Secrets to getting a hotel upgrade
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
I like to travel on the cheap but the inner Donald Trump in me likes my hotel room to be as posh as possible. Enter asking for a room upgrade. Some of the tips I have found that can be used to manipulate hotels and resorts to my advantage are:
1. If staying in a hotel that has a loyalty program, join it! Besides a better chance at an upgrade you usually get some free stuff or vouchers.
2. Book directly with the hotel. There is little chance for an upgrade on that $35 Priceline bid you won.
3. Contact the hotel before you arrive with a nice friendly email that explains how much you are looking forward to your stay. If you are celebrating a special occasion – birthday, anniversary, engagement – mention that. It does not guarantee an upgrade but it helps. This should be sent to the Guest Service Manager or Front Office Manager.
4. If you get a reply with a promise of an upgrade reply immediately with a thank you. Follow up a few days before your stay with an email that casually mentions the upgrade and how much you are looking forward to your stay. Done!
5. If you are asking for an upgrade at the hotel desk keep these things in mind. Be nice. Smile. Be genuine. Mention the special occasion if it applies. Appearance matters – do not wear a velour track suit or other trashy+tacky outfit. It helps to check in late, say 7:00PM or 8:00PM because there is little chance of a walk-in that is going to want a special suite later that night.
6. Last, complain. Go to the room and check it out. Call the front desk and tell them that the room was definitely not what you were expecting from a (insert hotel brand) hotel and why. If your room does not meet the description then it is reasonable to request an upgrade free of charge.
Remember, an upgrade is not guaranteed. The only sure way is to fork over the money.
My life 2010 to 2011
Posted by creining | Filed under Personal
In my post My life from 2009 to 2010 a year ago I wrote about how I had the tendency to set too many ambitious goals therefore I set less and didn’t have expectations. Here’s what they were:
- Camp at Sidie Hollow County Park nope, no camping but the following was close!
- Trip to Alaska, Anchorage to Denali yes! a wildlife bonanaza
- Travel to Argentina no, Paris instead!
- Fly fly fly (a trip to Washington Island is in order) unfortunately, no
- Learn about investment real estate yes, REITs or MLPs are what I would pursue
Besides those things I also traveled to Cleveland, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and the Turks and Caicos. It was a busy year. I think over the course of year 2010 I lived in the present more and I am happy about that change. It is really exhausting to always be looking ahead rather than just being. My old self did that. I have become a lot more relaxed and happy by making a conscious change to not obsess over what needs to be done tomorrow or next week or next month. I am, like anybody, going to spend time on those things I enjoy doing but I don’t plan them as much. I will go camping, flying, I will travel abroad; I will pursue whatever my passions are. However, I am only making one goal this year and I want to truly honor it throughout the year. I think if I do this everything will fall into place. That goal is (drum roll please):
- Start each and every day with surrender
If I truly remember and honor it throughout the year then everything should fall into place. Now I can’t just say I’m going to stick to it and that’s that. I’m going to do a simple morning meditation focused on my willingness to surrender and asking a higher power for the strength to follow that through. During this meditation I will envision a river that I call my life rushing past me and I make a conscious decision to stop swimming upstream, turning to face wherever it takes me and letting go of the foothold that keeps me stuck in frustration. I lift my feet and float freely with the current, instead of swimming and struggling against it; allowing the current of something greater than myself to carry me where it will.
Buckeyes
Posted by creining | Filed under Food
I loved, loved, loved Buckeyes as a little kid. My mom and aunt both made them and I remember going wild when I got my hands on them. The chocolate yin to the peanut butter yang. I tried my hand at making them this year and they turned out spectacular! I think they will become the thing I make every holiday season.
1/4 cup (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups smooth salted peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72%) coarsely chopped
Make the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat for 10 seconds. Add the sugar and butter, and mix on the lowest speed until it stops floating off everywhere, then increase the speed until the ingredients are combined. Scrape down the whole bowl well, then mix again. The mixture will be quite sturdy and a little dry — perfect for shaping. Set it aside while you prepare the coating.
Make the coating: Melt the chocolate either over a double boiler, stirring until it is completely smooth or in a microwave in 30 then 10 second increments, stirring before you start it again until it is completely smooth. Let it cool to tepid (about 100 degrees) while you shape the peanut butter centers.
Assemble the candies: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out slightly more than one tablespoon’s worth of filling and use your hands to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared sheet and repeat the process until all of the candies have been shaped. They can sit close to each other but make sure they are not touching. Using a fork or large skewer, dip each ball into the chocolate and roll it about so that almost the entire candy is coating, leaving a small circle uncoated.
Chill the buckeyes until they are set, about 30 minutes.
Recipe via Smitten Kitchen.
Apple Pie
Posted by creining | Filed under Food
It’s fall and that means I make my pie for the year – an apple pie with Granny Smiths. These sour apples go perfect with sugar.
Recipe:
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 lbs Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Drizzle the sugar and butter liquid over the apples and save a small amount for the top crust. Cover with top crust and make 4 or 5 slits to allow heat to escape during baking. Pour the remaining sugar and butter liquid over the top crust.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes until apples are soft.
Recipe, slightly modified, via Allrecipes.
Recipe, for a 9 inch double crust pie, via Simply Recipes. If in a pinch, Trader Joe’s sells decent ready-made.
Water, flour, yeast, salt
Posted by creining | Filed under Food
I’ve made this super easy bread a few times now and plan on making it regularly.
Recipe:
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Recipe via The New York Times.
Video on YouTube.
Trip to Paris
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
We just got back from a wonderful trip to the City of Light! It was our first time there and I would say I had a lovely and fantastic experience. We flew on Aer Lingus, ORD through DUB to CDG. It was a good experience and I would fly with the shamrock airline again. During the flight we used some of the time to come up with a loose itinerary. We started with the itinerary that Rick Steves laid out in his invaluable Paris 2010 travel guide. It was the first time I had used a Rick Steves’ travel guide and I would highly recommend it. While in Paris I noticed quite a few people lugging this book around like we did. I think that going on a trip to another country without a decent travel guide in tow is penny wise and pound foolish! I was even able to check ours out from the library.
The days and times of our itinerary ended up changing a lot but in the end we fit everything in that we wanted to see.Here it goes:
Day 1 (09/24)
We left ORD in the early evening. It was pretty uneventful.
Day 2 (09/25)
We arrived at DUB around 7 AM and had a 4 hour layover before our flight to CDG. I took Euros out from the ATM. The terminal was dirty and filled with rubbish. People were drinking beer; we had coffee. Our flight finally left and we arrived at CDG in the early afternoon. We called the apartment manager Pierre to let him know to meet us soon. We rode the RER into Paris. Once we arrived at the station in Paris we took the Metro to the Saint-Paul stop near our apartment in the heart of Marais. We found our address and Pierre waiting outside. He showed us to our 5th floor walk-up studio apartment (tiny tiny tiny!) and how everything worked and we were left on our own in Paris. We got situated and then headed out to find some food. We found a place across from the Pompidou that Janie had written down before we left. There we ate, had a beer and then walked like zombies to bed!
Day 3 (09/26)
We met our friends Kevin and Sonia around noon and had some falafel at Chez Marianne! Marais is known for its Jewish district and the accompanying falafel joints. We caught up over a typical relaxed and long French lunch and then headed towards a place called Angelina’s for hot chocolate. It was hands down the best hot chocolate I have ever had. It is like drinking a melted European chocolate bar. So rich and sensual. And the interior is splended as well. We then made our way on foot to Luxembourg Garden. Once there walked around, sat around, took some pictures, passed around a bottle of red wine. It was a bit overcast but nice to stroll around such a large and beautiful (60 acre) park! Next, we rode the Metro for the first time back to our apartment. For the Metro we bought the 7 day pass. However, since it was Sunday and the 7 day pass always activates on Monday we also bought a Metro ticket for the day. The 7 day Metro pass was a steal for how much we used it plus it also worked for the RER ride back to CDG when we left Paris. This is probably the only thing we would disagree with Rick Steves about. He recommends buying ten packs of individual Metro tickets.
Day 4 (09/27)
In the morning we went on a walk starting at Notre Dame. On a side note, I have to say our apartment location in Marais was perfect for us. It was central to everything and within walking distance to many major sights. It took about 10 minutes to walk to Notre Dame or the Louvre or the islands. Plus, Marais is really hip and trendy. It feels cobbled together but in a very cohesive way. When we arrived at Notre Dame we spent some time to take in the whole facade before we went inside to take in the interior. The whole church is amazing! As with most sites we saw in Paris, pictures do not do them justice. Being there comes close. Thinking about what it took to construct them comes closer. After the church we then walked across one of the many bridges crossing the Seine to Ile St. Louis where we spent time looking in boutiques and taking in the restaurants, ice cream shops and high rent apartments. This is where I bought and consumed the first of many baguettes on the trip! Next we crossed over to the Left Bank and wandered around, stopping at Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, looking at the Gothic St. Severin Church, walking around the Latin Quarter, crossing the river back to Ile de la Cite and walking by Sainte-Chapelle, past the giant Palais de Justice, the cozy park Place Dauphine, a statue of Henry IV and then crossing over the oldest bridge in Paris, Pont Neuf where we got on the Metro. Our next stop was the Galeries Lafayette. This is a department store that sits right beside the old classy looking Opera. The interior of Galeries Lafayette was amazing with a sensational dome. It is by far the most glamorous mall I have ever been to! But the real reason we headed there wasn’t the endless shopping it was to enjoy the great open rooftop deck with sweeping views of Paris. During the evening we enjoyed a cruise on the Seine. We used a company called Vedettes du Pont Neuf that started and stopped right at Pont Neuf. We sat up top on the boat and had a wonderful time seeing Paris from the river at night!
Day 5 (09/28)
This was the first day that we were headed to museums. Since we are serious sightseers we opted to get the 4 day Paris Museum Pass. We had tallied up what we wanted to see museum-wise and it definitely paid for itself and then some. Also, the other advantage with the pass is that you skip to the front of most lines which saves a lot of time. The only catch with Paris museums and memorials is that they all seem to be closed different days of the week; that’s why we found it helpful to come up with an itinerary to make sure not to show up at a museum that was closed for the day. We started the morning with the Orsay Museum. The museum is housed in an old train station that in itself is striking. Personally, I liked this museum better than the Louvre we had yet to visit. It is an Impressionism museum which I like. After we got our fill of Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin and a cool scale-model of the city we headed to the Rodin Museum. We wandered the gardens where Rodin’s greatest works are – The Thinker, Balzac, The Burghers of Calais, Gallery of Marbles and my favorite The Gates of Hell. Next we walked over to Rue Cler, a traffic-free street filled with cafes and shops selling wine, cheese, chocolate, bread and fruit. We bought some fruit, bread, cheese, wine and pastries and relaxed for a bit. We met up with Kevin and headed for dinner at Pho 14, a Vietnamese restaurant, in the 13th. After slurping down some pho we headed to his apartment for dessert that he had just made that day at his school Le Cordon Bleu. It was delicious of course! It was late but we headed to the Arc de Triomphe and walked up the 284 steps to get a night time view of Paris and the glittering Champs-Elysees.
Day 6 (09/29)
Starting the day with the massive Louvre Museum was probably a good idea. After a while the large crowds and sprawling space got to me. The art at the Louvre hangs like wallpaper. I can say I saw the Mona Lisa. However, it was almost disappointing after all the hype. It’s tiny, behind plates of thick glass and everyone is snapping pictures with their flashes on. I stood there for awhile and I think she grew on me but it was far from my favorite at this museum. I saw most of the famous works here – the Venus de Milo, the Parthenon Frieze, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, The Marriage at Cana, Psyche and Cupid, two Vermeer’s and the Napoleon III Apartments. After escaping the Louvre, a walk through the Tuileries Garden with its pretty gardens and fountains was great to clear the mind. At the end of Tuileries sits the Orangerie Museum. Personally, I found this museum much more enjoyable than the Louvre. The main attraction is Monet’s Water Lilies which are 8 huge 6 foot tall canvases that wrap you in his garden at Giverny (see Day 7). It was lovely! The other part of the museum houses works by Monet as well as Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso and one of my personal favorites Modigliani. After partaking in enough museum action for the day, we headed back to Notre Dame to climb the tower. We climbed and climbed and reached the facade between the two towers and then on to the top of the south tower, 400 steps total, for a spectacular view of Paris and the gargoyles that overlook it! After the climb down we stopped by the Deportation Memorial that is dedicated to the 200,000 French victims of the Nazi concentration camp. We walked back to our apartment to meet Kevin for dinner. After trying with no luck to find a few different restaurants that Janie had written down we ended up at a creperie because it was there before us and we were hungry. It turns out that the creperie, Creperie Suzzette, in Marais, was fantastic! We all had galettes (buckwheat dinner crepes) which were unbelievably good. We headed to the Eiffel tower next. We hung out at Trocadero Square for a bit which overlooks the Eiffel tower. It was a pretty happening place and we watched as the Eiffel Tower glittered in the night. Janie and I headed over to go all the way to the top but it was closed by that time (22:30) so we planned to try the next night.
Day 7 (09/30)
After being crammed into Paris with 11 million people (the highest density of any city in Europe and twenty times greater than New York City) it was time for Giverny! Giverny, fifty miles west of Paris, is where Monet and his family lived. We took a train to Vernon (literally stepping on to it as it was leaving which was great because the next one was in 2 hours) and then took a bus from Vernon to Giverny. The weather was overcast when we left Paris but when we arrived at Giverny it was sunny and warm. We ate a lovely meal at a flowery restaurant across from Monet’s house then ventured inside. The gardens there were absolutely stunning! Flowerbeds after flowerbeds of beautiful plants. Across the road was the water garden which is what I envision when I hear the word Monet. It is all weeping willows, water lilies and Japanese bridges. It was enjoyable to wander the gardens, seeing what Monet saw, smelling the flowers, hearing the birds chirp, and feeling far away from Paris. Next, we wandered through Monet’s house which was pleasant and then caught the bus back to the train station. After our train ride back to Paris we relaxed with a bottle of red wine before heading to the Eiffel Tower. This time we were good all the way to the top. It didn’t take long to make the ascent all the way up and Paris positively is the city of lights from that view! It was phenomenal! The Arc de Triomphe looked tiny. And Sacre-Couer didn’t look like it was even on a hill. Unbelievable. The top of the Eiffel tower is a must see. We had a late meal of pizza and beer at the excellent and cheap Restaurante Sant Antonio on the Marais square.
Day 8 (10/01)
As our Paris Museum Pass was expiring this day we planned to visit two more museums. Before entering the Pompidou we ate at Dame Tartine which is just outside across from the playful fountain. I was surprised that I liked the Pompidou more than I thought I would. The building itself is interesting as it has sort of an exoskeleton with all the pipes, heating ducts, elevators and escalators on the outside. Personally, I enjoyed the Pollock’s, Dali’s, Picasso’s, Matisse’s and all the applied arts – chairs, tables, lamps, flatware. After heading out of the exoskeleton we went to the Cluny Museum. It is the National Musuem of the Middle Ages. I liked this museum the least of the ones we visited in Paris but I can say that the highlight were the excellent The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries. These 6 tapestries were designed by an unknown artist before A.D. 1500 and depict the five senses with an extra bonus unknown tapestry thrown in. After our fill of museums for the day we went to Sacre-Couer. It was raining slightly which put a damper on our plans to have a picnic there overlooking the city (Sacre-Couer is Paris’ highest point). We took a stroll through Montmartre and then up to the church which was again, just like Notre Dame, impressive! There was a service while we were there which we stopped to take in for awhile. We headed to Place du Tertre which was still bustling despite the rain with people and the artists that are popular with tourists. It was time for dinner so we headed to L’Ete’ en Pente Douce a little ways downhill from Sacre-Couer where the food and wine were good and the atmosphere cozy.
Day 9 (10/02)
Our last full day in Paris took us in the morning to Victor Hugo’s House on the lovely place des Vosges. Hugo moved there after the success of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and it is quite an elegant and peaceful place. He wrote much of Les Miserables there. We met Kevin at our apartment and headed to Le Cordon Bleu where we were going to sit in on a class of cuisine cooking. The demonstration was wonderful and seeing that we had only eaten some pastries in the morning the smells and sights did not help the hunger pangs! The samples we ate were delicious! On a side note, Le Cordon Bleu is the same school Julia Child and Giada De Laurentiis attended. After hanging out with Kevin and some of his classmates afterwards at a cafe, we had to say goodbye and get some souvenir shopping done. After spending a few hours shopping we headed back to Angelina’s only to find it closed! So instead we opted for some light snacks and wine and beer.
Day 10 (10/03)
We got up at 6:30 AM to begin our long journey back to Madison. Au revoir Paris! We’ll miss you!
Some final notes
Where I didn’t note where we ate, it was either unmemorable, we were eating baguettes with camembert (we ate this a lot) or we were chowing on falafel. There was great falafel in Marais. I had it at least at Chez Marianne, L’As du Falafel (Lenny Kravitz’s favorite apparently) and King Falafel. Tasty, filling, and inexpensive. I also heard a story that if the manager of one of the falafel joints sees you patronizing a competing place he will refuse to serve you ever again. As for accommodations, we had a really hard time finding a place to stay. I wouldn’t recommend waiting too long to book a hotel or apartment. I would also recommend if it is your first time in Paris to stay in one of the first eight arrondissements. We originally wanted to spend half the trip on the Left Bank at the Hotel du College de France and the other half on the Right Bank at the Hotel New Orient. The hotels were full by the time we checked. We next checked into staying at an apartment. We found success through the agency Paris Cosy. I would also recommend checking into the agencies Lodgis.com, Vacation in Paris (I like this one) and Paris Best Lodge (I like this one too). And if you are comfortable with renting from an individual the sites roomorama, iStopOver and my favorite airbnb.
Tofu croutons
Posted by creining | Filed under Food
I made these tofu croutons the other day and ate them all in one sitting, they were so good!
Ingredients
• 1 block of extra firm tofu, patted dry, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• fresh black pepper
• salt
Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Toss cubes in a bowl with the oil.
• Spread the tofu cubes in one single layer on a baking sheet.
• Season with generous amounts of fresh black pepper and a desired amount of salt.
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until golden.
My Favorite Madison Restaurants
Posted by creining | Filed under Food
Here are my favorite places to eat in Madison. I am really spoiled by the amount of great restaurants for the size of the city.
Breakfast
Bradbury’s – awesome crepes and great espresso
Gotham Bagels – best bagels in town
Lazy Jane’s – delicious scones, good scramblers and strong coffee
Marigold Kitchen – always good fresh food
Sophia’s Bakery & Cafe – small space but awesome brunch on the weekends
Pizza
Buck’s Pizza – cheap takeout pizza
Cafe La Bellitalia – traditional mom and pop restaurant
Cafe Porta Alba – authentic Neapolitan pizza
Greenbush Bar – the best thin crust pizza in town
Natt Spil – not only my favorite bar but they have good thin crust pizzas
Italian
Lombardino’s – my favorite Italian restaurant
Osteria Papavero – my second favorite Italian restaurant
Gastropub
Brassiere V – kind of like jacs
Coopers Tavern – kind of like jacs and Brasserie V but with poutine
jacs – kind of like Brassiere V
The Weary Traveler – great atmosphere and tasty tom ka tofu soup
Mexican
La Zacatecana – Mexican grocery with cheap authentic eats in the back
Tex Tubb’s – this fills my Tex-Mex cravings
Japanese
Restaurant Muramoto – Hands down my favorite, love the food and the space
Upscale
Restaurant Magnus – My favorite fancy schmancy restaurant (also love the bar)
L’Etoile – My second favorite fancy schmancy restaurant
Ethnic Cuisines
Chautara – I like it a bit better than Himal Chuli
Himal Chuli – a classic
Lao Laan Xang – I could eat here every day
Mediterranean Cafe – cheap and excellent food
Monty’s Blue Plate – okay, not ethnic but the Sheldon is so good
Shish Cafe – for dinner, when Mediterranean Cafe is not open
Outdoor Dining
Mickey’s Tavern – I love this patio and the veggie burgers
Lake Vista Cafe – one of the best views in Madison
Joseph Campbell
Posted by creining | Filed under Personal
If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are—if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time. ~ Joseph Campbell
I recently borrowed Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth from the library. It is an excellent six part television documentary that was originally broadcast on PBS in 1988. I wanted to discover, challenge, think about, recreate my belief system.
The first thing that I would say about the program is that there is so much depth to the dialogue he has with Bill Moyer. Topics and thoughts that had my head spinning, my mind racing. I felt that when Campbell stated some of his more challenging or difficult viewpoints I would convince myself that I understood. But, I’m also of the viewpoint that if I think I understand something, that I get it, than I probably don’t. It was an enlightening experience and a great catalyst for thinking about belief systems.
I am going to write about a few of the topics that really resonated with me. The first was when he was talking about the source of life. Well what is it? No one knows. And he thinks that it is important to live life with a knowledge of it’s mystery and your own mystery. He mentioned that a lot of people in therapy, when they find out what it is ticking in them they get straightened out. They become more balanced and live with less anxiety.
Second, he talks a bit about dragons in mythology. When Moyer tries to relate that to a persons life Campbell states that the real dragon is in you, it is your ego. Your ego is what you want, what you believe, what you can do, what you think you love and all that. The aim of your life. The issue is that it might be too small, it pins you down. If it is simply that which what your environment tells you what to do than it certainly is pinning you down and your environment is then your dragon. Moyer then asks how do you slay that dragon in yourself, what is the journey you have to make. The general formula? Follow your bliss. If you are doing what you want to do because you choose to do it and you are happy to do it that’s fine, do what you want then. There is no dragon to slay. But, if you think I couldn’t do this or I couldn’t do that than you are not following your bliss. I think that is simple enough to follow; that is what is so beautiful about it.
Third was about nirvana. Nirvana is a psychological state of mind, it is here in the middle of turmoil. It’s the condition that comes when you’re not compelled by desire or by fear or by social commitments. Where you hold your center and act out of there. No one can tell you how to do that, it can’t be taught. This is something that I would like to explore more. Do I have to become Buddhist to achieve nirvana or can anyone achieve it? I think anyone could strive for it and the ideals outside of the formal path that Buddhists take.
Fourth, was about the whole planet as an organism. The idea that I came out of the earth. I am the earth. I am the consciousness of the earth. My eyes are the eyes of the earth and my voice is the voice of the earth. I love this way of thinking, it makes me feel a lot more connected to the world and everything in it. I never believed in a god or a personal god, I always thought that the earth was my god as it gives me life by the sun, the water, the air and the food it provides. I also have always believed that I am just a consciousness and that my body is a medium for that. Eventually my body will have served its purpose and my consciousness will be free to inhabit another transport.
Fifth, Campbell said that it’s important to have a sacred place. Whether it’s a place or an hour in the day where you don’t know about any news, or people or tasks or what you owe people. It’s a time to bring forth what you are and what you might be. Creative incubation. At first nothing might happen there. If you have a sacred place and use it and take advantage of it something will happen. Most of our action is economically or socially determined, it does not come out of our life. What is it I’m intended to do? I’m always doing something required of me. Where is my bliss station?
Lastly, God. He who thinks he knows doesn’t know. He who knows that he doesn’t know knows.
A great story Campbell told about a priest he met at a gym. The priest sat down next to him and it went like this:
priest: are you a priest?
Campbell: no.
priest: are you a catholic?
Campbell: i was, father.
priest: do you believe in a personal god?
Campbell: no, father.
priest: Well, I suppose there is no way to prove by logic the existence of a personal god.
Campbell: if there were father, what would be the value of faith?
priest: nice to meet you.
And the priest hurriedly walks off.
Trip to Alaska
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
A maiden voyage to the Land of the Midnight Sun! I am super excited because I think I will be floored by the natural beauty!
Friday, June 18
Arrive Anchorage
Drive To Denali
Accommodations at Denali Cabins
Saturday, June 19
Denali Backcountry Adventure
Accommodations at Denali Cabins
Sunday, June 20
Time to explore Denali
Drive to Anchorage
Accommodations at Sheraton Anchorage Hotel & Spa
Monday, June 21
Denali Flightseeing Tour to Mt. McKinley
Chugach State Park and Flat Top Mountain
Accommodations at Sheraton Anchorage Hotel & Spa
Tuesday, June 22
Portage glacier
Drive to Seward
Accommodations at Hotel Seward
Wednesday, June 23
Kenai Fjords National Park Tour
Accommodations at Hotel Seward
Thursday, June 24
Exit Glacier Ice Hiking
Drive To Homer
Katmai National Park / Lake Clark National Park
Accommodations at Driftwood Inn
Friday, June 25
Time to explore Homer
Katmai National Park / Lake Clark National Park
Drive to Anchorage
Depart Anchorage