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“A Blog a Day, a Book a Month and Poetry on the Side”

January 4^th, 2010

Some people might think it pretentious of me to call myself “The Guru Kalehuru.”  I suppose they have a point.  I can certainly  be pedantic at time (I am a teacher by profession), and when I become pedantic without being on solid intellectual footing, then that is pretentious.

I started reading Tarot cards long before I ever called myself Guru.  Now, there is a pretentious business.  I sometimes do preface my readings with a disclaimer, something along the lines of “this is not magic and I am not a psychologist” but I don’t press it.  Nobody wants to hear it and besides, the success of the reading depends very much on the subject thinking that I am somewhat more than a normal human being.

So, sometimes I call myself Guru.  Literally, it means teacher, but when I am in front of a class of students who want to learn English, I expect them to call me teacher and not guru.  That would be silly.

Guru implies ancient wisdom, esoteric knowledge, traveling on astral planes and being in touch with other dimensions, higher states of consciousness, illumination and enlightenment.

I’m totally in favor of all that stuff, but I have never, not through reading Tarot nor on my wildest acid trip, ever managed to reach a higher state of consciousness.  At any rate, not one that was verifiable, even to myself.

Still, I am convinced that higher states exist, and that some day we will reach them.  Here’s how I see it:  Take a piece of standard size writing paper.  Start listing the known states of consciousness at the bottom, and work up.

1. Nothingness.  The void.  The big empty area between solar systems.  No consciousness, nor anything to be conscious of.
2. Consciousless matter and raw energy.  Yes, they have existence, but the consciousness is still not there.
3. Bacteria, plants, etc…They may have some kind of a recoil reflex, but that’s not the same as knowing fear.  Not exactly Shakespeare, but they are higher on the self-awareness scale than say, for instance, a rock.
4. Animals.  They are not human, they can’t look into a book and read about the past or speculate on the future, they have no knowledge of governments or great film stars.  Nonetheless, they think and they feel.
5. Us.  Capable of incredible brilliance when we are not busy being hideously obtuse, which is most of the time.

Now, look at how much paper you have left!!

Of course, that’s not a proof.  The map is not the landscape, the metaphor is not the mathematics.  But look at it this way.  At the top of the paper, write something describing the ultimate consciousness – oneness with the universe, total comprehension, being God, whatever you wish to call it.

Since we are not there yet, or even close, we know there are at least some states of consciousness between us and that.

So, I’ll keep looking, and calling myself a Guru just for the laughs.

Home of the Willie Wants to be a Writer Project

“A Blog a Day, a Book a Month and Poetry on the Side”

January 3^rd, 2010

I’m taking my kids to a hockey game this afternoon, and I am not thrilled about it.  I’m committed, my wife needs a couple of uniterrupted hours because she is teaching English to one of our neighbors, so I need to get them out of the house for a couple of hours.

I gave them a choice between ice-skating and going to see a hockey game and it was a split decision, decided by a coin toss.  So, no way out now.

I’m not anti-sports.  I believe they play an important role, and fulfill an important function in our society.  They are traditional, and in many families provide an important link between the generations.  They are an outlet for aggression and keep many a young person occupied who otherwise would be indulging in anti-social or criminal behavior.  Sports keep people fit, and fit is healthy.  Sports can be a binding force for a school or a community.  Sports provide an aesthetically pleasing alternative to combat.

But I’m not a sports fan.  Especially in America, I could never understand the appeal of big league sports.  So, there’s a team in your city.  The players aren’t necessarily, and usually just plain aren’t, from your city.  You didn’t grow up with them.  You don’t know them.
They are not representing your city out of love.  They are getting paid millions of dollars to have your cities name on their back as they play a child’s game which they are exceptionally good at.  They will move as soon as the millionaire club owners in some other city offer them more money.

It really is about the money.  Teams in Los Angeles, Dallas and New York aren’t better because somehow those cities are better, or their players more inspired by a spirit of teamwork and dedication.  Those teams tend to be better because their millionaire club owners spend more millions of dollars than other millionaire club owners for the best players.

It’s not any better here in Europe, although the players aren’t quite as overpaid.  (basically, everybody in Czech major league hockey is hoping for an NHL contract).  The thing that offends me here is the names of corporate sponsors everywhere.  On their helmets, on their jerseys, on their pants, on the boards, on the ice.

And, of course, the fans.  Most of them, I’m sure, if you knew them individually, would be perfectly pleasant people.  But if  you put them all together in an arena and get them shouting, they sound like a bunch of damned Nazis.  And, in a crowd of that size, I’m sure that at least a few of them are.

Home of the Willie Wants to be a Writer Project

“A Blog a Day, a Book a Month and Poetry on the Side”

January 2^nd, 2010

Not everybody reads Wonkette.  I do, of course.  It’s where I go for my daily updates on the news.  Not that they are an objective news source.  Officially, I suppose, it’s a comedy site.  Political satire.  That kind of stuff.

When I try to comment over at the Huffington Post, however, they won’t let me use any bad words.  When you consider the current political and economic state of the world, bad words are the bare minimum needed to make a relevant comment.

Big countries oppress small countries.  Dictators rule.  Corrupt politicians continue to serve the evil corporations.  People are homeless.  People are starving.  Stupidity triumphs over intelligence at every turn upon our historic journey.

So, I read it and it does get to be just a big bitchfest sometimes.  There is pretty much universal agreement there that the decade just passed was a stinking pile of mixed animal feces, so when one man left a comment saying how it had been a good decade for him, personally, it stood out like a sore thumb.

Then I looked at my facebook page and someone had left a comment to the effect that the decade just passed was a stinking pile of mixed animal feces, and HE stood out like a sore thumb.  Not everybody reads Wonkette.

There’s no conflict, really.  To quote Dickens, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  As are all times.  If you look at the political, economic and environmental situation the world is in, things look really bad.  Optimism in the public realm would be somewhat delusional.

If you’re looking at things in your own personal life, well, I hope these are good times for you.  They are for me.

I’ve got two kids, who can be irritating as hell sometimes but basically I am enjoying the slow process of watching them grow up.  I’m taking some time off, at home with the kids, because we figured out that my wife’s earning power was greater than mine.  I’m missing work much less than I thought I would.  Also, I’m writing more than ever.

I hope that’s a good thing.

Home of the Willie Wants to be a Writer Project

“A Blog a Day, a Book a Month and Poetry on the Side”

Blog Park January 1^st, 2010

There is a park about 3 or 4 minutes walk from my flat where I go sometimes to smoke a quiet joint by myself, and collect my thoughts.

It is a perfect place for the purpose.  There are benches, although many of them are missing a slat or two.  There are asphalt walkways, which are pushed up into natural speed bumps by the roots of the trees underneath them, and many of the trees are old and gnarly and thought provoking.  It is not a big enough or important enough park for tourists to go there, so it’s never crowded.   Sometimes somebody teaching their dog to fetch, or children learning to ride a bicycle, or a couple of old women on a slow walk.

Yesterday was a slushy, muddy day as it had snowed the day before and then the temperature shot up to well above 0.  (I live in Europe.  Centigrade makes much more sense than Fahrenheit anyway.)  There were some very large puddles in the lawn, and you could see the majestic, ornate facades of the 19^th century buildings across the street very clearly in them.

It was a natural made focal point for meditation, and the result was a sudden realization:  this park should be the focal point of my blog.  Whether I want to comment on the politics of the day, some new advance in science or the latest Hollywood sex scandal, it is a still, quiet place where I can put it all in perspective.

The blogs will be about this length, somewhere between 300-500 words.  It is a snack-sized, easily digestible piece of reading.  More than a tweet, less than a novel.

There are several reasons why I am starting a blog.  For one, I’ve got time on my hands now that my wife is working and I’m staying home with the kids.  Also, I’ve always wanted to be a writer and I’m not so young any more, so it’s now or never.  Third, I honestly think I have some things to say that nobody else is saying.

So, here is my blog.  Welcome to the inside of my head.  I hope you like what you find there.