It was awesome but too costly

Such nostalgia for commuting by train. The only part of my NYC life I miss. 

This is way too expensive if you have a car. It’s so much cheaper to drive in to Queens. Manhattan might be a different story. 

If the MTA busses weren’t such a crap shoot, maybe. Strong maybe. But I had to rely on Ubers too many times today to make my itinerary. 

In bad weather or terrible traffic days this is the play but it can only be used sparingly. I’ll have to run some numbers and post a follow up. 

I do miss commuting by train. 

I read nearly all of a book today. Last time that happened was perhaps the summer? Such an expensive joy. 



A Great Video on A Zen Master


Seung Sahn is one of my favorite Zen masters. I bought the book Dropping Ashes on the Buddha from the Barnes & Noble on Texas Avenue in College Station, Texas many years ago, but it has remained safely on the shelf for over 20 years now. The recorded sayings, personal letters, Dharma talks, and more in that book paints a really lovely impressionistic picture of this man, someone who dedicated his life to helping others gain something they already had - an understanding of life!

These kind of Zen books are great, and they really should be used as a model for other kinds of writing - I feel like I have a great understanding of this guys life and thinking thanks to the book. It's like watercolor, impressionism, minimalism, but in a text format. It also encourages a return to the book. It encourages a return to the book that is a leafing around in it, a leafing-through. So many good memories with the book. 

I think about the book on my shelf right now in the quiet house. I am in the office, but I can see it in my mind. I'm pretty sure that the old Delta airlines boarding pass is still in it as a bookmark, used that way by my old roommate Ken on a trip to Idaho or from there back to New York.

I think tonight I'll return to the book again!

LIRR adventure

Tomorrow I’m going to test out the train as a viable work option. I feel like it is going to be a lot more expensive but will provide a more relaxed commute including excellent reading time. 

I will update tomorrow after the morning and evening commute. I think the commute time will only be about 20 to 30 minutes more than driving but won’t feature the stress or the inability to do anything else but drive. 


Video Hosting

Wondering if I should move back to Vimeo. I am not sure I like YouTube having all my videos, and I need a good place to host teaching videos that I can use from semester to semester. The trouble with YouTube is that they make the viewer watch ads, and I’m not really into that if they have paid the tuition.

Vimeo is a bit expensive but I think it might be a good spot to host everything and keep it updated and accessible to students. Plus I am pretty sure I could make a lecture series and paywall the content there, unlike YouTube where you have to hope that someone finds the video – a million or more someones – before you are compensated.

Vimeo is kind of expensive but there really isn't a great option. Our canvas hosting doesn't have enough space on my campus. Plus I don't really like the idea of my IP being on their servers even though it could be argued that it is a for-hire creation if it came down to it. I still think I'd have a good case that I didn't have to make such creative or complex videos to teach that particular course. They are also probably going to be generic enough to where they are applicable to more than just the St. John's courses I am teaching.