All aboard. People I very much appreciate:

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

The Enigma of Dignified Things I Like

I like things. I like a lot of things I used to like because they caused me happiness in youth, but that was a long time ago and I'm supposed to be more discerning now. Take music, I am impressed by names of groups --they are personal to the members selecting them. My favorite?"Jimmy Eat World" .

Title was taken from crayola drawing Tom Linton's little brother, Ed, did of his other little brother, Jim, when they were children. I am a grape-big man now and cannot help liking the fun of permanent kid-expressions of teasing affection.

Then there's Grace. 12-year-old kid gets on an internationally televised show. Her costume is her playclothes. She has a little ukulele. When I was 12 (and unchanged at 69), carrying a tune was an awful burden for me. She stands before an audience of thousands, and a panel of judges with a song she composed. Listen:
Courage always impresses me. So do venues,like the one above and the one above that --the excellent video of a party that closes encouraging the rewards of peaceful and sincere individualism under hedonistic peer pressure. I have not tried to define what is honorable here, what is dignified --there is no simple definition, but I am working on it. 

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Enigma Of The Indoor Moon

For those few readers who have not heard about three expert observers discovering a second moon orbiting our planet, I refer you to this transcription taken from (scientist and metaphysician) Will's list a decade ago --Click here please .

Here is an update:
The thumb-shaped object in 2nd Moon's lower hemisphere is my thumb. Most people in its northerly trajectory over California build their ground-floor halls in that direction --and furnish doggie doors at each end so moon can get in and out without mishap. It orbits Earth at about 4 and1/2 feet. Still, people here, and Oregon --Washington and West-coast Canada-- must sometimes grab it or nudge it to keep it from banging into things. Here's another Normaphoto:
My Portuguese, Brazilian and Roman fore-bearers called her Pequena Luna and have always helped her through our houses. And, tradition has it that if you give her a kiss on her way, she will perform a lovely light show on her way out.


Safe orbit, Little Moon! Watch for traffic and pedestrians!


Then, I let her go.



Saturday, June 8, 2019

E(a)rnest Inert!!!

I stepped out into morning heat. There was an ambitious breeze making some attempt at cooling but succeeding only in stirring the heat. I got worried about E(a)rnest and went looking for him. He was up in a tall privet, collapsed, inert. 


I said in quiet eulogy, "Oh dear E(a)rnest, I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you when the End came."

To which I was glad to hear....
"Huh? What end?
...Is it over?"
"Apparently, and joyously, not", I replied. "It's just that I came to wish you good morning and found you inert."

"Geo. finding a squirrel unresponsive on a hot morning is like asking a horse, 'Why the long face?' -- it's an inconsiderate thing."

"I didn't realize. Of course you minimized exertion to avoid overheating. Hopefully that is our only violation of inter species correctness."

"Your violation, Geo.! Consider your specie's introduction of hyphens."

"Hyphens?"

"Yes, how were you taught to spell the status of someone who works with you?"

"Coworker?"

"Exactly, Geo., and it was an inter-species committee of humans and bovines who changed that spelling, added the hyphen, and 'Co-worker' obtained. Socio-political conservatives feared many cows would go unorked --until even they realized they had no idea what 'orking' is and the cows didn't either. The Supreme Court Decision had no impact on the cattle industry --because they never admitted to any cow orking  anyway."

"Where are we going with this discussion, E(a)rnest?"

"Into what every morning brings, a whole new world. Follow me, Geo.!"

"Later E(a)rnest, I'm not quite so ert as you are!"

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Rock- Paper- Lizard --visual enigma



First, I must describe this picture and the reason it moved me. Norma had laid out paper for some potting soil she was experimenting with over an area of pea gravel. Then she noticed a four-footed procession of cohesive pea gravel scampering across the paper. She took a Normaphoto.

I was immediately reminded of a game that I've never understood. Rock-paper-scissors never made sense to me --still doesn't. So many things have not made sense to me. 

50 years ago, I was in college learning to be confused. I was successful. I was good at it! I learned humans developed intelligence to protect themselves from their own kind. I remembered the excellent JFK quote, "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

That still didn't help me with rock-paper-scissors --but that was the past. That was yesterday. Another thing I learned in school is a clock only measures its face. The real difference between yesterday and today --and likewise, tomorrow-- cannot be physically measured by a clock or nailed down in our brains. It is an interval that gives onto infinity. Even the seasons, like 100 degrees Fahrenheit (today) cannot dislodge themselves from cyclic orbital rhythm. It means I can only set down drinks that ants crawl into and die.

I am pleased to have solved the enigma of rock-paper-lizard by discovering the the misnomer, "scissors", and discarding it. I nearly wrote 'throwing it out' but you should never throw scissors.