The Sublime Roundabout

There's a reason why people came to Utah and stopped, rather than continuing on to other potential locations. The mountain soil was arid and hard. The summers were brutally hot and dry, the winters long and chill. The early pioneers looked to the sky in vain for rain, thirsty and fearful. Yet, there is something here. Something in the way the mountains sweep the sky to the heavens. Something about the way the sunset turns the arching sky into a tapestry of glory. Something about the very gritty and hard nature of the bones of the land from which one must scrape one's living. Something that creeps into the soul and sinew of a person and fundamentally changes who that person is. For some it takes a lifetime. Others it may never happen to. And still others, the grand, sweeping skies framed by the mighty fortress-like mountains touch the spirit in unforgettable and indelible ways. Truly they say that you can take someone out of the mountains, but you can never take the mountains ...

There is a school of thought that teaches that dissent or contention is to be avoided at all costs. That it is the most important thing to have peace and tranquility in all conversation and every interaction. That one must go along to get along. I can certainly see the merits of such a point of view. Arguing seldom achieves any real great purpose. Convincing someone of something - being persuasive - generally is accomplished a lot quicker and easier when one is solicitous and patient, rather than argumentative and judgmental. One can bend like the willow rather than break like the oak. And yet... Sometimes people need to hear a different point of view. Sometimes it is important to stand up for what one believes. Sometimes the right and moral thing to do is disagree. Strongly. Vehemently. And to not back down from what one asserts to be right. A couple of cases in point - my son was involved in a discussion yesterday in one of his classes. The class has been doing a unit on the ...

What would you do If I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and Walk out on me? Sometimes it takes a slap to the face to cause a person to turn aside and notice that what was needed was right there the whole time, anyway. So, while you're not thankful for the slap, the result is desirable. And, I am grateful. I choose to be grateful. I get by with a little help from my friends. Gonna try with a little help from my friends. -Ringo Starr

Do any of us, except in our dreams, truly expect to be reunited with our hearts' deepest loves, even when they leave us only for minutes, and on the most mundane of errands? No, not at all. Each time they go from our sight we in our secret hearts count them as dead. Having been given so much, we reason, how could we expect not to be brought as low as Lucifer for the staggering presumption of our love?

So one of my favorite movies is Sneakers. In it, Robert Redford plays Martin Bryce, the leader of a team of security testers. They try to break into banks' computer systems to test the firewalls and safety procedures. It's pointed out that it's a living, but not a very good one. In Martin's past, he and a friend had hacked into one domain too many in a subversive attempt to do something (it's never really explained, but I've always thought it was a more stealthy Edward Snowden job, only back in the late 70s or whenever). Martin is able to escape because he went out for pizza, while his buddy was captured and went to prison. Martin spends the interim on the lam, setting up this business of sneaking into banks and testing security. His friend gets out of prison and sets up a successful shell corporation to mask his ties to the mob. In his heart though, this friend has never given up on the fascination with the way the information is handled, packaged, and pres...