2009.07.12 19:00 - Monks who train dogs

The Guardian for this meeting was Sylectra Darwin. The comments are by Sylectra Darwin.

Pila Mulligan: hi Sylectra
Sylectra Darwin: hi pila!
Sylectra Darwin: How are you?
Pila Mulligan: I'm fine, thanks .. and you?
Sylectra Darwin: Trying to shake off some residual sleepiness...went to NYC for the day and then had a nap when I came back...hard to wake back up!
Pila Mulligan: :)
Sylectra Darwin: Just saw someone fly by in the distance.
Sylectra Darwin: Either that or he was thrown :)
Pila Mulligan: is it already past your bedtime? it must be about 10 pm there now
Sylectra Darwin: nah, it's not at all past my bedtime. My trouble is that I don't nap well...I fall too deeply asleep and have trouble waking.
Pila Mulligan: ahh, I'm lucky in that regard
Pila Mulligan: nap easy, wakeup easy
Sylectra Darwin: Welcome Splash.
Splashinda Pond: hi
Pila Mulligan: hello Splahsinda
Sylectra Darwin: Pila and I were just talking about napping.
Sylectra Darwin: I've never seen a fairy with puppy dog ponytails before.
Sylectra Darwin: Pila do you nap every day?
Splashinda Pond: i chose it cause it was long :_)
Pila Mulligan: whenever I can :)
Sylectra Darwin: It's cute Splash.
Splashinda Pond: thanks
Sylectra Darwin: So how do you keep from being groggy after your naps?
Pila Mulligan: I am not sure
Pila Mulligan: I get plenty of sleep usually
Sylectra Darwin: Practice, maybe.
Pila Mulligan: I like to get up at 4 am
Pila Mulligan: yes, practice
Sylectra Darwin: wow
Pila Mulligan: so I go to bed kind of early
Pila Mulligan: then nap as needed
Sylectra Darwin: What on earth do you do at 4 a.m.? Fish? Meditate?
Pila Mulligan: meditate
Pila Mulligan: it is the best time for meditation
Sylectra Darwin: Seems ideal.
Pila Mulligan: peaceful
Sylectra Darwin: Do you live with others?
Pila Mulligan: even the interior space is more calm it seems
Pila Mulligan: no, I live alone -- a monkish life
Sylectra Darwin: monkish - :)
Pila Mulligan: thats one step past monkey
Sylectra Darwin: lol!
Pila Mulligan: some may call it a monkey life :)
Splashinda Pond: lolz
Sylectra Darwin: I was just reading about the Monks and Nuns of New Skete, in NY. I want to visit them.
Pila Mulligan: it could be fun
Sylectra Darwin: The Monks have a german shepherd training program.
Pila Mulligan: there are several such places I'd like to visit
Pila Mulligan: oh, nice
Sylectra Darwin: They wrote several books - How to be your dog's best friend.
Pila Mulligan: are they christian?
Sylectra Darwin: They have rooms for retreat.
Sylectra Darwin: Eastern Orthodox.
Sylectra Darwin: Yes, i think so.
Pila Mulligan: ahh
Sylectra Darwin: Not really clear on their belief system.
Pila Mulligan: I wonder if they see the lord in their shepards
Sylectra Darwin: excuse me a sec while I feed the cat so she will leave me alone.
Pila Mulligan: ok
Pila Mulligan: seems they have a website -- http://www.newskete.com/ -- they have a married monastic community
Pila Mulligan: quite interesting
Splashinda Pond: very
Pila Mulligan: http://www.newskete.com/married_monasticism.htm
Splashinda Pond: i would like to visit them too
Splashinda Pond: oh, thank you
Sylectra Darwin: That would be great, to see them with their dogs.
Pila Mulligan: contemplative places often have a very nice feeling to them
Pila Mulligan: yep
Sylectra Darwin: They have a method that really works well - they tether the dogs' leash to their waist cinch.
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan: and then pray :)
Splashinda Pond: lolz
Sylectra Darwin: I hope they don't forget to untie when playing fetch!
Pila Mulligan: they also have 'nationally famous cheesecakes'
Sylectra Darwin: oh really?
Sylectra Darwin: Now that's a great reason to visit them
Pila Mulligan: http://www.newsketemonks.com/dogs.htm
Sylectra Darwin: Yep, I've read the whole site, top to bottom.
Pila Mulligan: 'For over 35 years, New Skete's German Shepherd breeding program has dedicated itself to providing the best possible companion dog for you and your family. '
Sylectra Darwin: They are having a pilgrimage day on Aug. 8 with demonstrations and such.
Sylectra Darwin: But it may not work for our schedule this time.
Sylectra Darwin: However they are open to visitors all year with a few exceptions.
Pila Mulligan: this looks like a cool bok: ' I & Dog is a series of meditations on the spiritual dimensions of the dog-human relationship'
Sylectra Darwin: Is that theirs?
Pila Mulligan: kind of Ich und Dog -- a la martinbuber
Pila Mulligan: yes
Pila Mulligan: at least they sell it on the wbesite
Sylectra Darwin: Nice.
Sylectra Darwin: Have you ever been on a retreat?
Pila Mulligan: me, yes
Sylectra Darwin: Where, there in Hawaii?
Pila Mulligan: here, and before, on the mainland - starting long ago :)
Pila Mulligan: now we may not have the same idea of a reteat
Pila Mulligan: not necessarily religious
Pila Mulligan: in Hawaii there are similar events with a native hawaiian perspective
Sylectra Darwin: Doesn't have to be religious.
Pila Mulligan: almmost religious, but not denominational
Sylectra Darwin: What are they like?
Pila Mulligan: very nice -- camping in a natural place, having events, doing some service work
Sylectra Darwin: That sounds most pleasant.
Pila Mulligan: it can be very uplifting
Pila Mulligan: some places, as you may imagine, are especially conducive to being uplifted
Sylectra Darwin: I went to a Native American inspired retreat in the mountains in New Mexico last august.
Sylectra Darwin: It's called Gathering of Circles. It's a group camping event with some organized activities. Sweat lodges every day, a long dance, a give-away, men's and women's groups.
Pila Mulligan: probably similar
Pila Mulligan: the rituals may vary some, but the ideas are smiilar
Sylectra Darwin: Really nice people. I had gone because my mom went every year for several years.
Pila Mulligan: being in a natural place with a respectful intent can be a cleansing expereince
Sylectra Darwin: That's always good.
Sylectra Darwin: We have a lovely natural setting near our home that has a concrete drainage canal running through it.
Pila Mulligan: http://www.gatheringofcircles.com/2009/2009_index.htm -- the next one is starting in a few weeks
Sylectra Darwin: it's really just a flood control but it's beautiful.
Sylectra Darwin: Yes, I have been getting the notices.
Pila Mulligan: yes, you see too mnay settings like that - nature plus cement
Sylectra Darwin: IT's going to be too much of a stretch for me to go this year.
Pila Mulligan: is it usually runing with water?
Sylectra Darwin: They did leave it unpaved when it enters the park nearby - nice touch.
Pila Mulligan: depending on the flow, the cmeent may be necessary
Pila Mulligan: here there are some huge ones to handle flash floods
Sylectra Darwin: yeah, I see that it has a serious intent, because we do get a lot of rain.
Sylectra Darwin: Sometimes it's almost full.
Pila Mulligan: I was trying to find a picture of one in a town onMaui
Pila Mulligan: it is about 30' wide as I recall
Pila Mulligan: usually dry
Pila Mulligan: but in a storm, it is raging
Sylectra Darwin: They make things safer for us.
Pila Mulligan: yes, flash floods can be very destructive
Sylectra Darwin: However, they would not have been necessary had we not put down so much concrete, eliminating the grassy riparian zones that helped slow rainwaters.
Sylectra Darwin: Parking lots create floods.
Pila Mulligan: yes, that is true for surface drainage
Splashinda Pond: i gotta get some sleep. see ya guys later
Pila Mulligan: what also sometimes happens here is that sudden strong rains up high in the mountains will come down in small streams, accumulating on the way down ...
Sylectra Darwin: OK Splash!
Sylectra Darwin: nite
Pila Mulligan: by Splashinda, nice to see you
Pila Mulligan: when they get to lower levels the build up of accumulated water is like a tsunami
Pila Mulligan: it can be a flooding wall of water 20' high
Sylectra Darwin: that's dramatic.
Sylectra Darwin: Do you have some deforestation in your area?
Pila Mulligan: yes, yes - it is usually most dramatic i guches -- and deforestation is a problem here
Pila Mulligan: in gulches*
Sylectra Darwin: Sad to hear but not surprising.
Sylectra Darwin: Hello, Shinobi, would you like to join us?
Sylectra Darwin: OK, maybe not.
Pila Mulligan: Hawaii was at one time called the Sandalwood Islands
Pila Mulligan: the islands were full of sandalwood forests
Pila Mulligan: but the demands of trade with Asis essentially resulted in them disappearing
Pila Mulligan: Asia
Sylectra Darwin: That's sad.
Sylectra Darwin: Did you notice the sun setting outside the pavilion while we chatted?
Sylectra Darwin: Now we have a starry sky with low clouds.
Sylectra Darwin: It's quite nice.
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan: the graphics have improved substantially in SL in the past year or so
Sylectra Darwin: Indeed, do you still have an older computer?
Pila Mulligan: yes
Pila Mulligan: although i fainlly installed XP on it
Pila Mulligan: it works a little bettwer than Windows 200 did
Sylectra Darwin: My desktop is *getting* older. :)
Pila Mulligan: tech stuff ages fast
Sylectra Darwin: That would help.
Sylectra Darwin: I don't have Vista and hope to skip it entirely.
Pila Mulligan: Microsoft is very sloppy with their products
Sylectra Darwin: There are many people who want to keep XP.
Sylectra Darwin: There's a growing backlash from companies too.
Pila Mulligan: I would have kept Windows 2000 except they do not make products for it these days
Sylectra Darwin: Right.
Sylectra Darwin: It was a good platform. I remember it.
Pila Mulligan: XP is the minimum for many new things
Sylectra Darwin: I had Windows 98.
Pila Mulligan: :)
Sylectra Darwin: I heard NT was a dog.
Sylectra Darwin: And not the good kinds.
Pila Mulligan: I never had it
Pila Mulligan: linux seems like it is getting easier to use
Sylectra Darwin: Really, with operating systems these days, people are coming from a preference that less is more.
Pila Mulligan: yep, function
Sylectra Darwin: Make it stable and keep it from tripping us up.
Pila Mulligan: the need to sell new things is the software mnaker's problem
Sylectra Darwin: We don't want all that bloatware that usually comes with new computers.
Pila Mulligan: yep, but if they really did a thrifty apporach form the consumer's poit of view they would sell much less
Pila Mulligan: long term stability does not need new brands every season
Sylectra Darwin: Probably. In that way they are positioned for eventual failure.
Pila Mulligan: they used to call it planned obsolescence
Sylectra Darwin: As we require simpler operating systems, we don' need them to be made by huge corporations.
Pila Mulligan: open source is a wonderful evolution
Sylectra Darwin: Look at linux - getting better every day.
Pila Mulligan: yep
Pila Mulligan: did oyu see that Linden release the code of SL to the open source communiyt?
Sylectra Darwin: To be fair, I have as many irritations with my macbook's OS X as with my desktop's Windows XP.
Sylectra Darwin: when?
Pila Mulligan: last year
Pila Mulligan: it is already taking off
Pila Mulligan: on private servers
Sylectra Darwin: Yes, and I have seen some new innovations as a result.
Pila Mulligan: it is fun, I just took a look at it a few days ago
Sylectra Darwin: ThreeDee has some interesting stories to tell about his work there.
Pila Mulligan: yep
Sylectra Darwin: OpenLife?
Pila Mulligan: he has three regions runnning on aprivate server
Pila Mulligan: yes, Open Sim etc.
Pila Mulligan: there are hundreds of private servers already
Sylectra Darwin: I've gone in there once or twice.
Sylectra Darwin: Three really called that one.
Pila Mulligan: you can do it at home and have everything for free
Pila Mulligan: but the interconnection is still being worked out
Sylectra Darwin: But - content is the issue.
Sylectra Darwin: Being able to create, sell and share content is key to this experience.
Pila Mulligan: yes, several such issues -- also, there is not yeta corss-platform currency
Pila Mulligan: SL is still the marketplace
Sylectra Darwin: You could do that on a private server but you'd have a smaller market.
Sylectra Darwin: Well you know about SL Exchange, right?
Pila Mulligan: they are working on ways to cnnect them all
Pila Mulligan: they closed?
Pila Mulligan: or were absorbed b y linden
Sylectra Darwin: Now called X Street SL - absorbed by lindens.
Pila Mulligan: yep
Sylectra Darwin: You can buy things on the regular 2D net and they ship into your world.
Pila Mulligan: they released the SL code with something in mind besides generosity
Pila Mulligan: is my guess
Sylectra Darwin: I think such a thing could be rigged to work with other virtual worlds.
Pila Mulligan: they will profit if it all grows and leads back to them
Sylectra Darwin: True.
Pila Mulligan: but Threedee is working with universities, I believe
Sylectra Darwin: One thing I cannot stress enough though - they need to fix the search!!!!
Pila Mulligan: self-contained virtual worlds
Sylectra Darwin: ...and museums.
Pila Mulligan: :0
Pila Mulligan: they are the tyrants here, they do what they want :)
Pila Mulligan: the nice thing about an open source community is that it is more reposnsive
Pila Mulligan: to its users
Pila Mulligan: ther's steve by phone
Pila Mulligan: hi I-Steve
stevenaia Michinaga: Hello
Pila Mulligan: how is the beach?
stevenaia Michinaga: Waves
Sylectra Darwin: hi steven
stevenaia Michinaga: Did sylectra get the log for me? Reception is awful at the beach :) feel free to forward it to me
stevenaia Michinaga: Ho sylectra thanks
Sylectra Darwin: I got it.
Pila Mulligan: we were just chatting about opensim
stevenaia Michinaga: I know I was supposed to remind you
Pila Mulligan: the open source SL movement
stevenaia Michinaga: Oh you techies
Pila Mulligan: yep, geeky chat
Pila Mulligan: how can you type that fast on a phone?
Sylectra Darwin: We went to NYC today and had lunch with Ethan.
stevenaia Michinaga: I am just on the edge of signal here and the bugs suck your of here at might outside
Sylectra Darwin: We were in Brooklyn.
stevenaia Michinaga: At night
Sylectra Darwin: you're getting eaten by bugs?
stevenaia Michinaga: Cool, raining there?
stevenaia Michinaga: If I were outside I would be
stevenaia Michinaga: Beach is great thanks
Pila Mulligan: it has been raining here :)
Sylectra Darwin: No rain in nJ for a change
Sylectra Darwin: Steven, you want to work with the log? I don't mind posting it but could happily give it to you if you want it.
Sylectra Darwin: Ah, he lost signal.
Pila Mulligan: looksm like his signal ended
Sylectra Darwin: well, that's my signal to go to sleep.
Pila Mulligan: ok
Pila Mulligan: nice to visit with you
Sylectra Darwin: Have a very pleasant day and it was nice to visit with you too!