Random thoughts on a rainy day

• I’m off to the prison in Concord this afternoon to meditate with inmates and to study the second part of Chapter 6, "Skillful Effort," in Gunaratana’s Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness. I’m really enjoying reading the book.
• I’m hoping the torrential rain eases off before the one hour drive, which will be longer because of the weather.
• Nick Kristof has an interesting piece about how the evolutionary history of our brains skews political priorities: "Americans spend nearly $700 billion a year on the military and less than $3 billion on the F.D.A., even though food-poisoning kills more Americans than foreign armies and terrorists."
• I’m getting used to it, but I often used to be thrown by the New York Times’ consistent use of "from … to" rather than the (I believe) more common "to … from." For instance, today I read "The American economy shed 467,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent." To me it’s more natural to place the numbers in chronological order, and to say "rose from 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent." It may be that I only notice this usage because it stands out in my mind as awkward, and ignore many "to … from" constructions in the NYT, but my impression is that it is a consistent usage and a mandated part of their style. I don’t think it’s wrong, just unusual.
• I’ve loved vampires ever since I was a teenager. And here’s an article about vamps in contemporary culture. Unfortunately the author seems to think that the modern fascination began with the Twilight series (2005 – 2008), which I’m not going to read, having received enough assurances that it’s diabolically awful. She seems not to have heard of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, which were best sellers (1976 – 2001) and made into two movies (1994 & 2002), nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003). And vampire movies were incredibly popular in the 1960s and 1970s (think Hammer Horror). I’m not sure the genre has ever been off the radar. But the article reminds me I want to start watching True Blood, and that I want to read The Strain. And I was also delighted to hear that a sequel to The Hunger is on the way. Presumably David Bowie won’t be in this one.

2 Responses to “Random thoughts on a rainy day”

1. Bobby says:

   July 2, 2009 at 11:26 am

   Have you seen the trailer for “Daybreakers”? It looks like a potentially interesting twist on the vampire genre. I’ve read Gunaratana’s “Mindfulness in Plain English” and enjoyed it – although his summary description of the “sign” or “counter-part sign” of meditation left me feeling a little perplexed and wanting a little more depth and detail than he was willing to provide in that book, as perhaps it would have belied the promise of “plain english”. I’m curious to read more of him.
   • bodhipaksa says:

     July 2, 2009 at 9:03 pm

     Hi Bobby. No, I haven’t seen that trailer, but I’ll check it out right now.

     Gunaratana is generally very clear, but sometimes when it comes to describing certain experiences his descriptions certainly don’t correspond with my own experience and understanding. This is the case with the eightfold path book, although as I said I’m enjoying it for the most part.