The Sublime Roundabout

This article grabbed me this morning: https://www.yahoo.com/politics/are-we-getting-the-leaders-1397064998158390.html I'm starting to think that the political world has become little better than a Colosseum where the gladiators don't fight each other with swords and tridents, but with slander and pettiness... And while we can point to this and say it's nothing new, and we can even point to the idea that this kind of pandering ensures that people stay in the headlines, which may seem like a good idea, I wonder what this says about US... Aren't we better than the roaring crowd of the Roman era, cheering on lions as they devour hapless Christians? Aren't we better than the debauched masses reaching for any kind of entertainment? Any kind of diversion? Why do we, who should be much more enlightened, succumb to the desire to look at the train wreck that this political cycle has become? I wish I could say I was any better - and I flatter myself to think that I...

The tomb was empty Our joy is full

Words have a rind In the shape of my mind I want to peel it I want to feel it Words have a hue That came when they left you I want to see it I want to be it Words have a flavor A unique kind of savor I want to know it Won't you please show it Words have a shape There's no way to escape I want to submit I won't ever submit

Here you go:

The idea that the country is made up of "makers" and "takers" stems (from what I know) from Ayn Rand's wonderful (sarcasm) treatise on the virtues of capitalism Atlas Shrugged. I don't love Rand. I think her ideas are horrible in the extreme, which may be the point - she's sensationalist, and her ideas were outlandish and unreasonable. She gets a lot of people's heads nodding, though, because people want to blame something. What's interesting to me, though, is that the proponents of such a binary system of "makers" and "takers" fail to understand (or express) the complexity of reality. This morning I saw this article: http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/03/23/470908502/on-who-gets-to-be-a-real-american-and-who-deserves-a-helping-hand wherein the concept of "makers" vs. "takers" is put into the context of the current political cycle. Mr. Trump appeals to people who feel like they are the ...

Went to the caucus last night. It was really a lot of fun. Voted for Bernie (along with nearly 80% of my fellow Utahns) and got nominated for as a delegate to the State Party Convention in April. Good times. Well, I say it was a lot of fun, but mostly it was boring. There was a lot of just sitting around. The process is like that - long periods of not much, followed and punctuated by frenzied activity. Here's an explanation: If that helps you at all. Probably doesn't. But I can't turn away. I'm a junkie. I admit it. It's America. And I love it.

(not sure if that's a word... Let's just pretend it is...) Check this: What I find interesting in this is that I think he's using the word "algorithm" incorrectly. I also find it interesting that he had to "unlearn" how to ride a bicycle. Unlike some of the others in the video, I don't believe it would be easy to learn how to ride a reverse-steering bike. I'm somewhat of a bike aficionado and I have enjoyed riding my bike ever since I can remember. I will never forget the day my dad took the training wheels off the bike (I never used them - I was a natural) and let me go. It was a kind of freedom that I still enjoy to this day, maybe even more than driving (yep. I said it.) There is something about moving somewhere - rapidly - under your own power. It's an experience that is exhilarating and visceral... And it's something I've not ever had from any other exercise (running, hiking, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, etc.) I enjoy ...

The following is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to Ammon on his mission. By way of background, he'd been having - or was concerned about having - some negative experiences with the bishop of the ward where he's serving. He asked for advice a couple of weeks ago, and I responded that he should love the bishop and try to find ways to serve him. He responded that it was working very well, and that he'd felt close to the bishop... I'm glad to hear things are going well with your bishop. It's a good lesson for you to learn - it really doesn't cost you anything to be nice to people, even people who are completely despicable. In fact, those are the people who may need love the most, because by their very nature they're off-putting from everyone else. People who are hard to get along with often wear that kind of attitude like a defense - it keeps people at arm's length where they can't hurt the defensive person. They wrap themselves up in self-defense and...

While I've written that I preferred London over Paris, and have expressed that Paris tended to feel like a stage set, a backdrop for tourists to enjoy. Lovely, but a little cold, a little too polished, and a little too disengaged. Other areas I went in France were not like that - even St. Malo, which is perhaps just as tourist-oriented, felt more real. And then.... And then I see things like this, which make me rethink (click on the "full screen" option for this one - it's in marvelously wonderful high-definition): Bonjour Paris | A Hyper-Lapse Film - In 4K from Tyler Fairbank on Vimeo . I don't believe that any city that is inhabited by people can ever truly divest itself of the fingerprints of those people, no matter how hard it scrubs. And I personally love that. Cities are designed, built, and inhabited by people - people who have dreams, who have loves, and who spread glory as they go, but people who walk about on feet of clay and who also leave un...

I recently saw an image A horse-drawn carriage (Landau?) (Coach?) (Hansom Cab?) I don't know It doesn't really matter This horse-drawn carriage had been (Photoshopped?) (Superimposed?) (Sketched in?) I don't know It doesn't really matter The image of this vehicle had been placed Over a downtown, modern streetscape You know the ones With the lights all blurred With the long-exposure image... And I thought of you (Do you think of me?) (Do you?) I don't know It doesn't really matter Because I think of you Although my thoughts are misplaced (Misdirected?) (Miscalculated?) (Misinformed?) (Missing?) I don't know It doesn't really matter Like a horse-drawn carriage In your modern streetscape Moving on Moved on Without me

Her: So, if you weren't a member, do you think you would be some kind of trucker man, riding a big motorcycle, wearing leather, and having lots of tattoos? Him: (without hesitation) YEP! ~fin ~

So this morning I came across a phrase in this article: http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/09/politics/marco-rubio-not-proud-donald-trump-attack/index.html in which Mr. Trump's male bits are referred to as his "manhood." I know that this is a common euphemism. But what I'm wondering about is why "manhood" has anything to do with one's anatomy. If for some reason a person with a Y chromosome were to not have said bits, would that reduce his "manhood"? Or eliminate it altogether? m-w.com defines "manhood" as - Full Definition of manhood  1 : the condition of being a human being 2 : qualities associated with men : manliness  3 : the condition of being an adult male as distinguished from a child or female 4 : adult males : men  5 : penis So we're defining men by their anatomy. I'd like to submit that this is both inappropriate, and damaging. By equating or defining a sex by their anatomical distinctiveness, it seem...

I believe in day dreams For I have seen thy face And I know that some realities Are truer than what has ever been before I believe in day dreams For I have heard thy voice And I know that sound which Only angels hear I believe in day dreams For I have felt thy hand Resting warmly, gently on my face To brush away my tears I believe in day dreams For I have kissed thy lips And tasted of the sweetest honey That thou hast saved for me I believe in day dreams For I have known thy smell The scent of sunshine and wind And vast infinities teeming with life I believe in day dreams For I have felt thy very soul Resonating in time with my own Pure, golden, blazing tendrils of gossamer light I believe in day dreams For that is where thou dost exist for me O, return to me, my heart, my soul! And thou shalt make me whole

I realized something this weekend I don't have to make you happy I am not responsible for whether or not you are happy I cannot make you happy Only you can make you happy No matter what happens to you Good bad or indifferent Whether or not you are happy Is up to you A choice you make No matter what I do Or don't do If you aren't happy unto yourself Nothing I do will make you happy I feel liberated

Came across this earlier: http://battles.nodegoat.net/viewer.p/23/385/scenario/1/geo/fullscreen This is interesting in a horrifying way. It's like looking at a car crash - you know it's going to be gory, but somehow you're drawn to look... I wonder about the world. We are a bellicose species, we humans. And lest we think that we've become better at reducing the large-scale violence, notice the number of deep red dots, indicating things since WWII... How much better would the world be if we could stop killing one another? What kind of brain drain does this loss of life represent? Maybe the cure for cancer? Maybe the warp drive that will propel us into the cosmos? Maybe an idea for a clean and efficient power source? Who knows. The point is, we'll never know, because we've removed that potential from the planet. What's the answer? I don't know. We have a long history of killing each other. Maybe we should just stop it. I'll let Edwin...

I've written before about my affinity for Edward Hopper. I really love his work - it's real and expressive, emotional and emotionless (what a contrast!), powerful, simple, and moving. I read this article this morning: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160301-the-dark-side-of-the-city It's a lovely exploration of a few of Hopper's major works, capping it off with "Nighthawks", which is something that I'm sure you're familiar with. Give the article a look - it's worth a read. What impresses me about this, though, is how the world was in transition at that time, much as it is in transition now. (Is there ever a time when the world isn't in some kind of transition? Interesting thought.) People were moving in from the country, into the cities, looking for work or opportunity or culture or education or something... that something often being elusive... But in all this movement, and in the establishment of folks into urban centers, they were fe...