Serenity

“Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.” Lao Tzu

“Take your body and mind as the laboratory, engage in some thorough going research on your mental functioning, and examine the possibility of making some positive changes within yourself.” Dali Lama

While the new printer is handy being attached as it is to this machine, I have to say it is a real ink hog. No wonder the cartridges are cheaper then on the other machine they only hold a few drops. One project and I already had to change black ink cartridge. Oh well I guess it beats trying to save things to disc and then printing on the other machine. My major printing will be done on the old printer, which may be slower, but the quality is professional.

I got my holidays for next year courtesy of a great site by Brownielocks and the 3 bears You have to check it out as she has some absolutely hysterical but true holidays. I discovered her site about three years ago and she is wonderful. If you need a laugh or just a reason to celebrate she probably has something for you.

I returned to work today to a stack of adjustments that they didn’t know how to do. It was a long day and I certainly didn’t feel like being there as I was extremely shaky. Only two people asked how I felt. Some of the others were just glad I was back because they had to work and take up the slack while I was gone. Oh well it supports my art so I can put up with it. I will be glad when mother retires from there however. She is real sick with an infection given to her by a coworker. She is even talking of staying home tomorrow if she doesn’t feel better.

As the quotation above suggests I have done my work for today and now I am stepping back and will get started on the calendars. Being creative is a great way to get past frustrations.
After scraping ice off my windshield this morning I long for this picture. It is called Hawaiian Summer Morning.

Happiness

“One drop of the sea cannot claim to come from one river, and another drop of the sea from another river; the sea is a single consistent whole. In the same way all beings are one; there is no being that does not come from the soul, and is not part of the soul.” The Upanishads

“I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment.” Dalai Lama

Things are progressing. I still feel awful weak and shaky but I feel better then I did. The heavy doses of Advil appear to be helping as has taking two different antibiotics for the infection. I may finally be getting the upper hand on this. Regardless I go back to work tomorrow. My brother says that they really miss me. I think maybe the troublemakers regret going in and whining to my boss as she really wanted me to take the time off to get well and they had to actually do some work and pick up the slack. Be careful what you wish for because it can come back at you in unexpected ways.

I think it is very true in life that what you wish for may not always be what you expected. Sometimes you get it into your head that you want something and if you only get that thing everything will be different. You find however that when you get this thing, whether it be a job or relationship or something material, and your life continues to be the way it was before you got it. Often times I believe that our expectations in life are beyond what life can offer. We expect outside things to change our life for the better when the real secret to happiness comes from within ourselves. We want to be happy but we really need to think hard about what true happiness is and what we really need in life to make us happy. I find that if what I want is selfish then it doesn’t really make me happy when I get it. If what I want contributes to the happiness of others then I find my own happiness increases and I am content.

The picture is called Autumn Equinox. Enjoy autumn while you can because winter is coming fast and coming early this year.

Woo-Hoo!

“If my heart can become pure and simple like that of a child, I think there probably can be no greater happiness than this.” Kitaro Nishida

“Obviously, it is not enough for us simply to think about how nice compassion is! We need to make a concerted effort to develop it; we must use all the events of our daily lives to transform our thoughts and behavior.” Dalai Lama

Finally the web site is up and running! I checked out all the links and as far as I can tell they are all working. It was certainly a long hard haul to get it done but I am very pleased with it. Now comes the job of promoting it so that people know it is there. Check it out at: Art by Michele Wilson

I also just finished cleaning the upstairs. My brother has promised for months to clean our bathroom and hasn’t gotten around to it. We have a plumber coming tomorrow and I wasn’t going to let anyone seeing that filthy bathroom so I followed the old adage of "if you want something done do it yourself." The computer room and my bedroom also got cleaned while I was at it since we have someone coming to take out the air conditioners.

According to the doctor yesterday I have severe arthritis in the jaw that is affecting the ears as well as a virus infection. He ordered anti-inflammatory for the ear and I’ve been downing the Advil capsules. It does seem to have had an effect, as it isn’t quite as painful as it was. I am off today and tomorrow and will go back to work on Thursday. My mother’s last day of work is this Sunday and I will be very glad to have her retire. That is what is new in my life.

In the world I have been reading about those neo-nazis who wanted to assassinate Obama and kill so many black people. I wonder if it will dawn on the McCain/Palin campaign that their negative ads and speeches, when taken to the extreme, lead to this kind of hatred. This is the face of bigotry. This is what inflammatory ads and speeches lead to. It isn’t too late to stop the hatred and start focusing on the issues instead. Somehow I doubt they will do that. That is a really sad thing.

Monday, Monday

“The key to an easy relationship with other people is not to impose your ego, nor crush the ego of others.” Swami Prajnanpad

“Benefit first goes to the practitioner of kindness.” Dalai Lama

After many, many hours of work the website is starting to come up and together. I still have a few links not working the way they should but I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. With a little luck the Art by Michele Wilson should be finished by the end of the week.

I am home from work again today and will be seeing the specialist at 2 o’clock today. I am hoping he can find out what is wrong and fix it! I am tired of being in constant pain. I am finding myself getting very depressed because of all the pain and what happened at work on Thursday. Even though my boss told me she is not firing me and she wants me well and back to doing the superb job I was doing before I became ill I am still finding myself worried. I am hoping that this doctor is as good as people say he is and he will find a cure.

I am enjoying the high speed Internet. I am still trying to get the wireless up and working on the other computer. In the meantime I am going to have to break down and purchase a printer for this computer. I need to be able to print things off while I am struggling to get the other computer to recognize the wireless.

The picture is called Lady in Red.

High Speed

"Every smile makes you a day younger; every sigh a day older." Chinese proverb

"What I believe, according to my own experience, is that a calm, peaceful mind is a very important element for sustaining the body in a balanced way." Dalai Lama

It was a real rough day yesterday. The final upshot from a meeting with my boss is that I need to stay home and get well because the pain is such a distraction that I am making a lot of posting errors. She claims that my fellow employees are worried about me. I know she is and that she cares. The jury is out on the others. I have an appointment with a specialist on Monday and he is going to have to do something. I cannot go on the way I have. Depending on what he says I may be out of work for a while in order to recuperate.

They have us hooked up to the cable Internet now so it should be a lot faster to do things. I can't get my workhorse computer to recognize the wireless yet but I will have to work on it and I'm sure it will be hooked up eventually. In the meantime I can access the Internet through my other computer. I hope to get the website completely converted over tonight and try and get the uploaded. That has been my major focus the last few days since AOL is taking the site down on the 31st.

Wow that upload of the picture was like lightening. I'm going to like not being on dial up.

Can You Hear Me Now?

The supreme consideration is man.” Mahatma Gandhi

“When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” Dalai Lama

Remember that irritating cell phone commercial where the guy keeps asking “can you hear me now?”
I had to stop and listen to my lungs this morning a pour some inhalant down them so I could breath. Not the best way to start a week. If you have asthma you learn to listen.

When I worked at The Tattered Cover book store in Denver we would have celebrity autographs. The most massive turnout we ever had was for Colin Powell. That line looped up three flights of stairs and down and out into the street. I briefly got a chance to meet him since I was helping with crowd control. He is a real gentleman in every sense of the word. He is polite and gracious and obviously intelligent. He was a pleasure to work with.

Yesterday Colin Powell endorsed my candidate Barak Obama and he touched on many of the things that I have touched on in this journal. He opposes the mud slinging campaign being run by McCain/Palin. He knows the Bill Ayers rantings have no relevance what so ever to this campaign. He knows Obama is a Christian and he knows that Muslims need to feel free to follow their religious beliefs. He knows Sarah Palin is totally unfit to be Vice President let alone President. He questions McCain’s rashness in picking Sarah Palin as a running mate. He questions McCain’s bizarre closing down of his campaign to “solve the economic crisis”. He questions whether or not McCain even has a viable solution to the economic crisis.

The most important aspect of Colin Powell’s endorsement is his endorsement of Obama the man and his ability to lead. Our position in the world today is one of derision and scorn. Never has the phrase Ugly American been more apropos. Colin Powell knows how important it will be to have as President a genuinely good man and one willing to talk with anybody to achieve peace.

We Have Geek

“The secret to contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach.” Lin Yutang

“We must distinguish between belief and respect. Belief refers to total faith, which you must have in your own religion. At the same time you should have respect for all other religions.” Dalai Lama

We are in major geek mode today!

The Doctor Who scarf is finished and winging its way to North Carolina. The final statistics are 12 feet long, 1032 rows of 65 stitches wide, 53 different color blocks, and seven colors (purple, tan, brown, yellow, red, gray, and green). Number of hours put into this; I have no idea. Lots. Saw the complete First, Second, and Third Seasons of Doctor Who and half of Season One of Torchwood. Woo-Hoo!!!!!!!!

The “coming soon” placer page is up and running on my new web site. The next few days will see me converting everything over from AOL extensions so I can upload it to my own domain. Come visit me at: http://artbymichelewilson.com

We have geek. ;-)