Lynn Flewelling's Blog, page 53

America

"This is America, where a white Catholic male Republican judge was murdered on his way to greet a Democratic Jewish woman member of Congress, who was his friend. Her life was saved initially by a 20-year-old Mexican-American gay college student, and eventually by a Korean-American combat surgeon, all eulogized by our African-American President." -- Mark Shields, PBS

Lego Ukulele

What can I say, except that my uke hobby and Doug's passion for Legos collide.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sidfatD641w

Today's Buddhist Thought

Anger is the energy that people use in order to act. But when you are angry, you are not lucid, and you might do wrong things. That is why compassion is a better energy. And the energy of compassion is very strong. We suffer. That is real. But we have learned not to get angry and not to allow ourselves to be carried by anger. We realize right away that that is fear. That is corruption . . . So you recognize that fear. You embrace it tenderly and look deeply into it. And as you embrace your pain, you get relief and you find out how to handle that emotion. And if you know how to handle the fear, then you have enough insight in order to solve the problem. The problem is to not allow that anxiety to take over. When these feelings arise, you have to practice in order to use the energy of mindfulness to recognize them, embrace them, look deeply into them. It's like a mother when the baby is crying. Your anxiety is your baby. You have to take care of it. You have to go back to yourself, recognize the suffering in you, embrace the suffering, and you get relief. And if you continue with your practice of mindfulness, you understand the roots, the nature of the suffering, and you know the way to transform it.

Thich Nhat Hanh, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, 2010

Ukulele Lady

I've been noodling around on a cheapy soprano ukulele (the common small one) for several years now, teaching myself to play. It's a lot of fun, and very like guitar, which I've played for years. Ukes are referred to as an instrument that easy to learn to play, but hard to learn to play well. Needing a bit of stress relief, I decided to get serious and bought myself a nice tenor-sized Ohana ukulele. It sounds a million times better than the cheapy one, and has a more spacious fretboard. It's pretty, too, with a cedar top, figured willow sides and back, and some very nice "rope" design trim. Since I couldn't get a decent picture of mine, here's a link to the company's website.

http://www.ohana-music.com/teno/tk50wg/master.html

There are some amazing musicians playing them, doing folk, classical, blues, bluegrass, you name it. Here are some people who know what they're doing. I am nowhere close to being this good, but a girl can dream.

Here's one you've probably heard without knowing what it was, by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole, who passed away young in '97: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I

Jake Shimabukuro-- famous Uke player





John King, also quite famous,, though it's not a great video


I don't know who these guys are, but they play a mean blues uke. Singing? No so much.

A whole new world.

Friend wedschilde talked me into turning on virtual gifts (didn't know it existed) and the baby otters are pouring in, and a bunch of roses. Thanks, all!

Now, can someone tell me how to turn the "adult content" warning off? Apparently I ticked a box without realizing what it was, but I can't find my way back to it.

Nom nom nom

Made Chicken Piccata (panfried filets of chicken breast with a light lemon and caper sauce) last night. A scrambled egg with herbes de Provence, wafer thin slices of fried Canadian bacon, and fresh California dates and OJ for breakfast this morning. Real food, quickly prepared, and all within the parameters of my diet! This really is cooking weather.

Off to work now!

Revisiting the "gun sight" issue-- for the last time I promise

So, the whole "are those crosshairs of a gun or surveyor's marks on that map from Sarah Palan's camp" issue has been niggling at me all day. I tried to google "surveyor's marks" and guess what had clogged the system? Yep.

So, thrown back on my own resources, I consulted someone who would know: a man who has a degree in cartography, has worked with surveyors and generally is more cool-headed than I am about these things. Here's his response:

Ms. Flewelling,

You asked for my professional opinion on the symbol used on Ms. Palin's map referenced in the website cited below. As a cartographer and member of the mapping profession let me offer the following opinion.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

The symbol (shaded circle centered over horizontal and vertical lines bisecting one another) is variously called target, cross-hairs, sighting graticule, or registration mark. It is used in surveying, printing, and as a generic symbol in cartography. Gun sights also have many forms open, aperture, and telescopic. The crosshairs of the Palin map are typical of the sighting mechanism used in telescopic sighting mechanisms. Those sighting mechanism are also used in surveying instruments such as theodolites, total stations and levels.

Given Ms. Palin's familiarity with hunting rifles and lack of formal training or professional licensing in land surveying I doubt that her use of the aforementioned symbol is a surveyor's mark. However, casual examination of a granola box or any other cereal, with or without, would show the printer's color registration marks and may have influenced the choice of symbol found on her map. Even then, I doubt the message of the map was that America should get its diversity of colors to align into a single harmonious picture.

Doug

Thank you, Dr. Flewelling. I still maintain that the "Don't retreat, reload!" declaration is telling, as is her referring to the marks on Twitter as "bulls eyes." So there you go.

I also reiterate that I don't think any of that caused the Arizona shooting, although the fact that her camp removed the map minutes after the shooting does make me wonder. It appears that the gunman is probably severely mentally ill, and, speaking as a person with sad and first hand knowledge of psychotic breaks, the young man was not in control of his actions. That doesn't make it any less horrifying, but let's keep things in perspective. And let me state that the vast majority of the mentally ill ARE NOT VIOLENT, at least against anyone but themselves. If, however, he starts quoting Palin, then I would change my opinion. But he hasn't to my knowledge so for now I rest on my current opinion.

As for the debate on civility in public discourse, we DO need to fix that! A million times yes! If this horrible tragedy makes people more mindful of what they say, then so much the better, but don't conflate the causes.

More on Book Piracy

Author Saundra Mitchell had a striking post on the numbers of her books being pirated. If all the illegal downloads had been legal sales, she'd have been a NYT bestseller. The same goes for me. In ten minutes, I found record of tens of thousands of illegal downloads of my books. In ten minutes. It makes me want to cry, since sales numbers justify my existence as a writer. I've ranted about this before. I'll let Saundra do the talking this time, with her permission. And she does it well.

http://anywherebeyond.livejournal.com/342581.html?view=1733941#t1733941

For anyone who can't get my books in their country, http://www.bookdepository.com ships world wide for free. End of story.

Blood Libel?

Having worn out "Mama Grizzly" and "death panels," Sarah Palin's latest buzz word is "blood libel," of which she accuses the media for linking her rhetoric to the violence in Arizona.

From Wiki: "Blood libel (also blood accusation[1][2]) refers to a false accusation or claim[3][4][5] that religious minorities, almost always Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays.[1][2][6] Historically, these claims have–alongside those of well poisoning and host desecration–been a major theme in European persecution of Jews.[4]
The libels typically allege that Jews require human blood for the baking of matzos for Passover. The accusations often assert that the blood of Christian children is especially coveted, and historically blood libel claims have often been made to account for otherwise unexplained deaths of children. In some cases, the alleged victim of human sacrifice has become venerated as a martyr, a holy figure around whom a martyr cult might arise. A few of these have been even canonized as saints.[citation needed]
In Jewish lore, blood libels were the impetus for the creation in the 16th century of the Golem of Prague by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel. Many popes have either directly or indirectly condemned the blood accusation, and no pope has ever sanctioned it.[7] These libels have persisted among some segments of Christians to the present time."


Really, Sarah? Really? You're going to equate getting your wrist slapped by the media for putting gun sites on a map with the justification for the persecution of the Jews? (The same accusations were also leveled at the early Christians) Accusing politicians and the media of negative rhetoric isn't libel, because it's true. And frankly, linking this to Giffords's shooting seems weirdly ironic, given that Giffords herself is Jewish.

But let me clarify. I do think the media plays a significant role in inciting uproar over various issues. The moment someone shoots his/her mouth off or shoots some poor innocent, the media puts it on 24 hour replay, with breathless speculation. Meanwhile, the continuing agony of Darfur or Haiti goes unreported because it's old news.

Do I think that Palin personally caused the shooting? No. I think that's a whole different kettle of worms that needs to be dealt with. Personally, I'd like to have certain politicians and shock jocks over for a few sangha nights. Some meditation on Right Speech** seems to be in order, and I think some Buddhist guidance would do a lot of good in this situation.

However, according to the news, the campaign in which Giffords was elected was marked by a very nasty negative campaign by her opponent. Do I think this might have influenced a mentally unstable young man to set his sights, literally, on her? Yes, absolutely. This could very well be the end result of Wrong Speech.

Words have power. The people who use them negatively, like Palin's claims of "death panels" or Giffords's opponent's smear tactics, know this. That's why they say what they do. And people listen to them. Why, I have no idea, except that they must strike some chord with them. To me, Sarah Palin comes off as confused and incoherent, saying anything that will keep her in the limelight. She's like a needy little girl acting out for attention. How anyone whose only political qualification is quitting a governorship can be taken seriously as a presidential candidate baffles me.

But I digress.

Blood libel, Sarah? Really?

**Right Speech is part of the Eightfold Path, which is basically the Buddhist code of conduct. In a nutshell, Right Speech promotes clear communication, understanding, and peace between people, even if they continue to disagree. Wrong Speech promotes negative outcomes, like division, hatred and discord. Often people practice wrong speech unknowingly, but that doesn't diminish the damage it can do. By stopping and examining our actions and motivations, we can change.

Cruise Update: Private Critique Session Applications now ready

Anyone planning to book a private critique session with me should contact me at once for an application. There are only 6 time slots, first come, first served. lbflewelling@roadrunner.com