I finally started meditating again....I haven't done it in a while and the other day one of my climbing buddies told me he meditated for an hour the other day and I realized that I'm still at the beginning.....the beginning of my meditation practices....the beginning of my spiritual journey towards finding myself.....the beginning of enlightenment... it is going to be a long slow journey but I'll get there eventually....

Meditation does not come easily. A Beautiful tree grows slowly. One must wait for the blossom, the ripening of the fruit and the ultimate taste. The blossom of meditation is an expressible peace that permeates the entire being. Its fruit ....is indescribable." Swami Vishnu-Devananda

It snowed......! I think that's all I have to say. Right now I'm the happiest person ever....snow, climbing, friends, family.....what more could you possibly want?

Awesome Weekend

Hueco was sooo much fun. Even though I didn't climb much, it was still cool. It's just so beautiful down there. Really quiet and relaxing. I could have just sat there on the mountains and meditated the entire day. It truly is a special place. And the climbing most definitely is some of the best in the world. Just watching the guys do some really crazy stuff was amazing. Hanging of 60ft cliffs, falling head first, setting new routes, climbing til your finger tips and nails start bleeding, waking up in the middle of the desert with frost on your sleeping bag, great and sometimes stupid arguements with science and philosophy majors, being really sore......awesome times, really awesome times :)

I came once to sit on Cold Mountain
And lingered here for thirty years.
I divined and chose a distant place to dwell
T’ien T’ai: What more is there to say?
Monkeys cry where valley mists are cold
My grass gate blends with the colour of the crags
I pick leaves to thatch a hut among the pines
Scoop out a pond and lead a runnel from the spring
By now I am used to doing without the world
Picking ferns, I pass the years that are left.
Cold cliffs; more beautiful the deeper you enter
Yet no-one travels the road.
White clouds idle about the tall crags;
On the green peak a single monkey wails
What other companions do I need?
I grow old doing as I please.
Those face and form alter with the years
I hold fast to the pearl of the mind.
Wise men, you have cast me aside.
Fools I do the same to you.
I would be neither wise man nor fool;
From now on, let us hear no more from each other.
When night comes I sing to the bright moon;
At dawn, I dance with white clouds.
How could I still my voice and my hands
And sit stiff as a stick with my grey hair rumpled.

Lib's profile dedicated to me....:) Isn't that awesome?

stretch marks!
"I wish I could be a baby again, cuz I was much cuter then" ~Anika

Bumper Stickers

Random Tought of the Week
(dedicated to Amy Cannon - Survivor Lubbock, Texas)

The other day Audrey and I were on our way to Wally World when we stopped behind this Jeep at the traffic light on 4th and Indiana. The Jeep had bumper stickers all over it and of course we were reading all of them. There were a couple of Double T stickers and a 5 ft long mullet sticker. Then we saw an ETSU alumni sticker and of course started wondering what in the world ETSU stands for. We kept on examining the bumper stickers and found a Bucs Baseball one. Audrey's and my awesome sport knowledge couldn't help us out on this one. After looking even more closly we saw the words East Tennesse State written on the Bucs sticker. So we finally determined what ETSU meant. While we were wondering why the guy has both Tech and ETSU stickers on his car, we came across a TTU Graduate School Biomedical something sticker. It struck us that this guy came to Tech for graduate school. We discovered our final piece of evidence. An ETSU student parking sticker.......from 2003. Our genius minds put it all together and we reached the conclusion that this guy in the Jeep in front of us went to East Tennesee State University, likes baseball and 5 ft mullets and came to Tech's graduate school just last year for biomedical stuff. Isn't it amazing how much bumper stickers tell about you?

ON EXTRA SENSORY
PERCEPTION NETWORK:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reporter: You and your teammate work really well together.

Basketball star Magic Johnson: Yes, it’s almost like we have ESPN.

The point is to perform every
activity, from playing basketball
to taking out the garbage, with
precise attention, moment
by moment.
~PHIL JACKSON

From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue--I have never seen such discipline
~ Algren - "The Last Samurai"

"Die Superbowl geht mir am Arsch vorbei" Loosely translated... "The Superbowl can kiss my butt"......I just love my dad. He always speaks his mind. So instead of watching the Superbowl like everybody else did on Sunday, my dad put together the new entertainment center. Now you may ask....new entertainment center? For what, if he doesn't watch the Superbowl? To be honest I don't know. *shrug* Probably for watching CNN International or something.

So I'm going climbing this weekend down in Hueco. I'm totally excited. I have never been and I am gonna be completely sore, but it's gonna be a whole lot of fun. :) And then the next weekend we have the climbing comp up here. Fun Stuff. Life is just sooo exciting. And I also realized that I use the word "so" way too much. So I'm gonna stop using it. :)

Finally i think I pretty much decided this weekend that I'm going to claim Buddhism as my religion. Surprise, surprise.....not really. One just has to look at my blog and profile to figure it out. Anyway finishing with a random quote from the book I live by.
".....There are five billion human beings and in a certain way i think we need five different religions. I believe that each individual should embark upon a spiritual path that is best suited to his or her mental disposition, natural inclination, temperament, belief, family and cultural background. " ~Dalai Lama "Art of Happiness"

Winds of Lubbock.....coming soon

Buddhists believe in rebirth. But suppose that through various investigative means, science one day comes to the definite conclusion that there is no rebirth. If this is definitively proven, then we must accept it and we will accept it. This is the general Buddhist idea. ~Dalai Lama


Each of us has responsibility for all humankind. It is time for us to think of other people as true brothers and sisters and to be concerned with their welfare, with lessening their suffering. Even if you cannot sacrifice your own benefit entirely, you should not forget the concerns of others. We should think more about the future and benefit of all humanity.

Also, if you try to subdue your selfish motives--anger, and so forth--and develop more kindness and compassion for others, ultimately you yourself will benefit more than you would otherwise. So sometimes I say that the wise selfish person should practice this way. Foolish selfish people are always thinking of themselves, and the result is negative. Wise selfish people think of others, help others as much as they can, and the result is that they too receive benefit.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. ~Dalai Lama

So I woke up this morning and I was as content as I could possibly be. Those mornings are the best...you wake up and marvel at how beautiful life is. You don't care about how much hw and stuff you have to do...you don't worry about any problems you have...you just wake up and you are happy. It is the best feeling in the entire world. :)

"I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness....." With these words, spoken before a large audience in Arizona, the Dalai Lama cut to the heart of his message. But his claim that the purpose of life was happiness raised a question in my mind. Later, when we were alone, I asked, "Are you happy?" "Yes," he said. He paused, then added, " Yes....definitely." There was a quiet sincerity in his voice that left no doubt - a sincerity that was reflected in his expression and in his eyes. "But is happiness a reasonable goal for most of us?" I asked. " Is it really possible?"
"Yes. I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind."

~"The Art of Happiness"

He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is.

boxing trainer Lou Duva, on heavyweight Andrew Golota’s strict training schedule (thanks to Dan Rutz)

About Fish

ON THOSE JAYWALKING FISH:
--------------------------------------

HER PEUGEOT 406
ESTATE COLLIDED
HEAD-ON WITH A FISH
AT THE BIG TREE BEND,
NEAR INVERKEILER.

from the Aberdeen Evening Express


Many men go fishing
all their lives without
knowing that it is not
fish they are after.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Complaining....it seems like it's the only thing people are good at these days. Right now my mom is in the hospital with pneumonia. They gave her morphine for the pain and she isn't complaining. So what if it is cold outside, so what if classes are hard or boring, so what if we lost against UT. A little optimism can't hurt people.

"I think that, leaving aside how the endless pursuit of romantic love may affect our deeper spiritual growth, even from the perspective of a conventional way of life, the idealization of this romantic love can be seen as an extreme. Unlike those relationships based on caring and genuine affection , this is another matter. It cannot be seen as a positive thing. It's something that is based on fantasy, unattainable, and therefore may be a source of frustration. So, on that basis it cannot be seen as a positive thing." ~Dalai Lama

"When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving oneself, and one always ends up by deceiving others. That is what the world calls romance." ~ Oscar Wilde

"No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century." ~ Mark Twain

Basing a relationship on the qualities of affection, compassion, and mutual respect enables us to achieve a deep and meaningful bond not only with our lover or spouse but also with friends, acquaintances, or strangers - virtually any human being. It opens up unlimited possibilities and opportunities for connection.

....as I sat down to begin my meeting with the Dalai Lama, I suddenly decided to set aside my list of prepared questions and asked, " Do you ever get lonely?" "No," he said simply. I was unprepared for this response. I assumed that his response would be along the lines of, " Of course...every once in a while everyone feels some loneliness...." Then I was planning on asking him how he deals with loneliness. I never expected for confront anyone who never felt lonely.

Sad Sad Story

It seems like this blog is going to have a change of names in the near future. Freezerburn does not seem to be well at all. The doctors give him maybe a week or so to live. His cancerous tumor has taken over most of the left side of his body, making it hard to swim upright and breathe properly. In addition to his cancer he has fin rot and a swimbladder problem. Poor Freezerburn :(

Reason follows the heart, it does not guide it. A pure heart is thus the most essential requiste for mental and physical health. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Funny Stuff

Sonja Zietlow (host of the German Weakest Link): What popular chocolate bar was named after the Roman god of war?

Contestant: Snickers.

Sarah, you were an awesome classmate and friend. You will be missed.....

I just found out today that one of my good high school classmates died earlier this month. I never really knew her that well, but now i wish that i did. Sarah was one of the sweetest girls ever. I remember how I meet her in precal and how much fun we had eating cookies and watching our teacher do high kicks. And now she is gone, kinda hard to believe. She always helped me out with everything...made me feel welcome when I first moved here. I wish I would have stayed in contact with her. She died on January 8th and I didn't find out til today. I feel really awful that I'm so bad at keeping in touch with my friends. Hopefully I'm not gonna do the same thing with y'all....all my Tech Buddies. What's the worst thing though is that I can"t stop thinking about how Dawn must feel right now. She lost her best friend and her Dad in the fall last year. Why does death have to be such a terrible thing? Why....

On a more positive note I wanna give a shout out to all of my awesome friends up here at Tech. To all my AKPsi, Phi Lamb, KYX, BYX, Engineering, SWE, Red Oak, Doak, and Physics Buddies and everyone else. I love y'all and thanks for make life so much fun.

This was on my "365 Stupidest Things Ever Said" Calendar today.
How can a guy like that be President of the United States of America.....

Actually, I—this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I’m talking about—when I’m talking about myself, and when he’s talking about myself, all of us are talking about me.

President George W. Bush, during an appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball

After an awesome weekend at Danny's house i think I have hit the first low of the semester....I'm confused once again and in a crappy mood. Maybe climbing and watching 24 tonite is gonna cheer me up a little bit. I don't even know why I'm in such a bad mood. Maybe b/c all of my classes are a total bore...maybe b/c I didn't do a thing over the last couple of weeks and the boredom just gets to you...maybe b/c of stupid crushes....maybe b/c I do miss my family a lot...maybe b/c I'm not getting anywhere on this religion thing of mine...maybe b/c I'm just tired. So this Dillard's truck just drove by my window and I'm wondering what in the world a Dillard's truck is doing in the service parking lot. This parking lot only goes to the kitchen.....strange, very strange, but it made me smile. It's amazing how I can sit alone in this room and make myself smile. Being able to entertain yourself is an awesome ability or maybe it's just crazyness....i mean insanity....is crazyness even a word? Well, I'll make it one. B/c I'm the crazy German.....the crazy German scientist that walks the fine line between genius and insanity everyday. Or maybe I'm just a nerd or a dreamer that can just daydreams for hours and hours. I think if I would be able to write books about what goes on in my head then....it would be a fantasy world like no other. My world. Ok, time to listen to some Pur...one of the best German bands ever. Dang it, that just puts me in a weird mood again cause I know that nobody reading this knows the band or understands why I like them so much. I sometimes wish that I could have grown up in the US just so that I would actually share the same culture with my friends....but then the German Pride comes through again...*huge grin*. It's only been 4 years that I have lived here so it's understandable that I'm torn between the two cultures but I wish I would finally find my place in all of this...find out for sure where I belong. "Geweint vor Glueck" is the best song ever and that's what I'm doing right now...sitting in front of the computer and crying because I'm happy....and smiling at myself b/c I'm so stupid. Ok, I shouldn't have told y'all that. *grin*

One instant is eternity;
eternity is the now.
When you see through this
one instant,
you see through the one
who sees.

When we understand, we are
at the center of the circle, and
there we sit while Yes and No
chase each other around the
circumference.