These days my priorities are all over the place (something I\u2019ll have to get in check in the new year), but I probably work 10 hours a week as a grader, spend about 15 hours per week studying Pali, and put about 15 hours a week reading\/writing my Ph.D. thesis. Eh, perhaps not so lazy after all.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, I think I\u2019m too smart to be an American. That\u2019s not an ego trip. I think most people reading this are too smart to be Americans too. <\/span>But Sarah Palin\u2019s book is the #1 Bestseller right now in this country. While our congress debates another many-hundred-billion dollar war funding bill, schools are closing, tuitions are rising, and young men and women that should be home with families and gaining an education are thousands of miles away fighting a war of revenge.<\/p>\n And yet I know there is no Shangri-La out there; <\/span>no pristine socialist democratic meritocracy where diversity is cherished and discussion is a national pass-time. I\u2019ve studied Tibet; it was a mess before the Chinese invaded. The 13th Dalai Lama fought for and accomplished some gains in modernization, but it was against some powerful conservative forces within his government. Serfdom and rural poverty, while not as pervasive as Chinese propagandists would like you to think, were rather commonplace in the first half of the 20th century. Just how bad this really was, and how corrupt certain ruling elites were is open to debate. All I know is that I\u2019m glad to have been born in 1980 USA and not 1890 Tibet.<\/p>\n Bhutan <\/span>is what I often describe as \u201cwhat Tibet would be today if the Chinese hadn\u2019t invaded.\u201d It\u2019s a peaceful Buddhist<\/a> Himalayan kingdom. <\/span>And for the most part it seems to be doing great. The king opened governance to an elected parliament, abdicated the throne to his son, instituted a policy of Gross National Happiness, and so on. But, like any other medieval civilization coming to terms with modernism, it has its problems. Alcohol, which had been banned as an import until the 1990s, has been a growing problem in recent years.<\/p>\n And, having lived in England, with many friends from Canada and Spain, I can\u2019t say any of these nations have it all figured out either. Right now I\u2019d honestly prefer to live in any of them, but that might have as much to do with my wanderlust than affinity with national values.<\/span> But then again, these days it is hard to know just what our national values are.<\/p>\n But\u2026 On to the subject at hand: learning.<\/p>\n Well, Tuesday night at meditation, one of our meditators happens to be a wilderness teacher and he informed me that no, these guys and gals are out and about, year-round. It is odd though, he added, to see them in town. Usually they are working on trees in the woods, far overhead. So I\u2019ll count myself as lucky that this fella (guy or gal) decided to spend some time outside my place, just 4 or so feet off the ground.<\/p>\n Next week Julie is in charge of a Chilean dinner. Thanks to Dani (below), I\u2019ve fallen in love with Empanadas<\/a> and can\u2019t wait to learn to make my own.<\/p>\n So much so that we were all back again tonight; this time for a tea tasting, where we learned about Oolong Tea<\/a>. I\u2019m not sure, but I think I still have a pound of Oolong from my trip to China. Hmm. After dining, Tobin invited me to come back with tea and my fancy (I think) tea set from China.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_fyeYpxfdjuI\/SyRyAYch9oI\/AAAAAAAAAv0\/_rEv-cENAZs\/s400\/DSC_2522.JPG\")
<\/a>On Monday, one of the coldest days we\u2019ve had yet this year, a (young?) Downy Woodpecker<\/a> was knocking away at a tree just outside my living-room window. At first I was a bit worried. Shouldn\u2019t this guy be hibernating? Or living far south of here right now?<\/span> Or just anything <\/span>to avoid being outside in 10\u00b0F?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_fyeYpxfdjuI\/SyRyAEqAZSI\/AAAAAAAAAvs\/7OF7g5mxo3w\/s400\/DSC_2499.JPG\")
<\/a>The night before the woodpecker spotting, we made an Ethiopian dinner. It has been Julie\u2019s<\/a> idea for a while now that once a month we each pick a country for the other to cook a dinner from. She went first and picked Ethiopia, so here I am cooking (with much of her help). Check out <\/span>this webpage<\/a> for some great recipes (we made the Injera, Iab, Vegetable Alecha, and Dabo Kolo, all of which were very delicious<\/span> \u2013 although I would recommend adding more Cayenne and salt to the Dabo Kolo recipe).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_fyeYpxfdjuI\/SyRx_k4kuuI\/AAAAAAAAAvk\/UgqMBnaeCNk\/s400\/DSC_2483.JPG\")
<\/a>A bottle of Ravenswood Zin, Dani and Marga (from Spain and suffering oh so much from the <\/span>cold<\/span> in MT right now), and Julie\u2019s rings at Iza, a new Asian restaurant in Missoula<\/span>. The four of us checked out Iza after enjoying last week\u2019s \u201cFirst Friday\u201d art walk activities. It turns out that I used to be a radio DJ with one of the owners, Tobin, way<\/span> back in the day. Food, service, and ambiance were all amazing.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_fyeYpxfdjuI\/SyRx_b0yVBI\/AAAAAAAAAvc\/o85E3Nk5dHU\/s400\/DSC_2537.JPG\")
<\/a>And then there is the true measure of one\u2019s nerdiness. Just how big<\/span> is your Pali declination\/conjugation\/participial\/obscure word chart? This one isn\u2019t mine. I swear. It\u2019s actually my friend Matt\u2019s. And one of these days, when I\u2019m not feeling so lazy, I intend to replicate it on a manila folder of my own. Wow, so beautiful.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_fyeYpxfdjuI\/SyRx-r6hkbI\/AAAAAAAAAvU\/88T_9qJ1Zto\/s400\/DSC_2480.JPG\")
<\/a>And lastly, I\u2019ve learned that cat\u2019s noses can glow bright red if, and only if, you say \u201cRudolf\u201d three times fast at them at just the right moment. Ok, it might not work with your cat, but Oliver seems to have it down, along with his GQ front-leg cross.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-2045852783864069716?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com\")
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