July 11-17, 2009 (plus a blog recap of July 7-10)

This week started in California, and ended back in Shenzhen. Let's recap all of my California blog posts:

Tuesday, July 7th (China): I left home in the morning and posted this from the airport, about how an obstruction "seemed" to be removed by the intervention of Lord Ganesh, the elephant-headed god who removes obstacles and blesses new enterprises. Includes posts published Tuesday, July 7 (posts usually go at 9 a.m. China time, which is 6 p.m. the previous day in California).

Wednesday, July 8th: A long post about little adventures in-transit: a problem with the audio on the plane, an encounter with a Vietnamese nun, and burritos. Includes the events of Tuesday, July 7th, (on both continents) and the posts published Wednesday, July 8th.

Thursday, July 9th: I discovered that a clip on Youku was blocked in America, a turnabout on what I'm used to in China. Includes the events of Wednesday, July 8th, in California, and posts published Thursday, July 9th.

Friday, July 10th: Shopping for clothes, picking up stuff from my storage, ripping CDs, scanning pictures, and meeting old old friends, whom I knew before I started school. Includes the events of Thursday, July 9th, in California, and posts published Friday, July 10th.

Sunday, July 12th: More ripping and scanning, and some revisions to these pages (notably the addition of a search box to each page). Includes the events of Friday, July 10th, and Saturday, July 11th, in California; and posts published Saturday, July 11th, and Sunday, July 12th.

Monday, July 13th: Visits from my in-laws and old buddy David Thom and his mom. Includes the events of Sunday, July 12th, in California, and posts published Monday, July 13th.

Tuesday, July 14th: Book shopping, and my early birthday dinner. Includes the events of Monday, July 13th, in California, and posts published Tuesday, July 14th.

Wednesday, July 15th: Friends old and (relatively) new: I saw Wayne Behlendorf and Robert Smitheram today. Includes the events of Tuesday, July 14th, in California, and posts published Wednesday, July 15th.

Thursday, July 16th: On my final day in L.A., I saw old friends Kerstine Johnson and Mike Daly and his wife Akemi. In the late afternoon, I returned my stuff to storage, and did some mad scanning (and packing my bags) until after 2:30 a.m. Then a quick shower and a 3:30 a.m. pickup for my 7:30 a.m. flight. Includes the events of Wednesday, July 15th, in California, and posts published Thursday, July 16th.

Friday, July 17th: An exceptionally long post about trouble at the airport, and my only face-to-face birthday greeting of the day. Includes the events of Thursday, July 16th, in California and Friday, July 17th, in China, and posts published Friday, July 17th.

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And now, back to the routine (for a while). Check out the week's happenings on www.JamesBaquet.com below!

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Wisdom Blogs:

☼ 365 Secrets of Happiness: 7 posts: Learn that When One Door Opens..., Get Wet, Be Someone Else, Tell a Tall Tale, Visit an Amusement Park, Visit a Historic Site, and Play a Board Game.

☼ At the Feet of Sri Ramakrishna: 2 posts: Taste the Snow (direct experience) and A Lamp without Oil ("No oil, no light")

☼ Buddhism Simplified: 2 more posts on the life of the Buddha: The Four Sights (the young prince sees suffering) and Rahula (the birth of the prince's son)

☼ Meet Joe Campbell: 2 more posts on Campbell's sources: Sources #4: Modern Literature and Sources #5: Art and Creativity (more 20th-century shamans)

☼ Aphorisms of a Derelict Yogi: 2 posts: "Out of the mouths of *ssholes... " (truth comes from many sources) and "Knots in the net" (interconnectedness)

Projects:

☼ Meatless/Mooless Monday: 2 posts: Get "Stuffed" (a new book on the sins of "big food") and Other Mondays (more healthy ways to start the week)

About James:

☼ Blog Highlights: You can see these, plus a few from last week, in the summary of my trip posted at the start of this newsletter.

☼ My Bio and more: Post on The Lazarus People I (people I met on set of a TV show)

Places:

☼ America: Post on El Santuario de Chimayo, NM (a healing place in the mountains)

☼ Japan: Post on Roadside Statues (where abandoned saints are honored again)

☼ China: Post on Chinese "Ethnicity" (a minority "zoo")

☼ Philippines: Post on Malate Church, Malate, Manila (over 420 years old)

☼ Asia: Post on The Ruins of Saint Paul's, Macau (an alternate view of the old facade)