Haikus: December 2017

HAIKUS: December 2017

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.

Friday, December 1, 2017, 1:05-5:50 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Finished "On Numbers 66" with 168 items (70%);
Preface to Numbers 66 (80%); Number 66 Cover;
October 18, 2017 Adventures (68%)

Can't reduce with Safari Browser;
Internet Explorer and Firefox
can reduce but at different %. Friday, December 1, 2017, 7:30-9:55 pm
Palo Alto: 957 Colorado Ave (Friends Meeting House); Waverley Writers Poetry Reading; Church reserved for homeless people; Read in the Children's Room tonight; Joel Katz gave me a ride home.

Read two poems tonight—
"Aldo Ciccolini 1986 Stanford Concert"
and "Nothing Is Imposible".

Saturday, December 2, 2017, 9:00 am-2:05 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
LINC-F066.01 Introduction to the Internet with
William Cavada (Room 4002); 10 students
Design in Adobe Spark: Creativity Page

"Prediction of Protein Conformation"
cited 943,000 in Google Scholar
and 2,980,000 in Google Search. Saturday, December 2, 2017. 2:05-4:00 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Reproduce Adobe Spark Creativity Page
in HTML with texts and photogaphs—
Vanishing Point of Stream; Pyramid of Giza

Platonic Lambda: Pyramid;
Meditation by Lake Placid;
Joy Leaping to the Sky.

Sunday, December 3, 2017, 12:45-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Returned 5 poetry books for
more space on December 20th apt inspection;
"First Thought Conversations with Allen Ginsberg" 811.54Ginsber; "Letters of Denise Levertov & William Carlos Williams" 811.54Letters

Denise Levertov, This Great Unknowing
Tracy K. Smith, Life on Mars;
Tracy K. Smith, Duende: Poems. Sunday, December 3, 2017, 12:45-5:00 pm
Convert Adobe Spark page from Cavada's Internet
class (LINC-F066.01) to HTML, in Microsoft Word; Teach class so students can connect with experts—
Show them predict protein structures using Chou-Fasman Method (944,000 results in Google Scholar)

Notes from Robert Bly's 2008
Stanford Poetry Workshops with
exercises for students to write poems.

Sunday, December 3, 2017, 12:45-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Forgot to get date of issue
of French Polynesia 691 Cicada stamp; Consulted "2018 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue 2B" and found out it was issued on August 7, 1996

Rudy didn't reply on meeting at Chase
Parking Lot near Showers Drive for
trip to Walgreens for week's specials. Sunday, December 3, 2017, 5:25-5:38 pm
Mountain View: Walgreens (1905 N. El Camino Real); 5:06 pm Bus #40 from Library to El Camino;
5:20 pm Bus #22 to Escuelar Ave; 5:45 pm Bus #22
to San Antonio Rd; 6:21 pm Bus #40 home

Two Manzanita Olives @ 95¢;
Garlic Powder, Onion Powder,
Black Pepper, Cinnamon @ 95¢.

Monday, December 4, 2017, 1:25-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Composing Cavada-Internet1 in HTML since
Adobe Spark formatting is not elegant enough;
Photo of Instructor: William Cavada

Constructing HTML page
from notes taken in class and
photos downloaded from web. Monday, December 4, 2017, 1:25-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Composing Cavada-Internet1 in HTML
Answering questions posed in class
in texts and photos;

Verified in Oxford English Dictionary
that Vincent Cerf was the first one
to use the term "Internet" in 1974.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017, 1:30-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Composing Cavada-Internet1 in HTML; Finding
Philippe Halsman's photo of Audrey Hepburn in his "Jump Book" to match "Joyful Leaping to the Sky"

One section left to complete page—
Pyramid photo from Adobe Sharp Gallery
for "Platonic Lambda: Soul of the Universe". Tuesday, December 5, 2017, 7:55-8:01 pm
Mountain View: Sprouts (630 San Antonio Rd)
7:22 pm Bus #40 got blocked at last Foothill
Bus Stop, getting to El Camino at 7:50 pm;
Caught 8:08 pm Bus #40 just in time home.

Green onions @ 50¢;
6 oz. Blackberries @ 98¢;
One free Navel orange for shoppers.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017, 11:00-11:25 am
Mountain View: Kaiser Hospital (555 Castro St.)
10:32 am Bus #34 to Bryant St. & California St.;
Bought Humulin for $15.00; 2 free Pill-Cutters;
12 Blood Sugar Form Sheets from Dr. Ma's office

Caught 11:50 am Bus #52
opposite Kaiser Permanente
to Foothill College at 12:02 pm. Wednesday, December 6, 2017, 12:15-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Composing Cavada-Internet1 in HTML; Finding
Photo in Adobe Sharp for web page; Matched
with Platonic Lambda Poster (6-29-2017)

After getting photo from Adobe Sharp
Gallery, no time to add to this page
except answering questions on slides.

Thursday, December 7, 2017, 9:45-9:55 am
Mountain View: Kaiser Hospital (555 Castro St.)
9:32 am Bus #34 to Bryant St. & California Street;
Dr. Ma's office closed 9:30-11:30 am for meeting;
Caught 10:06 am Bus #52 to Foothill at 10:19 am

Want to return Blood Sugar Forms
that didn't have Dates 1-31 on them
for older forms with wider margins. Thursday, December 7, 2017, 10:37 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Re-compose "Platonic Lambda Cover" in HTML
with faint Λ image in the background surrounded
by 12 images portraying the Platonic Lambda

Couldn't get HTML formatting right
yesterday after composing Λ image
in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Friday, December 7, 2017, 10:50-11:10 am
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College TLC Center
Al Guzman leaves Teaching & Learning Center at
4 pm; Since "Pearl Harbor" movie ends at 4:03 pm,
had to come here early to print out four pages of
Cavada-Internet1 for tomorrow's class (Part 2)
Printed "Platonic Lambda" book cover

Just missed 11:15 am Bus #40,
Next bus at 11:44 am that got me
to Mtn View Senior Center at 12:30 pm. Friday, December 7, 2017, 1:00-4:03 pm
Mountain View Senior Center (266 Escuela Ave)
Michael Bay directs "Pearl Harbor" (2001) with
Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Colm Feore, Mako, Alec Baldwin; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 );
(Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Have seen many movies about
Pearl Harbor, but this one shows
more devastation than all the rest.

Saturday, December 9, 2017, 9:00 am-2:30 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
LINC-066.01 "Introduction to the Internet" (Part 2)
with William Cavada (Room 4002); 9 students;
Slide 22: Google Yourself: What did you discover?

Peter Y. Chou (2,040,000 results) with
Taiwan billionaire CEO of HTC as #1 hit;
"Peter Y. Chou" (3210 results) lists all
22 papers published at Brandeis Univesity. Saturday, December 9, 2017, 9:00 am-2:30 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Topics in Internet class: Slide 27: What is real & what is fake? How do we verify information?; Slide 28: Trust & Credibility; Slide 29: Shifting Trends

Tagline: WisdomPortal opens our mind;
Photo: "Plato & Aristotle" from Raphael's
painting School of Athens at Vatican Museum,
gracious gift (1968) from Anthony Damiani.

Sunday, December 10, 2017, 1:54-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Returned Levertov's book;
Renewed 3 books due today. For Sale: Peter Boxall (Ed.), "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"
(2006) $34.95 for $3; Didn't buy 960 pages book as
Santa Clara Libraries have 4 copies (011.73 ONE)

Didn't include Dante's Commedia,
Goethe's Faust, Plotinus's Enneads,
or Plato's Dialogues to enlighten readers. Sunday, December 10, 2017, 1:54-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: My link to Cavada's Internet class
(LINC-F066.01) was not in sync with his latest slides
Slide 28: Trust & Credibility has link to 1:14 video
"Dove Evolution" on "beauty makeup; Emailed video
to Rudy as he doesn't like women with heavy makeup

Need to convert Adobe Spark
page to HTML like last week
so it's more complete with links.

Saturday, December 9, 2017, 4:30-5:23 pm
Mountain View: Sprouts (630 San Antonio Road)
Specials: 25% off Bulk Items & Spices; Caught
5:49 pm Bus #40 home for ballroom dancing

1.04 lb Brazil Nuts @ $12.74/lb = $13.25;
0.08 lb Tarragon @ $1.87/oz = 0.15;
0.16 lb Tumeric $10.49/lb = $1.68;
Dried Fruits 4.49/lb: 1 lb Apple Rings $4.49;
0.95 lb Mango $4.27; 1.11 lb Ginger $4.98. Sunday, December 10, 2017, 5:25-6:00 pm
Mountain View: Sprouts (630 San Antonio Road)
& Safeway (645 San Antonio Road); Caught last
6:21 pm Bus #40 home or 1/2-hour walk home;
Shopped today so could get more work on Monday

2.73 lbs Roma Tomatoes @ 88¢/lb;
4 Swiss Cheese @ $1.79; Tater Tots &
Onion Rings @ $1.78; Shrimp Scampi $3.99;
Russian Rye $2.80; Nonni's Biscotti $2.99.

Monday, December 11, 2017, 9:00-9:55 am
Mountain View: Phoned Social Security to get
Benefit Verification Letter; TIAA-CREF and
CALStrs to send latest statements for yearly
checkup of bank statements & pension funds

Must bring all documentation
forms & statements to Irene Valdez
on Monday, December 18 at 11 am. Monday, December 11, 2017, 11:00 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Converting Adobe Spark page to HTML for more texts & links to Cavada's Internet Class: Part 2;
Will make it fun composing this page as last week's

Today's comics "Pearls Before Swine"
has theme "Get Off the Internet"
that's just right for our class.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017, 11:09 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Read last night: "Letter Head: Scrabble prodigy Mack Meller is Columbia freshman" (Meller won tournament at age 10, ranked 5th on the continent.)
(By Paul Hond, Columbia Magazine, Winter 2017)

Still to read Bill Retherford's cover article: "Brave New Worlds: The Planet Hunters beyond our solar system"— an exoplanet
Proxima Centauri b is 4.2 light years away. Tuesday, December 12, 2017, 11:09 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Converted Adobe Spark page to HTML for Cavada's Internet Class: Part 2; Typed info in slides 15-29 & visits to some links; Trust: Finding Credible Sources:
Authority, Accuracy, Coverage, Currency, Objectivity

Dove "Evolution" Video;
Book: A World Without 'Whom';
"Obama Hope" Photo & Poster;
Lupita Nyong'o's hair altered on Grazia's cover.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017, 10:56 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Today is the 17th anniversary of Dad's passing on
December 13, 2000; My web pages honoring him

My Eulogy to Dad,
Dad's Love for Mom,
Dad's Visit to Paris in 1979.
Wednesday, December 13, 2017, 10:56 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Completed HTML page Cavada's Internet Class 2; Slide 15: "Robo-Man" poem & Notes; Singularity

Adobe Spark page presentation
to class on "Plato & Aristotle" painting
with Dante's four levels of interpretation.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017, 10:56 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
"Ladakhi Mountain High" (Road to Turtuk photo)
(By Tom Downe, WSJ Magazine, February 2017)

Quentin de Briey's photo of Mt. Ladakhi
is an excellent example of mountain peak
with the Platonic Lambda Λ image. Wednesday, December 13, 2017, 10:56 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
"Inside the New Star-Studded Murder on the Orient Express" (By Mara Reinstein, Parade, 10-27-2017)

Read this article comparing
current actors with those
in Sidney Lumet's 1974 film.

Thursday, December 14, 2017, 10:57 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Threw away old magazines of "Internet World"
(1997) & "Business 2.0" (2005) for less clutter;
Dave Haskin's "Search" (Internet World, 12-1997)

Ranked Alta Vista, Excite, HotBot,
Infoseek, Lycos, Northern Light,
as the leading search engines. Thursday, December 14, 2017, 10:57 am-7:15 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Going through Number 66 sections on Bible, Religion & Philosophy, Poetry & Literature, composed poem "Meditations on 66: Make a Joyful Song" with Notes

Wrote Preface to Poems 2017
already— will have to include
"Meditations on 66" in Poems 2018.

Friday, December 15, 2017, 1:01-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Apple buys the music discovery app Shazam
(1 billion people used its app 30 billion times)
(Hayley Tsukayama, Washington Post, 12-11-2017)

Apple bought Shazam for $400 million,
the music app that identifies a song
by hearing just a snippet of it. Friday, December 15, 2017, 1:01-5:30 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Revised poem "Platonic Lambda Business Cards"
after finding my notes of Stephen Wolfram's talk
on March 2 instead of March 5, 2016

Stephen Wolfram autographed
his wikipedia page adding
the date March 2, 2016.

Saturday, December 16, 2017, 9:00-9:11 am
KDFC 104.9 FM: Roy Goodman conducts Hanover Band in Ludwig van Beethoven's Consecration of the House Overture Op 124 (1822); CD; YouTube:
Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Leonard Bernstein)

KDFC honors Beethoven's 247th
birthday today— playing his
"Consecration of the House Overture". Saturday, December 16, 2017, 1:15-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Charles Schulz celebrates
Beethoven's birthday with Peanuts comic strip
(Dec. 16, 2017) of Schroeder playing Beethoven
on his piano (Schulz's Beethoven 7-29-2009)

Frank and Ernest comic strip
(12-13-2017) on a bowl of nuts
all coming from broken homes.

Saturday, December 16, 2017, 1:15-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Returned Stanley Moss's
"Almost Complete Poems" (2016), 597 pp.
(811.54Moss) for more space on Dec. 20th
apartment inspection; p. 8 "Number One"—

My new tongue has an untranslatable word,
for gratitude that also seems to mean
the sun is shining and number one. Saturday, December 16, 2017, 1:15-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: My friend told me about her sore neck, recommended her to check out Nora Ephron's
"I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman" (2008); (814.54Ephron)

Recommeded her to buy Emily Dickinson's
Final Harvest for $1 and Barbara Walker's
Women's Encyclopedia of Myths for $2.

Sunday, December 17, 2017, 9:09 am-12:00 pm
Santa Clara: Hometown Buffet (2670 El Camino)
Al picks me up at 8:30 am at my apt for breakfast;
Karen showed up & Al drove us both to Hometown Buffet; Rudy came at 10 am; Used $5.99 coupons; Karen gave Rudy Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" (1997) to read, arguing the latitudinal axis of Eurasia to transport domesticated animanls and transplanting seeds better than longitudinal axix of North & South America or Africa.

Scrambled eggs, 6 sausages, bacon,
3 Polish sausages, 3 potato pancakes,
cantaloupes, and two chocolate milk. Sunday, December 17, 2017, 1:45-3:45 pm
Santa Clara: AMC Mercado 20 Theatre (3111 Mission College Blvd); Kenneth Branagh directs "Murder on the Oriental Express" (2017) with Kenneth Branagh Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer; Daisy Ridley, Tom Bateman, Olivia Colman, Lucy Boynton, Marwan Kenzari, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Sergei Polunin, Miranda Raison; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Surprise ending of the murderer;
Splendid snowy scene as the train
speeds across the Swiss Alps.

Monday, December 18, 2017, 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Mountain View: Irene Valdez xeroxed all bank
statements from Wells Fargo, Fidelity, CALStrs,
and TIAA-CREF for yearly checkup of finances

Need to get Social Security's
Benefits Verification Letter
for monthly pay instead of yearly. Monday, December 18, 2017, 1:35-6:00 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Paid $18.50 at Registrar for LINC 72C Adobe InDesign
(CRN 32200) on Saturday, February 20, 9 am-2:50 pm

Krause Center will open Dec. 18-22
8:00 am-6:00 pm before winter break—
Hurray: I get to use Mac for extra week.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017, 4:10-4:40 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me shopping
at Safeway (580 N. Rengstorff Ave.); Too late
to go to Krause Center that's closing at 6 pm

4 Lucerne coffee creamers @ $2.42;
3 Lucerne strawberry yogurt @ $1.48;
Nonfat Milk $2.79; orange juice $1.88. Tuesday, December 19, 2017, 5:00 pm-2:00 am
Mountain View: Cleaned apartment for tomorrow's
inspection; 92-inches from kitchen wall to first row
of boxes; Discard Time Magazines (May-Aug. 2017)

Saved JFK & Trump articles for Jack;
Saved film reviews on movies seen—
Atomic Blonde, Dunkirk, Wonder Woman.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017, 10:30-11:55 am
Mountain View: Consolidated printouts & books
in empty boxes; Apartment looks more spacious;
Julio & Guadalupe busy; will inspect in January

Wasted time cleaning my apartment
instead of finishing Poems 2017
as year-end gifts to my friends. Wednesday, December 20, 2017, 1:55-6:00 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Will add three more poems to "Poems 2017"
and mention them at the end of Preface.

"Meditations on 66" (12-14-2017);
"Playground at Grandma's Place" (12-25-2006);
"Dream of Philosophical Beauty" (12-20-1972).

Thursday, December 21, 2017, 9:45 am-2:05 pm
Mountain View Senior Center (266 Escuela Ave.)
Printed "Poems 2017 Contents", Preface, Cover,
& poems @ 5¢; "Poems 2017" & "Number 96"
mailed at Los Altos Post Office by Vicente

Mailed package of Poems & #96
at media rate insured for $5.22
to Professor Scheraga in Ithaca. Thursday, December 21, 2017, 2:58-6:00 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Steve Gould's 12/21 email on Vermeer Exhibit
at National Gallery of Art; Richard Hanauer's
12/9 email on Renoir's Art at Phillips Collection

Renoir's future wife Aline Charigot shown
with puppy at "The Boating Party" (1881)
and others identified drawn by Renoir.

Friday, December 22, 2017, 9:45-11:30 am
Mountain View Senior Center (266 Escuela Ave.)
Printed "Poems 2017 Contents" & poems @ 5¢; Assembled Poems 2017 & Number 66 for Cathy

Senior Center closing Dec. 25-Jan. 1;
Saved $6 yesterday printing @ 5¢
instead @ 15¢ at Los Altos Library. Friday, December 22, 2017, 12:40-4:00 pm
Los Altos Hills, Foothill College Krause Center
Lab locked & closed; Banged on door and janitor
Deborah let me in, saying Martha may be back.

Revised "Yellow-Veined Leaf Sings" poem
so leaf doesn't have yellow background
and entire page appears white.

Friday, December 22, 2017, 4:30-6:30 pm
Los Altos Library: Rochelle Gordon & Nadia Stieglitz (Eds), "Love Signs and You: The Ultimate Astrological Guide to Love, Sex, and Relationships" (2003); $40 for $3 (Libraries don't have this book)

863-pages book too heavy to buy—
pp. 762-766 have celebrities born
in Zodiac signs Aries to Pisces. Friday, December 22, 2017, 4:30-6:30 pm
Los Altos Library: Didn't by for $2 since library has
this book— Ammon Shea's "Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages" (2008); (423.028Shea);
pp. 11 & 215—

Apricity: Warmth of the sun in winter;
Last word in the OED: Zyxt:
Too see (in Kentish dialect).

Saturday, December 23, 2017, 12:25-5:30 pm
Los Altos Library: Rochelle Gordon & Nadia Stieglitz (Eds), "Love Signs and You" (2003);
Typed Celebrity Birthdays: Cancer, Leo, Virgo

Cathy visits from Las Vegas,
meets me at library; will fly to
Pittsburgh on 12/25 to see ailing Mom. Saturday, December 23, 2017, 6:00-7:45 pm
Mountain View: Bamboo Garden (108 N. Rengstorff)
Chef Chu too crowded with 45-minutes wait; Cathy invites me to our annual get-together dinner

Pan-fried noodles with shrimp;
Cathy orders broccoli with prawns;
Larry orders roasted duck, hot & sour soup.

Sunday, December 24, 2017, 12:40-5:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Rochelle Gordon & Nadia Stieglitz (Eds), "Love Signs and You" (2003);
Typed Celebrity Birthdays: Libra, Scorpio,
Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces,
Aries, Taurus, Gemini; 5:06 pm Bus #40 home

Library opens Christmas Eve
until 5 pm allowed me to type
celebrity birthdays from 9 signs. Sunday, December 24, 2017, 6:00-11:55 pm
Mountain View: Home doing stir-fry for dinner
using left-over take-home from Bamboo Garden
of pan-fried noodles, and broccoli & prawns;
Season's Greeting Photo card received 1/23 from Richard & Arlene (Furlong, PA) & Yearly News

Photos of trips to Cinque Terra,
Italian Lakes District, Venice, Greece,
Croatia, Iceland and Northern Lights.

Monday, December 25, 2017, 12:40-5:00 pm
Mountain View: Robert Thurman sent his usual Season Greetings card "Happy Earth Dog Year" 12/23 at 9:08 am, but no Christmas Tree from Rockefeller Center in the background this year.

"STYLE: 50 Years of Marriage and Mindfulness with Nena & Robert Thurman"
(By Penelope Green, NY Times, 5-20-2017). Monday, December 25, 2017, 6:00-11:55 pm
Mountain View: Got on Thurman's mailing list after typing up my notes-- "Robert Thurman's Stanford Lecture" (March 3, 2006); Looked through my books
on "Mountain Symbolism" and took 4 pages of Notes

Lemprière's Classical Dictionary (1788) on
Mt. Olympus (p. 422) & Mt. Parnassus (p. 447);
Mt. T'ai, Shantung, China, sacred for 3000 years.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017, 11:51 am-6:10 pm
Los Altos Library: Typed in Microsoft Word: G. A. Gaskell's "A Dictionary of the Sacred Language of All Scriptures and Myths" (1960) on Mount of Olives, Mountain & Mountains, Mountain Top, Mount Olympus (pp. 514-517)

Mountains: symbol of aspirations;
the attainment of ideals; and
higher states of consciousness. Tuesday, December 26, 2017, 11:51 am-6:10 pm
Los Altos Library: Typed in Microsoft Word:
J. C. Cooper's "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols" (1978) Mountain (pp. 109-110), Omphalos: Cosmic Centre (p. 122), Ziggurat: Sumerian temple built to symbolize the Sacred Mountain (p. 198).

The mountain symbolizes
constancy, eternity,
firmness, stillness.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017, 11:30 am-1:00 pm
San Mateo: Little Shanghai Restaurant (17 E. 25th Ave); Cousin Scott treats me for lunch & drives to Skylawn Memorial Park to pay respect to Scott's Mom Fu-yu and my Dad & Mom grave sites;
Came here last year on 12-30-2016

Place jumbo pine cone by grave site;
read poems: "Seeing the Soul Everywhere"
and "A Dream of Philosophical Beauty". Wednesday, December 27, 2017, 1:45-7:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Typed J. E. Cirlot's "A Dictionary of Symbols", Philosophical Library (1971) Mountain (pp. 208-211), Omphalos (p. 232): 'What the inhabitants of Delphi call omphalos is made of white stone and is considered to be at the centre of the earth'

Mountain has inner 'loftiness' of spirit,
transposing the notion of ascent
to the realm of the spirit.

Thursday, December 28, 2017, 3:10-7:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Received email from Professor Harold A. Scheraga sent 11:11 am "Many thanks for your annual greetings, remembering Miriam's & my 96th birthdays, with your 2 new volumes"

Poems 2017 and On Number 96 mailed
on Dec. 21 at Los Altos Post Office
arrived safely in Ithaca, New York. Thursday, December 28, 2017, 3:10-7:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Typed Jean Chevalier & Alain Gheerbrant, "The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols", Penguin Books (1996), Mountain, pp. 680-685
Mountains symbolizes stability, changelessness, purity.

Mountains are places
where Heaven and Earth meet,
where the gods have their home.

Friday, December 29, 2017, 1:00-7:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Bird on Mountain Images:
Bird on Table Mountain; Eagle on mountaintop; Bergdohle standing on the mountains; Painting of red-winged starling on mountaintop, Cape Town

Seagull on mountain-top;
Bird sitting on mountain;
Two eagles on mountain. Friday, December 29, 2017, 1:00-7:00 pm
Los Altos Library: Sue Grafton Dies at 77 on 12/28; She started with "A is for Alibi" (1982) and "Y is for Yesterday" was published in Aug. 2017. Never got to "Z is for Zero" during her treatment for appendix cancer.

Emailed Cathy on Sue Grafton's death
as she was one of her favorite
authors, reading all her books.

Saturday, December 30, 2017, 1:53-4:50 pm
Los Altos Library: Distance from Hometown Buffet (2670 El Camino Real, Santa Clara) to AMC Mercado 20 (3111 Mission College Blvd) and Cinelux Almaden (2306 Almaden Rd., San Jose)

4.9 miles, 12 minutes to AMC;
11.4 miles, 15 minutes to Cinelux;
from Hometown Buffet, Santa Clara. Saturday, December 30, 2017, 1:53-4:50 pm
Los Altos Library: Typing Barbara G. Walker's "The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects", HarperSanFrancisco (1988), Mountain, pp. 346-347; Ziggurat, pp. 113-114; written from feminine viewpoint

The letter M looks like twin peaks
of the holy mountain, which were
seen as breasts of the Great Mother.

Sunday, December 31, 2017, 9:29 am-11:30 am
Al Guzman picks me up at my apt at 9:00 am for breakfast at Hometown Buffet (2670 El Camino Real, Santa Clara) where Rudy joined us;

Scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon,
3 potato pancakes, beets, jello,
cantaloupes, two chocolate milk. Sunday, December 31, 2017, 6:45-7:00 pm
Mountain View: 99 Ranch Market (1350 Grant Rd)
Karen is hungry & buys dim sum here, while I buy
groceries; Declines going to New Year's Eve Party

Marinated tofu $2.79; Firm tofu $1.19;
Spinach wontons $2.49; Sesame buns $3.49;
Kimbo veggie buns $1.33; Seasame buns 99¢.

Sunday, December 31, 2017, 1:00-3:00 pm
San Jose: Cinelux Almaden Café & Lounge
(2306 Almaden Rd.);Lee Unkrich directs "Coco" (2017) with Anthony Gonzalez (Miguel), Gael García Bernal (Hector), Benjamin Bratt (Ernesto), Alanna Ubach (Mamá Imelda), Renée Victor (Abuelita Elena), Ana Ofelia Murguía Mamá Socorro "Coco"), Edward James Olmos (Chicharrón), Alfonso Arau (Papá Julio), Selene Luna (Tía Rosita), Jaime Camil (Papá Enrique), Sofía Espinosa (Mamá Luisa), (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5); (Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4); Rudy gives movie a "10"

Follow your dream or stay with family
as Miguel looks for his father
in the land of the dead. Sunday, December 31, 2017, 3:30-6:10 pm
San Jose: Cinelux Almaden Café & Lounge
(2306 Almaden Rd.); Kenneth Branagh directs "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" (2017) with Mark Hamill Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels; Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Frank Oz, Benicio del Toro; (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6); (Film Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4); Rudy saw this movie in Lodi with his brother-in-law
& family, and didn't like it, saying it's too confusing; Karen joins Al and me for the movie; We gave it "9".

Luke Skywalker returns
to fight the sinister Dark Side
and mentor Rey of the Resistance.