today i donated blood. after today, i have only three pints to go until i reach my current blood giving goal. for those who are familiar with the red cross blood donation process in the u.s. (and likely in other countries as well), they ask a giant list of questions including: where you've lived, who you've had sex with, whether you've done IV drugs, have you ever had malaria, and whether you've had a tattoo in the last year.

so if you have a tattoo, you can't donate blood for a whole year. bummer, because i like giving blood and knowing that its helping people who need it. i've wanted to get some new tattoos now for several years, but won't do it until i reach my blood donation goal.

one of the ones i want to get is some variant of a tribal version of the poincare plane, on my forearm/wrist. before i do that, i want to become more familiar with the hyperbolic geometry associated with it, and its connection to space-time curvature. this paper by george von brzeski looks intriguing, and it also has an interesting picture to go with it. so hopefully in six months or so, i'll be ready to get a little new ink.

lyrics: "i had a talented wine" - from planet of sound, by the pixies

colors: burgundy, orange, burnt sienna, yellow

mood: switching gears - will be posting reflections soon on bawa muhaiyaddeen.

chant/prayer/mantra: wear your heart on your sleeve. if muham= countenance, and ahmad="state of the heart", does that make the true muhammad the countenance of the state of the heart? if so, that's beautiful. if not, well... i'd like to allow that it does. :)


pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Labels: blood donation, tattoos, theology