Photographs

It took me a while to name this blog entry. I was torn between Photographs and Fatherhood. I cleaned my office closet today and discovered a box of old photos. These were taken in the summer of 1990 on the Oregon coast. We rented a small bungalow by the beach for the week-end. I remember both tough times running a struggling business and beautiful times with my son. He is now twenty and away at college. Still, he remains my biggest inspiration.

Photos are copyrighted, E.V.Saguin 2006, click on the image for a large version.

Just like riding a bicycle

I finally got on track and reactivated my Private Pilot's License. It took a while but over the week-end, after much budget planning and deliberation, I took the first steps back to flying and let me tell you, it was just like riding a bicycle - you never forget the intense and wonderful feeling of flight. I still can't wipe the stupid grin off my face.

It was an overcast day at Harvey Field, clouds broken, overcast, ceiling at 3000 feet, winds calm. Later in the day the sun broke and even the local skydivers got in a jump or two.

Flightline pictures:













I've just fallen in love with this old gal - N84842 - 1946 Aeronca Champ













Beauty in its simplicity: the magnetos are on the left panel, accessible to both pilots; the trim tab control is just above your left shoulder (not shown); the COMM is portable and it has heel brakes used only for sharp turns. It's pure stick and rudder flying; I found myself with constant pressure on the right rudder to correct for the pronounced yaw.













"842 Champ on final runway 14, Harvey..."













Like I said, that stupid grin is going to stay with me for a few days. (The Champ does not have an electrical system, that thing on the grass is the aux battery power for startup. Unlike N84842, some Champs have no starters, I think I'm going to keep my arms with this one.)

Microsoft Now In the Blogging Game

Not to be outdone, Microsoft just released Live Writer, a free blog content application that streamlines the creation and updating of blogs, and aims to make it easy for bloggers to stay connected to their audience.  

Read the complete story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. This post was created with Live Writer. I am going to test-drive this app from Redmond for a few days and report back with some feedback. Ciao!

To Wake Up Before We Die

When I woke up today, I looked for some inspiration after a three-day retreat and discovery. My writing has never been better, honest and fluent. But like anything else, I depend on the rhythmic patterns of work and contemplation and I became afraid that I might lose my connection to the divine. And then, I remembered one of my treasured books on writing.
________

(Excerpted from the Introduction of Long Quiet Highway, by Natalie Goldberg, Bantam Books):

There is an order of Buddhist monks in Japan whose practice is running. They are called the marathon monks of Mount Hiei. They begin running at one-thirty a.m. and run from eighteen to twenty-five miles per night, covering several of Mount Hiei's most treacherous slopes. Because of the high altitude, Mount Hiei has long cold winters, and part of the mountain is called the Slope of Instant Sobriety; because it is so cold, it penetrates any kind of illusion or intoxication. The monks run all year round. They do not adjust their running schedule to the snow, wind, or ice. They wear white robes when they run, rather than the traditional Buddhist black. White is the color of death: there is always the chance of dying on the way. In fact, when they run they carry with them a sheathed knife and a rope to remind them to take their life by disembowelment or hanging if they fail to complete their route.



After monks complete a thousand-day mountain marathon within seven years, they go on a nine-day fast without food, water, or sleep. At the end of the nine days, they are at the edge of death. Completely emptied, they become extremely sensitive. 'They can hear ashes fall from the incense sticks... and they can smell food prepared miles away.' Their sight is vivid and clear, and after the fast they come back into life radiant with a vision of ultimate existence.

I read about these monks in a book entitled The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei, by John Stevens (Shambala, 1988). It was just before I went to teach the first of four Sunday afternoon writing seminars at The Loft in Minneapolis. I was excited by what I read and naturally I wanted to share it. I stood behind the podium and carried on to fifty Midwestern writers and would-be writers about how the monks became one with the mountain they ran on, how they knew the exact time each species of bird and insect began to sing, and when the moon rose, the sun set, the wind changed direction.

I was twenty minutes into the seminar’s two hours, telling about the monks, when I looked up and paused. “I guess you want to know what the marathon monks have to do with writing? Well, they have everything to do with it. The way I see it, you either break through in your writing—say what you really need to say—or head for Mount Hiei. As a matter of fact, take a gun with you next time you go to a café to write. If you don’t connect in your writing that day, just shoot yourself. Vague writing on Monday—off with the little toe. Tuesday, no better—the big toe. Get the idea?”

Why do the marathon monks go to such extremes? They want to wake up. That’s how thick we human beings are. We are lazy, content in our discontent, sloppy and asleep. To wake up takes the total effort that a marathon monk can exert.

Our life is the path of learning, to wake up before we die.

From the Seattle Times archive

Essay
This Knight's Quest: Teaching His Son To Seek Religion, Even On Film
Rick Saguin
Special To The Seattle Times

There's a lot to be said about religion in America. Some argue that in the quest for the elusive American Dream, and the isolation that it brings, we have lost our spirituality and sense of the moral center. However, I still believe that in America today we have two things that make us the resilient nation that we are: religion and . . . movies. Splice them together and you have a powerful source of hope and faith and a reflection of the goodness in all of us.

Read more.

Pandora and the Music Genome Project

Pandora.com is my rave of the month, maybe of the year.

On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.

It's been a while since a mind-blowing Internet idea has come across the web pages. The business model is pretty simple: find a favorite song, and the service, or the "genome" will find songs in the same vein, or in the same note or beat, for you. I have also discovered that one of my favorite songs called "Bridges", which I have known to be popularized by Flora Purim, has a version by Tony Bennett. The "genome" concept is amazing and truly a 21st century idea that will extend to other facets of life.

Pandora™ is the doorway to this vast trove of musical information. With Pandora you can explore to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.

Check out Pandora.com and get blown away with a your own cavalcade of favorite songs.

Okay Dave

How do you design a chair based on your feelings and emotions about 9/11? Check out okaydave.com – Dave Werner is a designer, writer, musician and storyteller. Click on the piece called “impact” for the chair story.

And he’s just a kid! These young ‘uns…they can be so inspiring.