Had lunch with Dad (it's his birthday today), two of my sisters and my niece. Went to Joe Allen's on "restaurant row", chosen for its proximity to Port Authority cuz Dad took the bus in. Realized today that my dad enjoys being helpless and playing dumb in order to get attention. It works--he gets attention, but it's usually in the form of Sister M yelling at him, Sister C laughing at him, and Niece J shrugging her shoulders and rolling her eyes in patented teenage disgust. As for me, the method that's evolved for dealing with my family is to sit and let it all roll past me with as much non-resistance as possible...My family is only a problem if I decide they're a problem. These days I'm satisfied with not having any social standing in my family, and just being quiet and benign at family gatherings.

I am going to be teaching a 4-week meditation workshop in October--I'm looking forward to that.

I am filling the reading void right now with a palate-cleansing historical murder mystery called Whom the Gods Love by Kate Ross. It's elegantly written--the Regency-era London setting is described delicately and doesn't seem as much of a goofy contrivance as other historical mystery settings (e.g. Ancient Rome, or Suffragettes-in-Syracuse). Click on the Regency Lady to learn more about her times.