beautiful, Todd. :)

...always writes the best birthday wishes. :)

Thank you for the kind words and well wishes. I really appreciate them. I was wondering if anyone would notice that I changed my age on my profile. I guess people do pay attention to that… I had always wondered. :)

I would also like to thank everyone who signed my birthday card. It means a lot to me, and I will be sending each of you a thank you note in the form of a PM in the next few days. Thank you, Todd, for getting me the card and for mailing it.

As for the Buddhist thing… yes. I’m a Buddhist. I’m glad you have enjoyed my musings on here, but I don’t really know if I have anything profound to say. I believe a lot of things from different other faiths, as well… but I’ve believed myself to be a Buddhist since I was in high school. I’ve been to some formal Buddhist ceremonies and training sessions before (primarily in the Zen traditions of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam). Most of my knowledge of the subject, though, comes through my experiences in the martial arts and through personal study and introspection. The martial arts tradition that I am apart of has a strong academic side to it. I’m writing a 25 page paper, for instance, as part of my second degree black belt test. I wrote a 35 page paper when I got my first degree.

Again… thank you so much for the kind words, the card, and the birthday wishes. I wish I could have met up with you on this last road trip you took. Someday we’ll hang out and talk philosophy, road tripping, and books…. and hopefully go on a run. :) Thanks, Todd.