Euro agenda for 2008

Peter and I plan a European vacation next June-July with Sean and Frannie. The four of us will spend time in Alicante, Spain with Francis and Nina, and their son Cisco -- who live there each summer to be near Francis' parents. The rest of their time is spent in Amherst, Massachusetts, where Francis is a professor at U Mass.

June 18: Fly to Paris. We hope to visit with Olivier and Ruxandra; perhaps Annie or Jonathan and Carrie will come in from London.

June 23-28: Accompany Sean to SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation conference in Marseilles. Hope to visit with Cédric and his family, perhaps Saleh and Adrien -- definitely visit Nice, Cannes, and Monaco.

June 29: Travel to Alicante, Spain to hang out with Francis, Nina, and family. Hang out in Alicante, Santa Paola, and around Costa Blanca. Explore Spain and Portugal at our leisure.

July 5: We hope to be able to visit Ukraine, and perhaps travel a bit with Rachel for another week, but this part of the trip will remain unclear for a few more months.

I enrolled in the structural anatomy / neuromuscular therapy program contingent upon this pre-existing vacation being granted as a summer break, so I don't plan to study very much while I'm away.

One of my daily readings

is called the Daily Motivator, published by Ralph Marston. Today's entry is worth repeating here:

The value of forgiveness
Forgiveness can indeed be difficult. Yet in the long run, it is far easier to forgive than to live with resentment or continuing retribution. Through forgiveness, you can move away from the pains of the past. With forgiveness, you can achieve real freedom.

There are always opportunities to benefit from the value of forgiveness. You can forgive yourself, you can forgive others, and you can forgive even when you don't know exactly who to forgive.

Because forgiveness is not about who is to blame or who is at fault. Forgiveness is mostly about letting go, completely and permanently, within yourself.

Forgiveness is recognizing the reality that what has happened has happened, and that there's no point in allowing it to dominate your life. Forgiveness refreshingly clears the slate and enables you to move positively forward.

Carrying around a load of resentment can be an enormous and unnecessary burden. Forgive early and often, and you'll considerably lighten your load.

-- Ralph Marston

Forgotten blog

A former intern at our business, Cédric, contacted me a while back. He searched the internet trying to locate Carol Porter, and he reported that he found two sites, one a blog with an entry featuring Jean Luc Picard (a shared hero).

So, I searched for myself and found this blogspot site, created when Peter and I were house sitting for Rick in Hawi, while we awaited completion of our new home. I spent a fair amount of time when it rained experimenting with various blog services. The internet is so cool (and I've known that since 1977).

Leadership style?

Which Star Trek leader are you? Captain Jean Luc Picard You are highly diplomatic and well-respected. You are rational but can get down and dirty if you need to. You are a true hero!

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Today's horoscope is kinda neat ...

As I prepare to join a metaphysical study group, I am pleased to read this one:

Quickie:
You're beautiful, today. You're big and bright and you reach for the clouds.

Overview:
You've always had a wide assortment of interesting friends from all walks of life. You'll be adding at least a couple more to your extensive collection now, and you'll meet them under extremely odd circumstances.

(from yahoo horoscopes)

Hawi in November

Finally, the air is clearing after a week of overcast skies. Whenever this happens, I wonder if it is vog, or just "bad weather." Today, the sea is dark blue with long white streaks where waves are breaking randomly. Originally, I wrote "whitecaps," but the white streaks and spouts are different today.

Relentless winds from the east are whipping past the house, bending all of the plants and trees towards the west.

Whales have been reported, but we haven't seen any yet. Winter is here!