Happy New Year

... in Japan, that is. The Japanese New Year (shogatsu) comes on the first new moon after the winter solstice, which is today, Dec 30th. (Yeah, it's Dec 29th in the US, but it's the 30th in Japan right now).

The New Year is a big deal in Japan. It's not just a time of revelry, but also one of quiet contemplation, visiting friends, eating, shopping, and starting over fresh. This article captures a bit of the essence.

So as we pass into a new cycle of the never-ending cycle, I invite you to consider these wise words from T.S. Eliot:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Holiday contrasts

It's been a while for the Swirl, but I've been going through a huge holiday contrast and didn't have time to put fingers to keys.

You see, for 5 days in mid-December, I went on a silent meditation retreat. Then for 5 days around Christmas, I visited my sister's family, which consists of a 4-year-old, an 8-year-old, a cat, and two adults in a small house.

Talk about contrast.

Retreats are slow, quiet, contemplative, and involve little stimulation of the senses. Hanging out with young children is loud, fast-paced, seat-of-the-pants, and involves constant overstimulation. Having experienced both in rapid succession, I'm feeling happy to just be back at my own home today.

I managed to meditate 3 times at my sister's house (on Christmas morning, I pulled it off by sneaking into the basement while the kids buzzed around the tree at nearly escape velocity since they weren't allowed to open anything until my parents came from the hotel). I am looking forward to a full session today. Like anything else, it becomes a habit that you miss if you can't do it. Habit formation is a property of the mind, so the best you can do is just manage it by forming helpful habits rather than unhelpful ones. Meditation is definitely a helpful one.

Coming home, I saw another contrast of sorts. I took Southwest, which you probably know has Pre-Boards and then Boarding Groups (A, B, C); seating is open beyond that. The pre-board people with small kids and wheelchairs went first, and then a family of 6 stepped up to the podium. The 4 kids were not young-- they ranged from about 11 to 16. But it was the first time any of the kids had flown on an airplane, and one was scared. The mother explained this to the guy in charge of boarding, and asked if they could pre-board so they could all sit together (otherwise, they were in the C Group and would have had no chance).

He was clearly a bit reluctant and waffled a little, then finally jerked his thumb over his shoulder and said, "Go on, now." Looking relieved, they entered the jetway with profuse thanks. He called after them, "It's only because it's the holidays, you know!" (but was smiling a bit as he said this). Obviously he was nervous about making an exception. His boss might not be happy, and more immediately, other people might demand to be made exceptions also. Luckily, we all just proceeded on board in our assigned groups after that.

When I got to the plane, he happened to be down there, I think helping to drop off something that someone needed to check. So I took the opportunity to thank him for making that exception. I was really pleased that he would let a family sit together when one of the kids was scared to fly (even if he was 12). Why not? It was a kind thing to do.

At first he looked sort of uncertain and guarded at my comment, and then he said, "Well, not everyone was so happy about it." I realized that he was unsure whether I was being sincere or sarcastic when I said, "Thank you for letting them go ahead." So I was especially glad that I had spoken up. Apparently other people had chewed him out for his choice to be kind.

What a bunch of Grinches. It was one family of six, not half the plane! And it was because their kids had never flown before and were scared! Sheesh. Is that really the time to tell them to shut up and wait their turn?

Impatience can get pretty ugly.

Alternative toothpaste

For the past few decades, toothpaste has basically been mint flavored. Maybe you could get baking soda in some cases, but mostly it was mint. The fancier types might be "cool mint gel" or "refreshing mint," and Colgate was a little different from Crest, but they were basically just mint.

In our world of overchoice, this area was ripe for change. Now Crest has a line of new flavors, including cinnamon, lemon, and -- for those not willing to stray too far -- vanilla mint.

I tried the cinnamon one since I'm a huge cinnamon fan, and it was... OK. I had to get over the prejudice that said toothpaste = mint. But even then, it was a pretty weak cinnamon flavor-- too sweet and a little off in the aftertaste. This time around, I bought lemon. That is a change.

The packages even have "scratch-n-sniff" patches so you can check if you'll like the flavor. Obviously Crest knows that people might be reluctant to switch away from mint. (How come we don't get scratch-n-sniff on other products? I'd love to know what a new ice cream flavor is like, or cereal, or yogurt).

Whose fault is the melting ice?

From Worldchanging-- the Inuit are suing the United States for human rights violations because global warming is destroying their way of life.

The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) claims the US is failing to control emissions of greenhouse gases, damaging livelihoods in the Arctic. Its petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights demands that the US limits its emissions. [...]

This is interesting and multidimensional. It is a direct attempt to hold a state legally responsible for its environmental actions. The US is a huge carbon emitter and has shown little interest in international environmental policy, such as the Kyoto Protocol.

And yet.... given that we're talking about global industry causing the global environmental problems, might it be the wrong tactic to start singling out specific countries to sue? The whole point is that we're all in this together. Not acting in line with that truth is what led to the problems. And the solutions will come when we embrace that truth.

Another concern is that expecting a constant climate of course violates 4 billion years of Earth's evolution. "Climate change" is a fact, and will never end no matter how "green" we get. It is pure fantasy to think that different policies and industrial actions will lead to a climate that is always under control and can be shaped to our will.

But that's not to say that action doesn't matter or that we shouldn't make (drastic) efforts to change our carbon output. Clearly there is a problem, and we need to respond.

But we need to be clear why we are responding. It's not to make everything eternally perfect. It's to hone our ability to respond. That is all.

Nigori-zake

Although I am not at all a sake expert, I do enjoy trying different kinds. Recently I had a chance to have nigori-zake ("cloudy sake"), which is unfiltered. It has kind of a pina-colada consistency with bits of rice in it.

According to one sake company, "NIGORI is the way sake first appeared when it was brewed for the Imperial Court in Kyoto as well as for most of its 2,000 year history. It is coarsely-filtered and the sweetest of all our types of sake. It is especially delicious with very spicy foods. The bottle should be shaken each time before pouring due to the high rice content that settles in the bottom of the bottle."

And sure enough, the waitress shook up the bottle before giving it to us. And sure enough, it was quite sweet. It is a cold sake, which implies somewhat higher standards of water purity, or so I was told on one trip to Japan. Hot sake has less stringent requirements for purity since the heat changes the flavor, and so these types of sake tend to be less expensive.

Dora the Explorer

I am so not-cool in the world of children's videos. I hadn't even heard of Blue's Clues until I started working at the Children's Hospital (apparently it's been around for about 10 years). And now I've learned about Wiggles too. But by far the most popular character is Dora the Explorer.

Who is Dora the Explorer? I hunted around a bit and finally found a short summary: Dora is a bilingual Latin-American girl who solves problems in conjunction with her viewers, and also teaches them Spanish. So it's an interactive show for kids in the early-reading stage, perhaps ages 4-8.

But what I think is really cool about Dora is that she is loved by both boys and girls. The usual pattern is that male characters like Harry Potter and Mowgli and Batman are heroes for everyone, while female characters like Mulan are just for girls to admire. No boy would be caught dead saying he wanted to be like Mulan, but girls can identify with Luke Skywalker if they want.

That's why it's so cool to have little boys lighting up with smiles when I bring the video list, saying, "Oh! I want to see DORA!!"

The mall was pleasant?

It sounds amazing, but I did brave the mall over Thanksgiving weekend, and found it to be.... pleasant?

Yes. The stores were not crowded; I guess everyone was staying away because they thought it would be too crowded. People were relaxed. Panic has not set in yet, so there was even a festive air. And best of all-- the salespeople were happy and helpful. I would guess that many were hired for the holiday season, and that weekend was their first time on the job.

So overall, it was great. I got a lot done, and didn't feel frustrated or frazzled.

And then I came home and happened to look up a couple items online. You know what? The Internet price was higher than I had just paid in the store. Companies have finally figured out that most people prefer to stay home and shop online, so why not charge an extra $5? The profit made on these items supports the maintenance of their bricks-and-mortar store.

By not ordering a game for my nephew online, I saved $3 on the price and $7 on the shipping. That's a good deal considering that the Toys R Us is only 3 miles away and wasn't crowded.