Magical World

 Continuing from my previous post.

After realizing I was astral projecting I decided to leave my house and explore the astral. I left my room and stepped into the hallway and turned right. I walked through the kitchen and into the living room. I continued through the living room and out the front door.

I stepped out onto our front porch. Up to this point I was aware that I was inside my house. It looked pretty much as it does right now. But outside the door everything was different. It really did look like a magical world. The porch didn't look like our porch. It looked like a large porch in front of a southern colonial house. One of those porches that extends the full length of the front of the house.

I stood there at the porch and and observed the scene directly in front of me. It looked like spring time. The grass was lush and green. The plants and trees were lush and green and some were in full bloom. Instead of the concrete sidewalk and the asphalt street in front of my house I saw a very beautiful and lively garden. I saw people out there too. As is the case in the majority of my astral travels, I saw lots of people. The astral world is not empty, it is full of people. In some cases I also see strange creatures. Strange animals. Last night I also saw some strange creatures that looked like horses. Several yards away, slightly to my right is where I saw the four creatures. They looked like horses made of sticks. They looked very much like the two creatures seen in the short movie "FTL" at 9:50 and 12:37. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8LD0iUYv80

But instead of looking like fish as those two creatures did, they looked like horses. They were skipping, hopping, and prancing much like horses do.

I looked further straight ahead and I could see a very large hill directly ahead. It was a beautiful scene. It was lush and green. Full of grasses, shrubs, plants, and trees. I stepped off the porch and down the steps. I walked slightly to the right and continued past the four horse creatures. Straight ahead I came across a road that led up into the hill. I turned left on the road and continued up the hill. The road had no sidewalk for pedestrians. It was just a road for vehicles. I found myself walking up the road with a group of about five other people. They were all men. I do not know who they were nor why they were walking up the road along with me. I just know that they were there. If a vehicle came up the road we had to get off the road onto the bank on the side of the road.

At one point I crossed from the right side of the road to the left side of the road where I saw a very large tree. It was massive. It had very large main branches low and close to the ground. From the side of the road I was able to climb it with ease. It was a kind of tree on which a tree house could be built on easily. It had very large sturdy branches, almost the width of the trunk itself. I remember thinking to myself how it made a great climbing tree for children.

After a while I decided not to continue up the road. I walked back down the side of the mountain, off the road, back towards the house. As I came near the house I looked straight ahead past the house and I could see another large hill behind it. This hill was almost completely covered with houses. I could see rows of houses. Up above I could see that the sky was blue. It was a beautiful sunny day with just a few puffy white clouds in the sky.

As I stood there and admired the scene I saw a very opaque black cloud begin to form. It was not dark gray, it was black. Very black and opaque except for the edges which had a gradation from opaque to transparent. The bulk of the cloud however was opaque black. As I observed that black cloud form and move across the sky I saw the rest of the clouds also begin to turn black then the rest of the sky became very dark.

This is where I lost my lucidity. The entire scene simply faded away and I felt myself awakening back in my bed in my bedroom.

Get Out of My Room!

 This and the next post are a follow up to my earlier post of August 10, 2022 "I'm A Bit Disappointed."

Last night I had a dream. I found myself in my old bedroom in the same house I live in now. The house I have lived in, on and off, since around 1978.

I was in my room and I looked around. My bed was against the wall, next to the window, just as it was so many, many years ago. I saw the two closets. I saw the door that led to the hall outside my room and I saw the second door that led to the next room. I'm not sure why the house was designed like this but two bedrooms have a door that connects both rooms. Since we have used both rooms as bedrooms that door had always been closed. It was never opened, we treated it as if it wasn't there.

As I stood there I looked around my bedroom. I could see what appeared to be boxes and other stuff laying around. It looked as if someone was moving in and hadn't unpacked everything or as if someone was moving out and hadn't finished packing everything.

I really wasn't sure if these were my belongings or not. I began to sift through some of the things on the floor and in the boxes. Suddenly I became aware of people in my room. People who shouldn't be there. 

"Get out of my room!" I yelled at them. I even shoved some of them out the door. I kept yelling at them to get out of my room. I managed to get the people out but no sooner had they left than more people seemed to appear in my room. I thought some of them were coming in through that second door that connected both bedrooms. I walked out of my bedroom, walked through the hallway and into the next bedroom. I went to the bed that was typically up against that wall, preventing the door from being opened. I pushed the bed against the wall and then walked back to my bedroom. When I arrived I saw that there were more people in my bedroom again. "Get out of my room!" I yelled at them. "Get out!"

I wanted to organize my room. I wanted to organize all the stuff that appeared to be partially packed or unpacked and I didn't want anyone in my room. At one point I became aware that there were people outside my room, out in the hallway. In fact there were many people in the house, not just in my room. I really didn't recognize any of these people.

It was at this point that I began to realize that I was in a dream. Yes, this is just a dream I thought to myself and then I became fully conscious. I realized I was astral projecting again. When I became fully conscious of the fact that I was in the astral I decided to leave the house. I wanted to explore the astral world.

My next post describes my astral experiences from last night.

I Want to be Latino Again

 About four years ago I had a dream in which I found myself conversing with another man.

He had the features of a light skinned Persian man. In the dream he asked me if I would like to be Persian in my next life (incarnation).

I politely declined. "I want to be Latino again," I said to him.

"Very well," he replied, and our conversation ended.

And just to put it on the record, YES! I would choose to be Latino again in my next life.

My Best Writing Is When I'm Inebriated

 It is true. I do my best writing when I'm inebriated. That's just the way it is.

If you go back through my posts and find posts where my writing is very eloquent, if you find posts where my prose is awesome, you will most likely have found a post I wrote when I was inebriated.

I'm not the only great drunk writer, history has a stream of legendary and inebriated writers.

There's something in the inebriated experience that opens us up to a flow of our thoughts. At least in my case, my thoughts just flow. They flow and I type as the thoughts come to mind.

Many years ago when I was in Chabot College I took a course in English. Actually an advanced English course. It wasn't meant for those just learning English. It was meant for those who already had a good command of the English language. You could say it was an English literature course.

One of my text books was titled "Thinking in Writing." The text book's emphasis was on putting our thoughts into writing. Literally, to write as we think. And that is what I do when I write my best posts. I'm sincerely putting my beliefs, my thoughts, my emotions, my feelings into what I write.

I know that these are great posts because when I return to them, sometimes years later, and re-read them, I get caught up in the flow. I re-read them and experience the same thoughts, emotions, and feelings I did when I wrote the post.

Strangely, these posts are always written during those times when I'm inebriated.

Many times I have tried to write a great post while clean and sober, and the prose just isn't there. The flow of thoughts and emotions just isn't there.

When I'm clean and sober I'm more analytical. I'm more robotic. While clean and sober I can be a good technical writer, a good instructional writer, etc. But for my emotions and feelings to really go into my writing I have to be inebriated. This is when my emotions and feelings really come out.

My best writing is when I'm inebriated.

 

Source: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-inebriated-podcast_1

I'm A Bit Disappointed

 I'm disappointed because it has been a very long time since I have had an astral experience.

Granted, maybe I have not been trying hard enough. But I have been trying.

I guess I have to up the ante. Maybe I haven't been practicing enough or my practices have been below par. Either case, I have to improve the frequency and quality of my practices.

Maybe it's time for me to make contact with the brothers and sisters of the order again. It has been a while since I have physically communicated with them.

Whatever the case, I'll update this blog again later.

I Live for This

 One of my favorite ways to indulge is to go to my local Nob Hill grocery store and pick up a tray of tuna and salmon nigiri. Immediately from there I head over to a local Mexican restaurant that specializes in mariscos (sea food dishes.) They make some delicious cocteles and ceviches as well as aguachiles. From there I immediately head to my local liquor store where I pick up the necessaries for making micheladas.

So today that is what I did. I went to my local Nob Hill and picked up a tray of tuna and salmon nigiri.

Then I went to the local Mexican restaurant and picked up a coctel de camaron y pulpo.

And finally, on my way back home I stopped at a local liquor store and picked up the necessaries for a delicious michelada.

I Need to Leave

 Many years ago I owned a condominium in Adams Point in Oakland. I remember sitting at my desk. Surfing the net. And the thought came to mind. I need to leave.

I need to leave.

I should have left.

I should have left Oakland at that moment and gone far away.

Somewhere else. Somewhere else very different from Oakland.

I ignored the feeling. I stayed where I was. And to this day I'm still in Oakland.

Now, many years later I realize that I should have listened to my inner feelings. I should have left. I'm wondering where I would be now if I had left when I got that urge so many years ago.

Now, many years later, I'm feeling that urge again. Maybe I should leave. Despite the fact that I feel established here, I should leave.

I get the feeling that we will not grow spiritually if we do not leave our birthplace. To remain is to become stagnant. To become a laggard.

To me, to remain in the place of birth is to strengthen it. Maybe it does strengthen it. It also strengthens our stagnation. So we really do need to leave our birthplace. We need to grow.

After we have grown we can return to our place of birth and we will see it in a different light.

I'm feeling that urge again. I need to leave.

This time I will heed my feeling. I will leave.

I Guess They Didn't Know

 Yeah, I guess those two MetroPCS store employees (or owners) and that one mom and pop shop employee (or owner) didn't know that many, many years ago I worked in the cellular phone industry. Way back then it was only Cellular One and GTE.

I worked for the largest reseller in California and fifth largest reseller in the nation. I have the inside scoop into the cell phone industry. I worked in credit and activations and then moved on to sales support. I know how the industry works.

Those MetroPCS stores and the mom and pop shop must have thought that a baffoon walked into their store. They must have thought they'd get over on me easily. I guess they thought I'd pay for their kids' college tuition.

Ehem. I don't think so.

I guess they didn't know.

Fuck the Middle Man

 Last weekend I dropped my phone and the screen cracked.

No big deal, it's happened before. I have either gone back to Metro and picked up another one at a discount or I had the screen replaced. In fact I had the screen replace once already on the very same phone I dropped over the weekend.

This time I decided to go to a Metro store to pick up an upgrade. I picked out a phone that would have been $99 plus the activation fee. The counter person said it would be $165.

WTF!

I asked why he was charging $65 for an activation fee. "It's what they're charging," he replied.

"No, I'm good," I replied and walked right out the store.

I couldn't believe he was charging me $65 to activate a new phone. I decided to go to another Metro store nearby. I picked out the same phone and asked how much it would be. The kid at the counter said $205. WTF! The price just went up $40? Again I said, "No I'm good," and walked right  out. I know from the past that they charge only about $25 for the activation fee.

At the end of the day, MetroPCS stores are simply retail stores that sell T-Mobile phones and services. They're just the middle man to me.

Next, I decided to go to another small cell phone store nearby. It resells a different provider's service. The store is also just the middle man for another cell phone service provider. I walked into the store and informed the guy that I wanted to get a cell phone. I showed him my broken phone.

"The cheapest we have right now, phone and service included is $250," he said.

WTF!

Is he stupid! I guess he didn't know that just the night before I had already purchased a new phone and monthly service (phone number and activation included) for the grand total of $81 !!! I really did. Because I wanted a second phone.

"I can get this screen fixed for $80," I said to him, and walked out the store.

I immediately went to the shop that had replaced the broken screen on my phone two years ago. I showed the man my broken screen and said that I needed it fixed again. "It will be $70," he said.

Wow, $10 dollars less than two years ago. Sweeeeet!

So now, at the end of the day, I will have the broken screen fixed for $70. I also have a second phone, number, and service for $81. The grand sum for two perfectly functioning phones, numbers, and service is $151. That is less than the $165 the first MetroPCS store quoted me, and less than the $205 the second MetroPCS store quoted me, and less than the $250 the third, mom and pop shop quoted me.

Fuck the Middle Man!!!