid guy who doesn't recognise your worth.' And we offer nuggets of enlightened living: 'This is a day for all of us to shine.'

Sure, there are still some people who update their latest whinges and binges but these are getting to be the minority and the least popular. It's easy to see why: our bookshops are stacked with 'inspirational' titles and our fave websites are those offering brighter futures, so community and self-help have become a new way of life. Social networking sites hook into deep and real human needs; Facebook has become theever-changing, always accessible new-age helpline.

1st black Miss England

Rachel Christie, the first black Miss England (2009)

The poems I Like

The Poems I like

The kinds of poems I like

are slim and shapely,

with beautiful smiles

and warm hearts; they

look good in a pair of skinny jeans,

saunter across crowded streets,

loiter with intent

in cafes and churches,

parks and bars,

and cruise in summer

in low-neck cars.

They are never luxury items

but necessary and vital

with no stray words

or punctuation

out of place; happy

and carefree, they

kiss you on the face.

Those are the kinds of poems I like.

KenR, 26-07-09

Playlist/Readlist

Here's my current (July 2009) playlist/readlist, the music n books that are getting my attention right now:

Music

Kings of Leon: Because of the times/ Only by the night; David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust/ Heroes; Gounod: Petite Symphonie for 9 wind instruments/ Mozart wind serenades K375 & 388.

Books

Michael Beckwith: Spiritual Liberation; Paul Reps: Zen Flesh, Zen Bones; Paul: Letter to the Phillippians; Pico Iyer: The Lady and the Monk.

Do it again

Do it again

To be alive
is to feel joy
pain
sun
rain
to get up every morning
and do it again
simply because it's there;
to love the breeze
in your hair
the soft crunch of chocolate
on your lips
the gentle swagger of motion
as you roll your hips
the love
of being in love
and being alive
again
and again
and again.

Let's do it again
let's do it again
let's do it again
let's do it again
let's do it again
let's do it again
let's do it again



KenR, July 2009

Love in Berlin, 1977

Berlin 1977

We've got nothing to lose and nothing to gain/ we can be lovers and kiss in the rain/ we can be lovers just for one day/ we can be heroes; what do you say?

Recently I've been listening again to David Bowie's "Heroes" album and it's taken me back... Bowie recorded it in West Berlin when he was living near the wall with Iggy. During 1976-8 I was in and out of West Berlin because I had a berliner girlfriend who lived there, at Neu Spandau, out by the edge of the city. I also knew a few pretty women who stayed at Wedding and a guy whose father was a lawyer and I spent time with my friends and caroused and danced and talked and made love and walked the city and enjoyed its odd decadence and lasting vibrancy. "Heroes" came out at that time, and I bought the German version, 'Helden', for my girlfriend and played it repeatedly late one night while the rain poured heavily outside her flat. It was a good time, a time of another world, of a world long passed but not gone. This week I've been surprising myself with whispered glimpses of that silent age.

Google Chrome: Browser Wars (contd)

With the latest devbuild, I can see that Chromium/Chrome (Google's new-style browser) is getting stronger; and I must say that I like it. It's simply designed, but elegant in a zen way; and the search+address bar feels so right, so intuitive that browsing becomes a much better experience. Already I'm using this browser on a daily basis, even though there's so much unfinished about it that most people would probably think it isn't worth the bother. [Wait till they try it though.] In short, this is shaping up to be a killer app!

Verdi is gr8 4 yr heart!

Verdi is gr8 4 yr heart!



The researchers tested out various combinations of music and silence on the volunteers and found tracks rich in emphasis that alternated between fast and slow, like operatic music, appeared to be the best for the circulation and the heart.Verdi's arias, which follow music phrases that are 10 seconds long, appeared to synchronise perfectly with the natural cardiovascular rhythm.

BBC NEWS | Health | Opera 'is music for the heart'

18th June

18th June

Your desire,
glowing like embers in a fire,
attracts me
with its warmth and promise
of home.

I know I'm not alone
when I see that in your eyes.

It's no surprise
you love me: you're like that;
I'm more surprised
I love you: but I like that:
no-one wants to be alone.
No-one likes to be alone.
No-one needs to be alone.
We all need a face
we can call home.

Heat me
until I perspire.
Root me
with your warmth.
I desire
your desire.

The five rites & the physiological clock

The Five Rites (google it!) is an exercise system reputedly more than 2000 years old but described by Peter Kelder in a book first published in the 1920s. It isn't described as a fitness system but rather as a way to reset the body's chakras, the seven spinning wheels of energy. I've been practising the five rites daily for over five months now and I can tell you that they work: I have more energy, more muscle, less grey hair (the grey is actually disappearing), a sharper mind and a greater feeling of well-being. And I sleep better too. Amazing? Certainly. Miraculous? Perhaps.
The rites seem to work by kick-starting the endocrine system, resetting the physiological clock. That's true for me at least-- I really do feel that I'm youthing rather than aging. Apart from the hair, energy, etc., I've been getting a few spots on my face that I haven't seen for the last twenty years: spots that are hormonal in origin. There have been other changes too, too many to mention here. I shan't be stopping this programme. The five rites are for life (both meanings are intended).

Tai Chi and Grace

Attending Tai Chi classes has made my life more graceful--even though my practice is clumsy; my muscles and bones ache--even though the movements are flowing and slow; and I'm more aware than ever before of the beauty and fragility of our lives.

I didn't expect any of this; I'm not sure what I expected. I do have a Tai Chi book, but its attraction for me was its philosophy rather than its utility as a practical guide to the movements. I practice Zen so I saw in Tai Chi a kindred practice, an addition to my lifestyle. Tai Chi has been more than this: it has changed the ways I move through my days.

Like Zen I can't explain this, not any of it. Like Zen, Tai Chi's meaning lies exclusively in its practice. Like Zen, Tai Chi is not for reading in books, but for living.