2010.08.07 13:00 – Cubic Cucumbers

The Guardian for this meeting was Bruce Mowbray (by default!). The comments are by Bruce Mowbray.  Present were Pila Mulligan, adoro Rhapsody, and Qt.

Bruce Mowbray: Hi, Pila!
Pila Mulligan: hi
Pila Mulligan: how are you?
Bruce Mowbray: adoro was just here -- I gave him an LM to the sim where I found Blub. So he's gone off to find a pet.
Bruce Mowbray: I am excellent -- thank you -- and you, sir?
Pila Mulligan: :) hi adoro
Pila Mulligan: fine thanks
Bruce Mowbray: Ha! adoro is back!
adoro Rhapsody: hi
adoro Rhapsody: i will try another time
Bruce Mowbray: Did you find it, adoro?
adoro Rhapsody: to find a seahorse
adoro Rhapsody: as a pet
Bruce Mowbray: yes -- it will take some time...
adoro Rhapsody: maybe my dreams come true
adoro Rhapsody: Hi Pila
adoro Rhapsody: i remember u are Dutch too ?
Bruce Mowbray: Hey, Pila -- I'm really sorry that I could not get my avatar stabilized enough for the I Ching session this week.
Pila Mulligan: I bet someone could make one for you adoro, if you do not find one already available
Bruce Mowbray: No, Pila lives in Hawaii.
Pila Mulligan: well, Bruce, SL is tough sometimes :)
Pila Mulligan: I admire much of the Dutch culture, as much as I've learned of it
Pila Mulligan: have you met a woman in SL named Nymf?
adoro Rhapsody: ok i thought of Pema
Pila Mulligan: she is Dutch -- one of my first SL friends
Pila Mulligan: yes, Pema also
adoro Rhapsody: he is one of the founders of PaB ?
Bruce Mowbray: But Pema actually lives in New York City.
Pila Mulligan: yes
adoro Rhapsody: interesting
Pila Mulligan: originally from the Netherlands though, Bruce
Pila Mulligan: Pema is
adoro Rhapsody: ok
adoro Rhapsody: I see
adoro Rhapsody: he is doing a good job
adoro Rhapsody: and u too
Bruce Mowbray: oh really? -I didn't know that. Thanks!
Pila Mulligan: :)adoro Rhapsody: well on our age we have the stage for TAO is think
adoro Rhapsody: I
Pila Mulligan: you know I have a funny story about Taoists
adoro Rhapsody: please tell
Bruce Mowbray: great -- let's hear it, Pila!
Pila Mulligan: I've studied Taoist stuff for a long time, and it is a really helpful thing for me
adoro Rhapsody: ok
Pila Mulligan: when I lived on Maui for 20 years, from 1985-2005, one of my neighbors was third generation Chinese
Pila Mulligan: his grandparents had come over to Hawaii to work
Pila Mulligan: he and his parents had been born on Maui
Pila Mulligan: his parents and grandparents were Taoists

--BELL–

Pila Mulligan: I lived in a rural Chinese community and there was a Taoist temple there
Pila Mulligan: quite a few families still keeping the old religion
Pila Mulligan: but my neighbor, named Henry, had gone through a rebellion stage as a youth in the 60's, just as I had
Bruce Mowbray: (just as we all did!)
Pila Mulligan: like many of my contemporaries, I gave up Christian religion in favor of eastern philosophy
adoro Rhapsody: ok
Pila Mulligan: well, Henry gave up Taoism and became a Catholic :) lol
adoro Rhapsody: me too
Pila Mulligan: what a funny irony
Bruce Mowbray: ha!
adoro Rhapsody: no I was catholic and wnaan be Taoist now
adoro Rhapsody: so humans like change
Bruce Mowbray: "transgression" into liminal space is important for maturation, it seems.
Pila Mulligan: I think the story shows how youthful rebellion leads us away from where we started
Bruce Mowbray: regardless of the tradition you are transgressing into (or out of)
Pila Mulligan: yep
adoro Rhapsody: but Tao says involution instead of evolution
Bruce Mowbray: say more, please, adoro.
adoro Rhapsody: the inner way
adoro Rhapsody: giving up things
Bruce Mowbray: oh, I see.... turning inward rather than outward.
Bruce Mowbray: the interior life.
adoro Rhapsody: instead of collecting new things
Pila Mulligan: there are a various schools of Taoism, it seems
Bruce Mowbray: wonderful.
Pila Mulligan: in Henry's case it was a weekly religious meeting, almost like Shinto, to venerate ancestorsadoro Rhapsody: yes i thought it was wonderful
Bruce Mowbray: oh, Pila?
Pila Mulligan: there are Taoist schools devoted to symbols and numerology
Pila Mulligan: they run the gamut
Pila Mulligan: but the fundamental common ground seems to be Lao Tse
adoro Rhapsody: yes there is a TAO of everything
Bruce Mowbray: just as with every religious tradition -- I suppose.
Pila Mulligan: and his Tao Te Ching
Pila Mulligan: yes, like all religions
adoro Rhapsody: sure
Pila Mulligan: variety
Pila Mulligan: in practice
Pila Mulligan: e*
Bruce Mowbray: the full spectrum.
adoro Rhapsody: i admire that tao te ching
Pila Mulligan: yes, it is not really a book of religion
Pila Mulligan: more verses about life and human nature
adoro Rhapsody: it gives me inner peace
adoro Rhapsody: and so I can work on outer peace
Bruce Mowbray: I especially like #11:
Bruce Mowbray: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html#11
Pila Mulligan: thanks Bruce
adoro Rhapsody: thanks Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: my joy to share.
adoro Rhapsody: u r great friend
adoro Rhapsody: helpful
Bruce Mowbray: I feel the same, adoro.
Pila Mulligan: another translation of the same: http://www.terebess.hu/english/tao/gia.html#Kap11
Bruce Mowbray: you know something -- this session will disappear into the ethers when we're finished -- Isn't that wonderful!
adoro Rhapsody: great
Bruce Mowbray: I Ching #11 -  "Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub; It is the center hole that makes it useful. Shape clay into a vessel; It is the space within that makes it useful. Cut doors and windows for a room; It is the holes which make it useful. Therefore benefit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what is not there."
adoro Rhapsody: because u didn't moderate
Pila Mulligan: it is interesting to compare the two English version in the sense of getting a feel for the original Chinese?
Bruce Mowbray: @ adoro: I am a guardian, but have not yet been trained to "claim" a session.
adoro Rhapsody: so our words fly into empty space!
Pila Mulligan: do you want to start now, Bruce?
Pila Mulligan: it is easy
Bruce Mowbray: yes! Isn't it wonderful!?
adoro Rhapsody: smashing.

Bruce Mowbray: do I want to begin my training NOW?
Bruce Mowbray: not sure.....
Pila Mulligan: if you'd like, you can right click the fountain and then click 'claim'
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Pila Mulligan: just in case :)
adoro Rhapsody: maybe
Bruce Mowbray experiences a hot flash of stage fright.
adoro Rhapsody: as an experiment
Pila Mulligan: oh, click touch first
Pila Mulligan: then claim
Bruce Mowbray: but what would I do with the recorded chat, then?
Pila Mulligan: then it will email you the transcript
Bruce Mowbray: Oh -- I see.... GOSH!
Pila Mulligan: and you go to the wiki and paste the transcript in there
Bruce Mowbray: such responsibility!!!!
Pila Mulligan: :)
Bruce Mowbray: Maybe YOU could do it!
Pila Mulligan: I have, but no more
Pila Mulligan: thanks just the same
Bruce Mowbray: oh dear- - - - I did right-click and got this notecard about "auto-logging"
Pila Mulligan: asking for your email?
Bruce Mowbray: nope -- not yet.
Pila Mulligan: did you click touch first?
Bruce Mowbray: ok -- I shall try that.
Pila Mulligan: then click the claim button, lower right
adoro Rhapsody: well Bruce I have respect u for trying this
Pila Mulligan: :)
Bruce Mowbray: nope -- I keep receiving the auto-logging thing. Perhaps it's because I am not wearing my "guardian" label.
Bruce Mowbray: Just a sec....
Pila Mulligan: I'm not sure

--BELL–

Bruce Mowbray: That was the problem . . . I just claimed it.
Qt Core: hi all
Pila Mulligan: hi QT
adoro Rhapsody: hi qt
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Qt.
Pila Mulligan: mazel tov, Bruce ... on the path to posting the log now
adoro Rhapsody: Bruce just mastered his cultivator task
Bruce Mowbray: but it did not ask me for my email....
Pila Mulligan: hmmm
Bruce Mowbray: no no no!  I have NOT mastered it at all!
Pila Mulligan: but a startadoro Rhapsody: ok
adoro Rhapsody: u tried to master
Pila Mulligan: in the worst case Wol can get the log for you from the database
adoro Rhapsody: that makes the learning experience
adoro Rhapsody: hi qt
adoro Rhapsody: how was your day?
Bruce Mowbray: Well, I can see the log as WE here and now are evolving it --...
Bruce Mowbray: yes, Qt, How is life in Italia?
Pila Mulligan: yes, you can cut and paste from the SL local chat log
Pila Mulligan: also
Bruce Mowbray: @ Pila -- I shall attempt to do that when we're done here.
Qt Core: more lively than the usual in August..... Many can't afford trips anymore, it seems
Bruce Mowbray: On to romantic Italy!
Pila Mulligan: ahh, the economy
adoro Rhapsody: but not less romantic
Pila Mulligan: so they are vacationing at home.Bruce Mowbray: [via SL!!!] ;-)
Qt Core: but also slowly we are stopping everything for all August
 adoro Rhapsody: oh
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, it has always fascinated me how Europe shuts down for the month of August.
Pila Mulligan: the dog days
Pila Mulligan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Days
Pila Mulligan: dias caniculas
Bruce Mowbray: @ Pila -- my dog (Bear) and I went skinny-dipping in our RL creek today.
adoro Rhapsody: but it helps slowing down
Qt Core: not many remind the origin of the name
adoro Rhapsody: and untouch
Qt Core: (or use it anymore)
adoro Rhapsody: I never heard it
Pila Mulligan: :)
Bruce Mowbray: Dog Days of Summer -- a popular phrase in the USA.
adoro Rhapsody: its cucumbertime
adoro Rhapsody: we say in Holland
Qt Core: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferragosto
Bruce Mowbray: cucumber-time -- I LOVE it!
Pila Mulligan: cucumbers :) very cooling
Pila Mulligan: and watermelon too
Bruce Mowbray: yes!
adoro Rhapsody: sure
adoro Rhapsody: all news goes about cucumbers
Bruce Mowbray: watermelons in Hawaii?
Pila Mulligan: yes
Pila Mulligan: thanks for the link QT
Bruce Mowbray: cucumbers in Holland?Qt Core: this morning I saw someone buying six/seven very big watermelons
Bruce Mowbray: wow!
adoro Rhapsody: cucumbers in glasshouses
Qt Core: wondered where he would store them
Bruce Mowbray: watermelons in Italia!
Qt Core: we make quite a lot of them, usually more spherical than the USA one
Bruce Mowbray: Hey, Qt. We were talking about Tao and the Tao te Ching before you arrived.
adoro Rhapsody: yes the art of giving up things
adoro Rhapsody: it's the time for it now
Pila Mulligan: some people grow watermelon in old gallon water jugs to make the square
Pila Mulligan: tem*
adoro Rhapsody: even bad economy helps
Pila Mulligan: them*
Bruce Mowbray: wow --- Would that be disrupting the Tao of watermelons, Pila?
adoro Rhapsody: hehehe
adoro Rhapsody: lol
Qt Core: in Japan they sold cube watermelons
Pila Mulligan: http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/images/blog/square-watermelon.jpg
adoro Rhapsody: the TAO of cucumbers
Bruce Mowbray: square cucumbers?
Qt Core: cube
adoro Rhapsody: wow
Bruce Mowbray: ha ha!
adoro Rhapsody: we r very creative today
adoro Rhapsody: cubecombers
Qt Core: i think they are much more easy to transport
Bruce Mowbray: cool: cube-cumbers.
adoro Rhapsody: sure
Bruce Mowbray: I love it!
Pila Mulligan: QT I've taken up making pizza from scratch recently, I'd forgotten how much fun it is
Pila Mulligan: making the dough, getting fresh veggies
Pila Mulligan: fresh cheese
Pila Mulligan: yummy
adoro Rhapsody: wow
adoro Rhapsody: getting water in my mouth
Qt Core: i find more fun to go to the take away pizza shop just 20 meters from my home (as I did for dinner with a kebab-pizza)
Pila Mulligan: yes, lucky you
Pila Mulligan: Pizza Hut is 25 miles away and not the best either
Bruce Mowbray: fast-food pizza!
Pila Mulligan: yep
adoro Rhapsody: we had spaghetti bolognese here
adoro Rhapsody: with cucumbers
Bruce Mowbray: ha!Pila Mulligan: :)

--BELL–

adoro Rhapsody: il silenzio
Bruce Mowbray: si!
adoro Rhapsody: well I gotta go
Pila Mulligan: me too, it is late Saturday morning here and I need to move on to some RL yard work, nice to see you all -- bye for now
adoro Rhapsody: have nice chat
Bruce Mowbray: bye for now, adoro. Good to see you again!
adoro Rhapsody: bye all
Bruce Mowbray: bye for now, Pila!
Qt Core: bye
Bruce Mowbray: mmmm. . . a quiet Saturday evening for you, Qt?
Qt Core: Saturday night, 22:48 here
Bruce Mowbray: I see.
Qt Core: but quite quiet
Bruce Mowbray: Here it is only 4:48 p.m. (or 16:48).
Bruce Mowbray: This is the first time I have ever claimed a session --- I hope I can get it right!
Qt Core: I think I should read how to and try myself but then laziness or something else stop me
Bruce Mowbray: What scares me is stage-fright.
Bruce Mowbray: I don't want to be seen as a total CLUTZ!
Bruce Mowbray: That's probably part of my PTSD stuff....
Bruce Mowbray: [revisiting memories of falling off the bike, etc.]
Qt Core: I'm more afraid about not being able to stand apart and adding too much comments
Bruce Mowbray: yes -- same here.  I'm always thinking of myself as a blabber-mouth.

    [At this point Bruce typos an 'unmentionable' word. . .  A variation of the word "shut."]

Bruce Mowbray thinks: SHUT MYSELF UP!
Bruce Mowbray thinks: Oooops!  That might have something to do with this fine Italian wine I'm drinking!
Bruce Mowbray: A Freudian typo!!!
Bruce Mowbray: Freud seems to be a major stumbling block -- or escape valve -- I don't know.
Bruce Mowbray thinks "This wine is surely an escape valve!"
Bruce Mowbray: Whew!
Qt Core: I already make enough typos and I don't drink wine
Bruce Mowbray: Ha!
Bruce Mowbray: You are surely better off that way.  But I've never heard of an Italian who does not drink wine.
Qt Core: yes, I'm quite strange as an Italian, I really dislike the taste of most wines, all liqueurs and most beers too
Bruce Mowbray: really? I'm afraid I am just the opposite.

--BELL–

Bruce Mowbray: As with cigarettes, the solution is in the buying...
Qt Core: I like only Moscato wine (a very sweet one) and rarely weiss beers
Bruce Mowbray: mmmmm.....
Bruce Mowbray: If I have it in the house, I will drink it.  But if I restrict myself from buying it --- then all is well.
Bruce Mowbray: [such is not the case today, however!]
Qt Core: the wine helps again here ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: yes, I guess so!
Bruce Mowbray: In vino veritas!
Bruce Mowbray says: "Bruce will not be responsible for anything he says beyond this point."
Qt Core: :)
Bruce Mowbray says: Blub is to blame.
Bruce Mowbray: Blub and I went skinny-dipping in RL today.  Is that done in Italy?
Qt Core: sometimes, traditionally on night after friend meeting on the beach, with or without a fire and people with guitars playing songs
Bruce Mowbray: Oh! That sounds wonderful!
Bruce Mowbray: Americans have inherited much of the Puritan tradition, I'm afraid.  So nudity is anathema to most.
Qt Core: don't really know, never did (rarely went vacationing on the sea... when old enough to do that)
Bruce Mowbray: yes, I understand.
Bruce Mowbray: Do you live inland, then?
Qt Core: near Milan
Bruce Mowbray: ok.
Bruce Mowbray: MUCH inland!
Bruce Mowbray: I was in Italy in 1966.  Loved your country.
Qt Core: well, in 2 or 3 hours one can reach the sea from Milan (in non traffic days like today and tomorrow, two of the wprs of the year)
Bruce Mowbray: I see.
Qt Core: wprs=worst
Bruce Mowbray: So today, EVERYONE goes to the sea shore!
Qt Core: the big dilemma in Italy, sea or mountain ?
Bruce Mowbray: Ahhhh!
Bruce Mowbray: What a delightful dilemma!
Bruce Mowbray: The Dolomites?
Qt Core: not yet the higher Alps but mountains are a little over an hour drive from Milan
Bruce Mowbray: cool.
Qt Core: Dolomites are quite further east, almost 3 hours
Bruce Mowbray: In order to find mountains from where I live, one would have to travel over one thousand miles.  No -- more like 2,000 miles.
Qt Core: the mountains around the lakes
Bruce Mowbray: Yes.
Bruce Mowbray: Have you ever been a "claimer" of the sessions here, Qt?

--BELL–

Qt Core: no
Bruce Mowbray: ok.
Bruce Mowbray: This is my first time to "claim" a session -- and I'm fearing doing something wrong.  It fell upon me by default.
Qt Core: while I got here late I had a passing thought about being lucky about not coming here earlier and ending up ...in your place
Bruce Mowbray: Ha!
Bruce Mowbray: I see from your profile that you're an amateur astronomer.
Qt Core: yes, a non-observant amateur astronomer (as in don't own a telescope)
Bruce Mowbray: Are you aware that a large "plasma" of sun flare .... (don't know the right word) is heading for us now?
Bruce Mowbray: It will arrive about Tuesday -- and make for great aurora.
Qt Core: yes, read a couple news titles about that
Bruce Mowbray: I hope it does not disrupt our telecommunications much.
Bruce Mowbray: Are you a Star Trek fan?
Qt Core: what made you think that ? ;-)
Bruce Mowbray noted Qt's shirt with a Star Trek insignia, I think.
Qt Core: ;-) i put that commbadge on most of my outfits ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: ok.
Bruce Mowbray: It is from Star Trek, right?
Qt Core: yes, Next Generation, and yes, I love Star Trek, -- for once humans made it
Bruce Mowbray: Ha!
Bruce Mowbray: Chalk one up for us humans!
Bruce Mowbray: Well, sir, it is late where you are and time for my supper here....
Bruce Mowbray: So it's time for me to go.
Qt Core: I can't really stand all those fictional universe where humans "lose," for that, reality is good enough.
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, it's amazing how stupid human can be in RL.
Bruce Mowbray: I try not to personalize it. ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: I shall say, Goodbye for now. Ciao!
Qt Core: ok, have a nice evening
Qt Core: ciao!
Bruce Mowbray: You too, Qt. and thank you!