One hand clapping

Does the tool use the hand or the hand use the tools?
(English bowmen bone spurs)

Did the horse spread the Horde or the Horde spread the horse?

Did the potato spread the people or the people spread the potato?

Are the planet's fossil fuels shaping humans or are humans shaping the planet with fossil fuels?

a painting you want

a hires painting
a huge painting - 10 feet tall by 30 feet wide

but not a painting - a photo

not a photo - a portrait

not a portrait - many portraits

like this - which is from LACMA - "A Street Scene with Knife Grinder and Elegant Couple" by Jacob Duck

dream
- 1 gigapan pan epic
- 1 compatible camera - http://gigapan.com/cms/support/camera-compatibility

this one

chosen from here

after comparing here

using this tool

not this one

and then printed on archival canvas using archival inks

joy

In one life
How many joys or wishes can I have

Can I fall in love
Can I eat enough
Can I beat my opponent
Can I marry my love
Can I see my children grown
Can I see my grandchildren
Can I build a house
Can I make a fortune
Can I win big
Can I be well known and respected 
Can I discover something new
Can I solve an unsolved riddle
Can I be first
Can I be the fastest
Can I go the furthest
Can I go the highest or deepest


For those that want 
Can I be full
can I be loved
Can I be warm
Can I be well
Can I be free
Can I be free of torture
Can I be free from worry and anxiety
Can I rest
Can I sleep
Can I see tomorrow
Can I see another sunrise or sunset 
Can I walk or see or smell or hear
Can I wakeup
Will anyone find me

Rumpelstiltskin

The king has no queen

The king has no heir

The king is seeking a queen

A father betrays his daughter

His daughter has the power of transmutation 

Was the fathers life threatened so he offered his daughter instead?

Willing or not she is brought before the king

Transmute or your father shall die

The king knows all too well how to get his way

Why does the king care whether she can perform or not?

He seeks a wife to bring an heir.

He has made a bargain with the father that must be fulfilled.

Perhaps it is true - what a wife she would make if could transmute.

He prepares to arrest her father.

She is taken to her quarters - luxurious but still a prison - and shown the material to transmute.

Once alone she cries since she knows she can't transmute and her father will die, and then she will have no family and she will homeless.

From out of nowhere a stranger appears.

The stranger offers to help if she is willing to make a trade.

She agrees. She will do anything.

The stranger proposes to do the transmutation in exchange for a piece of her personal property like a shoe, or a book or pencil.

She agrees and falls asleep before she can see the stranger work.

The king is stunned.

Why doesn't he marry her now? Why make her perform again?

He doesn't trust her.

He doesn't trust she will transmute after marriage.

He wants to see what she did.

He summons her and tells her she must perform again.

That test was too easy - the quantity was too small.

Now the king has no intention of arresting her father.

However he intends to keep his daughter.

He has her moved to larger more luxurious quarters and supplies her with more raw material.

This time he doubles the guard and has spies watching and listening.

The girl does not weep but is worried when she sees that the guard has been doubled.

But she has nothing to fear.

Around midnight there is a wind in the room and all the candles are blown out and the stranger is holding her and whispering in her ear.

This time she must trade one of her intimate personal property like her ring, her ear ring or necklace.

She quickly agrees and bites her tongue to avoid falling asleep but it is no use.

The king is relieved that she was successful - he is falling in love.

However when he finds out all his spies saw nothing he is angry he has been tricked and demands she transmute again.

At this point she has an idea about her value to the king and offers to make a trade with him.

She offers to transmute one more time if he agrees to marry her.

He has many emotions but since he wanted to marry her anyway he accepts.

However he wants some small revenge on her for trapping him.

Also he want his spies to find out how she is transmuting.

So he has her taken the largest and most opulent bedroom - his own.

He has it filled with raw material and goes to sleep down the hall.

Triple the guards are posted and double the spies are deployed.

With more confidence than ever before she enters her new quarters.

She sits and waits. She isn't worried.

The stranger will come.

An hour goes by.

And then another.

Now she is nervous.

And then another.

What if the stranger doesn't come.

And then she can see a sliver of the morning sun.

Now she is sobbing - she knows her father is a dead man.

And then she stops.

She will face her destiny - if she has to watch her father die so be it.

She is thrown to the floor.

The whole palace is shaking and she can't see anything.

The stranger is there, next to her on the floor.

Give me your first born and I will transmute.

Without hesitating she agrees.

Within several months they are married.

Within a few more she is pregnant.

A letter on her night table in her private apartment - only two words - first born.

She summons her personal guards and swears them to secrecy.

Her baby born she is in the nursery, her guard waiting outside.

The stranger is there when she turns around and demands the child.

She bargains with the stranger what can I do to keep my child.

The stranger tells her she would need to guess his name.

The queen sends her soldiers everywhere.

One of her soldiers find the stranger singing a victory song.

The stranger returns - did you find my name?

The queen sings rumpstiltkin.

And with that the stranger turns into a cloud of smoke and disappears.

Lost or power or control

Happy thought

What's my happy thought

I wanted to be a father

Peter Pan

From movie Hook

So many ways people try to control you

- school

- games / sports / stories

- achievement

- acquisition / collecting

- fear of not growing, selling

- cities are tornados of distraction

- celebrity

My happy thought:

I would invent something amazing and useful that everyone would use to make the world better

Value price eroded to utility price by supply and demand

New movie is rare and unique
Old move is commodity

Be unique
Be rare
Be value

What was I doing?

I was looking to buy something.
I wanted something new.
(The Keurig K-cup disposable single use coffee maker.)

Why?
To feel better

Why would buying feel better?
Because my life in someone would be better than before.
Because I would have something new.
Because I would have something to look forward to.

Then I thought - me too.
I want to make something new.
I want to make something that people are excited to buy.
I want to make something that people are looking forward to buying.
I was filled with passion.

And then I remembered listening to a documentary on the radio.
The documentary interviewed a scientist who said that differentiated us from animals was cumulative cultural evolution.

Which is what?
It is another way of saying we are not satisfied and want something better.

How?
I am not content to follow the ways of tent dwelling parents I will build a house. I am not content to hunt sheep, I will domesticate them.

Why?

Pay offs. Competitive advantage - more breeding.

Examples
Christianity and atheism
Innocent until proven guilty and the jury

Property rights and the corporation
Welfare and Medicare

All example of cumulative cultural evolution

And? So what?

Civ fail?
Profit?
Why software must update.
Why hardware must rev.
Why cars have years.
Why tv shows have seasons.

Will the IRS claim FBAR penalties to first dual citizen filers?

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=250788,00.html

6.  Possible penalties for failure to file FBAR


Taxpayer had a legitimate purpose for maintaining the foreign accounts, there were no indications of efforts taken to intentionally conceal the reporting of income or assets, and no tax was due.  Taxpayer’s explanation for why he failed to timely file an FBAR appears reasonable in view of the facts and circumstances of the case.  Since the IRS determined that the FBAR violation was due to reasonable cause, no FBAR penalty will be asserted.




However


http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/userfiles/file/2011_ARC_MSP%2012.pdf


page 227:



While the IRS-released fact sheet is helpful, it has not been vetted like changes to the IRM or items published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and the IRS would be the first to point out that taxpayers generally cannot rely on fact sheets and press releases. 


What else do I need to know?


http://renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/update-on-the-irs-fs-for-u-s-citizens-and-dual-citizens-living-outside-the-united-states-no-additional-relief-for-canadians/#more-714


Ms. Sereti is the chief architect and is in charge of the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI).

• Penalty abatement for Canadian residents participating in the OVDI is available only if the taxpayer “opts out” of the program and successfully argues that he had “reasonable cause” for failing to file the returns.

• The IRS is aware of the problems caused by including registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) in the OVDI penalty computation.

• The IRS is on the lookout for taxpayers who attempt to bring their unfiled returns current by using “quiet disclosure” and those who attempt to resolve their filing obligations in this way will face harsh penalties.”

As an american by birth living in a foreign country, how many documents do i have file to the IRS?

http://www.crevelingandcreveling.com/blog-list/104-for-american-expats-us-tax-form-checklist.html

1. Form 8938 (New)—Statement of Foreign Financial Assets. This is a new tax form that is required for some U.S. citizens who are foreign residents. U.S. expats need to file Form 8938 for tax year 2011 if their filing status is Single, Head of Household, or Married Filing Separately, and they had more than $200,000 in aggregate foreign assets on the last day of the year or $300,000 at any time during the year. For U.S. expats who file Married Filing Jointly, the threshold limits for filing are higher―you need to file Form 8938 if you have aggregate foreign assets of $400,000 on the last day of the year or $600,000 at any time during the year. For more information on Form 8938, see "Some Good News for U.S. Expats on FATCA and Form 8938."
2. Form 8621—Information Return for Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC). If you own shares in a Passive Foreign Investment Company (such as a foreign-domiciled mutual fund, offshore investment scheme, or resident country tax-deferred fund), you're required to file Form 8621 for each PFIC in years that you have a realized gain or distribution for that fund. However, it can also be advantageous to you to file this form annually. That way you can elect the method that you'd like used to calculate tax on your PFIC income. If instead you wait to file Form 8621 until you have realized gains or distributions, you'll have to accept the IRS's punitive default method of calculating tax on your investment return.
3. Form 2555—Foreign Earned Income. If you qualify, you may be able to exclude foreign earned (salary) income of up to $92,900 for 2011, as well as potentially exclude or deduct housing costs using this form.
4. Form 1116—Foreign Tax Credit. If you've paid foreign taxes on foreign income (either from your salary or investments) and you haven't otherwise excluded the income from your U.S. taxes, you may be able to take a credit against any U.S. taxes owed by filing this form.
5. Form 5471—Information Return of U.S. Person with Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations. If you're a shareholder of a Controlled Foreign Corporation (CDC), you must file this form. A foreign corporation is generally classified as a CDC if you own 10% of the shares or control 10% of the voting rights. American expats who own foreign registered businesses or significant stakes in restaurants, bars, or other companies may need to file this form.
6. Form 926—Return of a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation.Generally, you'll be required to file this form in the year you transfer cash, assets, or property (tangible or intangible) to a foreign corporation. U.S. citizens either just setting up and providing initial capital to a foreign business or injecting fresh capital/new assets to an existing business may need to file this form.
7. Form 8865—Information Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships. If you're a partner in a foreign partnership with five or fewer U.S. partners who each own 10% or more interest and in aggregate have more than 50% of the partnership, you may need to file this form to report income and transactions between you and the partnership.
8. Form 3520—Annual Return to Report Transactions with Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts. This form is used to report transactions you may have with foreign trusts, as well as if you receive large gifts from foreign persons (greater than USD 100,000), or corporations or partnerships (greater than USD 14,375 for 2011).
9. Form 3520A—Information Return of Foreign Trust with a U.S. Owner. If you own a foreign trust you need to file this form to provide information about the trust, its U.S. beneficiaries, and anyone who's treated as an owner of any portion of the trust.
10. Form TD F 90-22.1 Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). If you own or have authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, unit trust, or other types of financial accounts, and the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts is over USD 10,000 at any time during year, you're required to report the account each year to the Department of the Treasury. Please note that this form is still required even with the introduction of Form 8938 described above.

if i have never filed us taxes, how many years should i file?

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=250788,00.html

1.  U.S. income tax return filing requirement


Generally, you only need to file returns going back six years.

birthday wish

one Java Chip Frappucino ($4.75)

plus 16 shots of espresso($12)

a shot of soy milk(.60)

a drop of caramel flavoring(.50)

a scoop of banana puree($1)

another scoop of strawberry puree(.60)

a few vanilla beans(.50)

a dash of Matcha powder(.75)

some protein powder(.50)

and a caramel and mocha drizzle to cap it off(.60)


total :$26.30

dream

walk with an architect - tent house - complain about salary - it starts to rain - the fires stay lit

married to a beautiful girl that loves you like crazy

because you feel inadequate / not worthy of being loved that much

you have done something desperate

the police are the in the neighborhood and have been in the building where you live

you need to move

but she is sick, having stomach pains - the doctor has come and told you she can't travel

the eyes lament, the joy of the ear

from sense nonsense.
from nonsense sense.

23

the eye of providence in glory watches
over all the days of our lives

one

does the eye have its fill of seeing?

men dead at least 2000 years don't know

solomon likely didn't write those words

but

change, age, decay

we don't get older

before but now

before I was that but now I am this

before I was hungry but now I am full

before my eyes had not seen enough but now they have seen enough

before my ears had not heard enough

before my tongue had not tasted enough

what?

there is no plot twist? no new ending I need to wait for?

sigh

wealth
power
fame
even wisdom

it is too much for me

I prefer to be still

and remain at the centre

ha! don't believe it

breathe and believe it

put the hurry down
put the fear down
put the resentment down
put the regret down

and be

but

one

23

evolution

evolution gave mammals big brains to support our noses (earliest mammal brains endocasts created by new imaging tech)

evolution gave homo erectus the ability to make stone tools almost 2 million years ago

we can brachiate

we don't make vitamin c

we walk on two legs - for long distance travel

we sweat - for endurance hunting

about me

about 20 years ago my dad died when the plane he was going to work in crashed in nanaimo Harbour, burst into flames, and sank.

reports say he helped survivors out of the plane.

they recovered my father's burned body from the ocean floor.

they found the skin of other passengers under his finger nails from trying to claw his way out.

since he died I was unaware that I blamed myself for not being able to save him.

this is character development.

it is so simple.

one day the world is black.

then the character learns something that changes his life.

he learns the world is white, like I did, once I realized I had been blaming myself for his horrible death, and knowing that, I knew I didn't have blame myself anymore.

pink martini memories

keeping too much words inside of me
never can speak
nobody can knows

just feeling..
simple but so difficult

funny sayings

saw this on a bumper sticker:
I haven't been the same since that house fell on my sister.

saw this on a sign on a lady's desk in an office:
I can please only one person per day.
Today is not your day.
Tomorrow isn't looking good, either.

saw this on a bumper sticker:
one fry short of a happy meal

catan tiles

1. http://ryanschenk.com/2010/11/settlers-of-catan-tiles/
2. http://www.imgh.us/ocean.svg
3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshuapaul/5650007797/in/photostream
4. http://zoom.it/eX13

loss, less, missed, past, going, gone.

freedom

how much do I have?

I can choose the red cup or the blue cup
I can choose the small or the large coffee
I can choose the big car or the small car
I can choose to work here or there
I can choose to spend my money on this or that

can I choose how much time I spend with my son?
can I choose how much time I spend with my daughter?
can I choose how much time I spend with my wife?
can I choose how much time I spend with my mother?
can I choose how much time I spend with my father?

how well can a father know his son when he spends most of his time asleep or at work surrounded by strangers?
how well can a son get to know his father when he spends most of his time asleep or at school surrounded by strangers?

movies? books? games? sports?

they only hasten time's chariot ever more near

desire, wish, longing, ache, pain, emptiness

civilization stands in my way

all I want is my family back

the evolution of the internet

many people wish the Internet to be our shares brain

but what kind of brain is it?

what does it have and what is it missing?

where is the neocortex?

where can I ask what I should do or what will the consequences be or what plan should I take?