2013.03.31 13:00 - PaB poems. PaB meanings

The Guardian for this meeting was Aphrodite Macbain. The comments are by Aphrodite Macbain.

Aphrodite Macbain: Hi
stevenaia Michinaga: waves
Aphrodite Macbain: gtsy
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: wondering whether anyone would come today
stevenaia Michinaga: who is your Easter
Aphrodite Macbain: who?
stevenaia Michinaga: Holiday
Aphrodite Macbain: I am retired
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: makes no difference except most of my friends are out of town
stevenaia Michinaga: didn’t think about retiring from religious celebration
Aphrodite Macbain: so I've been painting furniture
stevenaia Michinaga: probably not a bad idea
Aphrodite Macbain: part of spring cleaning
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, the flowers are beginning to bloom here
Aphrodite Macbain: I have a roof garden
stevenaia Michinaga: lovely
Aphrodite Macbain: and am beginning to plant and tidy
Aphrodite Macbain: brb
stevenaia Michinaga: flowers or vegetables
stevenaia Michinaga: ok
Zon Kwan: heya
Aphrodite Macbain: phone
stevenaia Michinaga: hi Zon
Aphrodite Macbain: sister
stevenaia Michinaga: gtsy
stevenaia Michinaga: We've been having Story Time for the Last two weeks leading up to the 5 year anniversary. How did you come to find this place?
Zon Kwan: me ?
stevenaia Michinaga: nods
Aphrodite Macbain: afk
Zon Kwan: ah i told yesterday
Zon Kwan: hi bruce
stevenaia Michinaga: awww, ok, I will read the log
stevenaia Michinaga: hi Bruce
stevenaia Michinaga: thanks
Bruce Mowbray: Heya Zon, steve, Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: hi
Aphrodite Macbain: on phone

Bruce Mowbray: np, take your time

Zon Kwan: i just stumbled as i was looking for groups talking of things we do here -: this was nice as one can speak and discuss freely

Zon Kwan: i visited some Buddhist places and spiritual places

stevenaia Michinaga: Waves to Wol
Bruce Mowbray: So, I'm sort of gathering that Aph has inquired about PaB stories -- and about how you found this place....
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Wol!
Zon Kwan: hi wol
Wol Euler: evening all, happy Easter
Aphrodite Macbain: sorry on phone
Bruce Mowbray: Happy Easter!
stevenaia Michinaga: Just something I just brought up
stevenaia Michinaga: Wol as Easter Bunny?

Wol Euler: indeed, burlesque bunny
Zon Kwan: but what is the story of Pab itself ?
Zon Kwan: is there a goal?
Zon Kwan: where is it coming from and where is it going ?
Wol Euler: your guess is as good as mine, zon
stevenaia Michinaga: I once asked Pema that. and it was explained to me as an experiment with the goal to be determined based on the results
Bruce Mowbray: We're waiting for Godot . . I thought you knew (!)
Zon Kwan: so are we Pema’s experiment ?
stevenaia Michinaga: seems a good scientist needs to be open minded
Zon Kwan: hm..one needs somekind of hypothesis or goal
stevenaia Michinaga: if we are here to explore the nature of reality, hard to say if the exploration is the not the goal
Zon Kwan: are we looking for wisdom ?
Bruce Mowbray: Speaking of good scientists being open-minded. . .
Bruce Mowbray: did you hear about Richard Dawkins dying?
Wol Euler: I guess that those who are, are.
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.p...-dawkins-dies/
Wol Euler: oh no
Wol Euler reads.
Bruce Mowbray: [APRIL FOOL!]
Wol Euler: that's tomorrow! fooled yourself!
Wol Euler grins.
Bruce Mowbray grins back.
Bruce Mowbray: (I was just fooling about its being an April fools joke...
Bruce Mowbray: it was actually a March fool's joke.
Zon Kwan: or are we just having fun?
Wol Euler: :)
Zon Kwan: hi zen
Zen Arado: Hi all
Bruce Mowbray: Play is fun, usually.
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Zen.
Zon Kwan: but we are not doing science , are we ?
Wol Euler: I think those who take it as a serious search for wisdom, are seriously searching for wisdom, and those who are not, are not.
Bruce Mowbray: Do searches for wisdom have to be serious, though?
Aphrodite Macbain: back
Wol Euler: wb

wisdom

stevenaia Michinaga: does wisdom come to those who seek it, or for those who find it w/o looking (or both)
Bruce Mowbray: And where are we likely to find such a critter as "wisdom" anyway?
Aphrodite Macbain: wisdom sort of grows on you like moss
Zen Arado: ego takes itself seriously, wisdom doesn't
Zon Kwan: so what are we doing ?
Bruce Mowbray: yeah, furry green stuff...
Aphrodite Macbain: talking, clarifying?
Wol Euler nods.
Bruce Mowbray also nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: I don’t go out and hunt for it
stevenaia Michinaga: learned much here about myself
Zon Kwan: learning ?

What PaB means to me

Aphrodite Macbain: are we talking about what PaB means to me?
Zon Kwan: my question was why we are here?
stevenaia Michinaga: it's a playful medium for exploration
stevenaia Michinaga: where else do we find that?
--BELL--
Aphrodite Macbain: I'm basically here for companionship and connecting with others in a meaningful way
Zon Kwan: i am here because i like the vibes
Bruce Mowbray begins vibrating.

Aphrodite Macbain: Just got a call from my sister in Ontario
Bruce Mowbray listens for more from Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: and my stomach is in knots
Bruce Mowbray listens.
Aphrodite Macbain: my 89 yr old mother is in hospital
Wol Euler sighs.
Bruce Mowbray: oh dear.... This is tough, Aph. . . .
Zon Kwan: sorry to hear
Wol Euler: I'm sorry to hear that, aph, that is so hard
Bruce Mowbray: yes, so sorry to hear.
Aphrodite Macbain: and I am at the other end of the country
Aphrodite Macbain: thank you.
Aphrodite Macbain: This is why I come here!
Wol Euler smiles.
Aphrodite Macbain: sniff
Bruce Mowbray: I trust that you were able to comfort your sister somewhat...
Aphrodite Macbain: Yes
Aphrodite Macbain: I remind her
Aphrodite Macbain: what she already knows
stevenaia Michinaga: so sorry
Aphrodite Macbain: that that person is not really our mother
Bruce Mowbray: yes, we all to be reminded of that sometimes.
Zon Kwan: sends hugs to Aph
Aphrodite Macbain: thanks Zon
Bruce Mowbray: [Aph]
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: will try and meditate later and deal with it
Aphrodite Macbain: face it like that good old guest
Bruce Mowbray: 89 years is a long life . . . Just last year I lost a good friend who was 96.
Bruce Mowbray: also had x and some of the symptoms your sister mentioned.
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- it's like loosing her already
Aphrodite Macbain: anyway
Aphrodite Macbain: enough
Zon Kwan: hi adams
stevenaia Michinaga: hi Adams
Zen Arado: Hi Adams
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Adams.
Adams Rubble: Hello everyone :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I was hoping we could compose a joint poem on PaB
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Adams!
Wol Euler leans across and gives your hand a squeeze.
Wol Euler: hello adams
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles and squeezes back
Aphrodite Macbain: you have a long reach!
Bruce Mowbray: ((( group hug )))
Aphrodite Macbain: yayy

Collaborative poems

Aphrodite Macbain: would people like to co-write a PaB poem?
Aphrodite Macbain: maybe about what we are doing here?
Zen Arado: we could try
Bruce Mowbray: So, perhaps now we have one of the answers to the question; Why did you come to PaB?
Aphrodite Macbain: who would like to start?
Zen Arado: success not guaranteed
Aphrodite Macbain: yes.
Aphrodite Macbain: no
Aphrodite Macbain: OK I'll start
stevenaia Michinaga: is it ever
Bruce Mowbray listens.
stevenaia Michinaga: ...
Aphrodite Macbain: I come to this cushion and look at the spray
Bruce Mowbray: Is it ever
Aphrodite Macbain: and wonder what everyone is going to say,
Aphrodite Macbain: steve?
stevenaia Michinaga: I wait quietly for a single word that will change what I hear, like the wind changing direction
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: Zon?
Zon Kwan: shakes head smiling
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles back
Aphrodite Macbain: Zen?
Zen Arado: (hard to follow)
Bruce Mowbray: I come to this cushion and look at the spray -- and wonder what everyone's going to say, -- I wait quietly for a single word that will change what I hear, like the wind changing direction
Aphrodite Macbain: begin a new one
Aphrodite Macbain: thanks Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Zen Arado: but I didn't come here to talk about death and vivisection
Wol Euler raises an eyebrow.
Aphrodite Macbain: raises the other
Zen Arado: heh   it rhymes anyway
Aphrodite Macbain: Adams?
Adams Rubble passes
Aphrodite Macbain: Bruce?
Zon Kwan: but of life and its ways
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: thanks
Bruce Mowbray: Vivisection is not my election in coming to PaB . . .
Zen Arado: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: giggles
Adams Rubble: excuse me. I must go. An appt has arrived earlier than I expected
Bruce Mowbray: but rather, to gab!
Bruce Mowbray: Bye, Adama!
Bruce Mowbray: Adams!
Zon Kwan: bye adams
Aphrodite Macbain: Bye Adams. Happy Easter
stevenaia Michinaga: brb
Bruce Mowbray: kk.
Wol Euler: bye adams
Zen Arado: We must give Aph praise
Zen Arado: (after Zon's line)
Aphrodite Macbain: I come for the fun and the play with the peeps
Bruce Mowbray: As our balloons we do raise,
Aphrodite Macbain: blushes. OK
Zen Arado: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I will rearrange when I edit this!
--BELL--
Bruce Mowbray looks for an animation for blushing.
Aphrodite Macbain: I come for the fun and to play with the peeps, and wait for my brain to make giant leaps
Aphrodite Macbain: Wol, I missed you the last round
Bruce Mowbray ponders his brain leaping out of his skull...
Aphrodite Macbain: Do you want to add a line or begin a new poem?
Wol Euler smiles and shakes her head.
Zen Arado: Or even just one little step for mankind
Bruce Mowbray: Maybe we should consider writing a group novel, instead.
Wol Euler: I have a first line for the next poem :)
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Aphrodite Macbain: great
Bruce Mowbray listens for Wol's first line.
Aphrodite Macbain: I think we can start again...
stevenaia Michinaga: ...
Bruce Mowbray: kk.
Aphrodite Macbain: wol?
Wol Euler: There must be so many things here, after all this dropping. //
Aphrodite Macbain: I can use all this instead of going shopping
Bruce Mowbray: Perhaps why Storm built the playgoda with levels topping,
Zen Arado: not sure of the rhyme scheme here :)
Bruce Mowbray: or the rhythm scheme, either.
Bruce Mowbray: sry.
Bruce Mowbray: How about a haiku?
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Zon Kwan:                 a frog on the pond...
Aphrodite Macbain:  green splash
Wol Euler:                dropping itself
Zon Kwan:                waves
stevenaia Michinaga: pass
Bruce Mowbray: EXCELLENT!
Aphrodite Macbain: perfect
Aphrodite Macbain: a pab in a lab
Zen Arado: suspects Basho influence :)
Zon Kwan: lol
Bruce Mowbray: flasks? beakers?
Aphrodite Macbain: looks curiously at Bruce
Zen Arado: we were having a confab
Zen Arado: forgot Haiku don't need to rhyme
Bruce Mowbray: A PaB in a lab,
Bruce Mowbray: test tubes and beakers,
Zon Kwan: I am here to hab
Zen Arado: broke and spilled on my sneakers
Aphrodite Macbain: thought experiments
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Zon Kwan: waves and splashes
Bruce Mowbray ponders Zon's habbing.
Aphrodite Macbain: wizards and seekers
Zen Arado: bye Zon
Aphrodite Macbain: waves at Zon. Thanks for your creative lines
Bruce Mowbray also ponders habs and hab-nots.
Aphrodite Macbain: Wol - how did the Easter egg collecting go?
Bruce Mowbray ponders snaking an egg from Woly.
Bruce Mowbray: also sneaking..
Wol Euler grins.
Aphrodite Macbain: did you hide them?
Wol Euler: we did indeed
Wol Euler: hopefully they were all found
Aphrodite Macbain: did they find them?
Bruce Mowbray thinks, "Something will eat them, sooner or later."
Aphrodite Macbain realizes she hasn’t eaten one chocolate
Zen Arado: has chocolate most days
Wol Euler: perhaps :) since nobody kept count of them as they were placed (or found) there's no way of knowing
Zen Arado: but rations it
Zen Arado: try to eat darker chocolate
Bruce Mowbray thinks that whoever came up with Easter eggs hunts was a genius.
Bruce Mowbray: Beautiful, Aph! (Aph Produces a giant rabbit who tells terrible jokes)
Aphrodite Macbain: give him a poke
Wol Euler groans
Bruce Mowbray: Oh dear.
Aphrodite Macbain: sorry
Bruce Mowbray: (Perfect timing on the drop, btw.)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: scary bunny
Bruce Mowbray is afraid of the giant bunny.
Aphrodite Macbain: It's best just to look at him rather than talk
Wol Euler: apples
Bruce Mowbray: Why does the Giant Bunny assume we want to talk about anything?
Bruce Mowbray: BYE, Bunny.
Aphrodite Macbain: sorry about that. But I got a good pic!
Bruce Mowbray: Yeah, and now we know there really IS a god!
Bruce Mowbray: With long ears.
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Aphrodite Macbain: Not a very smart bunny
Aphrodite Macbain: but he was free

Bruce Mowbray: Blame the intelligent designer, Aph, not the bunny that it designed.
Zen Arado: I heard them mention an egg hunt in Paris this morning
Zen Arado: La Chasse aux oeufs de Pâques du Jardin des Tuilleries
Aphrodite Macbain: sounds like fun
Zen Arado: and those French kids speak French so well :)
Bruce Mowbray: Paris!
Aphrodite Macbain: Amazing isn't it? And from a very early age!
Zen Arado: :)
Bruce Mowbray: C'est une grand ville.
Aphrodite Macbain: how's your French Zen?
Aphrodite Macbain: Parlez vous?
Zen Arado: not good but improving
Aphrodite Macbain: You need to live in Paris for a while
Zen Arado: I listen to French radio but don't understand that much
Zen Arado: but it's good immersion
Bruce Mowbray: I watch French movies. . . but don't understand that much, either.
Zen Arado: takes time
Aphrodite Macbain: I found that when I could eavesdrop on others' French conversations, I really knew French
Aphrodite Macbain: when my brain could fill in the blanks
Zen Arado: some speakers I get better than others
Zen Arado: some talk too fast
Aphrodite Macbain:many speakers don’t speak clearly
Bruce Mowbray wishes he lived in a country that was bi-lingual --- like Canada.
Aphrodite Macbain: I liked listening to Wol speak German
Wol Euler: Canada is less bilingual than you might think, Bruce
Wol Euler: sadly
Aphrodite Macbain: she turned into someone else
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmmm.
Zen Arado: I'm determined to be bilingual
Wol Euler: there are tiny pockets of frenchness outside of Quebec
Bruce Mowbray: But aren't the Canadian schools now requiring French to be taught to all the kiddies?
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- we all had to learn French in elementary school
Wol Euler nods.
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmmm.
Aphrodite Macbain: but people forget if they don’t use it
Wol Euler: but many resist, and most never use it again
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmmmm.
Aphrodite Macbain: federal civil servants are all required to speak French
Aphrodite Macbain: but I find the French speak English better than the English speak French
Bruce Mowbray: I learned a bit of French (speaking, not writing it) when I dated a gal in Berkeley -- who thought that two things ought always to be done in French -- drinking fine wine, and....
Bruce Mowbray: well. You might guess what the other one was.
Aphrodite Macbain: eating?
Wol Euler: that's what I thought :)=
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Bruce Mowbray: nope, not eating.
Zen Arado: one of my French lessons the guy said his daughter studies in Vienna but doesn't learn German because English is the official language for the University
Zen Arado: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: a university that is more poor than it is nationalistic
Bruce Mowbray thinks it is unfair that folks have to learn English.
Bruce Mowbray: It's a ROUGH language to learn.
Aphrodite Macbain: it is the official language of business
Bruce Mowbray: yes, sadly.
Zen Arado: and the web
Aphrodite Macbain: and Europe
Zen Arado: unofficially?
Bruce Mowbray: and Ohio.
Bruce Mowbray: yippee!
Aphrodite Macbain: better to have a lingua franca than Babel
Zen Arado: how come I never had to learn English verb conjugations?
Aphrodite Macbain: I'm glad I don’t have to learn Japanese
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, I want to know that too, Zen.
Wol Euler: you did :) you just didn't know you were learning them
Aphrodite Macbain: I don’t know- maybe you did Zen and u don’t remember
Bruce Mowbray: right, Wol.
Aphrodite Macbain: snap
Zen Arado: hmm maybe
Aphrodite Macbain: I remember enjoying my grammar class- don’t know why
Bruce Mowbray: Is Bertram having meditation today?
Zen Arado: irregular English verbs
Wol Euler: no sign of him yet
Zen Arado: what are they?
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
Aphrodite Macbain: probably “to be”, “to have” and many others
Wol Euler: irregulars are the ones that change
Bruce Mowbray: I sing, I sang, I have sung.
Wol Euler: run - ran
Wol Euler: write - wrote
Bruce Mowbray: I drink, I drank, I am drunk.
Bruce Mowbray: (oooppps!)
Bruce Mowbray: not really.
Bruce Mowbray: but those are examples.
Aphrodite Macbain: we even use the subjunctive and don’t know it
Bruce Mowbray: As if it were true . . . (subjunctive...)
Aphrodite Macbain: and Italians use 6 forms of the subjunctive
Bruce Mowbray: wow!
Zen Arado: they have to tell me what those expressions mean
Zen Arado: don't remember learning them in English
Bruce Mowbray: Hey, Zen -- Would you say, "If you were younger..." or would you say, "If you was younger..."?
Zen Arado: the first
Bruce Mowbray: indeed -- the subjunctive.
Aphrodite Macbain: One poem before we close? two-word lines?

Aphrodite Macbain:      Three breaths,
stevenaia Michinaga:    9 seconds
Bruce Mowbray:            precious now.
Wol Euler:                      Let go!
Zen Arado:                    Clings on.

Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Bruce Mowbray: [`·.] APPLAUSE!! [.·´]
stevenaia Michinaga: drops all
Aphrodite Macbain: wonderful
Wol Euler: let's go and sit without berti
Aphrodite Macbain: Thank you everyone
Zen Arado: no Berti!?
Aphrodite Macbain: we want bert
Bruce Mowbray: Aph, you and your mother and sister are much in my thoughts. Maybe you all be well, and happy.
Wol Euler: goodnight to the non-sitters
Zen Arado: unless he is there but no notice
Wol Euler: and hugs to Aph and your family
Aphrodite Macbain: thank you Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: g'night!
Aphrodite Macbain: I appreciate that Wol
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, take care Aph
Zen Arado: not online
Aphrodite Macbain: nite
Zen Arado: byee everyone
Aphrodite Macbain: byee