I just read about the idea of a 'sound signature.' That is, in any given place one might find oneself, the ambient noise will give it a sort of signature; for example, in this little office there's an air conditioner, the sounds of packing machines outside (and the packers making asses of themselves), an occasional PA call (with the receptionist being cute/dorky occasionally), and Lisa cursing in Mexican. Anyway, what I found interesting about this idea is in realizing how much we unconsciously ignore or just stop hearing of that sound signature on a moment to moment basis - for all that the sounds are a constant, one has to consciously stop and listen for them to actually hear most of them. And that in turn bears on concepts of mindfulness and clarity of perception, which in turn bears on the idea that our thoughts (something completely ephemeral and not-physical) can be so "loud" that it drowns out ambient noise (also ephemeral and intangible, but quite physical). Hmmm.

Din-i-Illahi, or Divine Faith, is something I think would be awesome were it applied to modern Christianity and Islam.

Yet more community integration - I love this stuff!
-tangentially, I'll admit, I'm intrigued...as much as I'm also kind of grossed out...

In other news, it turns out (in retrospect) I missed my chance with a hot thirty-something doctor. But, it worked out much, much better the way it did, I'd say. So, no "alas..." there.