Month: June 2006

From San Francisco to New York…

We’ve been in New York now for a couple of nights… after Tai-Chi camp ended on Friday we did just a little bit of work that night, but then we managed in three days, one day each, to:

  • Pack Our Entire Apartment
  • Move Our Belongings to Storage
  • Clean up the Apartment

The experience was exhausting; on Saturday we packed until 3:00AM, slept two and half hours, then woke up again at 5:30AM to continue packing. We left around 8:00AM to get coffee, then I went on to rent a truck and pick up a friend while Lisa went back to continue packing. My friend and I got the apartment, picked up our digital piano, went to his place and reassembled it for him to take care of, then back to the apartment. There, two other friends met up and we all moved everything for the next two hours. Lisa and I then drove to Santa Rosa to put everything in storage, came back, and then did a little cleaning before heading to our friend’s place to stay the night. We weren’t able to sleep too much as we had to return the truck very early in the morning, so after that we got some breakfast and then proceeded to clean the apartment for the rest of the day until we had to stop to get dinner with some friends.

The following Tuesday we took care of last minute things in SF, including a last brief period of cleaning and throwing away stuff, then finished off the experience with a nice trip to Kabuki Spa to finally use a gift certificate Lisa had given me a couple years ago as a present. (The trip to the spa was absolutely fantastic and incredibly welcome in relieving the exhaustion of the previous nights).

A very nice dinner that night with our friends who were letting us stay with them, a final trip to Bob’s Doughnuts, and then a movie to finish out the night.

The following morning, a small bit of last minute checking up on things, then a minute fiasco with getting picked up for the airport, but then we were on our way. We had been so busy the past six weeks that I don’t think it even sunk in for me until that morning that yes, we were going to be in New York, that five days later we’d be in Warsaw, then after that would be living there for almost a year.

So now, just taking in the city, walking around amongst a landscape of memories of a previous life here, finding myself detached but curious, life still a bit of a dream but very happy to enjoy the time with my brother, cousin, and dear friends from New York.

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Tai Chi Camp 2006

Last week was our fourth camp with Lenzie and our Tai-Chi family and it was as special and wonderful an experience as ever…

This year’s camp came as welcome relief from the stress of the process of leaving and moving to another country. I think for most of us it was a time to step away from the world and to work on something we all love, as well as a time to live simply and to be able to reflect on the lives we live and the life lived since the last camp. For many, the past year was filled with many trials and losses, and with news the night before that Nelly from Holland had passed away, the camp began on a quiet and introspective tone.

Through the next couple of days, Lenzie guided us to very advanced concepts and ideas and worked with us a great deal to both understand mentally and physically these lessons, and especially to experience them to really get to know them. Well, it will really take years to get to really know these ideas, but through the experiences and teachings gained through those days, the doors were opened, and now it is only for us to take the steps through and to embody the ideas ourselves.

It was great to see the many friends from class and previous camps, to catch up with each other, as well as to meet new friends and to get to know them. The camps have really been extremely special in so many ways, and it’s always an honor to be amongst such a wonderful group of human beings.

By the end of camp, I felt that the days had gone by all too quickly and wished they could have lasted so much longer, but yet the days felt full and rich, each day filled with experiences. It was sad for us to not only say goodbye from camp but also to say goodbye to our friends and teacher for the following year. I will miss seeing them all every week, but hope to continue diligently with training and continuing to develop what was learned this camp.

And of course, I will be looking very forward to seeing them all again, and am already looking forward to next year’s camp! ^_^

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Ligeti Passed Away Today

I read on a mailing list today that Gyorgy Ligeti passed away. The article that was posted is here.

Since I first came to know of him, I have long respected him and his music.  Today it is gray outside and quiet, even more a reminder of the loss of a great human being.

My Friends from Eveo

Today starts my last week at work at Eveo… I’ve been working here almost 3.5 years and this has been the only job I’ve had since moving to San Francisco, and so looking back at my time here in SF I associate a great deal of it with the experiences of this job. I had thought the other day that as workers we spend a great deal of our time together, and so all the more reason that it is so lucky that I have had the chance to work with a really great group of people that I can consider my dear friends.

Farewell Dinner

Thursday last week, my company put together a farewell dinner for me at a very nice restaurant Bocce in North Beach. The food was delicious and the company fantastic; a very warm night with good conversation and many meaningful words spoken. At the end of dinner, my friends surprised me with a present: a Creative Vision:M portable mp3/photo/video player! My friend Alex organized the purchasing of the present and knew just the one to get. (After all these years it’s my first mp3 player!). I was very touched by the present and it has been just fantastic.

After dinner, most of moved on to a bar, then on to a private karaoke room. We spent the rest of the night singing away our favorite tunes. ^_^ It was as nice a celebration as I’ve ever had, and one which I will remember very fondly.

Endless Lunch in the Park

On Sunday, Corinne, Mike, Alex, Nick and I got together with our signficant others at Golden Gate Park for a Barbecue. Beer, food, and playing a lot of hacky sack made for a nice, long get together of friends. The day was overcast and a bit chilly, but the company was warm and the hours spent seemed all too short, or perhaps just not enough.

While walking from the park at the end of our time there, I wondered to myself why we hadn’t been doing this before? It really was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday. I guess it’s only now that the time of year is amenable to such excursions, but I guess it wasn’t just a matter of getting together at the park but simply just getting together.

I’ll miss my friends here very much and will value spending the time with them that I can until we leave for Warsaw. I know already that this group of people will likely never again all work together, so am grateful for the time that this brief part of our individual histories came together. I am sure too that there will be another “Endless Lunch” ahead when Lisa and I return from Warsaw, and will be looking forward to again seeing my friends.

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the leaves in the wind…

Today at lunch we sat at the park by Levi’s Plaza and there I sat looking up at the trees, the leaves gently moving about in the wind.  Since the first time I was in Poland it’s been one of my most favorite experiences in life, to look up at trees and watching the leaves, whether it is during the day or at dusk or dawn when it is only silhouettes one sees.

Sitting there today, looking up, the thought came across my mind that if the rest of my days were spent simply looking up at the trees, fascinated by and appreciative of these beautiful gestures, it would have been a life well lived…

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Maslow – Creativity and Self-Actualizing People

This morning on my way into work I was rereading the chapter of Abraham Maslow’s Toward a Psychology of Being entitled “Creativity and Self-Actualizing People” and absolutely loved it. He talks about creativity and how it shows up in many people and places outside of the common notions of creativity (paintings, music, literature). There’s one line regarding something about a housewife he knew and how he much preferred her first-rate cake to a second-rate painting…

I think what resonated most about the article to me was the highlighting of creativity as being not in the product but in the individual’s actions and way of looking at things. It’s been on my mind lately that much of our works of art are a result of our character and the state of being we bring to the table when going to work, and less so as a result of technique or something inherent to the product itself.