Back from Galileo

I went to Galileo tonight for the first time in weeks. I was expecting to find the usual contingent there, but I was either too late or they went somewhere else. So I ate penne pasta and drank one-and-a-half Boulevard Pale Ales (having knocked the first one over). I read the current Gazette and that society mag that always has the same twenty people in it month to month.

So now that I'm a little drunk (because I don't drink much), let me tell you how good my life is.

Seriously.

I want for nothing. Not because I'm rich, but because I am fortunate to have an income sufficient to meet my needs and because years ago, I got off the gotta-buy-it gotta-have-it merry-go-round.

Thoreau said (paraphrasing) 'You don't own your possessions, your possessions own you,' and lemme tell ya, truer words have never been spoken. I managed to give away or throw away about half the shit I owned, and I still have too much. Although Thoreau was a Unitarian, it was probably his 'Walden' that started me on the road to embracing Buddhism and Taoism.

As you may know, there are several schools of Buddhism, including Hinayana, Theravada and Mahayana. My school is the Kindasorta, which is an ancient Sanskrit term meaning 'Southern Baptist.'

But I'm telling you, you need to let go of stuff. Just let go. All this success/failure crap we buy into in America was created by marketing people trying to sell you stuff.

It's a scam and a sham and a sorry flimflam.

Unless you're talking about PowerBooks, in which case, you should get at least a gig of RAM.

And a stylin' shoulder bag. I like the Crumpler bags from Australia because the bags are weird and rarely seen and the web site is totally bizarre.

Back to you in the newsroom.