Back Two Monday

Date:                              Monday, August 30th, 2010
Word of the Day:            couchant; lying down, crouching, reclining
Weight:                           225 pounds
Goal:                               lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                93 pounds
Waist Size:                      53.5 inches
Rowing Duration:            95 minutes, 49 seconds, 91 minutes, 25 seconds (second session)
                                                               

Well were back two Monday, if you will pardon my misspelling.   I hope you all had a great week-end, I know I did, albeit a full one.

I've lost two more pounds,  and just like I suspected,  my waist size is also down two inches, considering that I splurged on the weekend,  and ate food on the don't eat list, I think I'm doing pretty good,  I know I still have a long, long way to go, but like I keep saying, I'm going in the right direction.  I can't wait until I see Dr. Alladin.

Dr. Alladin is my general practitioner, and has been after me for some time to lose some weight, so I know, she will be pleased with me.   Of course, Dr. Alladin will congratulate me on losing weight,  and then suggest to me that I lose more, that is the way of Dr. Alladin,  but I love her dearly,  and Zac says she is quite a good doctor,  and Zac should know about this kind of thing.

An old, theatre-friend of mine casually reminded me that I forgot to mention the performance of the man who played Billis in South Pacific.  Well, Matthew Saldivar did a bang-up job, often saving the show from some moments that went on a little too long, he was just excellent, and after looking at the note of him in the program,  I had to wish that I had seen him in some of the other parts that he has played on stage, especially Kenickie in Grease, I bet he would have been fantastic, oh well, you can't see everything.  Oh, and one more note, Rusty Roos had the small but memorable role as the Professor,  who displayed what a talented actor can do with a minor role, he too was just excellent, so there!!!!!!!

I wa surprised  to see the results that I did see as on the weekend, I wasn't exactly the poster boy for eating sensible and proper food.  On Saturday night, after South Pacific, we went to McDonalds,  and I not only indulged in a quarter pounder with cheese, but I also had a medium order of french fries, I rationalized that you can't go to McDonalds and not have the french fries, and it has been a really long time since I was last at McDonalds, next time, I hope, will be even longer.

I also have not had any potato chips to eat all summer and I truly miss them, especially Salt and Vinegar, they are absolutely my favourite.   I have cut down an awful lot in my ice-cream intake, and now when Zac is having his nightly bowl of butterscotch ice-cream, I indulge in a yogurt, which I thoroughly enjoy, as it isn't too many calories,  and I do not have to spend alot more time on Cruella to work it off!

I've decided to chat a little about Reincarnation today.  The subject has always fascinated me, and I don't know if I'm a 100% believer, but there are things about that "other world," that truly get my attention.  I think we all believe in deja vu, for who here hasn't had some kind of experience in that area?, I ask you.

The very first time I experienced deja vu, and thought I might be a product of Reincarnation, was around 1986, and I was walking up to my work, which was then located at Yonge and Bloor Streets, and I passed Roberts Gallery.

I noticed in the large window,  a gorgeous painting of what was a beach scene with beautiful waters surrounding the beach.  There were a handful of people, almost ethereal, walking on the beach.  I stopped dead in my tracks and just took in the painting, it seemed so familiar to me, I was sure I had been to that beach,  and that it must have been somewhere in Hawaii.  Hawaii is rather lovely, you know.  The gallery was at that time closed so I could not go in and ask about it.

That day at work, I couldn't wait for my lunch hour,  and I took an early one, putting me in bad company with my boss as she hated any kind of change in the daily routine of our work, that is how anal she was,  but thats another story.

I got to the gallery,  and went inside and asked the man, who just happened to be the owner, about the beautiful painting in the window.  It was a painting by one of Canada's most celebrated artists, Molly Lamb-Bobak and the painting was that of a town in Israel, called Caesaria.

Now, I have never been to any parts of the Holy Land so I asked the owner, whose name is Paul Wildridge, if he was sure he had his facts right.  He look startled, of course, and then reassured me that it was indeed a town in Israel.  I told him that I was sure I had been to it, and it had to be Hawaii, but he kept on telling me, I was wrong, can you imagine?

In any case, I decided I wanted the painting so I asked Mr. Wildridge about the cost, which was, naturally, way, way out of my budget.   The painting cost over eight thousand dollars, without tax, and I wondered if I had made a mistake,  and should just reassess my priorities.  But... I had to have that painting, so I asked the owner, who by then insisted I call him Paul,  if I could buy the painting on time.   Mr. Wildridge was very accomodating,  and told me that I could buy the painting over time,  on the condition that nobody else gave him an offer to buy it in full before I was finished paying for it.  This was very reasonable so we made a deal , and a year and a half later,  I and Caesaria left Roberts Gallery.

Over the years, many people have commented on Caesaria,  and I have even had it appraised by an art expert who told me that I should never sell it as it was museum quality.  I have kept it because I love that painting,  and get alot of joy from it, I do not think of it as an investment, which I'm told,  I should.  But what does that have to do with the price of eggs?, or what does that have to do with my little story?.  Let me finish.

I have been asked all my life if I was Jewish, even at the times I was fully dressed, and have even been told that I should not be ashamed of my heritage.  I'm not, I'm just not Jewish, but I must have features that look Jewish.  I don't mind being asked, but I do mind it when people don't believe me, why would I lie?

Ever since I saw the painting of Caesaria in the window,  and combining that with remembering the countless times I have been asked if I'm Jewish,  makes me wonder if in fact, I was Jewish, in a former life, I think its possible, but I know there are many people out there who think this kind of thinking is "woo-woo," and suggest to me that I pay a visit to a psychiatrist.  So, what is Riencarnation anyway?

Reincarnation is believed to occur when the soul or spirit of the dead body comes back to Earth in a newborn body.  This phenomenon is also known as transmigration of the soul.

The majority of sects within the Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not believe that individuals reincarnate,  particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation:  these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Kaballah, the Cathars, the Druze and the Rosicrucians.

The word derives from Latin, literally meaning, "entering the flesh again."  There is no word correspondingly exactly to the English term rebirth, metamprychosis, transmigration or reincarnation in the traditional meanings of Pali and Sanskrit.

The Greek equivalent metempsychosis roughly corresponds to the common English phrase "transmigration of the soul," and also usually connotes reincarnation after death as either human, animal, though emphasizing the continuity of the soul, not the flesh.  Another Greek term sometimes used synonymously is paingenesis "being born again."

I believe all things are possible, I am not God, nor am I a follower of Shirley MacLaine, but I do know that there are many things in this universe that cannot be rationally explained every single time, nor should they be,  and to think so is the height of arrogance.

I could talk all day on the subject of Reincarnation, and I have researched it quite a bit, but, I'm apt to get some of the facts wrong, not intentionally, but I'm not a born again (reincarnated) child prodigy,  so it is best you read up on this very interesting subject,  either on Wikipedia,  or go to your local library, when was the last time you visited your library?

I wrote in brevity on Reincarnation as a salute to my very, very dear friend, Miss Nancy Day, who stands over six feet tall, is naturally blonde, quite intelligent and quite athletic, and believes in a former life she was Chinese.  I love you Nancy.

Topics coming soon:

The night they raided Minsky's
Food, Glorious Food
Circumcision