2010.03.11 01:00 - Hour of the Wolf

The Guardian for this meeting was Zen Arado. The comments are by Zen Arado. I was joined By SophiaSharon and we had a nice interesting chat about a range of issues including language study, sleep patterns and Green Meditation, SL building and Irish weddings.

I forgot to turn my translator off, as I often do, and that led to a discussion of language study.

        SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Zen :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: ok if i sit here with you for a while?
        Zen Arado: Hello Sharon :)
        Zen Arado: you are very welcome :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: ty
        Zen Arado: oops had tanslator still on
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i see :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: find myself awake, its 4 am where I am
        Zen Arado: I have a French friend
        Zen Arado: do you often wake early?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: :)) lovely, althought both have to learn to communicate
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
        Zen Arado: he he I am always having two conversations at once
        SophiaSharon Larnia: wow
        Zen Arado: about French friend - I do try to speak French to her as much as possible
        Zen Arado: I like French language
        Zen Arado: hate being so monolingual
        SophiaSharon Larnia: its very lyrical, as far as I can tell
        SophiaSharon Larnia: in cadence anyway
        Zen Arado: yes - even a French is nice I tink
        Zen Arado: accent I mean
        SophiaSharon Larnia: nods
        Zen Arado: translator progs make a lot of mistakes too
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i keep meaning to lean spanish (more useful in my country), but like many things...the time slips by
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oh yes!! i tried it andhad to laugh and give up
        Zen Arado: I know - I used to try to learn Spanish too
        Zen Arado: I used to go to Spain for holidays
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oh nice
        Zen Arado: from the UK Spain is a very cheap destiination - very popular
        SophiaSharon Larnia tries to imagine it
        SophiaSharon Larnia: :))
        Zen Arado: you need motivation to make you learn a language
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i wanted to know what it would be like to think in a different language, not necessarily to communicate in, but that is a big reason too
        SophiaSharon Larnia: if i was thrown somewhere with a different language i think id pick it up easily
        Zen Arado: I am still trying to find easier ways to learn
        Zen Arado: yes
        Zen Arado: I read French online magazines
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oo lala :))
        SophiaSharon Larnia: lol
        Zen Arado: they are just about normal things :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes the motivatin, there are so many things im interested in , and I guess i do the easier things forst
        Zen Arado: I read computer articles for instance
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes, Zen, i was kidding
        Zen Arado: :)
        Zen Arado: it is good because it gives you topical subjects
        SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
        Zen Arado: time is so short
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i took latin in high school, some would say thats a good thing, but it seems useless
        SophiaSharon Larnia: helped with english
        Zen Arado: I did that too
        Zen Arado: don't think they teach Latin much nowadays
        Zen Arado: I think it is a good language to learn
        SophiaSharon Larnia: mine was an almost self study, with workbooks and a teacher helping when i got stuck... i learned from that experience that that is how i learn best
        Zen Arado: I am reading a biography of Montaigne and he was made to speak Latin aroung the house when he was a child
        SophiaSharon Larnia: speak??? oh my
        SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs
        Zen Arado: lot's of great literature was written in Latin or Greek in those days
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
        Zen Arado: so it was a big advantage
        SophiaSharon Larnia: still speakers of lating in the 1500's
        Zen Arado: all I remember was 'Ceaser's Conquests of Gaul' :)
        Zen Arado: Montaigne was born in 1533
        Zen Arado: interesting that he advacated living in the present moment and being mindful 'paying attention'
        Zen Arado: he got that from reading Stoic philosophy
        SophiaSharon Larnia: from reading about him, he grapples with the verty same things we do today it seems
        Zen Arado: some of those philosophers had travelled to the East with Alexander the Great
        Zen Arado: yes

Our bad typing and voice to text conversion programemes.


        SophiaSharon Larnia: (sorry about the typos)
        Zen Arado: I am worse typist than you :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs
        Zen Arado: I have an excuse - my fingers are weak
        Zen Arado: especially on my left hand
        SophiaSharon Larnia: thats a good reason, mine is just sloppiness i guess
        Zen Arado: I use voice typing a lot
        Zen Arado: but it doesn't work too well in SL window
        SophiaSharon Larnia: voice typing?
        Zen Arado: yes - a program that converts speech into type for you
        SophiaSharon Larnia: ohh very cool
        Zen Arado: it works quite well if you practice with it
        SophiaSharon Larnia: great for people unable to do so :)))
        Zen Arado: Dragon Naturally Speaking is good
        SophiaSharon Larnia: wow ive thought about it before but didnt know it existed
        Zen Arado: it is very fast if you get good at it
        SophiaSharon Larnia: wow
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i dont even have a microphone, i keep meaning to get one
        Zen Arado: best to buy a headset, and they are very cheap, just a few dollars
        Zen Arado: good for Skype too

The sleep discussion reminded me of an recent Tricycle article about "sleep recovery."


        Zen Arado: you ever read Tricycle magazine?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: my sister lives far awai have this weird resistance to using voice or skype in sl
        SophiaSharon Larnia: no what is it? ive heard it before here i think :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: whoops added soe text there i didnt mean to
        Zen Arado: it is a Buddhist magazine
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oh just opened it, i have read bits and pieces
        SophiaSharon Larnia: months ago
        Zen Arado: why I mentioned it - there is a retreat - series of talks - on sleep patterns
        Zen Arado: atm
        SophiaSharon Larnia: ohh
        SophiaSharon Larnia: ::stretches in the 90 secs:: :))
        Zen Arado: by a man called Clark Strand
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i work night shift, and have more trouble with it than I used to (getting older) :)
        Zen Arado: http://www.tricycle.com/online-retre.../recovery-dark
        Zen Arado: I used to have to do that for years
        SophiaSharon Larnia: "recovery of the dark" hmm
        Zen Arado: I worked in power stations
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oh my
        Zen Arado: used to work 7 night shifts in a row
        Zen Arado: 12 to 8am
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oh no so hard :)
        Zen Arado: then I couldn't sleep at night fro 2 or 3 days after
        SophiaSharon Larnia: well, im at a place now i think 'recovery of the light' is slightly more appropriate :)
        Zen Arado: :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: but interesting ideas in it
        Zen Arado: you work in a hospital
        Zen Arado: ?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes 12 hour shifts
        Zen Arado: better in some ways - but long shifts too
        SophiaSharon Larnia: more days off during the week
        Zen Arado: modern shifts you only work 2 or 3 night shifts in a row
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i havent been using the time well though
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes its nice to be off 4-5 days
        SophiaSharon Larnia: but think i need to go back to the light, in the sense of the rhythym of the rest of the world
        Zen Arado: yes - it can be a bit antisocial
        Zen Arado: out of tune with the rest of the world
        Zen Arado: what do you mean about not using time well?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: having so many days off, i will waste it by being non productive, laying about the house and in sl too much ;p
        Zen Arado: funny how we think we have to be 'producive'
        SophiaSharon Larnia: so may as well work 5 days a week
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes very true
        Zen Arado: part of ur conditioning?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: undoubtably :)
        Zen Arado: meant 'our' conditioning :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: even down time 'should' be spent with something productive
        Zen Arado: I have been 'retired' for many years and still feel I need to produce something
        SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles
        Zen Arado: need to keep self-improving
        Zen Arado: a lot is just trying to impress others I think
        SophiaSharon Larnia: thats another thing too, self improvement, feel like i have to know this self before i can even improve on it.... and yes, self improvement based on someone elses standards
        Zen Arado: yes - exactly
        SophiaSharon Larnia: dropping labels.... finding out what is left there
        SophiaSharon Larnia: adding worry about what someone else thinks is just too much :)
        Zen Arado: I just started a great bok called 'The Book of Not Knowing'
        SophiaSharon Larnia: :)) brb k?
        Zen Arado: sure
        SophiaSharon Larnia: sorry Zen back :)
        Zen Arado: np
        Zen Arado: meant to say about sleep patterns
        Zen Arado: "In the popular culture the hours of Green Meditation are sometimes referred to as "the hour of the wolf," because this is the time when anxieties, health or financial worries, and other personal problems often come to the fore. These are the thoughts or issues we often avoid during the daylight hours. But they surface in our dreams or when we wake during the night."
        Zen Arado: from Clark Strand
        Zen Arado: when you wake in the middle of the night
        SophiaSharon Larnia: green meditation
        Zen Arado: sometimes happens to me and I feel very bad - but it is only thoughts I remind myself
        SophiaSharon Larnia: things definately look different during that time of day
        SophiaSharon Larnia: the isolation and lack of distraction is part of it
        Zen Arado: yes - he says it is actually our normal cycle to wake for an hour or two middle of night
        Zen Arado: yes agree
        SophiaSharon Larnia: so much we do to distract ourselves contantly
        Zen Arado: true
        Zen Arado: fill our lives with distractions
        SophiaSharon Larnia: im not sure about normal cycle though, yes we emerge from deeper stages of sleep, but to awaken fully?
        Zen Arado: don't even realize we do it
        Zen Arado: well - he says the invention of the electric light bulb seriously changed our sleep patterns
        Zen Arado: our ancestors went to bed an hour after dusk
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i used to wake up in the middle of the night when i was 4-5 and would walk around the house, outside
        SophiaSharon Larnia: even then i was odd :P
        Zen Arado: I used to sleepwalk when a child too
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oh no
        Zen Arado: I fell down the stairs once
        SophiaSharon Larnia: !!!
        Zen Arado: but he says we slept for about 4 hours the were awake fro 2 hours then slept 4 hours more
        SophiaSharon Larnia: (tried to grab Zen from falling in her dream mind )
        Zen Arado: so the 2 hours in the middle of the night could be used for quiet talking or meditation or something
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i guess that is loosely correct, i do that on my own, if i have nothing planned for the day
        Zen Arado: he quotes a scientific study to back this up
        SophiaSharon Larnia: ill also revert to a 26-28 hour day, if im really loose on what i have to do
        SophiaSharon Larnia: interesting
        Zen Arado: http://www.experiencelifemag.com/iss...-of-sleep.html
        SophiaSharon Larnia: wow so instead of being strange, im normal LOL
        Zen Arado: yes I remember a study that says some of us have a longer than 24 hour sleep pattern
        Zen Arado: yes:)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: giggles
        Zen Arado: very normal :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: night shift people are a somewhat unique people ive found
        SophiaSharon Larnia: in a way
        SophiaSharon Larnia: more open to things less conventional
        Zen Arado: I used to think shift working would be bad for your health
        SophiaSharon Larnia: well, i do think it is, because ill often be awake almost 24 hours
        Zen Arado: but I know lots of guys spent years doing it and they are still around in their eighties
        SophiaSharon Larnia: hahah
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes    

About building:

    Zen Arado: I have a SL friend who is a surgeon
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes?
        Zen Arado: obsetrics and gyneacology
        Zen Arado: he lives in Bigota
        Zen Arado: Bogota
        Zen Arado: he spends a lot of time building in SL
        SophiaSharon Larnia: wow I wonder how they find time for sl!
        SophiaSharon Larnia: building is a relaxing activity, really
        Zen Arado: yes he loves it
        Zen Arado: he builds Buddhist temples too
        SophiaSharon Larnia: wow
        Zen Arado: you build a lot too?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i fiddle
        Zen Arado: I read your interview with Eliza
        Zen Arado: :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i used to do it much more, am in some sort of blank space atm
        SophiaSharon Larnia: talking about things seems to do that for me
        Zen Arado: I have bilt a few houses but they are not as good as the ones I can buy
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes that is i can make it look nice but dont want to buy the scripts that make them really wonderful, i am fiddling with statues now
        Zen Arado: sculpties
        Zen Arado: ?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
        SophiaSharon Larnia: but have much learning to do
        Zen Arado: I went to a lecture on that but the presenter lost me after the first 10 mins
        Zen Arado: they go too fast for me
        SophiaSharon Larnia: ooh yes :)
        Zen Arado: Builders Brewery or something the group was called
        Zen Arado: you tried it?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i like that place, i used to go to new citizens
        SophiaSharon Larnia: actually used to go to anything that was available, even if too advanced at the time
        SophiaSharon Larnia: obsessively :)
        Zen Arado: I would like to learn more about that but no time
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes, takes up a lot

Meeting with Piet and retreats:



        SophiaSharon Larnia: im meeting Piet in Princeton today
        Zen Arado: I paint and that takes time
        Zen Arado: ah great
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oooh i havent done that in ages!
        SophiaSharon Larnia: paint
        Zen Arado: going to the dinner?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: no, luch
        SophiaSharon Larnia: lunch*
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i think next weekend is a dinner with a lot of people, im still not sure if i can go
        Zen Arado: I would like to go to a retreat but travel is so difficult for me
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
        SophiaSharon Larnia: youre in irelnd???
        Zen Arado: yes
        Zen Arado: but I am in a wheelchair
        SophiaSharon Larnia: well, schedule a retreat there I want to go to Ireland so bad!! LOL
        SophiaSharon Larnia: we'll come to you!
        SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs
        Zen Arado: I do go to zen retreats here
        Zen Arado: ther is a nixe retreat center near me
        Zen Arado: nice
        SophiaSharon Larnia: good, sometimes they are so far



Irish Weddings:

    SophiaSharon Larnia: how many americans come to ireland to get married, do you know?
        Zen Arado: to get married?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i had an idea once, id like to get married in a pub with just a pastor and a couple as witnesses :) i think it would be a greatt time
        Zen Arado: ah there is some kind of matchmaking fair in the South
        SophiaSharon Larnia: not to meet someone there
        Zen Arado: oh you bring you intended with you then?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: just thought it would be more fun that the traditional wedding hoopla, yes
        SophiaSharon Larnia: bring several couples :)
        Zen Arado: like people from here go to Las Vegas
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes :)) hahaha
        Zen Arado: and have an Elvis impersonator:)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: im a Mc- which doesnt give me any special sort of connection, but i love the music so much
        Zen Arado: Scottish connection

 Irish names and ancestry:

        SophiaSharon Larnia: (actually a Mc- from a Mac- LOL)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes youre right ;p
        Zen Arado: not sure if Mac is Irish now
        Zen Arado: Macormick?
        Zen Arado: hmmmm
        SophiaSharon Larnia: the music makes me happy, even the sadder ballads, odd
        Zen Arado: I have an English name - John Taylor
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes laughs :))
        Zen Arado: over 5000 of them in the USA :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: probably!!!
        Zen Arado: some of Irish music is very sad
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i have to go, so nice talking to you Zen!!!!!
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes indeed
        Zen Arado: about people who are homesick for Ireland
        SophiaSharon Larnia: it pulls my heart strings more than other genres, if you know what i mean
        Zen Arado: maybe you have Irish ancestry?
        SophiaSharon Larnia: scottish, anyway, for certain
        Zen Arado: so many Americans do
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes, those celts really got around
        SophiaSharon Larnia: as well as the english
        Zen Arado: a large percentage of people in N.Ireland have Scottish ancestry
        SophiaSharon Larnia: my grandfather was an emigrant to Maine in the us when he was about 10 or so
        Zen Arado: some ares they even have Scottish accents
        SophiaSharon Larnia: oh
        Zen Arado: we are so close to Scotland
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
        Zen Arado: about 20 miles by ferry
        SophiaSharon Larnia: a coworker went to ireland, and she didnt like it, she said everyone asked her if she was someone famous
        SophiaSharon Larnia: she happens to be very pretty
        SophiaSharon Larnia: by usa standards
        Zen Arado: don't why she wouldn't like that :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: i dont know
        Zen Arado: don't know I mean
        Zen Arado: I live beside a Norman castle
        SophiaSharon Larnia: she is a city girl, she said it was just a place.... i dont think she was into the music
        SophiaSharon Larnia: wow very nice
        Zen Arado: there are busloads of tourists all year round
        SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs
        Zen Arado: sometimes I talk to them
        Zen Arado: as I feed the pigeons :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: im always too conscious about not offending the people that live in the place that im visiting
        SophiaSharon Larnia: aware that they may think that WE think they are on display or something lol
        Zen Arado: yes so many preconceptions we have....
        Zen Arado: stereotypes
        Zen Arado: http://www.my-secret-northern-irelan...-weddings.html
        SophiaSharon Larnia: nods
        Zen Arado: you could get married in the castle Sharon :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: yay how lovely is tha
        SophiaSharon Larnia: that*
        SophiaSharon Larnia: and then a reception in a pub LOL
        SophiaSharon Larnia: grins
        SophiaSharon Larnia: do have to go, see you later Zen!!!
        Zen Arado: ok bye Sharon
        Zen Arado: nice talking to you :)
        SophiaSharon Larnia: bye for now :))