Love Lisa Hannigan. Love this video.

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Lisa Hannigan - Safe Travels, Don't Die

Digital Dharma - Buddhism and the Internet

On Wednesday, I was one of many who attended a talk, "Digital Dharma: Buddhism and the Internet," that was held on Chico State's campus. Before listening to the panel of speakers, I had no idea how big of a thing Buddhism on the internet had become.

Our keynote speaker, Charles S. Prebish of Utah State University, gave examples of many of the different websites and their functions. I found the amount of different reasons and/or needs represented in these websites very surprising. They ranged from being purely informational to providing an online world, complete with temples and avatars, and everything in between. One of the bigger issues that he brought up was the commodification of Buddhism and if it's affect on the religion and the community was a good or bad thing. There are many sites that promote themselves as companies who will sell anything from books to crafts dedicated to Buddhism. Prebish even brought up a site that was dedicated to helping Buddhists find a relationship, much like match.com or eharmony.com. The argument is ongoing about whether this type of website helps the religion grow in the number of truly dedicated believers or not. It also brings up the question of where the line is drawn for what can still be considered a true religious experience and what is just a gimmick. Does it depend on the medium or service offered?


Some of the other speakers on the panel gave a little more information about what Second Life, the online avatar world, is and how Buddhists use it. It is like most other online simulated interactions in that you make your character and can go around in this world to do things, like practice your religion, and meet people, perhaps other Buddhists. A Buddhist belief is that life is impermanent...Second Life is like an extension of this belief because it is impermanent in the same way. But the question, "Do people see what is represented in Second Life as being sacred even though it is not real life?" was brought up and it was stated that some devotees believe that they are different. One of the possible reasons for this might be that in this online world, you are able to send your avatar to a temple to meditate. Is this "extension" of yourself giving you the benefits of meditation if you aren't doing it yourself? Some say that it depends on the person, the medium, and the amount of engagement. As you can see, a lot of debate has circled this topic. What do you think?

I wanted to attach links to the websites that were talked about at this panel so that you can go check them out for yourselves and get a taste of how big Buddhism online has become. I did not mention all of these in my blog, but they were mentioned in the panel, so I thought I'd share all of the ones I managed to copy with you. You will find the links below.


www.buddhanet.net
http://blogs.dickinson.edu/buddhistethics/
http://www.jbeonlinebooks.org/Buddhism/
www.h-net.org/~buddhism
www.buddhistchannel.tv
www.dharmamatch.com
www.dharmacrafts.com
www.angryasianbuddhist.com/
www.secondlife.com   (you have to look up Buddhist Center because this is not a site dedicated to just Buddhism)
www.blogisattva.org/

What kind of Tourist are You?

It is a pretty common thing to travel, to go to new places and explore what is unknown or foreign to us. Trekking across the globe brings you to new places and cultures. It is often pointed out that in your native place, you can usually tell the difference between a native and a tourist. Why? Is it the big cameras or the cargo shorts and fanny packs? Or is it the lack of knowledge of the culture that is made evident through their actions?

Rattawut Lapcharoensap addresses this topic in two of the stories in his book Sightseeing. The first tourists that we meet are what the natives of Thailand call ‘farangs,’ which basically means outsiders/tourists that don’t understand the culture. Lizzie, the girl he meets on the beach, is portrayed as clueless and ignorant. He can tell she is American right away because of her Budweiser bikini that she throws around so freely. He decides to take her to ride an elephant and we see that the owner is not pleased with how she is dressed. She doesn’t realize at first that she should have dressed more appropriately for riding the elephant, the animal Thailand considers a national symbol. It is interesting though that once she is told; she seems to be somewhat concerned about lacking that knowledge. It almost seems like she is an unprepared and oblivious tourist that needs guidance. Then everything changes when we see her on the elephant.

“Lizzie hummed contentedly. Then she stood up on Yai’s back. ‘Here’s your shirt,’ she said, tossing it at me. With a quick sweeping motion, Lizzie took off her bikini top. Then she peeled off her bikini bottom. And then there she was – my American angel – naked on the back of Uncle Mongkhon’s decrepit elephant” (13).

It seems like a deliberate move on her part to go against the culture. Where she was just ignorant before, she is now ignoring what she knows. Her boyfriend, Hunter, who we meet later, is also a pretty ignorant tourist. But he is worse than Lizzie because he just doesn’t seem to care at all. He is the spitting image of Ma’s first statement, “You give them history, temples, pagodas, traditional dance, floating markets, seafood curry, tapioca desserts, silk-weaving cooperatives, but all they really want is to ride some hulking gray beast like a bunch of wildmen and to pant over girls and to lie there half-dead getting skin cancer on the beach during the time in between” (2). Hunter is the epitome of the ugly American abroad who lacks any respect or decency for the culture and place he is in.

In the second story, Lapcharoensap shows the reader tourism from a different perspective. Instead of outsiders coming into a foreign land, we are seeing locals ‘touring’ their own land. It is the story of a son and his mother going on a trip to bond because she is going blind. Unlike the tourist sense we get from the previous story, this is more about cleansing and communicating. The fact that they don’t stick out gives them the opportunity to travel and have a ‘true’ experience. The story ends with the narrator saying, “I’m walking on the sandbar, warm waves licking up across my bare feet, out to watch the sun rise with Ma, and then to bring her back before the tide heaves, before the ocean rises, before this sand becomes seafloor again” (98). Their travels are not to become worldly or to be able to brag that they have been somewhere, it is to rejuvenate and learn more about their relationship with each other and their culture.

Up for a Cause

From mid-afternoon to midnight on a particular day each year, for the past 10 years, there is a gathering of people on the Chico State campus. There is a different feel to this crowd compared to the normal hustle and bustle of a normal school day. There is a common purpose and a common direction that can been seen and felt.

Up 'til Dawn has arrived.

When you get into the gym, you can see how everyone has come together for this amazing cause, to help raise money for the children of St. Jude's. It is a fulfilling and eye-opening experience to see everyone come out voluntarily to give their time and effort.

But how does it work? Well, you come in (with all of your friends) and grab a table. You get a stack of premade letters to sign and address to everyone you know. This is part of what makes the amount of money we raise so astounding...it comes from the people we send letters to! It is their generous donations that make this possible. The donations we receive from them goes to benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in their treatments for childhood cancer and in their search for the cure.

And it is not a night of boring paperwork either. You don’t just come and fill out letters; you come to have a good time with your friends at the school. They provide free food and a free t-shirt for all those who are participating. There is entertainment throughout the night as well as a chance to meet a patient from St. Jude’s. It is a come-and-go-as-you-please type of environment, you do not have to stay for the entire time unless you choose to. But the crowd usually swells a bit more at the end of the night because that is when the raffle drawings begin. When you arrive, you are automatically given a raffle ticket and have the chance to win a bunch of different prizes…the most coveted being Spring tuition! I remember my first year at Up ‘til Dawn, I won tickets to go see Wicked in San Francisco. It was an awesome prize and a great trip.

If you have been to Up ‘til Dawn, you know the excitement and energy this night holds for everyone involved. If you have not gotten the chance, I urge you to come out next year and experience being a part of Up ‘til Dawn at Chico State, which has been holding the title for #1 National Fundraising School. An amazing time and an even greater cause, come out and join us!

Finding Art

So a few weeks ago I found myself roaming around the world wide web, as I do, and stumbled across something I thought was quite amazing.

Alexa Meade.

Let me explain before you just copy and paste her name into your searchbar.

I don't believe I have ever seen artwork quite like this before. She seems to have been at her art for a little while now, so I definitely am not discovering someone new...but I find it crazy that she isn't someone I've ever heard anyone mention before (I don't think I live that far under a rock), but I digress. She has found a way to flawlessly combine 2 different mediums into fantastic pieces of art. She paints something or someone and then photographs it. But not in the way you may think. She doesn't paint a portrait of someone or a still life of an object, she literally paints the person...ON the person or object. Then she takes a photo of it.

My mind went bonkers when I first saw her work. I couldn't believe they were actually real people. But I looked past the paint and saw life in the eyes and real texture to the hair...my jaw dropped. She also shows you behind-the-scenes photos of the model (painted and all) and herself so that you can see it really is a person, not a painting.

I won't post any pictures because (besides not wanting to get into any trouble) I want you to be able to take her work in yourself, from her website.

http://www.alexameade.com



Please Enjoy.

The Beginning of the Moving Process - Learning to Think Positive

The last few months have found themselves dedicated to my hopes for the future.

After I graduate in May, I plan on going to Portland, OR to find my way through the job market. I hope and pray everyday that I will be able to find something, anything, in the Publishing field. But it is also more than just finding a job...I have been scrambling around trying to find out what and how I need to get ready to move up there. I don't think I have had so many questions about anything in a long time. This is such a big step in my life and it is scary to think that I am going to do the wrong thing.

I have never really had a BIG MOVE before. My parents and I lived only about an hour away from where I go to college so I've always been pretty close to home without too much major change happening. But I feel like taking this step to move to a completely different state is a whole different ball game. I have wracked my brain as well as the brains of some other people to start figuring out the steps of how to get to Portland, OR.

Of course finding a job is the biggest thing because that will be what keeps me there. When I talked to my advisor about it, he said that jobs are going to be, unsurprisingly, hard to find and that if I don't find anything that I should also consider getting a job to pay the bills and take an internship to get more experience. It would also get me an 'IN' with the community up there, which could be my saving grace when I'm looking for a job with one of the local companies later.

Besides that, I also need to make sure I have an apartment to live in while I'm there (duh). But apartment searching, so far, has yielded little results and is a good way to get me in bad mood. It is disheartening to keep coming out of my searches emptyhanded. I know it is still early, but I feel like I would screw myself over if I waited until the last minute. I am so excited to move up there that it is hard not to keep looking now.

And then there is also all of the 'little' big things that I need to keep in mind...finding a dentist, a doctor, being an Oregon resident, car insurance, switching my bank, etc. etc. Where does the list end? I don't know if I am thinking too much into things and if I need to slow down. But I also worry that I will forget something that will turn out to be a big gamechanger if I don't get it done.

On the bright side of things, I have a few people who are really trying to help me figure out my future apartment situation. Thank God for them because it really releaves a bit of stress everytime I hear something remotely positive about moving up there.

Hopefully I keep coming back here with positive news. Any advice I can get would be amazing. Thanks :)

Build up of Words

1. It has been a little while since the last time I wrote on here. I have been really busy at school with midterms and preparing/getting things in order for my last semester of college.

2. I realize that the majority of my posts here have been links to the blogging I have been doing for class. I find what I write there could be interesting to anyone reading this blog too. But I also feel that I haven't really taken the time to write something specifically for this blog in way too long.

So here is the first in a series of blogs that I have been wanting to write, but not really giving myself the time to sit down and do them until now. They will probably come out over the course of the next few days, one at a time...I promise.

I guess the upside of not writing on here for an extended period of time is that I now have quite a few things to say :)