Arash & Helena - One Day ( Remix )

I'm enjoying this remix this morning. Shrouded in a mysterious melody, I love its taste of deep house rhythms, and the vocals are equally beautiful. How is your day today? Almost on the home stretch to the weekend. What are your plans? As always, I'm digging deep for more homework time as the semester end draws close. Something special about time is that whether you're wealthy or destitute poor, every person has the same number of seconds, minutes, and hours in the day. Nobody has more, nobody has less. The challenge is to make the most of their time, given everything else they have going in their life. Make your day today the best ever. Peace.

Positive Lo-Fi Radio

I'm cruising into the afternoon with some Lo-Fi tunes. It's only recently that I "discovered" Lo-Fi. Where has this been all my life? What a wonderful reflective vibe. I could listen to this forever! As crowded and populated as Japan is, I have seen the other side: empty, lonely, isolated. Not that being lonely is a good thing, but being alone is a different story—there's a chance to reflect and retreat into one's thoughts. At the tail end of my lunch, there's time enough to pray and meditate before engaging the last moments of the work day.

Where are you at this moment? Curled up with a book? Inspired at the keyboard? Hanging with the friends? Wherever that may be, and whatever you may be doing, I wish you well. May you enjoy a mindful moment while listening to this video. Let it be a brief aside to recap your day, or look ahead from where you're starting. Peace and love to you.

A Promise of Spring

 It comes around every year, that moment of anticipation of emancipation from the dreary, dark, frigid days of winter. I love the places in the world where seasons change the most noticeably. Witnessing the transition is an epiphany, an inspiration that captivates the senses and the imagination. What will this newest phase of life bring? What will it remind us of the years past and gone this cycle? What hope do we have for the new coming era of our life?

I love this picture from Japan; the vibrant color and misty air evoke a sense of dreaminess. It's been a while since I traveled there as a single young man. Now that the years have passed, the land calls me to come back, bring my life treasures, my wife and children, and experience the landscape and the hidden beauty of the Japanese countryside. Perhaps sometime soon.

Photo Credit: Uploaded to Flickr by Blossom Tomorrow, Photo Taken 2/18/2024, All Rights Reserved

NIGHT RUN - A SYNTHWAVE | RETROWAVE MIX

What's on the tape deck today? I'm working to some synth-wave music, which is really awesome. Interestingly, while my mind daydreams of the landscapes painted by this audio, I'm in the zone with the rest of my focus for the day. I can remember scouring the shelves of Tower Records, blindly sampling CDs for a sound like this. Now it's easy. Instead of a shelf of flops, I have targeted searches and most excellent results. How cool is that? Drive on, folks. Have a great Tuesday!

Study Hour

 It's time to settle down for an hour or two with homework. I feel behind because of all the days I've skipped, but I haven't given up. Family life, work life, some personal life - what time is left, I ask? No matter the reason, there's no substitute for doing the work. Just. Do. It. Let's see how far I can get tonight. Time check!

Uploaded to Flickr by Lester Public Library, Taken 12/16/2008, All Rights Reserved

Chill Harmony — Music for Work, Inspiration and Relaxing

Tuning in for a late-night study session and started up some tunes. I'm enjoying this chill music to keep me in the zone. It's been hard going to school and working at the same time. There are not enough hours in the day to get things done. And then, when I do have the hours, they are the leftovers of the day when I'm the most tired and uninspired. I'm not complaining, just stating an observational fact. 

When I was younger, it was much easier - I had the brain cells, the energy, and the time to buckle down and focus on my studies. That may be why these studies at an older age are still oddly appealing. Being up late or early doing the work when the rest of the world is fast asleep adds a feeling of toughness. I'm probably too old for school now, but I'm never too old to have a dream. I will keep at it, though I'm at a quarter of the pace of my 20s and still stumbling along to get things done.

This video is just right for that mood. Up when the rest of the world is asleep and at the keyboard trying to get one last thing done for the day as it dies away to the last embers of the midnight hour. I will keep at it. I will get this done. I will not give up. I will.

Paris and Le Eiffel

 Paris is one of the places I have yet to see and experience. Is it true that there is a sense of romance in this city? While cleaning out some drawers at home, I happened on an engagement announcement I received from a good friend many years ago. The engagement, however, was for his first wife. He is happy with his second marriage, has many children, and likely has never looked back. 

Should I shred or keep the photo out of loyalty to my friend? After all, he has moved on; it is in situations like these I struggle with how to manage a memory - is it kept, cherished, and accepted in all situations, or is it something to be buried or destroyed out of existence to "protect" the sanctity of what has become the new future, the new present at hand. In what ways do we remember, and in what ways do we gently forget?

The world is ever-changing; how do we keep up, and how do we hold on to what we have at hand?

Uploaded to Flickr by Yasmine Hens, Photo Taken 11/26/2023, All Rights Reserved