3/28/10:
It was a nice enough day here yesterday to do a few hours of yard work; I was able to get my roses trimmed up, the mallow bush cleaned up, one flower bed weeded and another begun. If I do that much work about 25 more times my yard will look nice again— the curse of having lots of plants and a warmer climate that does not kill back the weeds during winter.
We were going to go see the new Alice in Wonderland 3D movie yesterday but discovered we had dallied too long, it is no longer showing in 3D around here. That opportunity lost, we headed out for a Mexican dinner (leftover rice and beans with scrambled eggs for breakfast) and shopping at Fred Meyer, picking up several seed packets and a couple other things that will not work and have to be returned— productivity, like comedy, has its own inherent risks.
March continues to barrel forward so fast it is now almost over. This last week saw the passage of historic health care legislation, which no doubt will be altered as we go along. It also saw the hard-core right wing element showing their colors, purported to be patriotic but revealing the non-democratic nature of their stance, which is "my way or the highway", otherwise know as dictatorial. Such leanings lead to not only strident voices using language filled with violent images, but actual violence.
Thus is revealed the crux of the matter, the third commandment— Thou shalt not use the name of the Lord thy God in vain. When groups invoke the name of God in blessing only themselves and not all of God's creation, when they invoke God's name as a reason for pursuing economic policy, legal regulations and non-enforcement of individual rights, are they using the name of the Lord in vain? Matthew 15:6: so for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the Word of God. But you don't have to read the Bible or be a Christian to discern the basis of the rhetoric or note the acts of violence, and the worshipping of ignorance.
Political discourse these days includes statements that seem to not require any elucidation, any reference to facts, history or even current reality, depending purely upon the repetition of statements enough times to make people believe that the truth is being spoken. The "Founding Fathers" are often invoked, as if they all held the same views of why the United States should become a reality or what the words they were speaking and writing meant. Additionally there seems to be a movement to convert the Founders into sorts of gods, omniscient and dictating what would be forever in this country. This predilection toward never changing, the foundation of conservatism, ignores statements by Jefferson and others urging constant vigilance in changing and improving to keep pace with the times (part of the quote Jefferson's name links to). Despite explicit knowledge of things the Founders did not get right, including not allowing equal participation of non-whites or women with any color of flesh, that knowledge is ignored or treated as irrelevant. We as individuals are always learning new things, gaining new insights, and deciding (whether by actually determining our course or deciding by default by not determining our course) how to grow ourselves. It is no different for mankind nor for our economy and government.
We always remain vulnerable to false logic, romantic ideas of what is, was or should be, and to lies that prey upon those insecurities that lead men to opt for hatred and violence as ways to get to a "right" world. Many factions in the world cling to very old hatreds, believing that not including another group in visions of the future will somehow lead to a solution, to peace. The most strident voices are often the most pious, while defending the annihilation of discordant voices or child rape. Vulnerability is not inevitable, ignorance is not a thing to be proud of.
That is it for my March lecture, not sure when the next one will appear but I do know it too will come unexpectedly. Ciao, arrivederci, au revoir— later man.
I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.— Emo Phillips
3/27/10:
I've written before about my friend Kate from my old job, how when we worked together she would bring me her mother's already-read New Yorker magazines so that I could languish over reading them, unhurried by library due dates. Since leaving that job I have only gotten together with Kate a few times, the last being in February, so that I have been consigned to reading only library New Yorker copies since I do not want to put out the money... In February Kate gave me an armload of magazines, some of which I had read much of and some we had not been able to get. Kate is a sweetheart and her mother is generous.
This morning I have been sorting through the magazines, finishing off ones I had started and setting aside three I yet need to really peruse. One that I had finished with had yet another poem by Philip Schultz, a modern American poet, Pulitzer Prize winner and founder of The Writer's Studio (which you can go to if you click his name back there). I am adding today this poet's poem THE BIG SLEEP from the November 30, 2009 New Yorker, and if you click on any of those underlined magazine titles you can go to the poem on their site, although I do include it here in full as I could not figure out anywhere to put those ...s and provide only an excerpt. Philip Schultz won the Pulitzer Prize for his book of poetry entitled Failure, you can read and hear the poet read the title poem if you click on "Failure" and you can go to Amazon and buy the book by clicking HERE. Enjoy:
THE BIG SLEEP
The only thing that consoles us for our miseries is diversion, and yet it is the greatest of our miseries.— Pascal
On Turner Classic Movies Philip Marlowe
is grimacing at the slinky beauty
of the woman who will become
the wife of the actor playing him.
The man playing me, up at three this morning,
worrying about the cost of private school,
health insurance, and the slow grinding
away of his savings, is wearing
bleaching molds because a stain chart
listed his smile as second to worst.
On CNN quaint dioramas of Baghdad,
the Sudan, and Gaza depict recent forms
of human misery. Is there a chart
that measures our ignorance and vanity?
On PBS philosophers are debating what
Nietzsche meant by our desire to create
beyond ourselves the purest will.
The sexual fire in the amber eyes
of the woman Lauren Bacall is playing,
perhaps? On the Western Channel
the whiteness of Joel McCrea's teeth
has survived dust storms, chewing tobacco,
and his character's nostalgia for
the brutality of his tiny moment. Some believe
we've consumed our originality,
that our diorama will depict nothing.
On the Disney Channel all fifty-six signers
of the Declaration of Independence
are shouting about the indignity of domination
for everyone except perhaps those
tending their fields and children.
Did the man playing Nietzsche grow weary
of trying to grow happiness out of pure will?
Hat over heart, the man playing my father
stood perpendicular to his exhausted,
uneducated, immigrant shadow, weeping
to our national anthem. A man stood for something,
he said. Did the actor playing Marlowe
understand that Marlowe stood for nothing?
On the History Channel men and beasts
are being slaughtered by machetes, explosions,
and hangings, their swollen, mystified bodies
falling into ravines, dropping to their knees
screaming for their mothers and God to save them.
It's three in the morning and everywhere
around me the silence stands for nothing
and even the god playing God wants to sleep.
— Philip Schultz
3/21/10:
I love the weekend, and it ends all too soon... People at work have been sick and I have been trying to fight off a bug for a few days now. I have spent a quiet weekend and slept in until 9:30 this morning, trying to keep from having a full-blown virus adding its chaos to my body.
I have ordered several items online in the last week or so, today making use of a generous Victoria's Secret gift card Jay gave me for Valentine's Day by pairing it with an email offer for 25% off clearance items. I like the fit and quality of their bras but only buy them when they are very much on sale— today I got the one to the left for $9.74. On top of the bargain I like the way it makes my face look thinner...
For whatever reason both Jay and I get coupon cards from Victoria's Secret throughout the year for a free panty if you just go in to the store— I usually make it in enough to get 2 or 3 free panties a year (Jay gives his coupons to me). I just smile and say I don't need anything else when they ask...
Work has been very busy and I am hoping to be able to fight my way through the bugs in the air to be able to make it to next weekend without using up any sick leave— hope you can too. Meanwhile enjoy yourself and keep a lookout for bargains. Ciao.
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.— Annie Dillard
3/18/10:
When I was back visiting family and friends in Michigan in December my parents and I stopped by to see Jacqueline Brown, always known to me as Jackie. The Browns moved in next door (which in the country means separated only by one corn field) when I was in about fifth grade. Her son Mike became a regular presence in our home, playing with my brother Donnie. I babysat for her younger son Mitch and eventually for her younger daughter Karen. I loved listening to Jackie's English accent and her husband Ray's one from New Jersey. Jackie has been living alone in the house now, planning to move to her daughter's home for more help soon or perhaps already as I write— she spoke a lot about that plan during my visit that afternoon, evoking those very mixed feelings such things do.
Jackie loves gardening, painting and making things. During my December visit she graciously offered me a lap blanket she had been making and I greedily accepted it while she explained how to finish off the end yarn pieces. This last weekend I finally did make those final touches and have been enjoying its warmth and softness on my lap each evening since. Jay took pictures of the blanket on my lap— this one links to a larger one... Tonight I printed up a letter to Jackie with the larger picture on it and a note thanking her for not only it but the kindness and neighborliness she so freely gave all those years ago. There are lots of good things.
Have a nice Friday, arrivederci.
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin– real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.— Alfred D. Souza
3/15/10:
Despite spending the weekend in a slow, non-energetic fashion I lost an hour somewhere...
The tennis picture to the left is done with tilt-shift photography, an interesting method of making real scenes look like they are pictures of miniature models.
Jay has showed me photos like this before and experimented some himself; tonight he showed me a really nice video compilation using this photography method— click on the tennis picture and you will go to the website where you can play it. I think you will find it interesting, fun, nice. Enjoy!
None of my friends wrote novels or plays, from the lives of my friends came their lives.— Michael Dickman, from his poem: From The Lives Of My Friends
3/12/10:
Once again, Jay has helped me out. As you might know, I have a little 2006 Hyundai Accent sedan that is especially enjoyable because I paid it off before it got 30,000 miles— which for me is cool beans.
Now, I picked this car because it had a good safety rating and decent mileage, as well a lower price. It is a good car but could use a little more pick-up, for when I am in a hurry, like when I am going to work. To this end, I bought some Toyota floor mats and it has been amazing... thanks to Jay you can see the results for yourself simply by clicking on the picture of my new floor mats. Enjoy!
Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to accept God's final word on where your lips end.— Jerry Seinfeld
3/11/10:
I did finally take a picture of my lungwort yesterday before heading out for dinner. I did not catch them in their full glory, ablaze with blue and purple-blue blooms, but I did catch what I consider an interesting view...
I did enjoy the opera, Madame Butterfly, we had a good time. I would like to go to an opera that is sung in English so I can make up my mind about what I think about the singing style.
I left a couple of the books I liked with my sister when I visited Michigan last May, she has tried to read them and found them boring or otherwise not interesting enough to pursue. What is interesting is how different people's tastes are in not only reading but many things as both books I gave her I had found fascinating. I did recently finish a book I had picked up a year or two ago, The Adversity Advantage by Paul Stoltz and Erik Weihenmayer. Erik is the "world's leading blind athlete", having scaled multiple summits, including Mt. Everest. The book is about using adversity as a power to harness and gain strength from. Yes, that sounds good but the book seemed formulaic to me, not real insightful and I ended up doing something I rarely do— I skimmed through much of the book. Oh well. I am currently reading another Doris Lessing book as I find how she observes and state things quite different and interesting, maybe I will say more about that later on but for right now I am heading to bed. Have a happy Friday... ciao.
The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.— John Cage
3/6/10:
Today lived up to its advance-billing, warm and clear. Jay did a lot of yard work, including mowing the lawn. I got some stuff done in the house and then cleared the side yard out of winter-dead plant debris, leaving much more to do— the price paid for having lots of perennials. My lungworts have been blooming since before I went to DC. I look across the yard to see them under the golden chain tree and each time remember that I want to take a picture...
I bought tickets tonight for Jay and I to go to Michigan in April to see family. I checked back and realized what I thought was true, I never did post pictures from my December visit. My sister-in-law Terrie posted photos from the Ellison christmas party on Facebook and I did not take that many more myself. C'est la vie, more later perhaps. It was the first time in decades that all 9 Ellison grandkids were together, you can see all the Ellison cousins here.
Jay got free tickets for Madame Butterfly, playing locally tomorrow. It will be my first opera so I'm looking forward to the adventure. See you later, enjoy the weekend.
Wisdom of the Scarecrow (Excerpt)
From the first burp
of a shoot bursting its tomb
to the dozing off
of a harvested plant
life remains a mystery...
It takes a whole season
of watermelon mornings
and peach nights,
all the moods
from mourning to petulance
languid afternoons
to sensual alyssum-scented nights
to grow a garden.
The gardener's watchfulness
doesn't keep squash
from escaping over the fence
bindweed from sneaking in
and slugs from leaving glittering trails
to leaf-skeleton remains
of last night's orgy.
For some
salvation comes
in cages, twine and shears...
— Violet Nesdoly
3/5/10:
The animated GIF to the left should look familiar, I had it on these pages years ago but this time it links to a cool music video Jay showed me. Some of you may have already seen it, but still, check it out, very fun Rube Goldberg stuff.
We are having summer-like weather and plan to recover from the work week by playing in the dirt in our yard tomorrow. It is interesting how inspiring those warm breezes can be.
I did put together some pictures from my DC trip and you can view them by clicking on the resting cat, who looks like I will after my Saturday yard work.
See you later...
Fortunately [psycho]analysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.— Karen Horney
3/2/10:
Yes, it is March and I am back to work and normal life here in Mount Vernon, which is good.
The picture to the left is of a sculpture at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink. I did not skate but did find the sculptures interesting, including a huge one of what looked like a spider. The park is located on Constitution Avenue, which I pretty much walked the length of a week ago Sunday— boy did my calves ache that evening. That day I saw the White House, the Washington Monument, The WWII Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial and The Vietnam Wall. The day set the tone for my time in DC, lots and lots of walking. The eraser picture links to a larger one of me in front of President Lincoln.
Washington DC was very interesting, full of very busy people— a lot of them much younger than myself. It was surprising how young a lot of the worker-bees for the legislators were, and how hyper they were— a hopping place. We decided that you had to be young there because once you had kids and such you would not want to be at work night and day...
Back home at work things are hopping too, but most of us are not all that young. Oh well, we keep on trying and trucking. More later, Happy March, ciao.
The pursuit of truth shall set you free– even if you never catch up with it.— Clarence Darrow
Jardot's World: March Edition, 2010
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