http://jasonfmcdonald.com Weblog of fiction writer Jason F. McDonald. Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:58:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My first university course in the Teaching Fellows program is coming to an end tomorrow. It’s been a challenging two weeks reviewing all the math I’ve forgotten since college. But my brain is starting to catch up and I’m remembering why I enjoyed math so much during my ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=224 Yesterday afternoon I arrived in New York. The plane ride was nice and quick. I had a chance to listen to a couple of dharma talks by Gil Fronsdal on “loving kindness” or metta. I’ve practiced metta mediation a few times before, but as I step into ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=223 This weekend Doris and I saw an amazing/inspiring/disturbing/awesome show at the Filmore in Denver. M.I.A. tore the house down. This was the second time I saw her in Denver. I mentioned the first show in my Writer as Fry Cook blog post. The opening act was The Egyptian ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=222 Yesterday I had some extra time off from work, so I was able to take care of a few things that I’ve been letting slide. First thing I did was search craigslist.org for summer housing in NYC. I need a room for June and July. Finding housing ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=221 Today I was listening to Tavis Smiley’s show My America 2008: Gun Violence. The show was in response to the recent weekend of shootings in Chicago: 36 people shot, 9 die, during weekend in Chicago. In the show, families of victims past and present were interviewed. ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=220 Recently I discovered one of my teachers from Naropa, Bhanu Kapil, has started to blog: jackkerouacispunjabi.blogspot.com. Reading her posts is very close to being in her class, except that it’s a web page. In one recent post she quoted Rilke: “Ask yourself, must I write?; and if you ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=219 I haven’t been writing or blogging in a while and today was intending to post something about my writing, or NYC Teaching Fellows, or even the Democratic primaries. But then I received an email from Akilah Oliver, one of my teachers at Naropa. It was a forward, which ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=218 It is official. My borough assignment for NYC Teaching Fellows is the BRONX! Woohoo! I only went to the Bronx a few times when I was living in NYC, as a volunteer with homeless children. But what I saw of the borough I really liked. The streets ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=217 I’ve been listening to a lecture series recently that has me inspired/excited about writing. The speaker is Joan DePaoli, author of Transparent Thread. Her talk is Buddhist Art as Buddhist Practice, but I think it would more aptly be called Modern Art as Buddhist Practice. The first two lectures ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=216 Since I’ve been working as a house painter I’ve been able to listen to hours of interesting podcasts daily, everything from lectures on the Brothers Karamazov to fanboys talking about comic books. Last week while listening to wzen.org I came across a new podcast that is worth sharing. ... http://jasonfmcdonald.com/?p=215