December 2008

Sebastian and Judy bought me a DVD for Christmas. The Last Mimzy  (trailer). We also sent it to my brother Jimmy & his family, my sister Donna & her family, Judy’s sister Patty & her girls. 

Incredible story, concepts and images. “Mimsy” comes from a line in Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem Jabberwocky, “Twas brillig, and the slithy toves, Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe.” The film is about sacred geometry & crystalline structure, the pure form of the sacred Mandala Sri-yantra, DNA, Drunvalo Melchizedek’s The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life, Einstein’s time-space continuum, Tibetan Buddhism, a child’s wondrous pure innocence and openness to the universe, Nature’s sounds of music, vibrations & movement, all this and much.. much more!

a Sri-Yantra.

      

A pyramid with the geometry of the Sri-yantra (mandala)

A Sri-yantra from Tibet.

The Four Winds Society has published their Newsletter for this December Solstice of 2008. My friends Alberto Villoldo and Linda Fitch asked me if they could use my photo as the cover photo for the issue. I was humbly honored. I took the photo atop Salkantay Mountain in the Andes at an altitude of about 19,200′. It shows Quero Inca Shaman Don Pasqual (called the “Golden Boy,” even though he’s a man) making a coca leaf offering to Apu Salkantay. It was one of many sacred moments at the top of the Andes outside of Peru. The Four Winds Society does magnificent work for people all over the world, training them to be healers.

Having read many books on the Mayan prophecies, a friend Cathy Oldham gave me one as a gift. It is written by Gerald Benedict and called The Mayan Prophecies for 2012.

Gerald Benedict

Recently published in 2008, it has a simple, clear introduction, contains each of the twenty-one prophecies. The book lists each prophecy, gives its message, comments and explains the prophecy, and then summarizes it. At the end of the book, G. Benedict explains each of the Mayan calendars and explains them in the appendices, i.e. the Tun, the Tzolk’in, the Calendar Round, the Long Count Calendar, the Venus Cycle, the Moon Calendar, or Tun-Uc. It summarizes and gives conclusions about the 2012 phenomena.

For those who have read little or nothing about the Maya or their 2012 prophecies, or even if you have read other books, you will like the organization and clear presentation of Gerald’s Benedict’s The Mayan Prophecies for 2012.

Last night, after signing books at Austin’s Book People and Borders and Barnes and Noble, Judy and I met with Cathy Roberts. She and her brother Skip are old friends from our College Park- Holy Redeemer days (over 45 years ago!). We had water, drinks and nachos at this great eclectic Austin cafe called Spider House near University of Texas. It was wonderful reconnecting with Cathy and meeting Kate. How strange and wonderful paths cross after many years.

Judy and I went to the two signings in San Antonio, where I signed books at Fort Sam Houston and Randolph AFB. I signed 180 books, met incredible people, so overall sold 200 books in two days! One college freshman emailed me on Friday. Her name was Kayce. She couldn’t buy a book on Thursday when she was at Randolph, and wanted to get a signed copy of THE ASCENDANCY for her sister for Christmas. She wanted to know where I was signing on Friday; she wanted to come and buy the book. I received her message on my Blackberry, so I emailed her back, while I was doing signings. She showed up at Randolph AFB a second time with her father to get a book for her sister.  I met families, navigators, aviators, retired officers, colonels and enlisted men. I spoke with people who were from Maryland, who traveled to La Paz and Cochabamba, Bolivia, Machu Picchu, Peru and Ecuador, where Judy and I have been, and even met the brother of one of my students at St. Monica Catholic High School. What a small world! It was once again a great experience. AAFES, soldiers and their families, Thank You to all of you for your commitment and dedication.

We’re off to Austin today to sign copies of THE ASCENDANCY at Book People, Borders and Barnes & Noble. –John M. Weiskopf

It’s 12:31 a.m. and we’re off to San Antonio in five hours. Fort Sam Houston, et al. Sure hope we get some sleep. Lotsa trips. Lotsa books. Liddell sleep. And I don’t mean Alice. We’ll check out Riverwalk wonderland, after we become peddlers of books, books, books. The books were here, the books were there, the books were all around. They flipped and flapped, and groaned and cracked, like noises all unbound!  Thanks, Sammy T.C. We have become the “Tricyclers of Words.”  Use them many times, over, and over, and over. 

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A friend of mine Joan A. Friedman wrote an incredible book called “EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY TWINS.” Being a twin herself and the mother of twins, Joan’s book resonates with a lifetime of experience. If you have twins, or children who are even one year apart, or you want to know more about how to raise your kids so that their psychological and emotional development is balanced and gives each child individually his/her own self identity, then “EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY TWINS” is not only a must read, but a reference book full of wisdom that you will probably use for much of your parenting lifetime. -John M. Weiskopf

Book cover for Dr. Joan A. Friedman's timeless book on Twins

I just spoke with the editors at the San Antonio Express-News. They wanted the Press Release on The Ascendancy and background on me. They will probably be doing a story about the book signings, which I am doing on San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston, Randolph AFB, Lackland AFB. I will also sign books at the Barnes & Nobles, Borders and Book People stores in San Antonio and Austin.

Judy and I went to a Children’s Fair with our friend Cathy Oldham in Elm Mott, Texas. I was looking through the educational pavilion and non-chalantly picked up a children’s book called The Treasure by Uri Shulevitz.

Being a child at heart myself, I was captivated by the beautiful illustrations and the simple story. I could not put it down. It is Caldecott Honor Book. Check it out.

Judy and I got our plane tickets today for our trip to San Antonio next Thursday, December 11 for three book signings of The Ascendancy at Fort Sam Houston, Randolph and Lackland Air Force Bases; and then, we’re off to Austin to sign books at Book People and Barnes & Noble.