Waving the White (Prayer) Flag

When I first began reading about Buddhism and Tibetan culture, I was inspired by the romance of Tibetan Prayer flags. 

Prayer flags come in sets of five different colors. The colors are arranged from left to right in a specific order: blue, white, red, green, and yellow with each color representing the five elements. Blue symbolizes the sky and space, white symbolizes the air and wind, red symbolizes fire, green symbolizes water, and yellow symbolizes earth. According to traditional Tibetan medicine, health and harmony are produced through the balance of the five elements.

Each flag is printed with prayers. As the sun shines through them and the wind passes over them and they slowly unravel, the prayers are slowly dispersed into the world. There is just something about this that makes me feel good. My flags hang on my balcony and they remind me throughout the day to be compassionate, to be grateful for all I have, and to be generous to those in need. They are the last thing I see when I begin my morning meditation and the first thing I see upon its completion.

Traditionally, prayer flags are flown until they completely disintegrate. Hence the reason you see grayish flags slowly moldering on the homes of many Buddhists. My flags, however, are not disintegrating uniformly. Rather, my white flags, are coming to pieces before my eyes while the others are largely intact.

The white flags represent wind, which is the element responsible for our thoughts and our movements. I wonder if the flags are consumed as needed by the surroundings. Or do the tattered white flags symbolize something specifically about my thoughts and movements - too much, too little, too deep, too frivolous, too self-centered, too much in the past, too focused on future tasks. Who knows? And, since the rope finally rotted through this past weekend, I guess I will never know if the other flags would have endured or soon followed the white flag's dispersal. 

From the Lists: #29 The Studs Lonigan Trilogy

Another %$#@! Trilogy! 

It seems like months since I last posted, but with all the family vacation action, work, and International Festival planning, I have been more than a little slack in keeping up with my posts. So, to get back into the swing of sharing, let's have a look at James T Farrells' Studs Lonigan Trilogy [Young Lonigan (1932), The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan (1934), and Judgment Day (1935)].

As with every multi-volume entry on the list of 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century, I sighed with weariness when it was time to get started on this one. Luckily, I found an eBook version that included all three volumes - 757 glorious pages!  And, I am not being sarcastic.

The trilogy starts with young William (Studs) Lonigan preparing for his grammar school graduation and ends with his untimely death at the age of 31. The first and last books are somewhat chronological in that they focus on about six months of Stud's life, mostly from his point of view. The middle book, covers the the 15 years in between using short vignettes describing milestones in Studs' life. The writing style for each book is in what I like to refer to as "Screenplay" format - i.e. short chapters with lots of dialog.

Synopsis:

Studs is short in stature, not particularly handsome, and not too intelligent.. He would probably be considered average on most counts - except within his own thoughts. When he looks in the mirror, he sees a tough, handsome guy, who is bound to experience good fortune. In reality, he is short-sighted and prideful, he runs with a bad crowd, makes bad decisions, has no self-awareness, and blames the world for his endless stream of bad luck. He has neither the words nor the capability of communicating his emotions or thoughts, which for the most part are focused on comparing himself to his peers, fighting, and female conquest.

Like the character in Train Spotting, Studs is always going to give up drinking and wild nights. He is strong in his resolve - at least until there is another bottle, another slight to his ego, or another chance at sex. Unlike other literature of this time, the act of sex is neither condemned nor moralized. Instead, Studs' lack of experience and clumsiness in the act, always leaves him unhappy, unsatisfied, and depressed. Of course this feeling is quickly blamed on the woman - who is after all nothing but a slut. Only a slut would give it up so easily.

Sadly, Studs' life never lives up to the dreams of success and ideals of love to which he is constantly comparing his circumstances. He is always jealous of someone more successful than he, yet Studs is incapable of taking control of his own life. He can only take solace in knowing that some of his childhood friends are living lives much worse than his.

By the end of the trilogy, Studs is about 31 years old, still lives at home with his long suffering parents, and he has met an girl he wants to marry. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, he dies trying to do the right thing - albeit his efforts are futile.  

Thoughts on the Trilogy

After the Edwardian novels about romantic betrayal (The Golden Bowl and The Good Soldier) and offended sensibilities, I was pleasantly surprised by the directness of the writing, but rather distressed by the use of racial slurs. With so many different groups of people (Irish, Italians, Hungarians, African Americans, Jews, Germans, etc.) arriving in the USA at the turn of the century, animosities seemed to fester among those whose parents or grandparents had arrived slightly earlier. The members of the second generation immigrants were obviously good Americans. Those who arrived more recently were simply lazy / greedy / slutty / dirty / ignorant and were to blame for Chicago's decline, the destruction of the 58th street neighborhood in which Studs lives, World War I, and the Great Depression..

Coincidental Happenings

This month's classes at the Kadampa Center focus on Death and Rebirth. Coincidentally, the descriptions of Studs' death paralleled the stages of death and dissolution we have been studying (sense of falling, hallucinations, appearance of smoke, bright light, intermediate states, etc.). The reason for studying death is that we are all going to die. We must, therefore, live a good life and be prepared to calmly face our death.

While reading the final volume of this trilogy, I could not help but to relate Studs' life and his untimely death to what we are learning in this module. I found it strangely coincidental that something so random as a book on a list seemed to be guiding me along my spiritual path. Perhaps people with strong spiritual traditions experience this quite often, but it made me feel as if I am finally on the correct path.

Namaste

Family Vacation 2013: Retrospective

This was my seventh cruise in the past five years - six of which have been "adult" charter cruises. So, it may be fitting to compare and contrast my cruise line experiences. While there is no way to actually compare apples to apples, I now see what I am getting for the extra money spent on those adult cruises: nightly theme parties, top-notch entertainers, and relaxing quiet time by the pool.

For this cruise, I really enjoyed the three days at sea - particularly the last two days spent slowly sailing home. This provided a nice vacation for the body allowing time to just sit in the sun, read, chat, laugh, and spend quality time with my sister. It has been some time since I have spent an entire week with my biological family, but seeing everyone at dinner each evening allowed for relaxed conversation as we all told stories of how we spent the day. 

My date and room mate

Although there were roaming packs of teenagers everywhere, my nieces chose to keep each other company during the day. In the evenings, I had the exquisite privilege of escorting my 18 year old niece, Kristin, to late night stage shows, competitions, disco parties, and strolls through the casino. To others, I may have appeared as a creepy old man hanging out with a very young woman, but I was overjoyed to spend my evenings squiring her around the ship before she heads off for her first year of college. We were also sharing a room for the week; it was like the best slumber party ever!

Apples and Oranges

I have now cruised on 3 different cruise lines: Holland America, Star Clipper, and Royal Caribbean. Each has advantages and disadvantages:

Royal Caribbean: 

Dad and Linda

The Good: Spacious rooms with lots of storage, efficient boarding and disembarkation process, all-you-can-drink premium passes for $55/day, family oriented activities, excellent specialty restaurants, friendly event staff, international staff mainly of Hispanic and Caribbean origin, family-oriented.
The Bad: Tiny verandas due to larger rooms, inefficient tendering process, serve-yourself buffets, average food quality, limited food service times, pedestrian entertainment options, the adults-only pool is under glass and allows 16 years and up (those kids never get out of the hot tubs), ice buckets are by request only.

Star Clipper: 

Kaitlin

The Good: Romantic sailing adventures in tall masted sailing ships, dining room tables are all eight-tops requiring you to meet and greet your fellow passengers, small friendly staff, more exotic destinations since the ship does not require a deep water harbor.
The Bad: As you can imagine, the rooms are quite small, the amenities are limited, dining is during specific hours (no sleeping in), food is of average quality (lunches were outstanding), limited entertainment options, days tends to be early-to-bed and early to rise - unless there is a party! 

Holland America

The Good: Large verandas (chaise lounge size), cook to order breakfast, the buffet is not serve yourself and is open from 6:00 AM to 3:00 AM, excellent specialty restaurants, room staff is efficient and friendly, ships are designed to accommodate both the sun lover and those who prefer the shade, private poolside cabanas for rent, international staff mainly of Filipino descent, affordable bottle service in your room, ice buckets are always full, very relaxed atmosphere.
The Bad: No all-you-can-drink passes, $0.75 / minute internet service

Full Disclosure

I have been on five Holland America cruises and my opinion could be influenced by the fish bowl nature of an all adult cruise experience as compared to the kid-friendly atmosphere of Royal Caribbean. I mean, clothing optional decks are out of the question with so many free-range children and herds of impressionable teenagers roaming the ship.

Additionally, I am booked on another Star Clipper cruise in February 2014. With these trips there may not be the hotel feeling of a large cruise ship, but the romance of boarding a sailing ship with 200 potential new friends is irresistible.

Family Vacation 2013: Food

Good thing the formal night was early in the week.

Food, glorious food!
What wouldn't we give for
That extra bit more --
That's all that we live for
Why should we be fated to
Do nothing but brood
On food,
Magical food,
Wonderful food,

Glorious food!

In my limited experience, when you ask someone about their cruise vacation, they may mention the weather, but invariably there will be talk about the volumes of food consumed. Throughout the day and at every turn there are buffets, cookouts, snack bars, dining rooms, and restaurants. All but the specialty restaurants are included in your ticket price.

In many ways, a cruise is indeed an all inclusive trip. Purchase a few add-ons such as the bottomless soft drink ticket or an all-you-can-drink premium pass, and the spigot never turns off. Food, drink, fun, and merriment is sure to be the result.

For breakfast each member of our party was pretty much on their own. The breakfast buffet overflowed with slightly warm breakfast choices from around the world.  Unfortunately, I have a tiny bit of an aversion to serve-yourself buffets. While parents think it is so adorable for their four year old darling to serve themselves from the buffet line, I only see a 30 pound germ bag digging around in the food I was thinking of eating. By the end of the week, my breakfast selections ended up being a bowl of hot oatmeal, a cup of yogurt, and a banana.

For lunch, I would meet my sister and nieces for an afternoon nosh around the solarium (adults only) pool. The small deli bar had salads, hot and cold sandwiches, and juice. The chorizo quesadilla was really tasty.

Dinner, on the other hand was a more formal affair. We had 8:30 dining room reservations providing plenty of time to shower, dress, and perhaps catch an early show before sitting down to a three course meal. This was really the only time we were all together throughout the day, so there were plenty of topics for conversation as we all got caught up sharing our experiences from the day.



The ship's dining room seats 1250 people and there are two seatings a night. The menu descriptions of the food tend to over promise and under deliver. Serving that many people in 90 minutes twice a night, requires banquet style service. So everyone is being served sort of warm food all at once. The food wasn't really bad, but it wasn't really good either.

The specialty restaurants, on the other hand were outstanding. Our ship had both a family-style Italian restaurant and a steak house:

Giovanni's Kitchen: This is not your local Italian fare of pizza and lasagna. Instead, it is a full service restaurant specializing in upscale Italian fare served in the Italian style: Antipasti, soup/salad, pasta, protein, and dessert. Woof! Each diner chooses an appetizer and/or salad course, then pasta courses are served family style (i.e. in large bowls), then each diner chooses an entree. The appetizers were large enough to share and it was all I could do not to fill up on the lovely carpaccio and antipasti platters. The mushroom risotto was outstanding as were the broiled tiger prawns. All that topped off with Italian pressed coffee and a giant scoop of tiramisu prepared the way it is supposed to be. I could barely walk when dinner was over, but it was one of the best meals I have had all year.

 

Family Style, Indeed!

 

The risotto was a winner

Moo

Baa

What sound do prawns make?

Creamy and full of liquor!As it should be.

Chops Grille: It has an extra "e" so it has to be good. What can you say about a steak house? The wine was yummy, the food was delicious and cooked the way I ordered it, the service was impeccable. Either my stomach was sufficiently stretched to accommodate more food or I was getting better at choosing smaller portions since this dinner ended with me feeling comfortable and content.

The specialty restaurant experiences only served to highlight the mediocrity of the dining room's fare. But, I have to admit that the dining room staff do a good job of getting diners in and out without making them feel rushed.

Dining room meals are included in the cost of the cruise ticket. There are also options to eat at the serve-yourself buffet for both lunch and dinner. Add-on charges for the specialty restaurants are $20 per person for Giovanni's and $30 per person for Chops Grille. Alcohol is not included.       

And while I just may sound a little like an ungrateful food snob in the above descriptions, the extra pounds I picked up feasting my way to and from the Caribbean have been a great incentive for adding a few extra miles to my weekly runs. Fortunately, this year's bathing suit season is nearly behind us.

Family Vacation 2013: Excursions

Vodka tonics ward off the malaria

Saturday, our first full day at sea, was sunny with some scattered showers. We were sailing into a head wind, so it was necessary to hold onto your clothes, hats, and wigs if you were planning to sun yourself on the upper decks. I started the day with a nice run, followed by a few Bloody Maries to start the day (BTW, what is the plural of Bloody Mary?). Then found a chair to sun myself and have a few after lunch, afternoon, and before dinner cocktails. It was a lovely day of relaxation.

Wanda, Kristin, Kaitlin, and Glenn

In my pre-cruise planning I intended to avoid excursions. Instead, I thought I would have some quality time on board and maybe have a few spa treatments while all the families were ashore enjoying the sites. But, my sister and nieces needed a fourth person to fill out their kayaking party. I was thrilled to be asked and happy to share the time with three of my favorite people. 

Sunday we awoke off the coast of Florida. We were docked at Cape Canaveral around 10:00 AM and were off the ship shortly afterwards for our Kayaking at Manatee Cove excursion. 

Cheesecake!

The cynic in me thought that we would either be hitting a tourist destination where manatees were held captive for our enjoyment or we would spend two hours in a kayak and never spot a manatee. I was wrong on both counts. 

The spot where we set off in our kayaks is a rather large cove off of the Indian River. Apparently this cove provides the manatees with all the things they love, such as fresh warm water, vegetation, and kayaks to rub up against. As soon as we had everyone in the water, we started seeing manatee noses poking above the surface. Then there were backs and tails and flippers and manatees rubbing against our kayaks. Of course we were warned not to touch, but it was impossible not to sneak a tickle and a rub as they surfaced around our kayaks. My niece, Kaitlin, was so excited she stated that having rubbed a manatee, she could die a happy person. Being much closer to that milestone, I was simply happy to scratch something off my bucket list. 

Kayaking Cuties!

For the "where's Glenn" collection

After floating with the manatees, we headed out for a relaxing nature tour in our kayaks. There were all sorts of birds, fish, and some bottle nose dolphins (in the distance) for us to see. Kaitlin was a great kayaking companion. We had another opportunity to float among the manatees on our return to the boat launch. We had a “road kill” experience with a manatee who surfaced right in front of our kayak as we were heading to shore – we simply skimmed across its back, no harm done, but I guess manatees always have the right-of-way, regardless if they are in the cross walk or not. 

That bump in the water on the left is our road kill victim

A thunderstorm blew up on the way back to the ship. Our tour guide had arranged for us to stop at an Indian River Orange stand where we purchased a few jars of marmalade and some delicious fudge. As we headed out, we discovered that there was a leak directly over Wanda’s seat. Whenever the bus would slow down or speed up in traffic, a bucket’s worth of water would pour down on her. Even fudge could not make that a better experience. 

The "Bates" Orange Grove / Fudge / Taxidermy Stand

Monday, we pulled alongside the cruise line’s private island, Coco Kay in the Bahamas. Wanda and Kristin went para sailing and I took another kayaking trip. The excursion’s description did not mention that all the kayaks were tandems. Luckily I got paired with a nice Economics professor who kept me company as I rowed. He made some effort, but in the end, he was simply moving his paddles in the proper manner. Perhaps he was unaware that the paddles must actually touch the water to have any effect. I consoled myself with thoughts of all the calories I was burning following our dinner at Giovanni’s the previous night. So, no harm done, it was a nice morning on the water. 

Unfortunately, a little after lunch, we were rained out and had to return to the ship. Those darn isolated thunderstorms continued to chase us across the ocean. Must be time for a nap!

Upon reflection, I will have to do a little math, but I think that with this trip, the Bahamas are now the most visited country in all my travels. Hmmm - it may be time to remedy that with another visit to Mexico, Canada, England, Italy.....

Family Vacation 2013: All Aboard!

After our six hour drive to Baltimore followed by a seafood feast we were in bed pretty early Thursday night.

The hotel offered both free breakfast and free parking for our week at sea. We had a 10:00 reservation on the hotel shuttle to take us to the Baltimore docks, so our morning was relaxed and unhurried.

At breakfast, I steered clear of the egg nuggets or whatever those clumps of yellow, chalky clusters were supposed to be. Instead, I had some yogurt, a banana, and some hash brown potatoes to start the day. My youngest niece needed some sandals and sunglasses, so she and I hiked over to the Walmart and did a bit of early morning, last minute cruise shopping. She looked great in her Wayfarers!

The Gang on the Gangway

Linda and Dad

Our shuttle arrived on time, we loaded in, and were heading up the gangway to check in at 10:30 sharp. The previous night, when we were arranging our departure time, I whined and complained more than a little about getting to the docks too early. In my past experience, arriving too early only meant standing in line for an hour to get checked in. My recommendation was to leave around noon to avoid the early crowds. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised upon our arrival to see that the check-in lines were quite short.

Note to self – relax, give up control, let others make decisions, just be where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there, have fun.

Obligatory Boarding Picture

 

Delicious Vodka Soup

Upon boarding, we learned that our rooms would not be ready until 1:00, so we headed to the pool area, had a few adult breakfast drinks, and watched our shipmates arrive. The day went smoothly from there on out.

A Room with a View

There were bottles of champagne awaiting us in our rooms. Our luggage arrived quickly and our unpacking went smoothly. The sail away party and sunset were lovely and dinner in the dining room was better than expected.

We have a great week ahead of us!

Sail Away Party

Sunset from the Veranda Room 7524

Family Vacation 2013: To the Caribbean via Baltimore

It has been a while since I vacationed with the family. The next several blog posts are dedicated to capturing the good, bad, and tasty experiences of a week at sea with my father, his girlfriend, my sister and nieces.

"I never get to go anywhere," said Roxy, petulantly.

On the first day of vacation, everything went smoothly. Our people and their luggage all fit into the van. I won the largest suitcase competition, but in my defense a guy needs an adequate supply of costume changes to get through a week at sea. There were a few traffic slowdowns and one road construction detour in Washington DC that confused the GPS, but other than that it was a smooth trip from Raleigh to Baltimore. 

Seaside Crabhouse, which is surprisingly nowhere near the seaside

After freshening up, we met in the lobby and the desk clerk gave us directions to a local crab house for dinner.  For the most part, I am a bit averse to interacting too forcefully with my food. In the case of seafood, however, I am a beast. I am happy to rip a mollusk’s flesh from its shell, to crack the leg of a succulent crap and dredge the slightly salty flesh through some warm drawn butter, and peel a pound of sweet steamed shrimp for dipping in a spicy cocktail sauce. I love seafood, particularly in the summer, so I was more than delighted to split a seafood steamer pot with Linda. We each had plenty of our favorites and at the end of the night we had the dirty fingers to prove we had enjoyed the spread. 

Upon returning to the hotel, my niece Kaitlyn and I immediately curled into our beds and went to sleep.  All was well in the world, but I was a bit concerned about sharing a room with a light sleeper. According to those in the know, I am not a snore-all-night sort of guy, but I was a bit nervous that my intermittent snoring would ruin this princess’s sleep. I did not want to be the pea under her mattress preventing her from enjoying our week at sea.

At breakfast the next morning she proclaimed that I was very considerate in my snoring except for the one time I reached a crescendo and actually woke myself up. I blame the pillows. 

I am sticking to that story.