6 posts tagged “new year”

First fire of the New Year

Jan 1, 2008
2 comments

In Japan, the first everything in the New Year is considered important. And the first fire is often lit with embers taken from a temple ground.

This was our first fire. It was at the home of a friend with quite a large number of people present. About half of them were Chinese, public officials here in the US to study public administration.

It was a good gathering, a good first social event of 2008. I hope there are many more that are equally warm-spirited!

Any New Year's Resolutions? Lose Weight?

Jan 1, 2008
4 comments

I feel like I "ought" to have some New Year's Resolutions--promises of self-improvement projects--but right now, I don't.

I suppose of all the resolutions made each year, "losing weight" is one of the most common. (Actually, here is one list of the ten most common). (And here is another suggested list). Diet books and diet plans sell like mad! Obviously, the subject is of great interest.

And, there is no doubt that I ought to lose a few pounds, for several health-related and vanity-related reasons. My current weight is 236, which is more than it "ought" to be. 206 would be a nice target. That is thirty whole pounds less!

But here is the problem: At the start of 2007, I weighed 229, which is to say seven pounds less than now. So I've gained! That is in spite of having had considerably more exercise, and a considerably better diet, during the course of this past year. It seemingly made No Difference--unless possibly I would have gained more without these measures.

Anyhow, my own past experience shows increasing effort does not lead to improving results. So it is difficult for me to wish to make some firm commitment. The "scientific studies" I have read, too, suggest that most people who diet (in any form) do not in fact make a significant, permanent weight loss. (Here is one report from New Zealand). If there was a diet plan that was pretty certain to work, for most people, then there wouldn't be so many competing with each other.

And, what about Oprah? She has all the expertise, all the help, all the money to spend to encourage weight loss that anybody could possibly wish for. And I assume, given her wealth, time if she wants it. But she still struggles with her weight.

So far as I can tell, the only sure-fire way to lose weight is to be held as a prisoner of war. That seems to do the trick for many! On the other hand, there are unfortunate side-effects from captivity, too.

So, without "promising" anything, I will just record my weight here--as I said, 236--and check in periodically to see what, if any, changes been occured.

But I would like to try using a Wii at home for a little exercise on cold days, although I imagine going to the gym is better.

And I will consider over the next few days if any other "goals" are worth possibly adopting for achievement in 2008.

How about you?

First view out the window on January 1st

Jan 1, 2008
3 comments

January 1st, 7 am

A little bit of snow, nothing much, perhaps two inches? The snow plow guy did come already, bless his heart.

And our main street shows also that the city has been doing its useful work. God bless all the snow plow guys, street repair crews, firefighter, cops, emergency room personnel, ambulance drivers, etc., on who our ongoing lives all depend so greatly. And the nearby Walgreen's that is open 24-7. I appreciate it.

I am tempted to add in the Comcast installers and wire-fixers--but really, I think they make me a little too mad to include them in this morning's blessing.

But God bless my wife, our children, her grandchildren, our brothers and sisters and cousins. And, I hope too, God bless me!

The New Year has actually started. God, I hope, bless you, too!

New Year's 1987 memory

Dec 30, 2007
3 comments

My wife Barbara and I visited Kyoto and Nara at New Year, 1987. That was twenty years ago! To my mind, it turned out to be the most wonderful possible place to be, at the most perfect time.

New Year's in Kyoto

At the stroke of midnight we were on top of a little mountain where monks were ringing a large bell 108 times (I believe that is the right number). It was a perfect way to celebrate--a lot better than "normal" American New Year's eve parties. A treasured memory.

Then on Jan 1st went took a train over to Nara, an even older capital of Japan, and walked around the park area, seeing a huge Buddha and many other sights.

Nara with deer

To me, these were one of the very best experiences of a lifetime.

Connie and I have had many wonderful trips--but we have not yet followed out that prior one. Perhaps one day we will!

From "News" to "Nature"

Dec 29, 2007
3 comments

I have already made one change for 2008, this in my TV viewing.

The Comcast recorder keeps lists of "favorites," groupings of channels you enjoy. There can be a max of five such lists, each including many channels.

The change I have made is deleting the big list called "news" and creating a new pne called "nature." Into this latter I have put Discovery, National Geographic, Science and the like. Animal Planet, etc.

I think I am just fed up with "the news!." Fed up enough that I don't want to try to write about why now. But it isn't just the stories, it also is the quality of the coverage.

So, I would prefer to watch "Christmas in Yellowstone" (a recently-shown documentary) than see Pakistan teeter on the brink. Brink of what? This is a nuclear power we are talking about, where civil order and the hope of democratic government seems (from this great distance) to be disappearing. How much do I want to know about that? Especially given my certainty that the Bush administration and his State Department will not be able to deal with this new crisis helpfully, any more than the have the many others in the past.

Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

1 comment

More important to me now is--knowing how DO the grizzly bears make it through the winter? And are there other animals that hibernate? (Which I guess I wouldn't mind doing myself!)

For too long I was involved in government to easily give up paying attention to elections, to presidential statements and misdeeds, to budget and taxation, war progress or lack thereof; to notice the degree attention to important public problems (or how they are ignored) and to the various policy proposals to address them, however well or poorly. I can't give that all up yet, not totally.

But I don't need as big a "video diet" of it as I've been getting! There is nothing much I can do about it all anyhow, and it must raise my blood pressure some.

Instead, like Walt Whitman, perhaps I am better off to "turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained."

Or, if not that, to change the channel at least!

I feel like the "old" year is over now

Dec 26, 2007
1 comment

I feel like the old year (2007) is over now--but I do not feel like the "new year" has yet actually begun. Do we need to wait a whole week for that?

The end has come, but not the "takeoff." It is kind of luck being stuck, changing planes at O'Hare (or in Atlanta. A pause in one's journey. Time to kill, necessarily, for a while.

Christmas is such a big deal, such a major undertaking! I don't mean as a religious experience--it wasn't that for me, at all (although my wife did go to mass). It should be that, of course, but that aspect seems to get crowded out somehow. The "Christ Mass" part. The birth of, hopefully, our Savior. Instead, "Christmas spirit" has come to mean caroling, cookies, food, presents, hopefully happy gatherings.

But rather I mean the shopping, the planning, the cooking, the organizing. The cards to write, the cards to read. People to think about, some for the first time in a year.

The gifts (to give and to get). The music. Santas everywhere! Special annual movies on tv. (I have a fireplace log video running right now, but we did watch Elf last evening).

All that has come to an end.

Plus there is the concern about whether or not customers are buying enough to keep stores (and their owners and investors) afloat. Apparently dress sales were down a bit, as was purchasing overall. And travel and weather and crowd control difficulties are all worried over, too.

Considering the "natural calendar," the longest night is of course already past. It is hard to notice, but days are getting longer. Just a tiny touch more sun in every one.