paeanhera's profile

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Relationship

Single. Interested in meeting people for friendship and meeting people for networking

Hometown

Cambridge, MA and Saugus, MA

Places I've been

New York City; Eugene, OR; Sarasota, FL; Santa Cruz, CA; the Rainbow Gathering at Three Forks, WV (1980); Pittsburgh, PA; Valentine, NE; Schuylerville, NY; Dance New England summer camp in ME; Jonesboro, AR; Mokelumne Hill, CA; Center for Progressive Therapies in Manchester, CT; Birmingham, AL; and New Orleans, LA Rebuild New Orleans, the Birthplace of Jazz!

More about me

It's been about a year since I've changed my bio. In April 2008, the CEO laid me off from the taxi dispatching job. I had been working there seven years. I've picked up some temporary work until the bottom fell out of the stock market. I'm looking for work where I could use my skill at manipulating data on spreadsheets. I can also type decently, have a reasonably good command of the English language, and work quickly and efficiently. I also have a good attendance record, a very dependable worker. 

I like to walk around Cambridge and socialize. This is what city life is all about, right?  I cook for myself and do it well. I keep it healthy when I eat. I've been able to keep my savings intact so far. My debt was limited and I've been liquidating it. I was prudent enough to save in case an extended period of unemployment hit. I've rarely had discretionary income; the employers rarely pay more than what I spend for basic living expenses.

Much of my investment was still cash so I did not lose that much market value; I'm still a little ahead of where I was when I put my money away into mutual funds from the bank accounts.

I have been very successful with growing the green things. Presently, I have no garden space with which to do that. However, I keep an active interest in what is growing around me. I have found out over the years that many things people grow in the southeast will grow in the Boston area if they get some shelter. Some, like crape myrtle, won't grow this far north. Some, like mimosa trees will grow but only under care.

I keep an active interest in weather forcasting and records. I am happy that there is so much data available on line now. The National Weather Service has put all the Daily Weather Maps on line now. They have them available all the way back to 1871, the start of the present-day service. Much technical data is also available. Slowly, I am starting to see information of the same quality as the American weather services worldwide. The satellite pictures have been available for year, both still pictures and motion pictures.

 

While I view "global warming" as an effect and a code phrase that covers many items, I remain more interested in the underlying causes. These are things like the air getting dirtier, the depletion of fossil fuels, the need to improve technology for capturing the products of combustion. Some things make sense, as in "the place gets warmer, more water evaporates." Of course with that much more energy stored in the water, heavy precipitation events would be more prevalent. I still wonder how storm tracks change and if the scientists can figure that out. It is still a great mystery in many ways, though I and the scientists know the basics.

For my own part in keeping "the environment" as healthful as we would like it to be, I walk or take mass transit as much as possible, live in a city, clean up after myself, and eat only a limited amount of animal products. I have been aware of conservation of natural resources since I was ten and learned the sad stories of the dodo, the great auk, and the passenger pigeon.

I try to avoid political activism. I heard someone say when I was in my 20s and in a worse economic condition than I am now, "to be a politician is to attract enemies."

 

Right now, my interest crosses party lines, since I've liked the ideas of John Boehner for HR 1 (the so-called "economic stimulus" bill) than what I've seen in the bill so far. A tax cut and the Republicans rescinding the income tax on unemployment insurance benefits sound more like I will have more money in my pocket than spending it on construction projects which are too subject to graft. 

 

I have taken an interest in people and cultures of other lands, too. On the way there, I have read many of the enduring and inspirational works of the world in translation. I have many of them (Qu'ran, Bible, Philokalia, Yoga Sutras, The Awakening of Faith, etc.) at home.

Among them is a beautiful bi-lingual version of the Tao Te Ching. I have resources available on the web now so I can see how to understand the original Chinese (I Ching, also). I hope that if my health fails too much to move around much that I can end up at some setting where I can learn Tibetan and translate more works into English before we lose this valuable heritage. 

Activities

walking, cooking, reading, Internet, research into weather forecasting and records

Favorite Charities

Local food relief organizations will have first priority when I have the money, too many hungry people around. Second priority will be anything to help the homeless, too many people are mean to them. Try finding a place to clean up, and then people go pooh-pooh them, saying ", They are dirty and smelly!" That's just plain mean! Among international organizations, Habitat for Humanity stands out. It shows the Gospel in action. Rare is the political organization I give to, but the Southern Poverty Law Center has stood for civil rights and justice among the disadvantaged. Let's end the Reign of Terror once and for all!

Favorite Music

Jazz, one on America's original art forms.

Favorite TV Shows

Rarely watch TV. I have DVDs of Outer Limits and Route 66. I like The Twilight Zone, too.

Favorite Movies

Dr. Strangelove, Medium Cool, Nashville. Check out Flixster to see more detail.

Favorite Books

Tao Te Ching, I Ching, Yoga Sutras

Favorite Quotes

"The wise person rules by emptying hearts and stuffing bellies, By weakening ambitions and strengthening bones." --Tao Te Ching, v. 4 part (Feng & English translation) "The mother principle of ruling lasts for a long time It is called having deep roots and a firm foundation." --Tao Te Ching, v. 67 part (Feng & English translation) "If a man carries a burden on his back, and Nonetheless rides in a carriage, He encourages robbers to draw near." --I Ching, The image for "Six in the third place" for the sign ("gua" in PinYin), "Xiè" ("Deliverance"-Wilhelm/Baynes, "Release"-Wang Pi, "Taking Apart"-Ritesma/Karcher)

Favorite People

Mareba Jos, for her tireless community work with the poor, and disenfranchised, those who feel locked in "the ghetto, "; Dr. Mitch Levine for his work in promoting natural childbirth and midwifery, Dr. Lisa Payne, for her persistence in the face of adversity, and the nameless multitudes who work every day all over the world who distribute food, medical care, and build houses. Kip Tiernan, for founding Rosie's Place and being a big player in the Greater Boston Food Bank. Morris Dees, who is the lead counsel in the Southern Poverty Law Center. He breaks the Klan; he remains well-protected. Bertrand Russell, for such a long and productive life. He is an example of "well-to-do."

Favorite Places

New York, New York, "Fun City, " "The Place So Nice, They Had to Name it Twice" Local places I like: Arnold Arboretum, Haymarket Square, Museum of Fine Arts, Louisburg Square, and the placement of the Church of Jesus Christ-Ladder Day Saints across a green park from the meetinghouse of the Society of Friends

Favorite Animals

nothing like seeing a beautiful horse running free across the Asian steppe

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