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Yesterday on one of my favorite blogs, Lifehacker, there was a post called Recharge with a meditation nap. Having three childrens under the age of 5, my wife and I are chronically sleep deprived… therefore, any talk of naps immediately piques my interest.

The subject of the Lifehacker post is a post at Life Learning Today titled How to Nap at Work – or Anyplace You Need a Rest. The post describes something they call "Meditation Naps," essentially naps where you remain conscious just deeply relaxed.

To me, this sounds a lot like Yoga Nidra or at least what I know of Yoga Nidra. Here's what I put into the comments of the Life Learning Today post:

This sounds a lot like Yoga Nidra which is a conscious deep sleep. During the yoga classes I attend, we are lead through a relaxation exercise where you consciously release tension from the body. Then you focus on each body part: tense every muscle in the body part for a few seconds and then release and forget about it. We start at the legs and move up through the body to the face. Once that's done, we just relax.

It is a very strange feeling. Last time I did it, I heard and felt myself snoring, yet I was completely conscious… of the music in the background, of the other students' breathing, of everything. Yet, when it was over, I would've sworn I had been asleep and for a much longer time than we had actually laid there.

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So, I signed up for piano lessons. It's something that I've always wanted to do, but was too lazy to ever do anything about it. But, now, with all the free time, I figured it'd be a good time to start. And, with the prodigy having turned 3, it's just about time to start him on the cool things like piano lessons and girls. I figured it'd be best to have a year or two of lessons of my own before we get him started with real lessons of his own. Makes sense, right? See, Cyn, I told you it did.

So, now I need a piano for the house. I went to the piano shop that the owner of the music academy recommended and found a few instruments that I really liked… only they were attached to price tags that I didn't care for so much. For example, the Roland HP101 sounded wonderful and is well priced at just under $1700. Which is probably a good power-of-10 more than what I can justify spending at the moment. So, I started in on some research. I found the Casio PX-110 for sale at eMusicGear.com. At less than 1/3 the price of the HP101, it's a much more attractive choice. It still has all of the features that I need in a starter piano… first and foremost, a headphone jack.

But, alas, with bills compounding and the holidays bearing down on us, it still costs more that I can rationally justify spending. So, I got the {stupid, insane, brilliant} idea to beg for the money! So, here in front of the my friends, family and the rest of the world, I am asking each and every one of you out there in cyberspace to help me buy a piano so that I can learn to play it well enough to teach my kids to play the piano well enough to become famous and support me through my golden years.

To make it simple, here is a donations link:

Or, if you do not feel comfortable just giving money away, I have started an eBay auction. So, now you can offer me large sums of cash in exchange for a really shiny white rock.

Any excess funds from the donations and auction proceeds will be donated to charity. So that it is in writing, the Casio PX110 from eMusicGear.com is $499. Any funds over this $499 mark will be donated to charity.

Update: After posting this and creating the auction listing I decided that instead of choosing the charity myself, I would grant that honor to the winner of the auction. So, there. That's a good reason to donate through the PayPal link above and bid on the auction.

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Drastic measures. Mrs. Dan (aka Cyn) and myself have decided to get rid of the idiot boxes we have in the house. That's right, no more television in the house of dan. They haven't been turned on since Monday, I think. Definitely not since Tuesday. So far, the only thing I miss is the background noise. To replace that we'll be running the XMs a little more. Side note: I've been getting into the old time radio broadcasts on XM 164 – Radio Classics. Some of it is rather corny, especially the mysteries, but I have fun listening. I listened to some Nick Carter, Master Detective yesterday… could be a suitable replacement for CSI! (… if I actually watched CSI, that is.)

Why are we doing this? What are these "drastic times" calling for these "drastic measures"? I dunno. I just had the random thought one day a couple weeks ago and it stuck. Mentioned it to Cyn and she was all for it. We will be keeping one TV (w/ DVD player) for emergencies and the occasional family movie night. But that TV will be in an upstairs guest room… so, if we want to watch TV, we'll have to get some exercise to do it.

Maybe now I'll be able to finish the half dozen books I've started in recent months………

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