My Meeting with the Dalai Lama

Dharamsala, in the northern Indian Himalayas, is the home of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Word has it that if you stick around Dharamsala long enough, you're bound to see the Dalai Lama. Sure enough, within 48 hours of arriving in Dharamsala, I saw the Dalai Lama.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
(Photo: Screenshot from Interaction with Foreigners in Dharamsala video.)

I don't recall when I first learned of the Dalai Lama. Nor do I recall the origin of my fascination with the Tibetan people. I do know that the first thing I did when I moved to Washington in 2006 was attend the Tibetan Festival at the Seattle Center. And I do know that the first sketch I drew in My New Drawing Book in 2014 was of a Tibetan woman holding a photograph of the Dalai Lama.

Poetic Resuscitation

"I have a keener interest in revenge than I have a need for approval." And with this statement, Billy Collins ended his talk Monday night at Town Hall Seattle.

If we all had a keener interest in most anything other than approval, then I'm sure we'd all make a pretty significant mark in this world.

Take a good look at the face below. This, my friends, is the face of someone who has made his mark. This is the face of Billy Collins, poetic resuscitator extraordinaire.

Billy Collins, poetic resuscitator.
(Photo: TownHallSeattle.org)