| Strange and fatal ramblings.... |
[May. 16th, 2006|08:55 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Mt olive NJ | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  peaceful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | none - peace | ] |
This may seem like a strange post…
While driving home from work today, I saw someone get hit by a car.
Well, rather it was not someone, but it was a large raccoon.
But is he/she/it not a someone to another he she it?
It made me think about how short and brief life can be, and how perilous – in an instant things can change.
Perhaps this is just a midlife crisis thought (my birthday was this weekend, and thanks for the spanking guys), and certainly it is in a small way. For those of you who do not know, I have lost a few good friends, a parent, and I myself almost perished in a silly incident years ago.
This causes perspective, I would say – it inspired me to live my life more…more love, more adventure, more chances and more life.
The raccoon managed to get back up, and limped off the road…but just like the time I survived. However, but living near a road, he like the rest of us will eventually face our end.
Really. I have a few friends who are walking that path of losing a parent, and for them I am sorry…but at the same time, I am happy for them, as they realize they are nearing that milestone, when in reality, all of us are upon it. Sure we meander for a while, but eventually, it is inevitable.
While some might think this is a depressing post – it is not. It is a happy one.
For while some of my loved ones (including friends) may have reached the end of their road before I have mine, I acknowledge them, and look around and share love with those who are sill on this side of the trail with me.
Do not be sad my friends at our mortality – but instead rejoice in the life we do have, and in what we can do for ourselves and others.
A friend of mine asked for a hug recently – and I gave happily – for sharing that sincere human touch of the heart is what we are – for if we hide it behind our fears and walls, who is it really who has gone?
I am happy and lucky to be alive my friends and I rejoice in the fact that while I am on this side of the trail with you, I can share with you that which we all have – life.
But even when our numbers are few or gone, I will still have it, for in reality, since our place in life I really just a chronological coincidence, love and life, truly are eternal.
Peace and love my friends, peace and love. |
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| All the world’s a stage… |
[Mar. 20th, 2006|10:28 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | peaceful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | jean michelle jarre | ] |
Hello my friends. Thins are well in DaveLand.
Say a the Dallas Shakespeare put company put on a staged reading of “The Merchant of Venice” this weekend. I did not know it was a staged reading before I went, and to let you know, if I would have known before I went, I would have not.
For those who don’t know, a staged reading is where the actors do not have costumes or sets, are not quite off book (they carry them open on stage) and do not leave the stage – they sit in chairs when not up in the space. It also has very limited blocking.
Back to teaching Dave a lesson – like I said, I do not care for staged readings. Furthermore, this time of year is quite busy for me, with working out of state during the week and with my weekends taken up with teaching and rehearsing for upcoming shows. This was a Friday night, prime time – and I almost left – as my time IS my most precious commodity these days.
But I stayed – and I was humbled. It was almost more engaging than a full production, and the magically crafted words of Shakespeare were honored by the actors who shared them with the audience. With the minimalist emphasis on the physical (set, costume, sound, tech, etc.) all you had were the words and the actors which gave them life every moment.
By not leaving stage (they merely sat in the back when not “on”) the actors in a way became another layer in the production – you could watch them lend focus, study their lines, follow the script or …at times…hang on the dialogue just as the observer on the other side of that even more nebulous forth wall.
I was humbled not only by the lesson of judging that which I only think I know, but the script and the actors which played it. The Merchant of Venice is quite a piece – which in today’s politically correct society would be considered quite – insensitive. Even the Pachino version cut out some of the truly offending commentary – but the director here daringly chose to let the words flow – and flow they did. I applaud the decision, for to hide it (or to gag Huckleberry Finn for it’s content) would be a crime.
Yes, the Merchant of Venice has some offensive language in it – for our time. But to ignore, hide, or even deny that the character’s actions where NOT offensive at one time – would be even more of an offense – an offense to the honesty as to who we are as a species.
Oh, what is it about, and what offensive language? Read it, see it. You may or may not be offended – but you WILL be amazed and entrhallaed…
Peace and love my friends, peace and love
Dpak
“..and we are merely players…” |
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| This that and the other.... |
[Jul. 29th, 2005|06:38 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | my apt is set up! | ] |
| [ | music |
| | fini tribe | ] |
Hello my friends....
Lots of stuff to update...lots of stuff going on. Where to begin? It matters not.
Well, first off, my recent vacation was just amazing. Words and pictures are but pale shadows of the events of the days, even though I have an abundance of both of them. I will post a few of each later....
But it was an wonderfully profound experience ...I was at a spirtual retreat in a redwood forest in southern california....one of the most odd but eventually enlightening experiences was a conjoined feeling of being so increadibly alive and able, yet being just one simple humble entity amid a countless vast sea of living beings.
Even these words feel shallow for conveying the feeling of being a single drop in the current of the sea.
peace and love my friends,
peace and love.
dpak
"the more I give in life, the more I receive" |
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| Horses, gimpy kings and guns+marriage? |
[Jun. 26th, 2005|01:51 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | pleased | ] |
| [ | music |
| | this mortal coil | ] |
Hello my friends....
Just a quick two points:
Richard III - Shakespeare dallas production.
Go see it.
Some very good acting, some exceptional acting, and some very nice costumes. They were very tight overall for so soon into their run. Highly recommended.
Of course, the bard's dialog was just amazing....
now, of course, me bursting out laughing when Richard says in the battle "A horse, my kingdom for a horse!!!"..... (if you have seen one of our MPIII shows, you might get that).
This show was cerebral food for the soul.
Mr. and Mrs Smith -
If you go into this looking for a lot of fun, and good chemistry between the main actors, you will have a good time. I did. Now, dont pay too much attention to the overall implausibility of the plot, or some of the logic behind it....heck, that would ruin about 99% of the movies out there.
For the pure entertainment value, this was a rollicking ride of fun, kind of a cross between action/adventure and romantic comedy. Heck, even I paid full price....(that is rare).
all in all, a wonderful weekend - and those were not even the high points!
peace my friends.
Dave
"ok, so like, it is 3am...the ducks are sleeping" |
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| I am home!!!!!!! |
[Jun. 23rd, 2005|09:09 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | none yet. | ] |
ahem...um....sorry.
:)
and the new fish are doing fine.
:)
peace,
dpak |
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| New additions to the family... |
[Jun. 17th, 2005|10:25 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | content | ] |
| [ | music |
| | nyman | ] |
Hello my friends.....
I am doing well, in New Hampshire right now....training on new things (I would say exciting...but, hey that would just prove me to be a dork).
Doing well...heck, I will actually be working in Texas soon!
Wooooohooo!!
Anyway, got some new fish at home and slowly unpacking and setting in.
One of my fav fish is now back in my tank....a long nosed hawk fish.
yes, besides my schitzo clown, I have a fish that cannot swim!
(he is the fish in my icon).
Got a few others too...but they dont get icons...at least not yet!
Had a good meeting with one of the instructors for my next psychology class....very enlightening stuff...and of course, like many things, my newest lessons are in tune with events in my life...of course, perhaps they are always like that for everyone...maybe we just do not always see it.
Oh an a big thanks to pat, for the extra call on his last movie....I got a tiny bit part as a bouncer...but hey, better to be type cast then not cast at all!
;)
peace my friends, may you all be well.
dave |
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| Ups and downs.... |
[Jun. 5th, 2005|09:39 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | some muziak at the coffee bar | ] |
Hello my friends…
It pays to smile…
Bad news: storms on the east coast have caused me to not be able to fly from Atlanta to Maine tonight.
Good news: I found out about the second delay BEFORE I left for Atlanta.
Yeah, lots of delays tonight…some folks at the airport were a bit…um…upset.
Me, I was thrilled that I found out NOW, and basically have a free night here in town, and do not have to sleep in the Atlanta airport.
Of course, there is that getting up but early for my flight tomorrow, buy hey, beats the heck out of sleeping on the floor next to a trash compactor.
It is the small things that make me happy.
;)
peace,
Dave |
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| Stand Clear!!!! |
[Jun. 3rd, 2005|04:02 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | None ...still at work! | ] |
Hello my friends....
It looks like this weekend I WILL be throwing at the highland games in arlington!!!
(or at least at the time I am writing this).
Since I have not been weight training for this or practicing, I do not expect to break any of my personal records....however, I can wear my kilt, tennis shoes and drink water from a plastic bottle with my friends for the day!!!
Might even pick up a Utili-Kilt for later "churching".
I will try to post pics later from my visit to a local (well, local in Maine) State Park.
peace,
Dave
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| Maybe I deserved that one.... |
[Jun. 2nd, 2005|09:02 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  nostalgic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | finitribe | ] |
SMACK!!!!
Having a decent time in Maine right now, even got some free time yesterday to spend a few hours in a nearby state park...might post the pics later. Very tranquil time, with tress, waves and rough hewn rocks. In small tidal pools I got to see small worlds where all the denizens shared the nutrient rich brackish bath in their own little world.
Life is good, even when it has its ups and down's...even when we are responsible for some of the downs...but hopefully the wisdom will come such that we are not the instruments of our own (and others) dismay.
peace and love my friends,
Dave |
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| Bawhahahahhahahahah! (or - I am so easily amused) |
[May. 23rd, 2005|10:22 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | fini tribe and m.nyman | ] |
Hello my friends!
Well, I actually have a lot of write about …but am not!
(sure, do you want to hear about how I spent sunday night after faire crossing New Hampshire?)
but while relaxing this week after work, I was looking at some new gadget, and came across this English translation of a Korean web site….and had to share.
From google translation:
"With the fact that the HDTV does the good son job of the home appliance industry the HDTV relation new goods continuously will dance together even from multimedia PC but and stagnates the spring wind to the PC market which it inspires."
and
"The feature of the product which becomes the poem which it will dance in this time to use 5 generation HDTV reception chips.”
And who said technology wouldn’t be funny?
Peace my friends,
Dave |
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| Some things change.... |
[May. 10th, 2005|01:29 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | calm | ] |
| [ | music |
| | enigma - cross of changes | ] |
Hello my friends….
Well, it has been quite a busy time recently, finishing my move to Carrollton with school days and working from home has been quite a strain, but for the most part things are settling back down.
Today I came across a reading that reminded me of some recent changes in my life, and it had to do with the desire for stability in a person’s life. Stability is very important for most folks, and quite a bit for me (my mom says it is because I am a Taurus).
Here is the reading which inspired my ramble Self as Sanctuary Daily Om
And the ( ensuing Ramble... )
Peace my friends,
Dave |
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| Broken ground, snowy branches and process flow diagrams.... |
[Apr. 14th, 2005|09:03 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | contemplative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | None, but I was singing earlier.... | ] |
Some ramblings from Northern Lattitudes....
Fleeting…life if fleeting…but what does that mean?
Really.
I am just killing time right now, not wanting to get back to work, but wanted to write something….in the middle of wading through a bunch of mundane business and technical gobbligook, I find my gaze drawn to the peaceful tranquility of the woods outside my hotel room….
Earlier today (in the daylight) I took a serious gander at them…filled with wild trees and jutting rocks, they are almost primordial in nature with the small patchs of snow that seem to be resisting the warmth and holding out for a return to falling flakes…
Spring has not come here yet, with the trees and foliage stilly lying dormant in the crisp air, testament to the endurance and patience of nature…
I would not be half surprised to see a moose at my car in the morning as I depart this almost desolate landscape, to travel back to my “home” …interesting that than it is…but what is it really?
With relocating I feel the both the sense of loss for that lands behind me, while facing a new season ahead….but in reality, those special to me are always there, even when the seasonal wind seems to chill us to the bone, but I am no more alone than a tree within the forest….which, even though it is dark now, I know they are there.
Peace and love my friends, peace and love.
David |
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| Cool....online again!!! |
[Apr. 5th, 2005|09:47 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | pleased | ] |
| [ | music |
| | none.... | ] |
Tales of the RoadWarrior….
Hello my friends….well, I am on day 2 of my new job, and so far so good….it feels really more like day one as most of my first day was spent traveling, then they took me to a baseball game…the Pirates’ opener.
Yes, I spent the first day on the job watching live baseball from killer seats….
;)
Today was tons of info and forms and rules and blah blah ….tons of stuff…like wow..total information overload. However the good news is that tomorrow and Thursday I am billable (for those of you in the “must generate value” type of job, you can understand how cool that is). I will be one of two trainers for a class near Pittsburgh, should be fun, I actually got to look over the material today.
Pennsylvania is quite interesting….and hilly…very different from Texas…you can tell lots of folks have lived here for a while in the limited space…I only got lost once down town…(yeah, that was fun…but hey, at least I was not late for my first day on the job).
Ok, now the fun part….I am sending this post on a hijacked network. Yeah, my new computer has got wireless networking, and while the condo am in is not equipped as such, at least THREE of my neighbors are running networks with no security. Ahhh yes, I am a Bit Pirate!!!!
Arrrrr….
Um, anyway, so far so good…I will be back in Texas late Thursday night, then off to Dallas this weekend, then next week up to Boston and Maine…
It will be nice to get back to scarby…as spring has hit there, and things are green…the cool part….I get to do it again, up here.
OH, this past weekend, got a lot of stuff loaded up and moved to DFW...BIG thanks to Rob, Beavis, Jo, and Caryl - got a lot of stuff done....but have even more to go!!!!
Peace and love my friends,
Dave “the RoadWarrior” Pak |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 31st, 2005|05:04 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  rushed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | peter gabriel's passion | ] |
Changes in Dave’ World…
Hello folks …just a personal update here.
Ok, as some of you may know, I have recently got a new job….which I hope will totally rock…although the have already changed my first assignment…Yeah, I got a 98 page lesson plan today, that I will assisting in teaching starting next week….but heck, if I can handle vets in character....
But wait there is more!
Besides me being thrown into the thick of things, I am indeed moving…in fact, I am starting RIGHT NOW. I bring up my first load of heavy things tomorrow (yeah, Friday the first of april…jokes on me!). I am moving some of this stuff into a temporary storage unit (as I have time now that I wont later this month) until my apt is ready.
So, I will really have only a few heavy things, but if anyone could join me for about an hour or so tomorrow night, I will spring for pizza after we are done!
Um…my actual new home will be in Carrollton, but the place I am unloading to is in Garland I think.
Things are going to be a bit hectic as I am starting a new job (working in PA for a while), moving 300 miles, and yeah, that small thing called a five show a day stage act at faire….
Ok, perhaps one note as it were, on a more philosophical level…
Fate threw a few lessons at me this week, all of them on very different topics and circumstances…but in every single one, I had passed up something in the past, only to think that I would be able to take it up again…only to discover that the opportunity was gone…..
Call it either an affirmation, lesson or karmic thunk in the head, but too many times we pass on things, not realizing that some chances in life may really be truly brief, and it is up to us to seize upon them, and not delay…life is far to short for us to second guess things…especially ourselves….
Once more into the breach my friends, once more into the breach!
Peace and love,
Dave
“life is a game, the winners play” dp
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| Bum no more..... |
[Mar. 29th, 2005|12:43 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | busy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | trance from vanilly sky soundtrack | ] |
Personal update and more….
Hello my friends….well, here is a personal update for those of you who might be interested….
I have a new job. It has gone very very quickly…I sent them my resume on the 18th, and got a very good offer on the 25th.
( More Details on Dave’s Job Change… )
Moving right along....
On another front..I had dinner last night with a good friend of mine who happens to be pastor for a local church…while we differ in proscribed faith’s, we do have great conversations about spirituality and religion. One of the interesting factors we discussed was about how it seems that many more popular churchs (of various belief systems) are slowly changing…and getting away from some core rituals and traditions…as it seems that they are trying to make their views more “open” to a larger audience.
Is this a natural shift as our society becomes more aware that we are not alone in the world (big surprise there) and more diverse in tolerance and accecptance? Or is this a result of feeling like organized religion has more become more like the cell phone provider model, where there are a lot of other attractive options out there, and you have to change your service to meet the needs of your customers…
I feel it is a little of both…anyone who studies the history of world religions (with an open mind that is) can tell you that a religion usually changes over time with its host culture, albeit at a much slower rate usually. There are usually institutions that resist this change (sometimes with un-pious methods, but that is another topic altogether) but over all this process occurs regardless of the needs or desires of the few.
Share your thoughts, if you have them…
Peace and love my friends,
Dave
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| Short quizzes .... |
[Mar. 28th, 2005|09:39 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | peaceful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Philip Glass - Closing.....amazing music. | ] |
Ok, being a lemming....
 | You scored as Crow. You are the Crow. You are able to discover your own character and help others find themselves as well. You are very creative in the field you are in and tend to be the intelligent one of the bunch.
Eagle | | 100% | Dragon | | 100% | Crow | | 100% | Bear | | 100% | Stag | | 100% | Fox | | 100% | Salmon | | 100% | Bull | | 83% | Dog | | 83% | Horse | | 75% | Snake | | 67% | Deer | | 67% | Ram | | 50% | Wolf | | 33% | </td>
Which animal totem best suits you?
created with QuizFarm.com |
Perhaps this quiz was too short....I got 100% on several of the animals...fascinating...but then again as a person I love told me this weekend, I am many things all in one, and can quickly change my focus from one facet to another...
peace and love my friends...
Dave |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 24th, 2005|11:20 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  exhausted | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Gladiator Soundtrack | ] |
Hello my friends….
Well as some of you may know, I am in the process of getting a new job, and it is going well…I thank all of you for your support. I had my FIFTH telephone interview today, and even had to write two essays…on strictly a business thing, and the other about a potentially touchy topic….my instructions were to treat it from a more academic approach….and make it less than one page….
I thought I would share it with you folks to see what you think; now personally I could go on for quite some time, but I had to write this puppy 100% on my own and in less than 1 hour. Well I managed to do so, and I hope it does not have too many errors in it….but without further ado, here is
Dave’s Political Analysis Ramble…
( Was the United States Justified in its decision to invade Iraq? )
...and finally...
Soon I will be working on my “Dave’s Romance Advice” articles….be afraid, be very afraid. I think the first topic will be “How to dump a guy and not worry about him cooking your rabbit”.
Peace my friends…
Dave
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dave_the_pak's journal
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