So today I become 24. I would rejoice in my age, but all it really means is that a 1/3 of my life is spent. I'd love to say a 1/4 but men usually don't live into their 100s. Grim right? Meh, we all die anyway, no sense in avoiding the subject. The only thing that matters in a lifetime is what you leave behind. This can be a child you bring into the world, or the information you pass on to others. Personally I always try to invoke thought in simple conversation. This can range from planting ideas about life, creation, and the mysteries of the cosmos. So many things out there we don't understand, or at least pretend we do.

I had a haircut yesterday, and my stylist was a Japanese woman who has been in the states for twenty years or so. We came on the topic of Buddhism at some point, and she shared with me a fact I had never heard before. In Japan, on December 31st, all the temples would strike their bells 107 times, then one more as midnight passes into the new year. This is done to reflect the 108 sins of the Buddhist belief, also known as "Joya no kane."

So do yourself and the others around you a favor. Share something, anything. Provoke a thought, ignite a fire within a stranger which burns with curiosity. Remember we all exist on this plane together, we all suffer, we all yearn. Thank you dear reader for your time, I hope the coming year is a good one for you.