Life: maybe silly, but good

I’ve seen lots of fill-in-your-own questionnaires on blogs, but never felt the need to toss one on my own blog. Until now. The main reason is Balance. The theoretical discussion of late has been fantastic (my heartfelt thanks to Zen Unbound and Nacho along with others who have chimed in and/or got us started), but it is a bit heady, and I just found this on one of my favorite local blogs and thought that this is the time for me to fill one of these silly things out (to ground me a bit).

So, here goes…

I drive…
Whatever my parents lend me. When it’s warm, I bike.

If I have time to myself…
I’m in a place where I can honestly say that nothing is demanded of me that I didn’t choose. So I have a hard time differentiating ‘me-time’ from anything else. I go to the gym, listen to NPR, listen to Ken Wilber, read (mostly philosophy, but also recently the poetry of Pablo Neruda), cook spicy Indian food…

You wouldn’t know it but I’m very good at…
1. digital music remixing
2. listening to loved ones
3. cooking (Chinese and Indian food)
4. hosting parties
5. tinkering with electronics and mechanical things

I’m no good at…
1. most social situations
2. meeting new people
3. finding interest in topics outside Buddhism and Philosophy (explains 1 and 2)
4. Abiding in the middle way for long (the extremes are just too attractive)
5. Keeping in touch with old friends

A book that changed me… (I’ll make it ‘books’)
The Stand – Stephen King (age 12)
The Celestine Prophesy (age 17) (interesting to read the Amazon reviews – they tear it to shreds – perhaps I should go back and have a second look at this one)
Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (age 19)
The Bible (age 19)
Losing Faith in Faith (age 20) (a necessary trauma to the would-be Christian)
The Heart of Understanding – Thich Nhat Hanh (age 20)

As they say, it’s all been down hill from there.

Movie heaven…
(looking back) My ex-girlfriend’s bed, a glass of wine, some delivered food and the remote, a snowy day and snuggling. (that being my 30-something ex – she was the movie buff. I’m less about movies and more about who I’m with. So these days, being single, I don’t watch many movies.)

Comfort eating…
Beer (if that counts as ‘eating’), sometimes chocolate, sometimes french-fries (with cheese if I’m feeling particularly in need).

When I was a child, I wanted to be…
a farmer, a witch (I was informed by siblings that I ‘meant’ warlock), a banker

All my (spare) money goes on…
As with time, money has little concrete meaning to me. Technically I live on borrowed money, so I can’t call any of it ‘spare’ (or I can call all of it ‘spare’).

At night I dream of…
I don’t recall many of my dreams. I know I had a reoccurring nightmare when I was in kindergarten, but none since, despite many nightmares and other notable dreams. I should start a dream journal. I’d like to get into lucid dreaming.

My favourite building…
The Potala Palace.

My biggest regret…
Even my biggest mistakes (screwing up the relationship with the Catholic girl I dated when I was 19) have brought me to where I am, here, now.

If I wasn’t me I’d like to be…
The Dalai Lama (he giggles soooooo much! I love it!) or Thich Nhat Hanh (peace emanates from his very core, unencumbered by ego as is the case with so many of the rest of us).

My favourite work of art…
I have this painting hanging behind me. I also like Picasso and Van Gogh, Da Vinci and Michelangelo. I also love and admire the many forms of Buddhist art.

The soundtrack to my life…
It would start off raucous and bold, but hopefully soften a bit, then move into something engaging and thoughtful, though still loud. Hehe… Maybe Nirvana (the band), then the Japanese flute, then perhaps a nice Beethoven concerto PLAY THIS LOUD!, it takes some time, but it’s worth it (like me, haha).

The best invention ever…
The violin or the printing press.