1) So many books, so little time. Yes, I just got back from Border's. 
I managed to escape with just the book I came to buy -- incredible! It was the Dhammapada. Other books that nearly reeled me in were the 9/11 Commission's report and the Accidental Buddhist, by Dinty Moore. Yeah, Dinty Moore! What enabled me to escape Border's with only the book I'd come for in hand, was my reading list. I've been keeping a list of books I want to read since 1996 and it now numbers about 190 books. For every book I do read a handful more get added to the list. I often refer to this list as a black hole -- a list of books so incredibly dense that few ever escape. Some do get read though, and taken off the list -- most recently the Tao Te Ching. Anyway, that's 190 books I probably would have bought and never gotten around to reading, as opposed to just putting them on the list... and then never getting around to reading them. For some reason just writing them down so I don't forget, works for me. It's still so many books, so little time, but at least I'm saving the money...
2) I don't know what "progress" is anymore. People lament the "lack of progress" or "taking a step backward" in terms of progress, but I think for the most part "progress" is an illusion anyway. To really make progress in anything, there has to be an agreed upon goal to make progress towards. If all of us have not agreed on the goal, then we are pulling in different directions. How then can progress in anything be made, permanently? This is abundantly clear every time the Presidency changes parties and the new President undoes what the previous President did. They represent, or believe they represent, different groups of people with different goals on whatever issue. Had we all agreed on the goal, this would not happen. When one reverses what the previous did, some will always lament the lack of progress and say we've "taken a step backwards".
This will always happen if we have not all agreed on the goal. So what goals have we all agreed on? Where can progress really be made? I can't think of very many. In fact, anything you could call in the least controversial, is something we cannot all agree on a goal for. The advancement of medicine is one goal most people in the world seem to agree on. Finding new cures for diseases and better treatments for illness etc. Who can argue that that is not something we should do? But then there are controversies in the details under that overall goal -- stem cell research and cloning for example. The last goal all Americans seem to have agreed on is to prevent another September 11, but even there we disagree over the best way to do this. So this is why we cannot make progress. We simply can't agree on a goal to make progress towards. The reality is not that we are trying to make progress, and for some reason just can't. The reality is that we are for the most part going around in circles.
3) The other day I was struck by the sight of a tree. By the treeness of it. I was leaving work and walking to my car, looking at this tree. It's a big tree, but not a huge tree. Probably 70 feet tall, my guess is that it is one of the trees they kept when they cleared this land to build the office park. I remember when this land was all woods, when I was a kid. My parents house, where I grew up, is very close to the office where I currently work.
I was walking towards my car and looking at the tree. I was struck and had to stop and stare. It was so green. The sky was so blue. A light wind was blowing on the tree, a maple. Some leaves were waving quickly, other leaves were still. The leaves that were waving were evenly distributed on the windward side of the tree. That was strange. Some leaves waving in the breeze, evenly distributed among other leaves that were barely moving, if at all. Beyond what I've said, words elude me to truly describe the tree. That tree was such a tree... A good candidate for the Greek ideal of "tree". Nearly every other time since then I've looked at the tree as I walk to or from my car. Such a treely tree...
4) Know what I'd like to hear? I'd like to hear a band like Sum 41, Lit, or even No Doubt do a remake of "Turkey in the Straw"... That would go nicely next to the version of Little Wing I have played on a banjo.
5) Holy crap! I just noticed that what I think of as "that new Pearl Jam album" is from 1993! Vs.! 11 years! Have the years begun to start sneaking by under my nose??
6) The funny thing about British history, for an American, and probably people of other English speaking countries too -- is the names. Thomas Beckett. William Wallace. Ben Johnson. These are names that could be people you know personally. "Thomas Beckett", Java developer. "William Wallace", Accountant. "Ben Johnson" over in marketing. Reading British history shows that in every important way, American and British culture are the same. We are the same people. There are only superficial differences. American culture is an offshoot of British culture. The two have only diverged for 228 years. I guess Americans are just not accustomed to hearing about historical figures with familiar sounding names, from more than 228 years ago...
Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go plant some croutons in the garden.
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