What is a Quafaie?


Quafaie (pronounced: kwa FAY) are fantasy creatures that exist in the fantasy writing of Hugh Kemeny, and are created by him. They are primarily in Hugh Kemeny’s Black Phoenix short stories...

To learn more, read this post: What is a Quafaie?

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Sat 30 Apr / Sun 1 May 2011):

"Try to be like the turtle -- at ease in your own shell."
- Bill Copeland

Zen from Monday 28 February 2011:

"The mature person pays
Attention to what is happeneing
In the innermost self."
- Tzu-Ssu

Friday, April 29, 2011

Daily Zen

Today's Zen:

"There's no time for confused thoughts.
Practice the meaning of single-mindedness."
- Godrakpa

Zen from Sat/Sun 26/27 February 2011:

"We cannot put off living until we are ready. The most salient characteristic of life is its urgency, 'here and now' without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point-blank."
- Jose Ortega y Gasset

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Daily Zen

Today's Zen:

"Sincerity is the fulfillment of our own nature, and to arrive at it we need only follow our own true Self. Sincerity is the beginning and end of existence; without it nothing can endure. Therefore the mature person values sincerity above all things."
- Tzu-Ssu

Zen from Friday 25 February 2011:

"Always we hope
someone else has the answer.
Some other place will be better, 
it will all turn out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer.
No other place will be better,
and it has already turned out."
- Lao-tzu

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"One ought to be mixed up with the world and to be able to wash one's hands of it -- to be part of the world and also outside of it. One [has] to be both involved and detached at the same time."
- The Kotzker

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Thursday 24 February 2011:

"The enlightened ones are neither attached to nor detached from their senses and thoughts.'"
- Huang Po

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"By sitting alone all day long
I clear my mind of a thousand thoughts.
To speak of this is beyond words;
Only by sitting under the quiet forest
Can we ever understand."
- Fa Yen

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Wednesday 23 February 2011:

"Foolish, ignorant people indulge in careless lives, whereas a clever man guards his attention as his most prized possession.'"
- Buddha

Monday, April 25, 2011

Daily Zen

Today's Zen:

"Spring has its hundred flowers, Autumn its many moons. Summer has cool winds, Winter its snow. If useless thoughts do not Cloud your mind, Each day is the best day of your life."
- Wu-Men-Hui-Kai

Zen from Tuesday 22 February 2011:

"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"How can we ever lose interest in life?
Spring has come again
And cherry trees bloom in the mountains."
- Ryokan

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Monday 21 February 2011:

"At the end of all things, the blessed will say, 'We never lived anywhere but in heaven.'"
- C.S. Lewis

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"How can we ever lose interest in life?
Spring has come again
And cherry trees bloom in the mountains."
- Ryokan

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Sat/Sun 19/20 February 2011:

"If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him."
- The Dhammapada

Friday, April 22, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you love? How deeply did you learn to let go?"
- Buddha

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Friday 18 February 2011:

"The perfection of wisdom, and the end of true philosophy, is to proportion our wants to our possessions, our ambitions to our capacities."
- Frances Wright

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"Be broad-minded,
Whole, without relying on others."
- Hongzhi Zhengjue

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Thursday 17 February 2011:

"If for a moment we make way with our petty selves, wish no ill on anyone, apprehend no ill, cease to be but as a crystal which reflects a ray -- what shall we not reflect! What a universe will appear crystallized and radiant around us."
- Henry David Thoreau

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"The practice of true reality
Issimply to sit serenely
In silent introspection.
When you have fathomed this,
You cannot be turned around
By external causes and conditions."
- Hongzhi Zhengjue

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Wednesday 16 February 2011:

"Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are..."
- T.S. Eliot

Word of the Day: Heterosexism

On Thursday 3 March I attended a workshop titles "...but words DO hurt: stories from GLBTT youth." In the session a few terms / words were mentioned, most I'd heard before (like homophobia), but the one that really got to me was Heterosexism. Heterosexism, as I recall it being defined, is essentially people treating someone as straight based on the assumption they are. An example would be a man commenting, nonchalantly, about how hot a woman is to his friend he doesn't know is gay.

If you haven't guessed by now (based on my logo), I'm gay. I have lived a rather privileged life, in regards to not being teased or bullied for being gay (I tend to fall under the term for "straight acting" - I don't appear gay). Only once has someone called me a fag (just over a year ago). It hurt. The person called me that not because he knew I was gay (or suspected), but because he was lashing out and I happened to be the closest person.

Learning of the term Heterosexism, I could immediately identify with it. There have been many times, work occasions, out with new friends or friends of friends, where a somewhat innocent comment to me has hurt me; such as isn't she hot, or what do you think of her.

Homophobic terms can be easier to confront as our society begins to recognize them as terms of hate, bullying, verbal abuse, etc. Confronting someone about what they say can start a healing process, and still, to some effect keep people closeted, if that's their choice.

Heterosexism on the other hand is harder to confront. Until society is fully accepting of all sexual diversity (which may be never), what appear to be harmless comments can hurt more than the speaker knows. I do not propose any solution, as I have none, just a comment and explanation of the term.

--------

What makes me write this post now is based on the outcome from a post I saw on someone else's tumblr blog.
I first noticed this post: http://socal650.tumblr.com/post/4768728366/someone-asked-for-nudes-here-is-what-he-got-then
I replied to the courage of the author for confronting the person who would ask such a question (when his blog info mentions he is turning 18 soon).

I then continued to look at the comments he had on his blog, and noticed this one, which I identified with: http://socal650.tumblr.com/post/4219107686/annoyed-today-my-boy-crush-came-up-to-me-and-was-all
Annoyed! Today my boy crush came up to me and was all like “Did you notice that hot chick right next to you!? She is the hottest girl Iv’e ever seen! Did you get her number or anything? Dudee! How did you not notice her!?” In my head I was like, “oh sorry, I was too busy dreaming about you”…
This is what brings me back to the Heterosexism. I then shared with him a time I felt like that, and then term Heterosexism.

In reading his blog and the few messages we had back and forth, I can tell he is passionate about his life, but living somewhere not open to much, if any, sexual diversity.

On a side note, his tumblr blog (http://socal650.tumblr.com/) has a lot of web photos of guys - most NSFW

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"In Prayer, come empty, do nothing."
- St. John of the Cross

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)




Zen from Tuesday 15 February 2011:

"I walk toward one of our ponds; but what signifies the beauty of nature when men are base? We walk to lakes to see our serenity reflected in them; when we are not serene, we go not to them."
-Henry David Thoreau

Monday, April 18, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."
- Rabindranath Tagore

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Monday 14 February 2011:

"Without freedom from the past, there is no freedom at all, because the mind is never new, fresh, innocent."
- Krishnamurti

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"Don't be surprised,
Don't be startled;
All things will arrange themselves.
Don't cause a disturbance,
Don't expect pressure;
All things will clarify themselves."
- Huai-nan-tzu

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Sat/Sun 12/13 February 2011:

"Taking off your shoes is a sacred ritual. It is a hallowed moment of remembering the goodness of space and time. It is a way of celebrating the holy ground on which you stand."
- Macrina Wiederkehr

Friday, April 15, 2011

Daily Zen

Today's Zen:

"The wholeness of life has, from of old,
Been made manifest in its parts;
Clarity has been made manifest in heaven,
Firmness in earth,
purity in the spirit..."
- Lao-tzu

Zen from Friday 11 February 2011:

"True inward quietness...is not vacancy, but stability--the steadfastness of a single purpose."
- Caroline Stephen

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Daily Zen

Today's Zen:

"Speak the truth, do not become angered, and give when asked, even be it a little. By these three conditions one goes to the presence of the gods."
- Buddha

Zen from Thursday 10 February 2011:

"Things pass...that I have seen. Life is what you make it now. So let us put our energies into life."
- U Kyi Maung

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are."
- Zen proverb

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Wednesday 9 February 2011:

"Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"Happy the man, and happy he alone, he who can call today his own; he who, secure within, can say, tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today."
- John Dryden

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Tuesday 8 February 2011:

"Just don't seek from others,
Or you'll be far estranged from Self.
I now go on alone;
Everywhere I meet It;
It now is me; I now am It."
- Dongshan Liangjie

Monday, April 11, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"The journey is there and every single one of us has got to go through it, and you can't dodge it, and the purpose of everything and then whole of existence is to equip you to take another step, and another step, and another step, and so on."
- Jesse Watkins

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Monday 7 February 2011:

"Do not look back. And do not dream about the future either. It will neither give you back the past, nor satisfy your other daydreams. Your duty, your reward -- your destiny are here and now."
- Dag Hammarskjöld

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"The quieter you become,
the more you can hear."
- Ram Dass

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Sat/Sun 5/6 February 2011:

"Happiness...not in another place, but this place...not for another hour, but this hour.."
- Walt Whitman

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"The quieter you become,
the more you can hear."
- Ram Dass

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Friday 4 February 2011:

"If you want something then you lose everything. If you don't want anything then you already have everything."
- Seung Sahn

Friday, April 8, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his lecture; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."
- Francoise Rene Auguste Chateaubriand

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Thursday 3 February 2011:

"The real enemies of our life are the 'oughts' and the 'ifs.' They pull us backward into the inalterable past and forward into the unpredictable future."
- Henri J.M. Nouwen

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen:

"We create ourselves. The sequence is suffering, insight, will, action, change."
- Allen Wheelis

Today's Tarot

1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)



Zen from Wednesday 2 February 2011:

"I have arrived. I am home.
In the here, In the now.
I am solid. I am free.
In the ultimate I dwell."
- Thich Nhat Hanh