HAIKUS: December 2013

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.

Sunday, December 1, 2013, 4:07-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: Steve Gould's Nov. 29 email on seeing Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" at Frick (my poem), and on Japanese professor using toys to probe nature's phenomena— "As complex as a toy"
(By Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette, 10-25-2013);
Dave Pfeiffer sees me & gives me ride to Stanford


Tadashi Tokieda creates
and uses simple mechanisms
to explain complex science.
Sunday, December 1, 2013, 8:00-9:20 pm
Stanford Flicks, Cubberley Auditorium;
Ryan Coogler directs "Fruitvale Station" (2013)
with Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Kevin Durand,
Octavia Spencer, Ahna O'Reilly, Chad Michael Murray, Caroline Lesley, Ariana Neal, Jonez Cain; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); (Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)


Last day of Oscar Grant
on New Year's Eve before
being killed by BART police.
Monday, December 2, 2013, 12:48-6:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Surprise Dec. 1 email from Sally Guo addressed
to Dr. Peter Paradiso inviting me to present a talk
at 7th Annual Protein and Peptide Conference
in Dalian, China during April 25-28, 2014


Is there a link between
Proteins and Paradiso?—
mystery that's good to know.
Monday, December 2, 2013, 3:04-3:29 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Locust Tree at Foothill College Middlefield Campus
Locust Tree Leaves (1, 2); Locust Tree Branch Rings; Neighboring Eucalyptus Tree (Eucalyptus Tree Top);
"Locust Tree Hand" Reaching for the Sun (1, 2)


Locust Tree with
five-fingered hand
reaching for the Sun.
Monday, December 2, 2013, 12:48-6:00 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Phone call from Colleen at Hidden Villa telling me
they found my hiking stick by the stuffed black bear;
Web page of Hidden Villa Hike (Nov. 22, 2013)
Some favorite photos of Hidden Villa Hike—


Sheep Looking in Barn,
X Marks the Spot,
Branch Singing in Air.
Monday, December 2, 2013, 7:30-9:00 pm
Stanford University: Cubberley Auditorium
"Fire and Ice: Robert Frost's Dark Woods"
Hilton Obenzinger, Kay Kostopoulos, James Carpenter (California Shakespeare Theater)
followed by discussion with Prof. Albert Gelpi


Frost's poems performed
as dramatic readings to honor
50th anniversary of his death.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013, 12:30-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Web page of 158 photos on Hidden Villa Hike
(Nov. 22, 2013); 8th hike of Day Hike Class;
Some favorite photos of Hidden Villa Hike—


Heart-Shape Redbud Leaves,
Bird Beak Stump Closeup,
Neptune's Trident Tree.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013, 12:30-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Platonic Lambda Fern on Hidden Villa hike linked
to Sonnet; Google Platonic Lambda: 1 of 38,100 hits, Pinterest Link; Pinterest Source: Wisdomportal.com


Fern is earth's oldest plant
with Platonic Lambda shape—
"Soul of the Universe".
Wednesday, December 4, 2013, 1:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Freezing temperature tonight at 27oF in Palo Alto;
Can't zip up my jacket because zipper is stuck;
Tried candle wax on zipper; Rudy used his
WD-40 White Lithium Spray and it worked!


Finally got zipper
in my jacket to work
to ward off cold winter.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013, 1:50-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
BOOK REVIEW: Non-Art for Non-Art's Sake—
"The Madonna of the Future" by Arthur C. Danto

(Warhol's Brillo boxes are art & real Brillo boxes are not); (By Sarah Boxer, NY Times, Aug. 6, 2000)


Henry James's Madonna of the Future
on Theobald painting a Madonna
and dies leaving a blank canvas.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013, 1:50-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Golden State Warriors' furious rally beats Raptors
(With 9:20 to go in the third quarter against Toronto Raptors, Warriors trailed by 27 points and were still behind by 18 entering the fourth quarter; In final 12 minutes, Warriors outscored Raptors 42-15 to win 112-103 for 7th-largest comeback in NBA history.)
(By Carl Steward, SJ Mercury News, Dec. 4, 2013)


At half-time, Jermaine O'Neal
gave a fire-and-brimstone
speech about not giving up.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013, 1:50-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
The 10 greatest comebacks in sports history
(By Mike Foss, USA Today, 9-25-2013); KNBR;
(By Michael Short, Sfgate, 9-29-2013); Down 35-7 at halftime, Joe Montana beats Saints 38-35 on 12-7-80; Houston Rockets Tracy McGrady 13 points in 35 seconds to beat Spurs 81-80 on 12-9-2004; Down 24 points, Celtics beat Lakers 97-91 in 2008 NBA Finals.


Boston Red Sox: ALCS 2004,
San Francisco Giants: NLCS 2012,
Buffalo Bills: NFL 1993 Playoff.
Thursday, December 5, 2013, 12:40-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Richard's 12/5 email "Wish I were there" features amazing photos from Picture of the Day with "Barn Conversion" designed by Roderick James (1987) has 10 Platonic Lambda Λ beams; My favorite photos—


That's What Friends Are For,
The Eye of the Moon,
Coolest Duck Ever.
Thursday, December 5, 2013, 12:40-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
New Hubble image of star cluster Messier 15
Messier 15 is located some 35 000 light-years away in the Pegasus constellation (Winged Horse). It is one of the oldest globular clusters, 12 billion years old.


33,600 light-years from Earth,
360,000 times brighter than our Sun,
in the constellation of winged Pegasus.
Friday, December 6, 2013, 1:10-5:05 pm
Los Altos: Friend gives me ride to Rancho San Antonio (22500 Cristo Rey Dr.); Wikipedia: Yelp;
Foothill Day Hike class; Instructor Tom McCarthy


Saw chickens, ducks, goat,
sheeps, cow, and pigs, before
going to pond on Rogue Valley Trail.
Friday, December 6, 2013, 7:37 pm-8:50 pm
Palo Alto: Friends' House, 957 Colorado Ave,
Waverley Writers Poetry Reading: Tom Digby reads "Christmas Cat"; David Cummings "Gift of Memory"


Read two poems tonight—
"Deja Vu at Shoreline Park"
and "Sufi Spin".
Saturday, December 7, 2013, 1:31-3:45 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill College Krause Center
Plate valued less than $1K sells for over $1M
(By Charles Sakoda, Yahoo! News, 12-6-201)
(By Robert Bostelaar, Ottawa Citizen, 12-6-2013)


Three-clawed dragon plate
estimated at $700-$900
sold for $1.2 million.
Saturday, December 7, 2013, 1:31-3:45 pm
Los Altos Hills: Foothill College Krause Center
Nelson Mandela, South Africa's Liberator as Prisoner and President, Dies at 95; Life & Legacy Timeline
(By Bill Keller, NY Times, 12-6-2013)


Nelson Mandela's death
leaves South Africa
without its moral center.
Sunday, December 8, 2013, 7:30-9:05 pm
Stanford Theatre: Preston Sturges directs
"Sullivan's Travels" (1941), starring Joel McCrea,
Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, Franklin Pangborn,
William Demarest, Eric Blore, Robert Greig, Porter Hall; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4); (Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)


Film director dressed as hobo
slept in homeless shelters
to live life of poverty.
Sunday, December 8, 2013, 9:15-10:25 pm
Stanford Theatre: Norman Z. McLeod directs
"Horse Feathers" (1932), Groucho, Harpo, Chico, & Zeppo Marx, Thelma Todd, Reginald Barlow, David Landau, Robert Greig, E. H. Calvert, Theresa Harris; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)


Harpo & Chico wins football
game for Huxley College
where Groucho is President.
Monday, December 9, 2013, 12:34-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Malcolm Gladwell: The Power of the Underdog
(David had an advantage over Goliath? On link between adversity and innovation); (Interview with Anderson Cooper, CBS 60 Minutes, 11-24-2013)


Malcolm Gladwell cites
CEO Vivek Ranadivé coaching
underdog basketball team to victory.
Monday, December 9, 2013, 12:34-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Inside the secret world of the Freemasons
(Square & Compasses are tools of stonemasons. Group misunderstood & even maligned for many centuries); (By Mo Rocca, CBS News, 12-8-2013)


Washington was Freemason,
so was Monroe and Jackson,
but Adams & Jefferson were not.
Monday, December 9, 2013, 12:34-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Maya Angelou reflects on Nelson Mandela's legacy (State Dept told her not to read poem until he died);
(Bob Schieffer, CBS Face the Nation, 12-8-2013)


The news came on the wings of a wind
reluctant to carry its burden,
Nelson Mandela's day is done.
Monday, December 9, 2013, 12:34-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Format 57 photos to Rancho San Antonio Hike;
Foothill Day Hike class; Instructor Tom McCarthy;
Some favorite photos from Rancho San Antonio—


Twisted "8" MapleTree,
Hollowed California Live Oak,
Diagonal Bay Tree Over Trail.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 10:40-11:06 pm
Mountain View: Went grocery shopping
at 99 Ranch Market (1350 Grant Road)


Water chestnuts, tofu,
bean curd, spinach, eggs,
green onion, bean sprouts,
vinegar beans, seaweed cookies.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 12:34-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Format 85 photos to Rancho San Antonio Hike;
Favorite photos from Deer Hollow Farm—


Luna the Cow Closeup,
"Tightrope Walking" Rooster,
Rooster & Duck "Each in its Space".
Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 12:36-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Is the Universe a Hologram? (Nature)
(By Tara MacIssac, Epoch Times, 12-11-2013)


Yoshifumi Hyakutake verifies
Juan Maldacena's proposal that
our Universe is one big projection.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 12:36-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
Eight webpages of Rancho San Antonio Hike;
Some favorite photos from Rancho San Antonio—


Pretty Speckled Hen,
Beautiful Bay Tree,
Dry Pond with "Sunny-Side Up Eggs".
Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 10:00 pm-2:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-CoastAM, George Noory interviews Sandra Champlain (Bio, Web)
"Spiritual Quest"; BOOK: "We Don't Die:
A Skeptic's Discovery of Life After Death"
(Video)


Heaven is invisble dimension
co-existing with earth like
vibrating energy in atoms.
Thursday, December 12, 2013, 12:02-9:30 pm
Palo Alto: Foothill Middlefield Computer Lab
"Celestial Snow Angel: Poems of 2013:
Cover; Table of Contents; Preface;
Typed up three poems written earlier—


"Worriers Versus Warriors",
"I Love to Waltz",
and "Beauty".
Friday, December 13, 2013, 2:30-6:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: 3300 Page Mill Road;
Friend gives me ride to Foothills Park (photos);
Came here on Nov. 8 (Foothill Day Hike class)
but didn't notice plants on Toyon Trail back then.


Took photos at posts #1-25 while
friend sketched at Borondo Lake;
got back in the dark by moonlight.
Friday, December 13, 2013, 2:30-6:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: 3300 Page Mill Road;
Foothill Park Hike: Friend was sketching and upset not joining me on the Toyon Trail; Ranger was about to call the Calvary to search for me before I returned.


Dad passed on today
a sonnet of years ago but
he's still alive in my heart.
Saturday, December 14, 2013, 1:22-5:22 pm
Los Altos Library: Erica Brown, "Happier Endings:
A Meditation on Life and Death"
(Elegant portrait
of the most powerful part of being human) (2013) 128.5Brown


The final years of life
are among the most critical
and the most meaningful.
Saturday, December 14, 2013, 1:22-5:22 pm
Los Altos Library: David B. Goldstein & Otto Kroeger, "Creative You: Using Your Personality
Type to Thrive"
(Your creativity is more valuable
than oil or gold) (2013) 155.264Goldstein


Creativity is the key
to finding and living your
passion at work and home.
Sunday, December 15, 2013, 2:00-2:20 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me shopping
at Safeway (1750 Miramonte Ave.)
& ride to Los Altos Library


Snack Art potato chips,
CoffeeMate creamers,
Totino combo pizzas..
Sunday, December 15, 2013, 3:57-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: Surprise 12/15 email from
Gabriel Spinel "Clouds from an amateur" thanking
my cloud photos bringing memories of his childhood.


Surprise sharing of
spectacular Swiss clouds
from a total stranger.
Sunday, December 15, 2013, 7:30-9:10 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre: Preston Sturges directs "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944) with
Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn, William Demarest, Porter Hall, Emory Parnell, Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
(Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)


Betty Hutton went to wild
all-night party for departing soldiers
but can't remember whom she married.
Sunday, December 15, 2013, 9:20-10:29 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre: Leo McCarey
directs "Duck Soup" (1933) starring
Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres, Edgar Kennedy; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
(Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)


"Good Night Sweetheart" played
as Harpo rode horse around
town: "The war is coming!".
Sunday, December 15, 2013, 11:32 am
Mountain View: Pamela Drive
Outside my bedroom window:
Hummingbird drinking nectar


Hummingbird hovers
over the flower bush
outside of my window.
Sunday, December 15, 2013, 11:32 pm
Mountain View: Pamela Drive
Right over my apartment:
Halo Around the Moon


High above towering
palm trees a giant lunar
halo welcomes me home.
Monday, December 16, 2013, 5:17-8:45 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Technology Room
"Goodnight Sweetheart" (1931 song)
("Goodnight sweetheart, 'til we meet tomorrow. Goodnight sweetheart, parting is such sorrow".)
Bill Taylor played this on the Wurlitzer last night.


"Goodnight Sweetheart" tune
reminds me of last dance when
"My Fair Lady" melted in my arms.
Monday, December 16, 2013, 5:17-8:45 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Technology Room
Checked out from Los Altos Library
"A Maze Me: Poems for Girls" (2005)
by Naomi Shihab Nye; Last Poem:
"Thoughts That Came in Floating"—


"My mind / is always /
open. / I don't think /
there's even / a door."
Monday, December 16, 2013, 5:17-8:45 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Technology Room
"Lion sent flying by buffalo in extraordinary video"
(By David Strege, GrindTV.com, 12-16-2013)


Bull buffalo comes
to rescue friend brought
down by young lion in
South Africa's Kruger National Park.
Monday, December 16, 2013, 5:17-8:45 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Technology Room
"19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East"
(2005) by Naomi Shihab Nye; Poem:


Arab poets used "gazelle"
to signify grace, but when faced
with a meadow of leaping gazelle
there were no words.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013, 12:17-8:30 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Technology Room
Opinionator: DRAFT— Secrets and Contradictions
(Giving a character something to hide— we create illusion of depth: interior & exterior, seen & unseen.)
(By David Corbett, NY Times, 12-16-2013)


Few drives are as strong
as the one to find out—
ask Pandora, or Psyche.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013, 12:17-8:30 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Technology Room
Opinionator: THE STONE— In Praise of Failure
(Failure, is what philosophy feeds on, what keeps it alive. Philosophy succeeds only in so far as it fails.)
(By Costica Bradatan, NY Times, 12-15-2013)


In The Seventh Seal film,
Knight challenges Death to
chess game and learns how to fail.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013, 3:30-5:06 pm
Mountain View Senior Center: Multipurpose Room
Rob Reiner directs "When Harry Met Sally" (1989) written by Nora Ephron with Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby, Steven Ford, Lisa Jane Persky, Michelle Nicastro, Harley Jane Kozak, Franc Luz; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5); (Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)


Platonic friendship
between Harry & Sally
slowly blossoms into love.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013, 5:10-8:30 pm
Mountain View Senior Center: Technology Room
"OBITUARY: Nora Ephron Dies at 71;
Writer and Filmmaker With a Genius for Humor"

(By Charles McGrath, NY Times, 6-27-2012)
Slides; Wikipedia; Appraisal; Queen of Quips;
Essays; Dining; Films; Food; Guardian Files


When Harry Met Sally
is such a good film because
Nora Ephron wrote it.
Thursday, December 19, 2013, 10:56-5:45 pm
Mountain View Senior Center: Technology Room
Season's greeting photo card & family 2013 newsletter from college friend Richard Hanauer & wife on their trips to Provence, France, China, & Eastern Europe;
They mailed me a DVD of China trip still to be seen.


Prague: Alt-Neu Shul,
Prague: Astronomical Clock,
Warsaw: Marie Curie Museum.
Thursday, December 19, 2013, 10:56-5:45 pm
Mountain View Senior Center: Technology Room
Dec. 19 email from Gabriel Spinel responding to
my Dec. 18 email "May we keep this childlike wonder with us and appreciate the free sky museum above where the Cosmic Sky Painter fills us with delight!"


Gabriel lives in Nyon, Switzerland.
Liked his cloud photos resembling
giant bird P'eng (3) & Phoenix (8).
Friday, December 20, 2013, 1:15-3:00 pm
Mountain View Senior Center: Multipurpose Room
Peter Godfrey directs "Christmas in Connecticut" (1945) with Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner, S. Z. Sakall, Robert Shayne, Una O'Connor, Frank Jenks, Joyce Compton, Dick Elliot; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
(Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)


Publisher wants food writer
Lane to host Christmas dinner
but she doesn't know how to cook.
Friday, December 20, 2013, 3:20-5:00 pm
Mountain View Senior Center: Multipurpose Room
George Seaton directs "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947)
starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne,
Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood, Porter Hall,
William Frawley, Jerome Cowan, Philip Tonge,
Gene Lockhart, Alvin Greeman, Thelma Ritter;
(YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)


Santa gave Susan
her dream house, if you believe,
you'll find your real home.
Friday, December 20, 2013, 5:50-7:20 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre: Sam Wood directs
"A Night at the Opera" (1935) with Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Margaret Dumont, Allan Jones, Sig Ruman, Walter Woolf King, Robert Emmett O'Connor; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
(Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)


Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones,
both trained in classical singing,
sang for themselves in this movie.
Friday, December 20, 2013, 7:30-9:00 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre: Preston Sturges directs "The Palm Beach Story" (1942); Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor, Rudy Vallée, Sig Arno, Robert Dudley, Esther Howard, Franklin Pangborn, William Demarest; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3);
(Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)


Rudy Vallée croons tenderly
"Good night sweetheart"
under her windows.
Saturday, December 21, 2013, 10:00 am-2:00 pm
Mountain View: Al Guzman & Rudy picked me up
at home for brunch at San Jose: Sweet Tomatoes
(625 Coleman Ave, San Jose), but they don't open until 11 am and serves breakfast only on Sundays;
Al went to Starbucks (695 Coleman Ave) for coffee; Rudy treats us for lunch; I treat them for movies
at CineLux Plaza Theatre to see "The Hobbit"


Pear salad with pecans,
cauliflowers, beets, jello,
and clam chowder soup.
Saturday, December 21, 2013, 2:25-6:00 pm
Campbell: CineLux Theatre (2501 S. Winchester Blvd)
Peter Jackson directs "Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug" (2013); Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Esther Howard, Luke Evans, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Orlando Bloom, Stephen Fry, Cate Blanchett; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3); (Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)


Elves escape in wine barrels
tumbling down white waters
attacked by brutish Orcs.
Sunday, December 22, 2013, 1:45-2:18 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me shopping
Safeway (1750 Miramonte Avenue), then
gives me a ride to Los Altos Library


Four Totino pizzas,
Coffeemate dairy creamers,
potato chips, Milano cookies.
Sunday, December 22, 2013, 4:50-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: "Meditation in quest for fast enlightenment led to psychosis" (By Virginia Winder, Taranaki Daily News, NZ, 12-23-2013)


Girl Who Thought Too Much
on drawbacks of technologically
enhanced meditation.
Monday, December 23, 2013, 3:19-5:00 pm
Mountain View Senior Center Technology Room
Surprise holiday photo greeting card from Prof. Robert Thurman (web site); (His last email was
3-10-2006 after his Stanford Talk "Buddhism
More than Religion: The Gifts of the Tibetans")


Standing before Rockefeller Center
Christmas tree with wife, wishing
"Happy Wood-Horse Year".
Monday, December 23, 2013, 6:00-8:00 pm
Santa Clara: HomeTown Buffet (2670 El Camino)
Cathy from Las Vegas treats me for dinner;
She recommends reading Nora Ephron's
"I Feel Bad About My Neck" (Review);
Gave her my "Poems of 2013"


Fish fillets, string beans,
broccoli spinach salad,
cheese cake, pecan pie.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013, 1:09-4:55 pm
Los Altos Library: Purchased Roy Hay
& Patricia M. Synge, "The Color Dictionary of Flowers and Plants" (1982), (hardcover $17 for $1)
to help identifying flowers & plants on nature hikes


2048 color photographs
and 206 pages dictionary
to identify flowers & plants.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013, 10:00 pm-2:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-CoastAM, George Noory interviews Rosemary Ellen Guiley (Bio, Web), "Angelic Encounters"; BOOKS: "Christmas Angels: True Stories of Hope and Healing"; "Ask the Angels"


Angels are beings with
high spiritual vibration
who help us in our need.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013, 12:10-12:14 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-CoastAM, George Noory's favorite Christmas Carol"Scarlet Ribbons" (1949)
Jack Segal (lyrics) & Evelyn Danzig (music)


If I live to be a hundred—
I'll never know from where came
those scarlet ribbons for her hair.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013, 2:30-3:45 pm
Milpitas: Montague Expressway & Seely Avenue
Hike at Coyote Creek Trail; Passed Creative Labs,
1901 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035


CREΛTIVE with A
as Platonic Lambda Λ—
Soul of the Universe.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013, 2:30-3:45 pm
Milpitas: Montaque Expressway & Seely Avenue
Hike at Coyote Creek Trail
Favorite photos of Christmas hike—


Black Willow tree by creek,
Sun through two Redwoods,
Farm Post: Peace on Earth.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013, 4:30-5:30 pm
KNBR 680 AM (Rebroadcast of Dec. 3, 2013 game):
Golden Gate Warriors beat Toronto Raptors 112-103
after being down 27 points & 18 points in 4th quarter


Don't ever give up when
you're down & all seems lost—
With faith you can win!
Thursday, December 26, 2013, 1:49-5:30 pm
Los Altos Library: Returned Natalie Goldberg "The True Secret of Writing" (2013); Chapter on Dogen: Write with the Whole Body; Peter Levitt's poem "Silence grows a garden of musical children"


Deep in the heart
of a silent child
the music never stops flowing.
Thursday, December 26, 2013, 10 pm-3:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-CoastAM, George Noory interviews Ellen Whitehurst (Bio, Web), "Feng Shui & Luck"; BOOK: "Make This Your Lucky Day"; YouTube: 10 Common Feng Shui Mistakes


Angels are beings with
high spiritual vibration
who help us in our need.
Thursday, December 26, 2013, 7:30-9:15 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre: Preston Sturges directs "Hail the Conquering Hero" (1944); Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, William Demarest, Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson, Georgia Caine, Al Bridge, Freddie Steele; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3);
(Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)


Woodrow summons up
courage to tell he's not
a war hero but a fake.
Thursday, December 26, 2013, 7:30-9:00 pm
Palo Alto, Stanford Theatre: Sam Wood directs
"A Day at the Races" (1935) with Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Allan Jones, Maureen O'Sullivan, Margaret Dumont, Douglass Dumbrille, Sig Ruman, Robert Middlemass; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)


Great black swing dancing,
Harpo rides High Hat to win
the Steeple Chase race.
Saturday, December 28, 2013, 2:40-5:30 pm
Los Altos Library: Wislawa Szymborska poem "Dream" (translated by Clare Cavanagh)
(New York Review of Books, Jan. 9, 2014, p. 30)


A four-quartered moon unfolds its fan,
snowflakes swarm beside butterflies,
fruit falls from the blossoming tree.
Saturday, December 28, 2013, 10 pm-3:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-CoastAM
Dave Schrader interviews John Tenney (Bio, Web)
"Angelic Encounters" BOOK: "One Last Thing"


Ancient Egyptian angelic being
advised struggling actor who
became Rudolph Valentino.
Sunday, December 29, 2013, 2:45-3:15 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me shopping
Safeway (1750 Miramonte Avenue), then
gives me a ride to Los Altos Library


Carrots, tomatoes,
dairy creamers, petite quiche,
black forest ham, coffee cake.
Sunday, December 29, 2013, 4:16-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: Returned Bill Walsh "TheScore Takes Care of Itself" (2009); (Last lecture on leadership by the NFL's greatest coach: Bill Walsh)


Be a king without a crown.
Be upbeat & determined.
Learn, listen, and lead.
Sunday, December 29, 2013, 4:16-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: Bought Stephen F. Arno's
"Discovering Sierra Trees" (1973) $3.95 for $1.00
that will help in identifying trees on nature hikes


36 trees of Sierra Nevada
described with pen drawings
of species, foliage, and cones.
Sunday, December 29, 2013, 4:16-5:45 pm
Los Altos Library: "How to Be an Underdog, & Win"
by Freeman Dyson (New York Review of Books,
11-21-2013, pp. 26-29)


Perceptive review of Gladwell's
book David and Goliath
on asymmetric warfare.
Monday, December 30, 2013, 10:00 am-Noon
Sunnyvale: Pho Nam #1 (844 W. El Camino)
Al Guzman picks me up at home; Rudy treats
us for lunch at Vietnamese Noodle Restaurant;
Al wants to see film "Wolf of Wall Street"


Seafood Pho with noodles,
shrimp, imitation crabmeat,
vegetable and fresh basil.
Monday, December 30, 2013, 1:00-3:00 pm
San Francisco: Tech Shop (926 Howard St.)
We pick up Felix at Horsley | Bridge Partners (505 Montgomery St) & tour Tech Shop guided by Alex; Andrew Rutter gives me a gear from 3D Printing


Rudy wants to make gears,
Felix, a Mk 14 rifle,
I wish to make imagination.
Monday, December 30, 2013, 6:15-9:45 pm
Century Richmond Hilltop (3200 Klose Way)
Felix's friend Vanessa, theatre manager treats
us all for free movie: Martin Scorsese directs
"Wolf of Wall Street" (2013) Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal,
Jon Favreau, Jean Dujardin, Cristin Milioti, .


Decadence of money,
drugs, and sex for Wall Street
billionaires before their arrests.
Monday, December 30, 2013, 11:00 pm-3:00 am
KKSF 910 AM: Coast-to-CoastAM, George Noory interviews Dr. George Pratt (Bio, Web)
"Psychology & Resolutions" & Cal Cooper (Bio, Web)
"Death & Parapsychology" BOOKS: "Instant Emotional Healing: Acupressure for the Emotions", "Code to Joy"; "Telephone Calls from the Dead", "Conversations with Ghosts" (Video: George Pratt)


Practice gratitude
and mindfulness meditation
to achieve your goals.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013, 2:44-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: "SCIENCE: Brainlike
Computers, Learning From Experience"

(By John Markoff, NY Times, 12-29-2013)


Google network scanned database
of 10 million images, in doing so
trained itself to recognize cats.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013, 5:15-5:36 pm
Dave Pfeiffer sees me at Los Altos Library
and gives me ride to Mountain View where we
shopped at Trader Joe's (590 Showers Drive)


Three pounds sesame sticks,
Mountain High plain yogurt,
and free ginger bread cookies.



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email: (12-2-2013)