I first saw his adorable muzzle in a Craigslist ad that sounded desperate.  The ad was sparse, not much information to speak of, and only a couple of photos, but my instincts were buzzing.  There was something immediate and absolute about this dog, and I knew I needed to act fast.

The lady who picked up the phone told me his story of abandonment and abuse.  He had been left for dead, abandoned inside a locked fenced box with no food, water, or shelter, and no way to get out to seek help back in mid May.  The neighbors pitched in, got him out of the cage, and took turns feeding him until a foster home could be found for him.  By the beginning of July, the search for a home for him intensified, and the foster home target moved towards the bay area, because where he was located, (northern California rural region) had been exhausted of potential homes.

To see him, the neighbors had to transport him down to the bay area, a three-hour drive, and left him with a friend in the peninsula region of the south bay.  We immediate drove there as soon as we got word he had been transported into town.

When we got there, doggie woggie ran to us and started rubbing his head on us.  There was no question in our mind that we would take him back with us.  When we got home, he ran around the house, sniffed at everything, ran upstaris, sniffed some more, and then started baying and howling and barking and playing with us. He seemed so excited to be in the house.

We fed him, took him for a walk, and then we gave him a bath afterwards. This is a dog that has been chained up in a small cage for all of his life. He was such a happy dog, he kept running back and forth, between me and Wayne, and he kept gumming my hands and arms—-not biting, just gently gumming me.

He stole a roll of toilet paper. ran around with it. Wayne took his new toy from him, wouldn’t let him play with it. After he dried from his bath, his fur was soft and very shimmering, especially on the white ticking parts. He was so tired, he fell asleep, not on the bed we put for him, but on the rug next to the open patio sliding glass door.

I think it’s because he’s not used to sleeping on a bed, and he’s used to sleeping outside. We left the sliding glass window open for him at night so he could be more used to sleeping inside. It has a screen door so no bugs can come in.  Wayne suggested that we call him Gilligan—-so Gilligan it became. He doesn’t quite look like a Gilligan, but if I keep calling him Gilligan, we will all get used to it.

The very next day, we took him to the vet. Gilligan was proclaimed healthy as a horse by the vet, if rather on the bony side. Vet and techs loved him and said he is a gorgeous basset. Vet said it’s a shame that he is going to be neutered because he looks so gorgeous. He behaved quite well, especially since this was the first vet visit in his life.

Tuesday is neuter/chip day where he gets to spend the whole day with his vet at the hospital.  I don’t like the thought of cutting him and taking off part of his male anatomy, but I am told that this is suppose to be good for him, so I quietly acquiesce. Photos of his head in a cone will be posted as soon as I take them.

…make me peel and burn and turn a nice raw umber.  I do mean raw, as it does feel hot and toasty at the start of what eventually turns into a nice dark tan.  My problem is, it is never consciously induced, so I always get the weirdest tan lines that develop around the various articles of clothing I wear.

This year’s latest fashion burn is the no sleeve tank, which gives me a nice round brown neck and chest, with a very small white shoulder stripe and nice dark arms all the way up to the top of my shoulders.  My seven-bangled bracelets mar the nice tan of my right hand by constantly getting in the way of the tan there, and so my right wrist is always lighter, in clearly delineated bands, than my left wrist, which only has the odd white bangly shade of pale under my left ring finger, where my wedding band and engagement ring lives.

As usual, my rants and raves have less to do with the actual rant itself and more to do with all the various things going on in my life.  Part of the reason why I am turning such a nice dark color is because I walk Gilligan around the early part of the afternoon, when I take a break from my work.  It not only gives us a reason to get out and breathe the carbon monoxide from the cars driving by, it also gives us a chance to absorb all the ultra-violet vitamin D that the sun provides.  In the winter when I can’t get that much sun, I rely on milk to give me the vitamin D that I need, and I do my best to get by without much UV…but I digress.

Walking Gilligan has brought so much sunshine to my life that I am now several degrees darker than I normally get at this time of year.  I am so dark that I am almost as dark as Wayne, and that’s saying something, considering his ancient Moorish ancestry and his Mediterranean background.  Of course, Wayne will tell you he’s really an American with little ties to the Italians other than a genetic one, but that’s just him talking.  The various shades of olives and the plethora of odd-shaped pasta living in our pantry speak volumes about his strong ties to his Italian ancestors.  I try to compete, by taking up as much pantry space as possible with my huge 50 pound bag of jasmine rice and my fat-ass ten-cup deluxe rice cooker with the ‘keep-warm’ button so that we always have hot-ready-to-eat rice every moment of every day of the blessed year.  The Asian woman is In Da House!

Again, I digress.  Blame it on the fact that it is 6 AM and I cannot sleep due a recent acquisition of a summer cold (what an oxymoronic word) and my usual asthmatic conditions, which I treat by various methods of medications and inhalers, some of which put me to sleep and others, which keeps me wired, alert and shaking.  The result is a strange, twisted, early-morning blog with no reason and no rhyme, other than the fact that it starts with ‘Sunshine on my Shoulders, and ends with Sunshine on my Shoulders’.

This is a weblog about Taoism. I very rarely, if ever, review books of the non-Taoie tradition because I only have a finite amount of time and space, which I try to dedicate to the pursuit of things more Taoie.

Once in a blue moon, however, there comes along a book that, in no way, shape or form looks like a book that talks about Taoism, yet I feel compelled to add to my reading list. In fact, nowhere in the text of said book does the author even mention the words ‘Tao’, ‘Taoism’, or even ‘chi’. The only thing it had going for it at the moment that it caught my eye, as I was traipsing through the bookstore on my way out, was a strange title, “Happier than God”, written by a man named Neale Donald Walsch.

The first thing I, as a curious TaoBabe did, was to peek at the back of the book to see what the author looked like. For my reward, I got a quick peek at what looked like Santa Claus on a summer retreat, and I had that all-too-familiar funny feeling that I had known him some time in the long, long past. Of course, this could simply be that he looked like Santa Claus, because I have never met the man in my life.

(continue here…)

Tao Te Ching – Chapter 11

Thirty spokes join in one hub
In its emptiness, there is the function of a vehicle
Mix clay to create a container
In its emptiness, there is the function of a container
Cut open doors and windows to create a room
In its emptiness, there is the function of a room

Therefore, that which exists is used to create benefit
That which is empty is used to create functionality

I love this chapter of the Tao Te Ching.  It speaks about Nothing– a very useful and wondrous Nothing.  I take this lesson into much of my life and try to see the usefulness and the magical qualities of emptiness and of nothingness.  From nothing, I try to create something.

The act of creating something from almost nothing, that is useful or needed, or even pleasing to the eye, is something that is, to me, almost sacred.  As a Taoist, nothing exemplifies the Taoist spirit more than being creative and doing creative things.  From scratch, wondrous things take shape and are formed.  I take this approach with just about everything I do, from cooking to working my tiny garden, and even to art and crafts.

My latest project involves string.

String is a wondrous thing.  You can make so much from string that is useful, needed, and yes, even pleasing to the eye.  My latest string project involves a crochet hook, and plenty of patience and time.  I needed to continue my cultivation of patience, and I needed to take the time to do constructive things, so in that pure unadulterated Taoist fashion, I decided to make a Christmas tablecloth from string.  After all, what glorious way to celebrate Christmas than to become a creator, right?

So, filled with the joy of the season, off I went to the local craft shop and bought a huge ball of crochet thread.  It was the largest ball of thread I had ever seen, and I have seen plenty of large balls of threads in my lifetime.  The label said it was over 1.5 miles long.  That’s long!

One week into the project and I realized it was going to take another ball of yarn of the same size to finish.  I took comfort in knowing that by the time I was done, the total amount of thread I had used would be three miles long.  That is an excessive amount of string to have to finger through.   So, off I went again, to the craft shop and got another ball of thread, just as large as the first ball.

The tablecloth is moving along so well that I have moved my tentative finish date a full month ahead of schedule.   I plan to finish this table cloth in time for the Thanksgiving feast.

I’ll keep everyone posted on the progression of the tablecloth and will also post the directions as soon as I finish tweaking it so that it actually works flawlessly.

Check him out!  Sizzling new artist Petey Roxx has a latest new release, It All Matters.  It is hot off the sound tracks and is hitting the airwaves TODAY!!!

It All Matters is now available for your listening enjoyment.  You can download it right here.

Hi y’all!  I finally reactivated my thetaobabe twitter account, just to stay current with all my friends.  Please add me so I can keep up with all your twitterings.

When September peeks around the corner and the sweet spice of autumn sparkles in the air,  I know that it is time to cut back my dahlias, put in my marigolds, and start the watercress and the swiss chard planting.

Winter planting, unlike spring planting where anything grows, is decidedly targeted at a grouping of hardy winter plants that can withstand the colder temperatures and the shorter daylight.  This year, for my winter planting, I am getting a planter box built for me by my very own cabana boy!  He’s a sweetheart.  (…continue with article)

After one week of babying them inside the tiny greenhouse, they have grown large enough to plant in the tray planters.  Here they will stay until they are large enough to be transplanted out into the large vegetable planter box.

At this tiny stage, all sprouts look the same.  I have to label them so I don’t get them confused with my baby bok choi and my mustard greens.

I will update on the progress of the swiss chard, as it is exciting to see new life grow this quickly, even at my poor handling of their delicate existences.

Last week, my little sister came to visit me, all the way from Texas.  Living so far away from my family, it is rare that I get to see any of my sisters (yes, I do have another sister who is older than me, and yes, that does make me the dreaded, dull, boring middle sister), so when I get a chance to see one, I am thrilled!

Hanging out with her reminded me of certain very important things, one of which being that I am not alone and that I do have family who cares about me.  They may be far, far away, but they still care, and I am not alone.

We did the usual sister thing, kicking it, letting lose our hair, reminiscing about our childhood, and in general, having fun with each other as we were wont to do in our illustrious past.  This sister also happens to be a singer in a band, and it may seem strange that there would be two musicians in the same family, but I think it makes perfect sense.  We are, after all, genetically almost identical.  We have the same mother and the same father, and our genes are just about as close to being identical as any sibling could possibly be without being identical twins.

We also happen to be a part of a very ancient bloodline which runs through our father’s side, and this is part of the reason why I am as witchy Taoie as I am.  While she was here, I performed a I Ching divination for her, and I also did a complete Tarot reading, annotating and detailing all I saw and sensed so she could re-read and take it home with her when she left.

It is truly amazing that once a Taobabe, always a Taobabe.  I bring this into my daily life and I live it.  I don’t just consult the I Ching on special occasions or simply for the purpose of writing up yet another chapter on Taoism for the benefit of the Taobabe website.  I tap into her energies fairly frequently, as I would  a mother, a sister, a best friend, and I ask for advice and counsel, not just for myself but for others around me.

Speaking of which… I have not shared a I Ching divination with everyone for a very long time.  I will take the time out and post my most recent divination as soon as I finish working on the photos of my sister, who I think, is absolutely gorgeous.

How does Swine flu differ from “regular” flu?

The swine flu aka H1N1 Pandemic flu is not “mild” as the CDC (THe US Center for Disease Control) and WHO (The World Health Organization) have been saying (but have now changed the message to “moderate severity”). Some authorities are saying that the only difference between swine flu and regular seasonal flu is that people have no immunity as it is a novel flu virus, and therefore more people will become infected. While this is true, there are more reasons why swine flu is different from seasonal flu, and people who say this is the only difference are either ignorant or purposely misleading.

The swine flu is attacking people in the warm summer season which regular flu does not; it is attacking a large proportion of children, young adults and middle aged adults seriously, and killing a larger number of them. It is attacking pregnant women particularly severely. The symptoms are much more severe than with seasonal flu, including severe lung damage.  (this is critical information folks.  Keep reading…)