In other, non-temple closing, non-ranty news....

I may have recruited a new SGA fandom member.

And, er, I may have to write Star Trek TOS fic. But without reading any other classic TOS fic.

Which makes me nervous.

SG-1 Ficlet: Dust to Dust, Fish Food to Fish Food - Gen - teamfic

Fics crowd around like gnats.

I have two days in a row off. I never have two days in a row off.

I even have Star Trek: TOS bunnies. I never have Star Trek: TOS bunnies.

Let's start with an SG-1 ficlet.


Dust to Dust, Fish Food to Fish Food
by Icarus


Sam mused, shifting where she sat cross-legged in the straw. "I don't know. I mean, I feel bad people would miss me. But mostly it would bother me that I had so much left to do. I mean, I've a book I've been meaning to write."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Page-turner?"

"Not that kind of book," she smiled.

Teal'c nodded. "On Chulak, one wears torn clothing for forty-nine days as a reminder of ones loss."

"Hard to imagine you'd forget...." Sam muttered.

"More as a reminder to others, so they do not obligate you to attend chalnak," Teal'c explained.

"Ah." Daniel hastily translated at Sam's confused look: "Parties."

"Correct, DanielJackson. If one is invited by a superior, one cannot decline," Teal'c said.

"I bet those Jaffa really swing," Jack said. He took a long sip of his stew from the battered tin cup and rested his elbows on his knees. "That's what I want. A big party when I go. Use up everything in the fridge."

Daniel wrinkled his nose. "Um. I've never actually seen anything edible in--"

"The beer, Daniel." Jack rolled his eyes. "I want people to have a great ol' time. And feed my remains to the fish. I've eaten enough of them. It's their turn."

"I don't think fish eat ashes," Daniel pointed out.

"Now who said anything about ashes?"

Sam snorted. "You want us to put you in a wood chipper?"

"I've decided not to be executor of your estate," said Daniel.

Jack said, "Oh, I think Teal'c has the stomach for it."

"I do not," Teal'c assured him.

"Dust to dust ... fish food to fish food...." Jack said with a vague gesture that rattled his manacles.

Sam wondered aloud, "How did we get on this subject anyway?"

Teal'c responded, "I believe we were discussing the possible contents of our soup."

The four of them stared at their empty bowls.

"I'm fairly sure that tasted like rat," Jack said.

"Let's hope so," said Daniel.

A public plea this time: reopening our temple

Many of you may have been following the closure of our temple.

Those who haven't, bottom line, we'd been working with the county to bring our main temple building up to code but were behind on some aspects (not being wealthy).

March 1st, the county shut our doors until we do a million dollars worth of renovations--renovations that were underway. But now we can't host any Buddhist teachings or events or classes or do anything that Buddhist temples do until after we do all the repairs. At first we had to lock the doors. Later, they relented and we were allowed to have visitors come and go, but can have no public events.

Note the fun Catch-22: we're not allowed to host events, teachings, or classes until we raise the money to do the repairs. And yet events, teachings, and classes is how money comes into a Buddhist temple. If you're on my access list, you can read my rant about this.

We're hosting our planned events on tents on the lawn, no kidding, even in the snow.

Asia, one of our young temple members and cancer survivor, explains what it all means:

None of my friends, on my flist or at the temple, has a million dollars, no more than I do. But we're open to any help--contractors who might want to volunteer time, lawyers who can help us navigate Maryland's Byzantine codes.

We're petitioning the county to allow us to host events so that we can do the renovations. Community support from petitions (really, in this case it helps) can go a long way. So we have a petition here, as well as a paper petition at the temple. When the county tried to plow down Nick's Organic Farm and replace it with a soccerplex, it was the outpouring of support, both locally and nationally, that made them reconsider. (Your name and personal details will not be shown.)

The petition is here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/157/037/210/help-save-tibetan-buddhist-place-of-refuge/

And frankly, we've never had big donors. We've built everything here on a shoestring. So any amount at all is helpful: http://www.razoo.com/story/Renovate-Renew-Adapt-Evolve-Transmute

Lastly, would anyone be interested in bidding on Icarus fic? Like I said, I don't have a million dollars. If I can bring in donations with fic....

Chod in English, with tune!

And Buddhist stuff, having nothing to do with temple renovations, closure, or other bad news.

Here we have a wonderful translation of the Chod (offering of the body) practice into English:

Beautiful stuff. Chod is the most Tibetan of Tibetan practices, the only one that original within Tibet itself.