Thursday, December 21, 2006

Even dust could crush

Dear Christians,

Happy Hannukah.

That's for the countless times that I've said "Merry Christmas" to Jews. See, the thing is, I should know the "Happy Holidays" routine by now, but I forget! I don't even have a good excuse b/c I didn't grow up celebrating Christmas (or any other holiday). If I'm to say anything at all, it should be more natural offer a generic tiding -- Seasons Greetings! -- and yet I chirp Merry Christmas indiscriminately.
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Have you seen The Secret? It's a movie about the Law of Attraction. I saw a meditation teacher when I lived in Cambridge who formally introduced me to this principle. I had been aware of it by concept but not name, and now there's a documentary out based on its principles. The production is a bit along the lines of What the Bleep; still, the content is an important reminder. You know how you think you understand something and start to apply it and then it's only much later, sometimes years (though in this case months) where you realize your previous thinking was only one tree in a forest? It was nothing that this movie explicitly said that triggered the understanding. Rather, it's my own subsequent kinesthetic experiments which have left an immeasurable imprint on my perspective. Super exciting.

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Last night we played this really cool game called "Settlers" that now I can't stop thinking about. Even my abysmal performance is no distraction. It's a game which balances probability and resources and you can't get it in Toys R Us. You have to go knock on some door off of like Alameda and Gage at 4 in the morning. A sliding door the width of a butter knife opens and some beady eyes peer out asking what you want though no words are spoken. You have to give some key word and if you're wrong they shoot your foot for wasting their time. If you're right you're entered into a lottery for a chance at buying the game. If you win the lottery your stoned to death (thanks Shirley Jackson) while the remainders bid on the game. I don't pretend to make sense but it IS fun. Settlers, I mean.

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