I celebrated by eating just a few pieces of candy…some M & Ms.  I love M & Ms.

That’s about the extent of it.  I went to two Halloween parties over the weekend and that was a lot of fun, but tonight?  Well, tonight was just a time to chill out.

And to eat a little candy.

It’s not my favorite holiday on the calendar.  Although, that’s ironic, because I am a fan of candy.

Did I mention I love M & Ms?

I did mention that, didn’t I.

And tomorrow?  Well tomorrow is November 1st.  Another month.  More holidays (Thanksgiving!) and more treats (Turkey, stuffing, etc.)

So you see Halloween fans?  There’s more fun just around the corner.

And, hopefully, M & Ms.

Join us live at 7pm (in the West) for the Survivor Nicaragua blog.

Kelly Shinn, Alina Wilson, Ben “Benry” Henry, Brenda Lowe, Chase Rice, Jud Birza, Kelly Bruno, Matthew “Sash” Lenahan, NaOnka Mixon, Dan Lembo, Holly Hoffman, Jane Bright, Jill Behm, Marty Pimobo, and Yve Rojas return.

Tyrone took a wrong turn last week.  Who will be next?

___________________

We open on day 15 at Espada with Dan dropping the bomb on Holly that he is considering walking away from the game on his bum knee.

Holly, needless to say, was not happy at all.

She told the camera she feels Dan needs to suck it up and finish the game.  Will Dan heed that advice?

The first challenge was for individual immunities.  This was important as both groups would be going to tribal council.

In the end, it was Jill and Holly who won their respective immunities.  In the ring toss, it was Jill who won the feast for her tribe — a feast of chicken and beef kebabs that is likely needed on day 15.  What’s more, the winning tribe would get to eat that feast while peeking in on the other group’s tribal council.

Things got crazy at the camps.  Marty lied to Fabio, telling Fabio he was a chess grandmaster (in an attempt to seize tactical control).  Fabio showed the world why Young vs. Older is such a great idea…Fabio fell for the lie hook, line, and sinker.

Meanwhile, Yve plead her case to NaOnka and Alina to save her neck against Dan’s bad knees.  The editors did a good job this week keeping us in the dark about whether Dan was really committed to getting out the game.

I think it would be a shame for Yve, a great player, to go home because Dan, an ambivalent player, played both sides of the fence.

A La Flor, rumors buzzed and buzzed with the votes swinging from Marty to Jane to Kelly B.

Crazy.

Going into tribal, there was no clear consensus…perfect time for Jeff Probst to go poking around.

He probed Marty about Marty’s decision to reveal the idol.  Marty defended that decision, but admitted that he is having a hard time finding trust in his new tribe.

When Jeff Probst went to count the votes, Marty didn’t play his idol.

Bold move, Marty.  Bold move.

Marty voted for Brenda and had some harsh words for her in the camera…will they be prophetic words?

Hard to tell.

When the votes fell, it was a tie:  3 votes Marty, three votes Kelly B. (Brenda got two votes).

There was no tie breaking challenge.  It was simply a re-vote for everyone (except Marty and Kelly B.)

In the end, Kelly B. was voted out, and her final interview was calm…she seemed to see it coming.

The Espada crew came up next, and it was basically a brawl between Yve and Dan…lots of name-calling, accusations, and personal attacks that culminated in nothing definitive.  In the end, Yve left.

It was a crazy week on the beaches, but we were treated again to that unbelievable phenomenon of Survivor: the mental game.  Survivor takes us well beyond the survival shows on Discovery.  In Survivor, you don’t just want to survive…you want to beat the other guy.  You want to send them to safety while you stay in the wilds.

That’s the story of the greatest reality show ever, right?

Kelly Shinn, Alina Wilson, Ben “Benry” Henry, Brenda Lowe, Chase Rice, Jud Birza, Kelly Bruno, Matthew “Sash” Lenahan, NaOnka Mixon, Dan Lembo, Holly Hoffman, Jane Bright, Jill Behm, James “Jimmy T.” Tarantino, Marty Pimobo, Tyrone Davis, and Yve Rojas are back for more punishment.

We were promised fireworks from NaOnka…will the show deliver?

The show opened at Espada with Jimmy T. bagging on Jimmy Johnson…then, Jimmy T. gave a very annoying singing performance that probably prompted the rest of Espada to wonder why the heck they kept him instead of Jimmy J.

Ah, sweet regret.

The waters started rising around Espada as flash floods washed to the sea.  We were treated to a fishing display where Jimmy T. took the lead…not so well.

Over at La Flor, NaOnka an Brenda figured out the idol clue and found the idol.  NaOnka wasted no time in claiming it for herself saying “it’s mine” to the camera.  As Kelly B. and Alina went on a futile search for the idol, NaOnka couldn’t resist stirring the pot, trying to get a reaction from Kelly B.  Meanwhile, Kelly vowed to keep her cool and not react.

Back at Espada, Marty tried to nominate Tyrone for leader.  Jimmy T. went on another tirade about someone not being a Jimmy T. fan.  But that’s ok.  We know Jimmy T. is a Jimmy T. fan, so he’s good.

At the challenge, La Flor used the medallion of power, meaning they only had to collect eight of the ten items…a huge advantage.  At stake?  tarp, tools, fishing gear, and immunity.

The challenge was definitely organized chaos!  The younger tribe had the advantage from the start, and never really gave it up.

La Flor took fishing gear, the tarp, and cooking supplies…definitely an advantage.  As for Espada?  It was nothing but a trip to tribal.

At La Flor, Chase found another immunity idol clue.  He took Brenda along for the dig and she broke down and told him that she and NaOnka had already found the idol.  Chase wanted to confront Na about it, but Brenda begged him not to.

Chase…if you have an ounce of smarts, you won’t.

At Espada, Jimmy T. called out Marty for eating a few sea urchins instead of putting them in the community net.  That pretty well pissed Marty off and Marty now seems to be on a campaign to eliminate Jimmy T. from the game.

At tribal, Jimmy T. got emotional about a suggestion that he be a follower in the tribe.  But in the end, he said that he was a man of honor and would honor his place in the tribe as a worker bee.

At the end of the day, Jimmy T. received five votes and left tribal without a word.  Jeff Probst told the tribe this was an attempt to improve chemistry, and he’s correct.  At the end of the day, strength or thinking you’re a leader isn’t enough.  If you can’t play the social game, you’re gone.

I watched it tonight.

There was a chair on there from the show in Philadelphia.  The name of the maker slips my mind (though I’m sure someone out there will enlighten me) and it was valued at between $80,000-$120,000.

Yup.

Lotta money, huh?

Every time I watch that show, I’m struck by what people inherit.  Then, I go through my closet and look through my stuff.  I wonder what my future kids could get for some holey jeans and a bunch of extra pillows, circa 1988.

Hmmm…

That’s worth thinking about, right?

Maybe not.

But that show does get us to think about how we take care of the things in our lives…our possessions.  But I guess that also leads to the thought: Do we own our possessions or do our possessions own us?  Do we go crazy over a little nick or scratch?  Do we worry more about a small stain than someone else’s feelings?  If it came down to a thing or a friend, which would we choose?

I donno.  Maybe I’m just overtired.

Forget I said anything.

Just enjoy Antiques Roadshow.

Oh, and clean out your closet once in a while.  You may have a $120,000 chair in there.  As for me?

Well, I’m going to get up from my $29 one and go to bed.

Sunset tonight marks the end of Yom Kippur for our Jewish friends.

It’s a Day of Atonement. Rosh Hashanah is the start of the new year when the Book of Life is opened, and on Yom Kippur the year is sealed. Or so it goes.

What does it mean to “atone”? It can mean forgiveness of sin, to repent, or to make an amend. And on Yom Kippur, our Jewish friends stand in the sight of God and admit the wrongs from the past year (while fasting), and ask for forgiveness and a merciful inscription in the Book of Life.

But I guess this brings up the question, “Where are sins?” In other words, when we do wrong, where is the ‘wrongness’ located? Is it on our skin? On a piece of paper somewhere? There are many teachings on this, but I tend to lean more toward the scholars who suggest that the sin is not on our soul, per se, but rather, on our human clothing.

I heard a teaching about sin and atonement the other day and the teacher suggested that times of atonement are similar to doing the laundry. In other words, we get stains on our white clothing, such as ketchup or grape juice (they stand out on a white shirt, you see, and when a person with grape on their white shirt walks in, what is the first thing you see? The stain!). Then, through repentance, prayer, or good intention, we can do the laundry and get clean again.

I liked that teaching. It is so…so much on the deeper end of the scale. It’s easy to judge. It’s easy to define a person by one mistake or error. But who are the wonderful people we know? They’re the ones that look past our deeds and the ones that don’t judge us. They are the ones who love us and forgive. They don’t see a bunch of stains when they look at us. They see us as a beautiful creation and a person of potential.

My measure of a person is something like this: If I was in life-threatening peril, would they save me? The answer is usually yes. Or how about this: If they were in life-threatening peril, would I save them? The answer is usually yes. If that’s the case, then who am I to judge another?

As this year progresses, make a new commitment. Pretend that today is your last day on earth. How do you want to be remembered? For how you judged or how you forgave?

The Book of Life is being written now. You can choose the adventure.  You can choose to make peace with others for who and how they are instead of pining for them to be other than they are.  You can start the year knowing it will be a happy, and clean, ending.

-josh



I was on my walk this morning and saw something interesting.

I witnessed a large rattlesnake making his way across a yard.

I stopped and watched him, and he watched me.  I didn’t lunge for him and he didn’t lunge for me.  Interestingly, there was a rabbit no more than three feet from the snake, and the snake didn’t lunge for the rabbit, either.

I know there are some scary things in the world, and I know that if I would have stuck my hand under a bush where he was, I would probably have gotten a bite.

But y’know?  Today on my walk it was just three creatures sharing the planet.

The rabbit hopped off, the snake slithered off, and I walked off.

And, we’ll all be doing it again tomorrow…

Although, if I were that rabbit, I’d probably take a little extra care.

-josh

You see, a major solar even occurred, and it was supposed to trigger northern lights.  You know those…the amazing, dazzling show that rarely shows its face…but when it does…oh…when it does…

I’m in Canada for another week.  Perfect place to see them, right?  Well, guess what?

It rained.

A lot.

But lo and behold, the sky cleared and sure enough, a haze appeared.  We went to the pier and stood out in the lake.  There was  a little light.  Then, more.  Then, the great arc in the sky.  We’d seen these before and we know the signs.  In the distance, a blood red moon rose.  We saw a shooting star explode.  We saw a satellite.  We listened to the lake lap the shore.  It was magical.

It was perfect…almost.

You see, the light we waited to see was…grey.  I know you think I’m kidding, but I’m not.  Grey, putty-colored light.

All I wanted was to see the northern lights instead of storm clouds and the universe accommodated me.  Unfortunately, it left the color out.  Now, I’ve seen some pics from around the globe and it was dazzling, but there in the middle of Canada?  Not so much.

But you know something?  I’m grateful.  I’m grateful I saw what I saw.  I’m glad the sky cleared.  I’m glad I got my shot.

Otherwise, I would have always wondered what I’d missed.  In my imagination it would have been a dazzlingly brilliant rainbow behind a sky of clouds.

Instead?

Well, instead it was gray light on a clear night.

And it was magical.

-josh

I got to the stopover city with no problem, but then found that there was a problem.  The flight was delayed.  Apparently, one of the stewardesses was late getting to the flight, so it delayed my flight, which was supposed to leave around 7pm.

Then, when we finally got on the plane at 8:45pm, the pilot announced that a few of the bags had been mis-tagged (or something ridiculous) and they had to pull the bags off the plane to re-tag them.

Then they had to pull more bags off.

Then they had to come back and do more things with the bags, but nobody is sure what they were doing.

Finally, at about 9:50pm, we were off and running, but somehow a 55 minute flight took 85 minutes…but we made it!

Now, I know the Internet is full of rants about the airline industry, and I won’t add too much to that.  I guess my only point is that flying has become such an awful experience, it seems to generate its own negative energy.

Seriously.

It’s come to the point where everything is so intense, late, expensive, and annoying, that it really does become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I tried to make every moment in that plane a meditation.  I tried to induce relaxation instead of reaction.  It was hard…and I failed on multiple occasions, but the important thing is that when I failed, I felt myself failing.  I was aware of the failure, and I tried to get myself back on track.

Meditation…relaxation…failure…awareness…meditation…

It became somewhat of an internal mantra…something to which I could cling while my day drowned in a sea of frustration.

But I’m here.  It’s all good.  It’s just a memory…

But how I got here?  Well, I’ll try to keep that mantra going.

It was nice!

We played with Matchbox cars.  You know the last time I did that?

Years ago.

We played today with cars, trucks, convertibles…and they rode up and down a little construction lot.  It brought back some great memories.  There was innocence and focus, intensity and laughter.

It was all there, and all so simple!

All the cars I used to play with are somewhere in storage, I think.  No idea where .  It’s funny…when I was young, I couldn’t get enough of them, and now, I couldn’t even find them.

Is that tragic?

I’m not sure.  I’ve moved on to more complex toys and forms of entertainment.  I don’t want to knock those things, but I can’t help but remember there was a time when a one dollar car was just as fun as a Wii…When wooden blocks brought the same smile as an iPhone…And when a slide was just as thrilling as a drive north.

I’m not sure what happened between “way back when” and “right now”…Is there a fundamental difference?  Am I the same person?  What really matters to me today?

We can all ask these questions, I think.  As we age, we are more and more pressed by responsibility and, possibly, a growing angst around the meaning of life.

Where are we?  Who are we?

Maybe those answers can be found by going back into memory and re-discovering who we were…or what we used to play with.

-josh