The Sublime Roundabout

This was a VERY interesting read: http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/12/21/506347676/when-swinton-and-cho-talk-race-the-points-lost-in-translation One of the things that we don't do well as a society, even in our post-modern world, is engage each other on meaningful and substantive levels regarding questions of race. It also extends to gender, sex and sexuality, ethnicity, and religion, but this article is about race, so that's what I'm referring to. The thing is, people of color (a blanket term I'm using here to mean non-white, and which in my mind would include Hispanics) are not necessarily interested in the particular issues. This is what the author is referring to at the end of the piece. That conversation is narrow in scope and effect, and leaves people of color feeling frustrated because folks just don't "get it." And just what is it that we're supposed to get? Well, that's a tough one. I've said before that the world ...

It's only in life that we feel pain Death is not painful Life is

Sartre talks of an afternoon spent in the park, trying (in vain, it would seem) to exist. This effort to exist is the essence of existential philosophy. So often we try to exist, but we keep getting interrupted - sometimes by internal struggles, and sometimes by external stimuli. Here's what he says about it: I kept myself from making the slightest movement, but I didn't need to move in order to see, behind the trees, the blue columns and the lamp posts of the bandstand and the Velleda, in the midst of a mountain of laurel. All these objects . . . how can I explain? They inconvenienced me; I would have liked them to exist less strongly, more dryly, in a more abstract way, with more reserve. The chestnut tree pressed itself against my eyes. Green rust covered it half-way up; the bark, black and swollen, looked like boiled leather. The sound of the water in the Mas-queret Fountain sounded in my ears, made a nest there, filled them with signs; my nostrils overflowed with a...

The scars on my broken heart Are life furrows in a farmer's field Freshly turned Dark and deep and fertile Waiting for the seeds and rains and sun That will inevitably come And so though my heart is rent Hope shines brightly For a new birth of life From what once seemed dead and fallow

This is Neuschwanstein. Check it: OK, that last one is Sagrada Familia... Still cool. But Gaudi...

Deliver me, my Talisman. Deliver me from fear and feeling, Days of remorse and worry healing. On a sad day you clasped my hand When rising by the ocean strand The waves around me crashed in pounding. And when with lighting clouds are sounding Deliver me, my talisman. Lost in seclusion. In strange lands, In boredom’s lull my bosom taming. In the alarm of battle flaming, Deliver me, my talisman. You are my soul’s own magic lamp, You sweet and sacred trickery, When you drop dawn, are flickering! Deliver me, my Talisman. Wounds of the heart help me withstand Forever; had memories burn with fire! Farewell, fond hope, and sleep desire, Deliver me, my talisman. Alexander Pushkin My Talisman   translated into English by Julian Henry Lowenfeld

Her: I've been worried about something for a long time. The other day at that restaurant you said that the cashier's tattoos were beautiful. And I'm concerned about your relaxed opinion about homosexual behavior. You're setting a bad precedent for our children, teaching them tolerance for sin. Sure, we're supposed to love the sinner but hate the sin, but you don't have to celebrate sin. You need to be careful about what you're teaching our children. Him: (completely befuddled) I don't agree. ~fin~

So, here's a couple of random thoughts for you this morning: First off, here's something that SHOULD be in the news: http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20161117-you-may-have-to-pay-for-an-overhead-bin I know, the bit about the extra charges for overhead bin use and the fat taxes for larger airline passengers is awful. But read down a bit and you come across this nugget: Not only are fizzy drinks capable of rotting teeth, they can also remove rust. One Latvian grandfather decided to put cola to the ultimate rust-removal test by submerging his car in a pool of Coca-Cola. In a video posted online, the unnamed daredevil grandad fills a lined pit with 6,000 two-litre bottles of Coke. He then settles into the driver’s seat and speeds into the hole, smashing the front of his red Audi. Whether or not the rust was removed is unknown, but the Daily Mail contends that “improvement in the amount of rust on the car was more than outweighed by the damage to the vehicle.” Brillian...

It really was a super moon And I was struck with the quality of the light So different from the sun Calming, pure, clean Gentle and lovely Is it any wonder, then That I thought of you Your love and your grace Which blesses the darkened landscape Of my heart

Her: When people reach a certain level of mental, spiritual, and emotional growth and maturity... Him: Yeah. You don't need to say it. Her: (walking away) I'm still waiting for you. -fin-

I used to wake up each morning to a thought from you. You'd stay up late as was your wont (Do you still stay up late, I wonder) And you would write me the most lovely things Things that filled my soul Things that made me whole Things I could scarcely believe I still can't believe that you saw me that way That you felt about me the way you said That anyone could care for me like that Because no one else ever has And I don't think it's possible to find twice I sometimes wish I had kept those thoughts But they'd only serve as reminders Of what I don't have now And each time I read them My heart would rend anew And the light would vanish from my soul And those sweet golden tendrils which bound us Together Would slip away like frost in the cold morning light Alas! My heart! That I knew such love And now it is no longer mine! It's not a wound that will heal. It's just not. How can my soul be whole again when all I feel is despair? W...

I love Harry Potter. The books are fantastic, and the films don't disappoint either. Some of the more poignant scenes in the series involve Harry opening Christmas gifts from the Dursleys. Gifts ranged from a toothpick to old socks to a coat hanger to a tissue. What's great about it is that in the midst of an outpouring of wonderful gifts from those around him who truly loved him, the Dursleys never missed a chance to demonstrate their disregard. No gift at all would have been preferable, but the fact that they remembered him enough to send something showed they really just didn't like him at all. And it's the contrast of the very satisfactory gifts (which he'd never had before) and the awful ones the Dursleys sent him that made the Dursley gifts so much more awful by comparison. Last night we got a Dursley gift. It should be pointed out that "gift" in German means "poison". Coincidence? I saw this this morning: I love Stephen Colbert...

It's astonishing to me how things just seem to work out. Some things are rushed through and turn out OK in the end only after a great deal of remedial work. Other things are more methodical and everything seems to turn out OK only after a longer time. Still other things are initially intended to be one way, only to turn and go a completely different direction, one which finds a better conclusion that could have been anticipated. And some things are abandoned completely, which is its own kind of resolution. But on balance, I've found that things have a way of ultimately and completely working their way out. Fate. Karma. The Great Pumpkin. Whatever. Life works out. I just wish I was more patient and humble, submitting to the inevitable. Never was my strong suit. Ecclesiastes 3 - 1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven :  2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A t...

We're getting down to it in this election. It's been... um... interesting? Disturbing? Frustrating? Disgusting?!? All of the above. But one thing it's not been is boring. I say that, but I've been bored with it at times. There were times when it looked like things were so hand-picked that we're looking at nothing really significant being done. And perhaps that's my biggest beef with Hillary - she's just boring. Donald is repulsive and reprehensible, but he's not boring. So thank goodness for that. The CNN poll I saw today has Hillary ahead by five points. I am not sure how they arrived at that number, but it's significant because even though that's a fairly slim margin in the popular vote, the popular vote has only ever really been the slimmest of margins. This article from NPR points that out: http://www.npr.org/2016/11/02/500112248/how-to-win-the-presidency-with-27-percent-of-the-popular-vote Interestingly, the point of that article is...

Bubbling up to the surface Like a long-forgotten steamer trunk Dripping and cold from the depths below Seaweed clinging and draped across and around Dripping dank and cold Yet perhaps filled with treasure Bubbling up to the surface  Like molten lava in a vast brimstone lake Glowing and orange red and fiery Spewing ropy molten stone across the landscape  Hot and hot and hot Yet bringing forth the wealth of the earth below Bubbling up to the surface  Like the life-giving waters of a spring Flowing clear and pure and constant  Spreading across the dry landscape Cool and deep and placid Yet joyful and sweet and lovely Blazing across the sky Like a bolt of lightning from the throne of Zeus Shining across the deep storm's face Leaping from the crest of one bank of clouds to another Quick and fleeting and ephemeral  Yet burning the mind and searing the soul Blazing across the sky Like the golden rays of Apollo ...

Why must you hurt me, when I love you so? When I can do nothing else nor want to, for love made me and fed me and kept me in better days? Why will you cut me, and disfigure my face, and fill me with woe? I have only loved you for your beauty as you once loved me for mine in the days before the world moved on. Now you scar me with nails and put burning drops of quicksilver in my nose; you have set the animals on me, so you have, and they have eaten of my softest parts. Around me the evil men gather and there's no peace from their laughter. Yet still I love you and would serve you and even bring the magic again, if you would allow me, for that is how my heart was cast when I rose from the earth. And once I was strong as well as beautiful, but now my strength is almost gone. - Stephen King The Dark Tower

I wish I could wash my mind Like I wash my hands My hands get all kinds of things on them And it usually just washes right off Yet my mind.... my mind... Things crawl in there and take up residence Sometimes welcome Sometimes not And it seems that the unwelcomed are those That put their feet up on the furniture And stay a while

This weekend I spent some time in southern Utah. It was a total blast - we went to Calf Creek, which is one of my absolute favorite places on earth. But this post isn't about that. Rather, this post is about the night's sky. See, for the first time in my life, I saw the Andromeda Galaxy. It looks like this: What I saw through my binoculars looked a little more like this: Just a faint smudge with a brighter central region. So here's what's been blowing my mind. Andromeda is 2.5 million light years away. That's so far away that it's almost incomprehensible, although it is close enough to see with the naked eye (after I knew what I was looking for I was able to see it, but it was very, very faint). First off, think of how much light must be emitted in order to even see anything at all! But then, thinking of the distances involved, we're really looking back into the past. See, the light that's finally hitting our eyes was emitted that 2.5 ...

I don't want to go to Mars. I find that I just have very little interest in going someplace that far away. I do like exploring, but I'll stick around my own planet, thank you very much. However, geek that I am (and I know you are too!) I find myself fascinated by our efforts to get to the red planet. I love the pictures that we've seen and wondered when we'd take the first human selfie from the surface (or even the orbit) of Mars... I loved Matt Damon in The Martian , which was not at all what I was expecting (way better!). So today I'm worried about the Schiarparelli  lander. Like the earlier attempt by the European Space Agency (ESA) at landing on Mars (the Beagle 2 ), there appears to have been a mishap and they've lost communication with the lander. Here's hoping things are OK and they can repair or restore communications... Here's an image showing the successes and failures of missions to Mars: It appears a little incomplete (t...

These are just too beautiful not to share:

No, not this: http://emp.byui.edu/marrottr/callelectsurjsbrmc.htm I mean this: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/official-statement/political-neutrality I read this article this morning: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5802d33de4b0985f6d15724c I'm guessing that there are a lot of LDS folks who are uncomfortable supporting Donald Trump for President. And I'm sure that there are a similar number of LDS folks who are uncomfortable supporting Hillary Clinton. But the reasons for this are interesting. LDS folks are interested in the character of people. This may sound like a given, but we have a strong doctrinal background for this. In the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 134 clearly spells out each member's duty with regard to the government AND the elected officers and officials: 1 We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering ...

i wish that you could just understand me

Him: I often wonder why God would send us here if He knew we would be tortured and suffer so much. If we lived with Him before we came here, and since He is omnipotent, surely He could have taught us things. Instead we come here and feel so lonely and suffer so much. I am sure that there were things that we could only learn in this way. But I wonder what they are. Her: I think that people who question such things have weak faith and understanding. Him: So you're saying that my understanding is weak and my faith is imperfect? Her: I think so. (Fin)

For some reason, the word "sufferage" always reminds me of this: I know it's silly, but then much in life is. Especially mine. :) One thing that's not silly is this: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-women-are-defeating-donald-trump/ Thank goodness for the 19th Amendment.

I know a few things about myself, foremost amongst which is that I am a geek. I know this isn't a surprise to any of you who read this blog and/or know me... I was recently in a training where the presenter posted a picture of some clouds that looked something like this: and asked if anyone knew what these were. I of course raised my hand and said they were mammatus clouds. She was delighted that anyone would know what these were. :) Fellow geeks of the world, UNITE!!! This morning I came across this article: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161013-this-map-will-show-you-the-windiest-place-on-earth-right-now It links to this website, if you'd prefer a larger version: https://earth.nullschool.net/ Give it a try. It's way fun. :) At least, for geeks like me it is.

This morning I came across this article - http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/10/12/497063888/asian-americans-continue-to-drift-away-from-republicans-but-it-s-a-complicated-s And I found it interesting. For a number of reasons. First off, let's try to define what "Asia" is. I think that those in Far East Asia consider themselves as "Asians", but where do you draw the line? Traditionally it's been the Ural Mountains, a roughly north to south mountain range that extend from the Arctic to the Aral Sea. That's all well and good, if you're looking at Russia - which is a vast, complex country that spans two continents. Are the Russians in the eastern part of the country Asian? And there are countries that are considered part of Asia, but whose citizens are not like other "Asians" - India, Pakistan, Arabia, Farsi, and the whole "Middle East" deal, with it's Palestinians, Turks, Jews, Kurds, Iraqis, Jordanians, etc....

Also, HAHAHAHAAAA! Elephant!!!

I'm not even sure how to start this one. I'm going to try to think as rationally as I can... There's just so much. Anyway - bear with me. 1. The Trump Talk. How can anyone speak like that? I mean, I'm a dude, and I've been in the Navy, and I know that people talk like that. So I'm not surprised, sadly. But... I'm disgusted. I haven't even bothered to watch or listen to what was said - I can guess, and I've read a couple of commentaries about it. And Mr. Trump himself called it "locker room talk" whatever that means, and as if that excuses it. I just... I don't even know what to think. I'm not sure if I'm more disappointed that he said it in the first place or that I'm not surprised. I'm also disappointed that this is what we're talking about, rather than the issues. It's a distraction, and it has become an issue in its own right - for better or worse, character is something we have to talk about when it comes t...

I've been thinking a lot about you Praying for you Wondering why God would lead you to a job That just tortures you this way Does He want you to be tortured? Are you supposed to learn from this experience? If so, what? And when will you have it learned enough? What he thought: Heh

There is within me A tiny black hole Of the deep space variety One that sucks everything in And gives nothing back And not even light Can escape There is within me A vast burning star Brighter and hotter than Our own sun Sending forth glorious light Warmth, heat, and fire That fills the immensity of my heart And lights the very depths of my soul And sometimes the blackness wins And sometimes the light wins But it all happens inside my soul Unseen, unknown Unknowable...

So I was in Lowe's the other day to buy some plumbing supplies. They had already trotted out their fake Christmas trees. Other than the fact that it is somewhat jarring to see Christmas trees mingled with Halloween yard displays, the more disturbing aspect was that it was SEPTEMBER. Then I read this: http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160929-this-is-why-christmas-creep-makes-us-cringe One of the lines I love most in this article is the following: Part of Nicotera’s anger, for instance, is that nostalgia for an earlier time. “The day after Thanksgiving, the whole world opened up and there was Christmas,” she recalls. “People today are missing that thrill — they are missing the awe and surprise.” And this is all too true. One of the greatest things I remember about Christmastime is the unfolding of events, the heightened anticipation of seeing the tree go up, of the gradual increases in decorations both around town as well as in my home, and of the Advent calendar marking t...

Found this article this morning: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/03/travel/china-hunan-glass-toilet/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial I'm all about good design. It's important to how one experiences the world, and the built environment is important to people - it's where we spend a large portion of our time. So when it comes to a bathroom, experience is everything. Scroll down to the end of the article and check out the pictures of toilets in unusual locations. It's worth it. And try to imagine yourself in one of these locations, taking care of the necessary... All of this reminds me of my favorite bathroom experience. I know, it's not something we talk about, but this one... Yeah. It was memorable. So I went with the boy to a debate tournament as a judge. I'd done this a couple of times - debate tournaments are always looking for judges, and they'll take just about anyone. This one was more fun than usual because instead of just judging the argument stuf...

"Desire" Two hearts fading, like a flower.  And all this waiting, for the power.  For some answer, to this fire.  Sinking slowly.  The water’s higher.  Desire  With no secrets. No obsession.  This time I'm speeding with no direction.  Without a reason. What is this fire?  Burning slowly. My one and only.  Desire You know me. You don't mind waiting.  You just can't show me, but God I'm praying,  That you'll find me, and that you'll see me,  That you run and never tire.  Desire

Had an interesting conversation Saturday with my sweets. She asked about the wage gap and if I believed that it was a real thing... So I went back (mentally) to this article: http://www.vox.com/2016/8/1/12108126/gender-wage-gap-explained-real and this video: We discussed how this is a fairly complex thing - that as a society, women earn much less than men - something like 78 cents on the dollar, and that in the same profession (assuming the same level of experience and education) women earn 94 cents on the dollar. We talked about the fact that society views jobs traditionally occupied by women (teacher, nurse, secretary, etc) as being less valuable and that this contributes to part of the large-scale problem. And we talked that irrespective of the job - that is, people in the exact same position and functioning in exactly the same way - women earn less than men FOR NO GOOD REASON. Now, I understand that women have other responsibilities that they feel responsible for, includi...

I love people. I love the sound of people - the laughter, the moans and groans, the arguments and shouting, the sweet nothings whispered between lovers... I love people. I love the smell of people - the sweat and fear, the joy and sunshine, the warm human smell that is uniquely us... I love people. I love the feel of people - an unending, undulating ripple of humanity, textured across the face of the planet like a textured fabric, at times thin and stretched, at other times thick and varied and piled, but always warm... I love people. I love the taste of people - which maybe sounds a little weird, but taste and smell are intrinsically and inseparably linked, and there is much of a person's history and culture and hopes and fears and LIFE tied up in the way they taste... I love people. I love the way they look - vibrant faces full of light, bright and bright and bright, bodies in motion that speak of the divine in all of us, animated and animal, caressing one another with ou...