The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

Picked the book up in the early afternoon. Couldn't put it down and have just finished it after a 6 hour binge reading. Wonderful book, a must read.

The story follows a Spanish shepherd boy named Santiago whose dream was always to travel and see different people and cultures. Since he was a boy, he was used to being a shepherd and taking care of his sheep; but still, his desire never went away . Santiago goes to an old gypsy woman to interpret the dream he has had for two nights in a row. The gypsy tells him that his dream is telling him to look for a treasure buried at the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Santiago doesn't really believe her but she tells him if he does find the treasure he must give one tenth of it to her.

He agrees and goes on his way. He sits down on a bench to wait until the sun goes down and takes out his book when an old man named Melchizedek, who calls himself the old king of Salem, sits down right next to him. He teaches him the basics of searching for his dream and about the Personal Legend. Santiago decides to travel towards the pyramids in search of his dream. As he sets off towards the pyramids, Santiago learns that he will have to sacrifice a lot of things to get there. So he sells his sheep and begins his journey. At first he did not know where he was traveling until he arrived in Tangier, Africa. There he is robbed of his money by a thief. However, he meets a crystal merchant in the streets of the marketplace. They become good friends and the merchant allows the boy to work for him.

Within a year, the boy inspires the crystal merchant to change things in his shop. As a result, more customers come by to purchase more crystal and business improves so much that Santiago receives enough money to cover his loss. Eventually, Santiago leaves and begins his journey home. En route, he meets a group of people, including an Englishman who searches for knowledge about alchemy and a two-hundred-year-old alchemist, as they begin to march through the desert in a caravan towards the Pyramids. The Englishman's words inspire Santiago to continue his search for the treasure and join the caravan. After a few months, they arrive at an oasis in the middle of the desert. There, he meets a girl named Fatima, with whom he eventually falls in love. The boy believes that he has found his treasure, as he is in love, and wants to stay with his lover and the people he has just met for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, a war is raging around the oasis. A masked stranger on his horse, reveals himself to be the Alchemist, and begins asking the boy questions on alchemy.

After a day of warfare, the boy sees the Alchemist at sunset, who tells him to pack up and travel with him away from the oasis to the pyramids. After Santiago and the alchemist leave the enemy camp, they stop at an old church near the Pyramids to use the kitchen.After receiving the gold, the boy and the alchemist go their separate ways and Santiago makes it to the Pyramids within three hours. As he listens to his heart, it eventually cries with joy because he has finally made it. The boy begins digging, but is attacked by some muggers. They beat him almost to death. After the boy claims he is digging for treasure one of the muggers reveals he had a dream of a buried treasure himself, thinking it was nothing. The boy knew the place the mugger described and later digs up the treasure.

Moya Brennan-Always

This poor old heart broke to hear this song.

Humanity

"We are humans of the world and we search for humanity." -Justitia

Am I humane? Am I lacking? My eyes turn skyward, at the sky enveloping us all, and yet...
Bitterness and grief can get the best of us, can leave us broken until we justify any and all actions that are inhumane. Where is my compassion, where then is my empathy? Like the shooting star our life briefly shines leaving little to show for our visit.

Love, sympathy, grief, and sorrow. The willingness to hold out a helping hand or the wisdom to refrain, profoundly a small fragment of what it means to be human.

If you could hie to Kolob

Much I could get into, on Kolob. Modern pop trivia, historical/religious theory, but what I find important is the ideal that there is an ancient eternal place beckoning me home. For those who trully know me, they will realize that my wanderings are because I have no home. My heart is without roots and therefore I drift upon the currents and the winds. This home I seek is summed up in song.

1. If you could hie to Kolob In the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward With that same speed to fly,
Do you think that you could ever, Through all eternity,
Find out the generation Where Gods began to be?

2. Or see the grand beginning, Where space did not extend?
Or view the last creation, Where Gods and matter end?
Me thinks the Spirit whispers, “No man has found ‘pure space,’
Nor seen the outside curtains, Where nothing has a place.”

3. The works of God continue, And worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression Have one eternal round.
There is no end to matter; There is no end to space;
There is no end to spirit; There is no end to race.

4. There is no end to virtue; There is no end to might;
There is no end to wisdom; There is no end to light.
There is no end to union; There is no end to youth;
There is no end to priesthood; There is no end to truth.

5. There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;
There is no end to being; There is no death above.
There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;
There is no end to being; There is no death above.

Life's Golden Moments

The time are grizly or rather this is the world presented to us. Rumors of war, and mumblings of conspiracy bombard our senses. What little wander, the apathy of our republic. Doom is upon us, and skies darken as the last hope is crushed from our breast. This is a crock of shit! The sun still shines, people still care, and the future will brighten. Downtown, at Coolidge Park, the community gathers to play an impromptu game. The children delight at the sport of fathers fumbling for a ball on the lush green lawn. Mothers hold down the fort setting out afternoon treats. Strangers all with but a golden moment common.

With propaganda, and warmongering, it is easy to get down on the human condition. Nothing more than ants crawling the globe, we have but to remember; we are human. This is both our curse and our blessing. Go out and see the sun for what it is. See hope when despair threatens all. See the delight in a child's eyes, and love of their parents. For good and for bad, we are here.

Have you ever...?

Taken a stroll through an enchanted forest? Have you ever taken a walk through a fairy land of love?

Und die Vögel singen nicht mehr

With the majesty of nature all around, one would think life is perfect. All about this land are verdant mountains. Less than an hour in any direction one can find sprawling farmlands, where the clouds roll by in the wide skies of blue. Here, the works wrought by man, tend more to glorify this setting rather than mar her further. And yet... at times, the weight of ages rests firmly upon my shoulders. The sun now hides, clouds cover the land, and rain falls heavy. Weh mir oh weh!

Though closer to this land than any other, I feel the pull of another. Through doors now closed, the gravity of the veil pulls fiercely. If for no other reason, this is reason enough that the gift of Sight is both a blessing and a curse. Glimpses of glory, bring light unto the soul, light made brighter by the darkness around. Did not great Cu Chulain, whom no one man could best, fall ill to soul loss after having loved the fairy lass Fand? This ferocious warrior who died on his feet having lashed himself to a mighty stone that no man may see him fall.

It is said that the shamans of old, saw what none other sees. Could tell you the portents of time by the rolling of clouds or even the symphony of nature. Achieved at last, what was once lost, nature in this man is restored. Seated outside the cabin in the river gorge, one can hear clearest.

2012!

Just saw this trailer at the theatre last week and it absolutely blew me away. Check it out.

Quick note

It's weird, my life I've always made lists of what I would do when I had time. For the life of me I can't remember what was on those lists. But right now I'm refinishing an old jewelry box of my mother's. Slight set back at first, the box was done nice enough that I couldn't tell it was veneered. The veneer is thin so I have to be extremely care sanding away the original finish. Next step for me is to sand with a softer sand-paper. Pics to come after school.

By the river...

By the river east, lays a tree home to an unusual monkey. By this river east, sits a monkey holding two fish, one in each hand. By river east, awaits one monkey-two-fish, beneath the moon and stars.

No need for a title

Well, hmpf, these past months... I'm glad I'm able to remain bright and chipper. I found out that my job would be laying off several hundred people in December. It was the week before Christmas the Operations Manager came to my office to speak with me about the hours I attend school. Long story short, I knew it was coming, most people in the plant knew it was coming, and well it came all over everyone on Monday. I was worried at first about bills, and such, but then started to recieve money for attending school, plus was called into an interview yesterday with the U.S. Census office. The interview went well, I believe. Usually, I'm so nervous, but the interviewer looked like Drew Carrey, so I was at ease. Let's hope I get a call back. Will post more later, but have to get ready for my second day of school this semester. Gotta look good for the girls in engineering. hehe

Laleh-Call On Me

A year, and no activity on this blog. /shrug. At the moment I'm working on learning more about xml to make this better looking. For now enjoy this song I found.