A tranquil evening in the foothills of Mt. Diablo near Danville, CA.

Concentric Kelp on Half Moon Bay, CA

With all of our internet connectedness these days, I find that there are still periods when it’s just not worth the time to make it happen. Andrea and I are in the middle of a business, family, and revitalizing trip to the Bay area of California. I’ve been off the internet and clock more than I’ve been on in the past 5 days. We met initially in 1984 in Sonoma County, 40 or so miles north of San Francisco, and she lived from age 12 to 20-something in and around Palo Alto and Davis.

There is much I could report, but I’ll be relatively brief. I find the dry air, cool nights (and days in San Fran) agreeable to my body. The population density is more than I like, but buffered with more open spaces than one might imagine.

I saw a number of kelp floaty thingies on the beach at Half Moon Bay where we spent a night with Andrea’s dad and his wife. I made a sand doodle with them. I don’t think the sea gulls noticed.

Waking up at the Crack of the Comfort Zone

Left: Canine Comfort Zzzzone.


6:10 AM. Begin simply: simply begin. Or, as Neil Fiore recommends in his book The Now Habit, “practice starting." I got up to pee this morning around 5:50 and, as I had last night, asked myself if I might just get up early. Lots of good reasons for doing so, I reckon, one of which is my upcoming planned trip to see my folks and to fish down in Louisiana. My dad gets up before the sun, and we can have unimpeded conversation then. When I fish with Mike Hebert, we get up at about the same dark hour. So, I’m getting a head start in shifting my sleep schedule.



And so here I am pecking away at the keys, our cat Honey purring on the doormat, the fan bringing in some of the post-storm, 67F degree air as the mockingbird tells it like it is. I can imagine being back in bed, falling back to sleep, on my back to black. A pleasant daydream. As it is, I’m feeling a little crapulous after drinking more last night than I think and experience as beneficial to body and mind. “Habits,” I’ve heard, “are excellent servants, but terrible masters.” I’m working at changing that particular habit. Part of that change work is observing what is so about it without moralizing. A primary question about that, or any habit, is “does this behavior enhance my joy and well-being?” In this case, the answer is along the lines of “not in the current configuration.”



This early morning waking and writing is outside, or at least near the border, of my “comfort zone.” Habits are part of the border of The Comfort Zone; the Default Doldrums. What else might I do today that would “enrich life,” as Marshall Rosenberg says in Nonviolent Communication? I notice that I’m quoting other people, and that I also have a thought that maybe I’d be better off telling my own truth. And another thought that telling my own truth is not just my truth, since, after all, I have as much in common with the rest of humanity as I have unique to myself (never mind the exact proportion). I could put that in better and more accurate words, but for Pete’s sake, it’s early, and this is my journal. It also makes sense that quoting others is similar to having a conversation: In their absence, I’m letting the other participants have a say by weaving their words into my text as they occur to me.


I could post these musings to my blog. I think I would be risking something. The thing at risk that comes to mind prominently is my report about drinking more than the experts and I think is wise. I’m concerned that someone will read this and it will disqualify me from something beneficial. I don’t have any particular thing in mind, but something like a job or some other opportunity, maybe being President or mayor.


All the same, what I write here is genuine, and I suspect that a kind of risky honesty, with myself as well as others, is a key ingredient in changing for good. I am going to post this. It’s not like The New York Times subscribes to my blog and is eagerly waiting to broadcast my intemperance. Or that my habits are particularly egregious.


Check out the chart below. I got this data after I checked the spelling. I don't know enough about the details to be comforted or discomforted by them. At least now we know that there were 17.7 words per paragraph.

Learning to Make & Manage Web Sites

I've got another iron in the fire these days, and more fish to fry on that fire. Part of me would rather have fewer of both. At the same time, I appreciate having the fire, the fish, and all the rest, including singed eyelashes. The latest project is learning how to make changes to the website at The Arkansas Yoga Center, my wife's business at which I'm employed as the B.T.S. Director. More on what that title means in my next post.

So, I’m climbing up, and slip-sliding down, the learning curve: reading and applying Building a Web Site for Dummies, learning to use iWeb on the Mac, and scratching my noggin quite often. You can click here DavidFournet.com to see my draft welcome page. That is, unless you’ve already been there. I plan to quickly integrate and simplify the various web thingamajigs I’ve makeshifted together so far. It’s a bit befuddling, but worth the effort in order to create an easy and enjoyable experience for you, my fellow explorer.

Be well.