Happy Birthday, James Redfield (author of the Celestine Prophecy!)

I've been getting packed over the weekend, and trying to take care of last minute postings before leaving for Tokyo tomorrow.  I have a lot of writing to do, but I'm making time to spend with Anders and Auggie since I won't see them for two and a half weeks.  And Robert and I spent the afternoon yesterday in San Francisco--there was an exhibition of photographs I wanted to see.  We drove all the way out to Vicente and 43rd Street to have a late lunch at the Old Mandarin Islamic restaurant that had gotten a good review.

We had fun being in SF, even though I'm so glad I don't live there anymore.  Windy and cold.  No parking.  I drove Robert by my old house I lived in at 21st and Quintara.  The house looks shabby and run-down. 

We read an article about how the cells in the body replace themselves every three months--unless you are not very active.  The cells respond to exercise that tells them that "you are still alive and foraging for food" so they keep on keeping you alive and young (cellularly).  If you become sedentary, the message is, this person is decaying.  Don't bother to replace cells.. Ugh, that will keep me walking.

I'll try to blog when I'm gone, but not sure if I'll have time.

Yesterday was super-focused.  I started as a volunteer for the writing coaching over at Albany Middle school.  8th graders--great papers, it was fun!  It was weird to be out of the house before 8 am.  

I seemed to be talking all day longyesterday!  I did three interviews, and dinner with Zenobia--we talked till 11:30 pm.  We share a lot of memories, and read some of my old journal entries of our lives together in Northern California.  We could see our dysfunctions, manias, and foibles so clearly for each other.

The first interview I did yesterday was on the topic of Sharing the Path as Mothers and Daughters, discussing these issues that Sigrid and I will be teaching on Mother's Day weekend at Esalen Institute (www.esalen.org). My host was Cheryl McLaughlin, a coach and sports trainer with a focus on women.  The interview is posted at

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fromhercourt

Secondly, I interviewd Dr. Laura Honos-Webb on her book, Listening to Depression. Her interview will appear as my monthly column in April.

Third, Lara interviewed ME about life purpose and how depression might be a signal that we need to re-align. we had a lot of fun. Her interview will be posted on the Internet, but I don't have the link yet. Her work can be see on her website at www.visionarysoul.com

The whole day was stimulating, and it was all about women, our Athena Proficiencies, and how to listen to intuition when logic and "reality" might seem to be telling you something else.

I'm busy getting ready to clear away my projects before I leave for Japan on Monday. 

I have recently been introduced to the novels of a Japanese author, Banana Yoshimoto. I was able to get a book from amazon.com, Hardboiled & Hard Luck. I love her clear style of writing and thought-provoking insights.  She's won lots of awards and her books have been made into films.  

There's something tantalizing in her directness, and the tone makes you feel you are about to discover something important.

The book starts out, "I was traveling alone, no destination in mind. One afternoon, I found myself walking on a mountain road."

I mentioned her books to my daughter-in-law, Eliza, and she already knew of her. Eliza is a great and fast reader. I checked out Ms. Yoshimoto's web site--and I love her brief journal entries.

http://www.yoshimotobanana.com/en/index.html

Sigrid and Jim drove up from Studio City with Trevor and Chloe.  What a whirlwind four days.

I was hoping for warm weather, but it was patchy.  Actually, it was more restful in some ways to have the clouds and rain.

I made craft projects with all four kids for hours and hours.  My dining table was piled hight with construction paper, string, plastic cups that became blasters and ray guns and towers of unbelievable height.  We powered through three scotch tape holders and couldn't do anymore work!

Sigrid and I had some precious time together, shopping for a couple of hours and taking 2 yoga classes at the Albany Y.  And, we all got to watch the Academy Awards last night together at Gunther and Eliza's.  Gunther had the house to himself all day and cooked great finger food for the party.  Eliza's mom, Carmen, is also here from San Diego, so it was a 2 grandmother week-end.!

It's quiet and rainy now, and I'm happy to be back at work.  

At night I'm reading the most interesting book, Yet Being Someone Other, by Laurens Van der Post, one of the most amazing men I've ever come across.  What I'm loving is that he visited  Japan in 1926, and I am so interested in his impressions since I am very interested in Japanese people and the culture. His deep, spiritually attuned nature reports on the most amazing points of interest for me.  I wish I could have visited Japan in those days. Van der Post (who was born in the interior of Africa) just has the most synchronistic life of meeting the top intellectuals, artists from many countries, as well as knowing intimately the Bushman of the Kalahari.  His description in this book of being on a whaling boat for 3 seasons when he was nineteen was brilliant.  My goal is read everything he ever wrote.

When celebrities do something out of the ordinary, or die young, I am always curious to look at their numerology chart.  Of course, I am reading in events tha I already know about, but I feel I can always learn something about how the numbers express themselves through people.

In the case of Anna Nicole Smith, known as a TV personality and Internet celebrity, I took a look at her birth chart with her original name Vicky Lynn Hogan, born Nov. 28, 1967.

Her birthdate adds up to an 8--the number that usually seeks material success and goes for power.  To give even more strength to the material drive, her name Vicky Lynn Hogan gave her a 9 destiny--to seek wealth and reach a world-wide audience if possible.  Her 9 also was a chance to do humanitarian work.  Her original name also had another feature called "The Line of Fame" something that she did actualize in this lifetime.

 Her heart's desire # was a 3--to communicate, express her ideas, be social, fun and spontaneous--not too serious.  Her original habit challenge (a kind of daily lesson in staying balanced) was the 14/5--a karmic number that often deals with addictions, rebellion, and physical stress--and a need to be different. 

Her numerological influences since November 2005 have been the same # 5--a rather unstable time creating lots of unexpected change.  She also died in February which is a 5 Personal Month, so it is curious that so many 5's created such change in her life during the last two years, from the birth of her daughter, the death of her son, and her own passing.  

 When Vicky Lynn took the name Anna Nicole Smith, her Destiny changed from the 9 (although I believe that our original destiny is always at work) to the Karmic number 13/4  which is traditionally described at the Death, Rebirth, and Transformation number. 

More to ponder.

It's been very interesting going back through my diaries from 1969--1981.  I enjoyed using the piece I found about my working as a cook for Mrs. D. for this month's column. 

Other entries are like verbal snapshots when I lived in the farmhouse in Sonoma County.  Always trying to figure out my relationship with Roy--teaching Sigrid to drive in our big dusty driveway where the quarry trucks passed by.  Watching the black and white cows in the front field while I painted.  Interviewing housemates to fill my extra bedroom.  It was a whole life unto itself.  Each scenario of my life seems almost like a stage set--and I was handed a script, and played it out.

Now back to work on the Japanese book about all this.  Should I try to publish it in English?   

I had fun this weekend with Sigrid and Jim, and Trevor and Chloe.  I really enjoy sitting down with the kids and letting them create stuff out of plastic glasses, cardboard, scotch tape, and feathers.  Sigrid's baby  shower for Jolene was just perfect--brunch, balloons, champagne punch, and  pink-beribboned gifts for each woman.  Jolene is having the first girl in a big family of boys.  Many beautiful friends came to shower Jolene with gifts.  It was a gorgeous sunny Southern California day and it reminded me of one of those indie/docu- movies I saw long ago where all these women came to a party and the movie was just about their conversations--was it called Eating?  Anyway, it was lovely. Sigrid always comes through for friends and family.