Haikus: December 2012

HAIKUS: December 2012

By Peter Y. Chou
WisdomPortal.com

These haikus were written as exercises in mindfulness—
an attempt to catch the fleeting moment in my daily walks,
while reading, listening to music, and pondering about life.
(Underlined words are not for emphasis but to web links.)
This web page best viewed with Times font size 14.

Saturday, December 1, 2012, 11:08-11:18 am
KDFC 104.9 FM: Angèle Dubeau (violin) & Rachel Laurin (organ) play Tomaso Albinoni/ Remo Giazotto "Adagio for Organ & Strings in G minor", (1945); (Listen) (CD) (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); Albinoni's
"Adagio in G" used in 21 films (1955-2011)

Found in the rubbles
of Dresden— Albinoni's
music rose again. Saturday, December 1, 2012, 2:16-5:00 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Computer Center
"A passion for justice and concern for patients shape this alum's life" (By Linda B. Glaser, Cornell Ezra Magazine, November 2012); Frank Douglas, Cornell Ph.D. '73 M.D. '77, CEO Austen BioInnovation

He was inspired at
Cornell by my mentor
Harold A. Scheraga.

Sunday, December 2, 2012, 3:00-6:30 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me grocery shopping
at Safeway (1750 Miramonte Avenue) and
Smart & Final (141 East El Camino Real);
Los Altos Library (Rhyming Dictionaries)
& meet Rudy at Wal-Mart (Showers Drive)

Peanuts, supreme pizza,
cookies, creamers, tuna fish,
potato salad and nonfat milk. Sunday, December 2, 2012, 8:00-9:46 pm
Stanford Flicks: Cubberley Auditorium;
Seth MacFarlane directs "Ted" (2012) with Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Joel McHale, Giovanni Ribisi, Jessica Barth, Seth MacFarlane (Ted's Voice); (YouTube); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Teddy Bear comes to life
and prevents John getting
closer to his girl friend.

Monday, December 3, 2012, 1:53-6:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Heaven Is Real: A Doctor's Experience With the Afterlife" (Eben Alexander, Newsweek, 10-15-2012); Video; Book; Butterfly angel told him—

You are loved and cherished.
You have nothing to fear.
There's nothing you can do wrong. Monday, December 3, 2012, 1:53-6:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Every Sunday" (aka "Opera vs. Jazz");
1936 short musical film (11 minutes) starring
Deanna Durbin & Judy Garland; Film Review

Edna sings opera, Judy sings jazz
to save grandpa's concert from
being cancelled in the park.

Monday, December 3, 2012, 1:53-6:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"God & the Brain: How We're Wired for Spirituality" (By Sharon Begley, Newsweek, 8-12-2009); Cover

Neuroimaging shows
the brain is preloaded
with belief in God. Monday, December 3, 2012, 1:53-6:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Visions of Heaven" (By Lisa Miller, Newsweek, 3-25-2010); Miller's Book; Newberg's Book; Dickey's Book

NDEs describe tunnel
of light but experience
may be nerves shutting down.

Monday, December 3, 2012, 1:53-6:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Review: Gustavo Dudamel with his Venezuelan orchestra at Zellerbach" (By Richard Scheinin, SJ Mercury News, 11-30-2012); Chicago Sun-Times

Dudamel conducts
"The Night of the Mayas"
by Silvestre Revueltas. Monday, December 3, 2012, 1:53-6:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Pinterest pins hopes for broader appeal on holiday marketing push" (Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times, 11-21-2012); Mercury News (12-2-2012, E1, 5)

Can Pinterest gain
a broader audience or
is it just a popular pastimes?

Monday, December 3, 2012, 7:30-8:55 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Henry Koster directs "Three Smart Girls" (1936); with Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey, Barbara Read, Binnie Barnes, Charles Winninger, Alice Brady, Ray Milland, Mischa Auer; (YouTube); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Three sisters sail to New York
and disrupt Dad re-marrying
a gold-digging woman. Monday, December 3, 2012, 9:05-10:31 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Henry Koster directs "One Hundred Men and a Girl" (1937), with Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou, Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Pallette, Mischa Auer, Frank Jenks, Jack Smart, Billy Gilbert; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3)

Deanna persuades
Leopold Stokowski to conduct
orchestra for unemployed musicians.

Monday, December 3, 2012, 11:30 pm-2:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-Coastam.com
George Noory interviews Jim Sparks (Bio, Web);
"Jim Sparks Update"; BOOKS: "The Keepers: An Alien Message for the Human Race"; YouTube: 1, 2

Alien abductee
by time-travelling ETs
from 500 years in the future. Monday, December 3, 2012, 11:30 pm-2:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-Coastam.com George Noory interviews Howard Bloom (Bio, Web); "A Godless Cosmos"; BOOK: "The God Problem: How A Godless Cosmos Creates"; 3 kinds of Enlightenment:

Oneness with Mother Ocean,
Sparks from conversation,
Sense of awe (Michael Jackson).

Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 12:25-9:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"OPINION: New Love: A Short Shelf Life"
(By Sonja Lyubomirsky, NY Times, 12-2-2012)

Wedded bliss lasts on
the average just two years
and that special joy wears off. Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 12:25-9:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"OPINIONATOR: The Art of Being Still"
(By Silas House, NY Times, 12-1-2012)

When asked how to be
a better writer, James Still said:
"Discover something new every day."

Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 10:00 pm-2:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-Coastam.com George Noory interviews John St. Augustine (Bio, Web);
"Near Life Experiences"; BOOKS: "Every Moment Matters: Savoring the Stuff of Life", "Living an Uncommon Life: Essential Lessons from 21 Extraordinary People"; Synchronicities brought him to John Denver & Oprah Winfrey who inspired him

Two NDES at 19 & 27
and sweat lodge with Elders
brought him spiritual awakening. Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 12:50-6:45 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Writing Notes to Poem "Physician Treating Patient": Buddha, the greatest physician; I. Corinthians 6.19: "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God"; Matthew 6.22:
"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

Our body is not a plant
or a machine but a miracle
filled with rainbow light.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 7:30-9:10 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Norman Taurog directs "Mad About Music" (1938); with Deanna Durbin, Herbert Marshall, Gail Patrick, Helen Parrish,
Jackie Moran, Arthur Treacher, William Frawley; (YouTube); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

She invents explorer father
to impress her classmates
but some don't believe her. Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 9:10-10:45 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Edward Ludwig directs "That Certain Age" (1938), with Deanna Durbin, Melvyn Douglas, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich, John Halliday, Nancy Carroll, Juanita Quigley, Jackie Searl; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Teenage Deanna has crush
on reporter Melvin Douglas
and Jackie Cooper gets jealous.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 11:30 pm-2:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-Coastam.com; George Noory interviews Dr. Bruce Goldberg (Bio, Web);
"Soul Healing"; BOOKS: "Exploring the Fifth Dimension: Parallel Universes, Teleportation and Out of Body Travel", "Soul Healing"; Anti-Goldberg

Time traveler showed
hologram of stegosaurus
to be carved on Cambodian temple. Thursday, December 6, 2012, 12:40-9:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Zi Sheng Wang gave lecture "Tibetan Qigong" at Stanford (4/20/2005); When Master Khenpo Munsel died in a cave, nothing remained of his body except rainbow light; Wang gave me a free copy of his book:

Wang's book has many photos
showing auras around him
during qigong sessions.

Thursday, December 6, 2012, 12:40-9:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Hilary Price's Rhymes with Orange (12-5-2012)
Recipes for Happiness: Inner Peace & Inner Piece

Instead of years practicing
inner peace, just eat that
inner piece of cake for happiness. Thursday, December 6, 2012, 12:40-9:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Astronaut on 12th century Spanish cathedral
in Salamanca built in 1102 (debunked)

Astronaut on 12th century
Spanish cathedral was carved
in 1992 during restoration.

Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
ART REVIEW: A Sun's Influence on a Galaxy of Stars
("Dancing Around the Bride", Philadelphia Museum of Art); Cage's "New River Watercolor Series I (#3)";
Jasper Johns: "Walkaround Time" (1968); Marcel Duchamp's "Creative Act"; "Bride & the Bachelors"

Cage, Cunningham, Johns,
Rauchenberg, and Duchamp,
all dancing around the Bride. Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"The stunning chance-made visual art of John Cage gets its centennial due" (Marion Lignana Rosenberg, capitalnewyork.com, 9-17-2012); "Sight of Silence: John Cage's Complete Watercolors"; New Yorker; National Academy Museum; John Cage's Books

Great Silence emerges
when we allow ourselves
to get out of the way.

Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"Fast start for San Jose teen's YouTube video"
(Mary Gottschalk, SJ Mercury News, 12-4-2012, B3)
"Leave your fears behind, keep your hope alive,
I'll keep on dreaming 'til the world dreams with me"

13-year old Cami Heinkel's
"Keep on Dreaming" video
has 275,000 viewers. Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"Dave Brubeck, jazz legend, dies a day short of 92nd birthday" (By Richard Scheinin, SJ Mercury News,
12-6-2012, A1, 11); 2007 Interview; Top 5 albums; "How we mourn the jazz giant"; "Take Five" (1966)

"I believe in jazz
as the oneness of man can come
through the rhythm of your heart".

Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"DAVE BRUBECK | 1920-2012: His Music Gave Jazz New Pop" (Ben Ratliff, NY Times, 12-6-2012)

"The heartbeat is the first
thing you hear when you're born—
and it's the last thing you hear." Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"Science vs. God: Does Progress Trump Faith?"
(By Wynne Parry, Yahoo! News, 12-6-2012)

Science can't answer
why the universe exists
and the purpose we're here.

Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"A Dark and Itchy Night" (Risky to read in bed)
(By Catherine Saint Louis, NY Times, 12-6-2012)

Bedbugs hitchhiked into beds
through library books
that need decontamination. Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"Why Johnny Carson Never Ever Spoke to Me Again" (By Joan Rivers, Hollywood Reporter, 12-6-2012)

When she left Tonight Show
to do her own late-night show,
Johnny never spoke to her again.

Friday, December 7, 2012, 1:16-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"Birth of new cardiac cells" (Dr. Richard T. Lee)
(By Lori J. Schroth, Harvard Gazette, 12-5-2012)

Multi-isotope imaging
mass spectrometry (MIMS)
found new cardiac cells. Friday, December 7, 2012, 7:30-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Friends' House, 957 Colorado Ave,
Waverley Writers Monthly Poetry Reading—
Open Reading with many reading holiday poems

Read two poems tonight—
"San Francisco Giants Victory Parade"
and "Silence Is Golden".

Saturday, December 8, 2012, 11:12 am-5:00 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"How to build a million-qubit quantum computer"
(Nature 490, 380-383, Oct. 18, 2012) (Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence, 12-4-2012); quantum dot;

Princeton's Jason Petta
builds quantum computer
with millions of qubits. Saturday, December 8, 2012, 11:12 am-5:00 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill Krause Center of Innovation
"Bioinspired robot shakes a tail to fool fish"
(Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence News, 12-7-2012)
Maurizio Porfiri; J. R. Soc. Interface, Nov. 14, 2012

Robotic fish's tail
beating frequency fooled
real zebra fish to follow it.

Saturday, December 8, 2012, 12:30 am-3:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-Coastam.com; John B. Wells interviews Joseph P. Farrell (Bio, Web) & Scott D. de Hart (Bio, Web); "Transhumanism"; BOOKS: "Transhumanism: A Grimoire of Alchemical Agendas", "Grid of the Gods: Aftermath of the Cosmic War"; Articles; Joseph Farrell Interview

Percy Shelley and not Mary
wrote Frankenstein and was
an Illuminati & Transhumanist. Sunday, December 9, 2012, 11:56 am-12:00 pm
KDFC 104.9 FM: Andreas Delfs conducts Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Renée Fleming sings Franz Schubert, Ellens Gesang III, D839, Ave Maria, Op. 52 #6 (1825), (Listen), CD, (YouTube: Barbara_Bonney, Maria Callas, Celine Dion, Deanne Durbin, Luciano Pavarotti, André Rieu, Violin, Classical Guitar)

Schubert's Ave Maria
soars high as Dante's
ascent to Paradise.

Sunday, December 9, 2012, 12:30-1:00 pm
Mountain View: Reading "In the Spirit of Rick's Cafe"
(Paul Schemm, Mercury News, 12-9-2012, D10, 12)
Pianist Issam plays "As Time Goes By" all night

Casablanca in 1942
was a jewel with art deco
and neoclassical architecture Sunday, December 9, 2012, 2:00-4:50 pm
Mountain View: Free $10 gift card from Kohl's & $2.69 for oven mitt ($7.49) & porcelain bowl ($4.99)
Bus #40 to Los Altos Library 3:40 pm to check books

Friend brought me broccoli,
sesame sticks, and vanilla
almond granola cereal.

Sunday, December 9, 2012, 7:30-9:00 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Henry Koster directs "Three Smart Girls Grow Up" (1939); with Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey, Helen Parrish, Charles Winninger, Nella Walker, Robert Cummings, William Lundigan, Ernest Cossart; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Deanne is matchmaker
to mismatched men
for her older sisters. Sunday, December 9, 2012, 9:10-10:40 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Henry Koster directs "First Love" (1939), with Deanna Durbin, Robert Stack, Helen Parrish, Eugene Pallette, Leatrice Joy, June Storey, Kathleen Howard, Lewis Howard; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3)

Deanna is the most
charming cinema Cinderella
getting her prince.

Monday, December 10, 2012, 3:11-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Ada Lovelace's 197th birthday: Byron's daughter had a math brain" (Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times, 12-10-2012); Ada Lovelace (born 12-10-1815): Video

Google's Doodle honors
Ada Lovelace's 197th birthday
for her computation machine. Monday, December 10, 2012, 3:11-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Bob Thaves & Tom Thaves, "Frank & Ernest"
(12-10-2012 comics); Witch stirs her boiling brew:
"It's alphabet soup. I'm going to cast a spell."

Witch stirs the boiling
cauldron casting a spell
with her alphabet soup.

Monday, December 10, 2012, 3:11-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Jacket Copy: Happy birthday, Emily Dickinson!"
(Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times, 12-10-2012); Emily Dickinson (born 12-10-1830); Poem 1263:

No Frigate like a Book
to take us Lands away...
that bears the Human Soul— Monday, December 10, 2012, 3:11-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"British poet Lemn Sissay leaves audience spellbound"
(By Saadia Qamar, tribune.com.pk, 12-11-2012)
Lemn Sissay (web site); Interview; YouTube

When you have nothing,
you're left with creativity
mind and imagination.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 12:20-12:35 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me grocery shopping
at Safeway (1750 Miramonte Avenue)

Green onions, bananas
popcorn shrimps, orange juice,
dairy creamer, Roma tomatoes,
Devil-egg & mustard potato salads. Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 3:11-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Squirrel on Cardinals WS Ring (By Matt Sebek, joesportsfan.com, 4-14-2012); Baseball card

Rally Squirrel made it
on the St. Louis Cardinals
2011 World Series ring.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 3:11-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"The ongoing allure of Tolkien" (Stephen Mitchell explores folklore underscoring "The Hobbit")
(By Colleen Walsh, Harvard Gazette, 12-10-2012)

Tolkien taps Norse myths—
Hobbit is a combination
of "human" and "rabbit". Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 3:11-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Writing poem "Rally Squirrel Baseball Card"
Twitter Busch Squirrel; Rally Squirrel T-shirt;
Toops 2012 Rally Squirrel baseball card

Skip Schumaker's baseball card
is selling for $1 but
"Rally Squirrel" sold for $600.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 2:33-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"A call for creative know-how" (Yo-Yo Ma helps launch Cultural Entrepreneurship Challenge)
(By Colleen Walsh, Harvard Gazette, 12-11-2012)

Edge effect— when two
different ecosystems meet
at the intersection. Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 2:33-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Ravi Shankar, Sitarist Who Introduced Indian Music to the West, Dies at 92" (By Allan Kozinn, NY Times, 12-12-2012); Taught sitar to George Harrison (song)

Ravi Shankar performed
with Yehudi Menuhin
and Jean-Pierre Rampal.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 2:33-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"OPINION: Censoring Myself for Success"
(By K'naan, NY Times, 12-9-2012); K'naan

I'm a fox who lost
his natural stride trying
to walk like a prophet. Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 2:33-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Understanding How Children Develop Empathy"
(Perri Klass, NY Times, 12-10-2012) (Dr. Eisenberg)

Empathy, sympathy,
kindness and compassion
begin early in the home.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 2:33-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"OP-ED: The 2,000-Year-Old Wonder Drug"
(By David B. Agus, NY Times, 12-12-2012)

Aspirin reduced cancer
in lungs, colon & prostate
by an average of 46%. Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 2:33-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"HEALTH: When Daily Stress Gets in the Way of Life" (By Jane E. Brody, NY Times, 12-10-2012)

Anxiety prevents people
from making moves that
could enrich their lives.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 10:30 pm-3:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-Coastam.com; George Noory interviews Dr. John McDougall (Bio, Web);
"Diet & Health"; BOOK: "The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good!"; Medical Information; Video

Starch based diet
rice, corn, potatoes, beans
make people healthy. Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 10:30 pm-3:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-Coastam.com; George Noory interviews L. A. Marzulli (Bio, Web: 1, 2);
"Aliens, Planet X, & Prophecy"; BOOKS: "Cosmic Chess Match", "Nephilim: Truth is Here"; "Unholy Deception: Nephilim Return": Faked Aliens Video

Watchers DVDs reenact
stories of alien abductions
and Black-Eyed Children.

Thursday, December 13, 2012, 1:05-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Earth Has Its Picture Taken on 12/12/12"
(By Andrea Thompson, Yahoo! News, 12-13-2012); "Babies born at 12:12 on 12-12-12" (USA Today);
12th anniversary of Dad's passing on 12-13-2000

Not in tiger clouds
in the sky or bee flying by—
Dad, you're in my heart. Thursday, December 13, 2012, 1:05-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Email from Ken Norton thanking me for finding source of Einstein quote on my web site. Ken's site: William Hermanns' "Einstein & the Poet" (1983);
"Invisible Me: My voice joins silence— a holy must."

How wonderful to have
a cosmic person write
to me about Einstein.

Thursday, December 13, 2012, 1:05-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Far from the Shire, a Hobbit house in Pa. country"
(By Joann Loviglio, Yahoo! News, 12-12-2012); Hobbit House; Hobbit book (1937); Film (2012)

Butterfly window opens
with two halves pushed
outward from a center hinge. Thursday, December 13, 2012, 1:05-10:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
David Copperfield: Niagara Falls Challenge;
Tightrope hero is first to conquer Niagara for more than a century (Daily Mail Reporter, UK, 6-17-2012)

Nik Wallendra walked
1800 feet across widest
part of Niagara Falls.

Friday, December 14, 2012, 5:50-7:20 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Henry Koster directs "Spring Parade" (1940); Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, Mischa Auer, Henry Stephenson, S.Z. Sakall, Anne Gwynne, Franklin Pangborn, Reginald Denny; (YouTube); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Raven tells her fortune
when she's selling her goat
and everything comes true. Friday, December 14, 2012, 7:30-9:15 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; William A. Seiter directs "It's a Date" (1940), Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis, Walter Pidgeon, Eugene Pallette, Henry Stephenson, S.Z. Sakall, Cecilia Loftus, Samuel S. Hinds; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3)

Mother and daughter
both playing St. Anne and
in love with the same man.

Saturday, December 15, 2012, 2:40-3:15 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me grocery shopping
at CVS (1798 Miramonte Avenue)

Bought four 8.5 oz cans
of Deluxe mixed nuts
at half price @ $3.65 Saturday, December 15, 2012, 4:15-5:40 pm
Los Altos Library: Bought boxed set of "Roses"
& "Most Beautiful Roses" translated from French

Retail price for these
books is $30 and got it
for bargain price of $5.

Sunday, December 16, 2012, 3:00-3:15 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me shopping
at Safeway (1750 Miramonte Avenue)

Potato chips, instant oatmeal,
fish fillets, green beans,
oats & nuts bread, broccoli. Sunday, December 16, 2012, 4:15-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: Emailed Jack "Spear of Destiny"
(book) & "Morning of the Magicians" (book) links

Claim that Hitler got
Spear from Vienna museum
before starting World War II.

Sunday, December 16, 2012, 7:30-9:00 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Henry Koster directs
"It Started with Eve" (1941); Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, Robert Cummings, Guy Kibbee, Margaret Tallichet, Catherine Doucet, Walter Catlett; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Son gets check girl to fool
dying Dad that she's his fiancée
but he gets well and loves her. Sunday, December 16, 2012, 9:10-10:41 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; William A. Seiter directs "Nice Girl?" (1941), Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Walter Brennan, Robert Stack, Robert Benchley, Helen Broderick, Ann Gillis, Anne Gwynne; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3)

Jane falls in love with
debonair scientist and gossip
flows that they're getting married.

Monday, December 17, 2012, 10:43-10:55 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Leonard Slatkin conducts Paul Dukas, "Sorcerer's Apprentice", (1897); inspired by Goethe's 1797 poem (Listen) (CD) (YouTube: 1, 2) (Disney's Mickey Mouse "Fantasia")

Sorcerer's cap is in
the Platonic Lambda shape—
secret source of its power. Monday, December 17, 2012, 12:09-9:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Al Guzman was kind to let me in the Lab today
to finish writing Preface to Poems 2012,
so I may send Poems 2012 as gifts to friends

May this year's poems bring
illumination as the precious
gifts that came my way.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 2:30-8:45 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Computer Room
"OPINION: The Power of Concentration"
(By Maria Konnikova, NY Times, 12-16-2012)
Sherlock Holmes, great practioner of concentration

Mindfulness is focusing
attention on the present
and dismiss all distractions. Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 2:30-8:45 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Computer Room
"A Scrapbook of Our Relationship with the Universe"
(By Dana Jennings, NY Times, 12-11-2012)
"Planetfall: New Solar System Visions"

Region 10030 Sunspots,
Disk-shaped Cumulonimbus clouds,
Sunset on the Pacific.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012, 1:00-3:00 pm
Mountain View Senior Center, Computer Room
KDFC Classical All-Stars 2013 Poll— Zipoli's "Elevazione" is on their ballot. 2011 Classical All-Stars Poll: #1— Beethoven's "Symphony #9"; #2— Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"; #3— Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"; #4— Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto #2"; My ballot for 2013:

#1— Zipoli, "Elevazione"
#2— Albinoni, "Adagio in G minor"
#3— Beethoven, "Symphony #9" Wednesday, December 19, 2012, 3:00-8:00 pm
Mountain View Senior Center, Multipurpose Room B:
David Lean directs "Lawrence of Arabia" with
Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, José Ferrer, Anthony Quayle; (YouTube: 1, 2); (Reviews: 1, 2, 3)
Essay on "Lawrence of Arabia & Lowell Thomas"
Steven Spielberg's favorite film: "It was a miracle"

This film was based on
T. E. Lawrence's autobiography
Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Thursday, December 20, 2012, 10:43-10:47 am
KDFC 104.9 FM: Tetra String Quartet plays
Franz Xaver Gruber's "Silent Night" (1818)
Listen; CD; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3)

Austria #558 stamp honors
the 130th anniversary of
"Silent Night, Holy Night" Thursday, December 20, 2012, 1:00-2:00 pm
Mountain View: Parktown Dental Care (990 Bay St.);
Jennifer A. Espejo puts permanent crown on tooth #23; She treated chipped tooth #23 on November 3

She was on vacation
so I waited a month for
crown to be put in place.

Friday, December 21, 2012, 3:30-3:42 pm
Palo Alto: Congdon & Crome (552 Waverley St.)
Bought 8 white 1/2-inch spine bars @ 27¢ for $2.34

Mailed Vanishing Point: Poems 2011
and Silence Is Golden: Poems 2012
as gift to Professor Harold A. Scheraga. Friday, December 21, 2012, 4:50-5:50 pm
Los Altos Library: "12,000 points of light"
(Daniel Aloi, Ezra Cornell Magazine, Winter 2013)

Leo Villareal's "Cosmos"
has 12,000 light-emitting diodes
assembled on a gridded framework.

Saturday, December 22, 2012, 3:30-5:30 pm
Los Altos Library. Barry Gifford,
"Imagining Paradise" (2012)—
"Little Midnight Buddhist Poem" (p. 338)

Don't take / your Self /
so seriously /
Remove the I /
from I don't mind /
you have /
Don't mind / which, after /
All, is all / you'll need /
or ever / have Saturday, December 22, 2012, 3:30-5:30 pm
Los Altos Library. Barry Gifford, "Sitting on the porch swing imagining paradise I am embraced by my old sweetheart Emily Dickinson, who, among other things, informs me that she has missed me greatly" (p. 316)

Hello, Bees, / Swift and buzzing— / Tell me, please, / What you're discussing— / And Flies— you, too— / What's all this / Fussing?
Why is it / You are always / Rushing? Why not behave / More like clouds, / Cruise quietly
the sky— / Now— is all— we'll ever have / Until the time we die—

Sunday, December 23, 2012, 1:30-6:00 pm
Mountain View: Stayed home because of heavy rain. Reading books about Phyllis, Camille, and Barbara— female Mountain View street names in neighborhood

Phyllis was changed into an almond tree,
Camilla ran over the sea not wetting her feet,
Barbara's name invoked in time of thunder. Sunday, December 23, 2012, 6:30-7:50 pm
Mountain View: Sweet Tomatoes (1040 Grant Road)
Cathy & Larry (annual visit from Las Vegas) treat me
and friend for dinner; Got to Deanne Durbin film late

Cathy teaches science
in Charter School; recommends
Joyce Carol Oates novel them.

Sunday, December 23, 2012, 7:30-9:05 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Robert Siodmak directs
"Christmas Holiday" (1944); Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, Richard Whorf, Dean Harens, Gladys George, Gale Sondergaard, David Bruce; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Film noir wasted talents
of Deanna Durbin's singing
and Gene Kelly's dancing. Sunday, December 23, 2012, 9:15-10:45 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Frank Borzage directs "His Butler's Sister" (1943), Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, Akim Tamiroff, Alan Mowbray, Walter Catlett, Evelyn Ankers, Frank Jenks; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3)

Aspiring singer
masquerades as a maid
at famous composer's home.

Monday, December 24, 2012, 2:56-4:50 pm
Los Altos Library. Sir Philip Sidney invented name Pamela for his novel "Arcadia" (1588); Samuel Richardson's novel "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded" (1740); Butterfly Perrhybris pamela in Amazon

Pamela means "all sweetness"
from the Greek pan ("all")
and meli ("honey"). Monday, December 24, 2012, 2:56-4:50 pm
Los Altos Library. "OP-ED: The Moral Animal"
(By Jonathan Sacks, NY Times, 12-24-2012)
Superpowers tend to last a century. Great faiths last millenniums. Why? All societies value altruism.

Mirror neurons lead us
to feel pain of others.
We are moral animals.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012, 1:30-6:00 pm
Mountain View: Patrick McDonnell's comics Mutts today (12-25-2012): "Every Day Is Christmas" inspired me to write a poem of the same title—

Every day is Christmas
when there's peace within you
and each moment is a miracle. Tuesday, December 25, 2012, 1:30-6:00 pm
Mountain View: Patrick McDonnell's comics Mutts today (12-25-2012): "Every Day Is Christmas" inspired me to write a poem of the same title—

Every day is Christmas
when you give with loving kindness
and you live like The Awakened One.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012, 6:00-7:55 pm
Los Altos Library: "OP-ED: A Prayer at Christmas"
(By Ann Hood, NY Times, 12-25-2012)
Bill Morrison sent this article via email

Prayer at St. Patrick Cathedral—
for peace, comfort, and guidance.
A prayer of gratitude. Wednesday, December 26, 2012, 6:00-7:55 pm
Los Altos Library: "Cracking Your PIN Code: Easy as 1-2-3-4" (Lisa Scherzer, Yahoo! Finance, 9-21-2012)
This was favorite Yahoo! article of 2012

10.7% used 1234,
6%— 1111, 1.9%— 0000,
1.2%— 1212, 0.7%— 7777.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012, 6:00-7:55 pm
Los Altos Library: Stephen N. Fliegel,
"A Higher Contemplation: Sacred Meaning
in the Christian Art of the Middle Ages"

Sacred art formed an
important ingredient
in medieval piety. Wednesday, December 26, 2012, 6:00-7:55 pm
Los Altos Library: Vratislav Stovicek's
"The Book of Goodnight Stories"
Illustrated by Karel Franta

Beautiful fairy tales
wonderfully illustrated
for each day of the year.

Friday, December 28, 2012, 7:30-9:00 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Frank Ryan directs
"Can't Help Singing" (1944); Deanna Durbin, Robert Paige, Akim Tamiroff, Thomas Gomez, David Bruce, Ray Collins, Clara Blandick; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Deanna's only color film
running away from father
on stagecoach to California. Friday, December 28, 2012, 9:10-10:44 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre; Charles David directs "Lady on a Train" (1945), Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, David Bruce, Dan Duryea, Edward Everett Horton, Patricia Morison, Elizabeth Patterson, Allen Jenkins, Samuel S. Hinds; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3)

She tries to solve
murder seen from train
with mystery writer's help.

Saturday, December 29, 2012, 2:51-4:50 pm
Los Altos Library: After reading my notes
Robert Bly on Haikus, Bill Morrison sent link
to David G. Lanoue's HaikuGuy.com

Random Issa haiku—
Spring breeze—
the pleasure quarter's
night life. Saturday, December 29, 2012, 2:51-4:50 pm
Los Altos Library: Carl G. Liungman, "Dictionary of Symbols" (1991); Symbol Λ— "all that lacks existence, nothing, zero class"; denotes a direction upward as symbol ↑ (pp. 103, 274)

Ideographic opposite
of Λ is O—
symbol for all possibilities.

Saturday, December 29, 2012, 2:51-4:50 pm
Los Altos Library: Alexander J. Hahn, "Mathematical Excursions to the World's Great Buildings" (2012)

Beautiful book on
sacred geometry used
in great architecture. Saturday, December 29, 2012, 2:51-4:50 pm
Los Altos Library: Verlyn Klinkenborg's
"Several Short Sentences About Writing" (2012)

This book reads like poetry
so you could taste each word
and learn to write well.

Sunday, December 30, 2012, 2:45-3:20 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me shopping
at Safeway (1750 Miramonte Avenue)

Potato salad, yogurt,
almond milk, mango peach juice,
shrimp scampi, and pizza. Sunday, December 30, 2012, 4:33-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: "The Lives They Lived" (Dying in 2012) (NY Times Sunday Magazine, 12-30-2012)

Neil Armstrong, Dave Brubeck,
Nora Ephron, Whitney Houston,
Adrienne Rich, Maurice Sendak.

Sunday, December 30, 2012, 4:33-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: "OPINIONATOR: The Power of a Hot Body" (Diane Ackerman, NY Times, 12-30-2012)

Even on subzero winters,
it's 70^o inside Mall of America
due to body heat & lighting. Sunday, December 30, 2012, 4:33-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: "Rita Levi-Montalcini, Nobelist, Dies at 103 (Benedict Carey, NY Times, 12-31-2012)

Rita Levi-Montalcini won
1986 Nobel Prize in Medicine
for discovering "growth factors"

Monday, December 31, 2012, 3:18-4:45 pm
Los Altos Library: No Deanna Durbin books in
6 local libraries. Checked out Leonard S. Marcus'
"Listening for Madeleine" (2012), 863.54L'Engle;
Elisa's favorite book "A Wrinkle in Time" (1962)

What a treat to read
fifty friends' recollections
of Madeleine L'Engle. Monday, December 31, 2012, 8:00-10:00 pm
Mountain View: Cooked couscous dinner with wild mushroom & herb, Gorton's shrimp scampi, green onions, garlic, broccoli, almonds, bean sprouts, tomato, eggs, & raspberry vinaigrette dressing

Cooked New Year Eve dinner
and read a terrific book—
"Listening for Madeleine".