Bad Opera

I went the Santa Fe Opera with my friend, Wilhelm, last night. (Elyn has given up on late nights and given her ticket to friends.) The work was a new opera, Adriana Mater by a young woman whose name escapes me now. The opera has a dramatic story line that I won’t go into here. The orchestral forces are huge—full symphony orchestra, large percussion section, and a chorus in the orchestra pit.

It amazed me that the composer could only get mud out of that huge ensemble. The “music” was stale mid-twentieth century atonalism, very academic and dull. The vocal lines were OK and the singers were first rate, as I’ve come to expect of the SFO. All in all, it was a lackluster evening. At the intermission, Wilhelm and I looked at each other and agreed that we had heard enough.

As we walked back to the parking lot I couldn’t help thinking what a Mahler or a Debussy could have elicited from that huge ensemble. People were blaming the atonalism for their lack of interest, but the musical style had nothing to do with it. I can remember performances of Wozzeck that had the audience spellbound for an entire evening.

My other observation is that 15 or 20 years ago, I would have felt constrained out of professional duty to remain through the entire performance. I would have been prepared to discuss every aspect of the work in learned terms. As it is now, I had no such compunctions and my “learned” observation was “What a pile of crap!”

Revisiting a Previous “Me”

I had lunch today with two acquaintances from the musician/professor phase of my life. As we talked I repeatedly had to shake the “little grey cells” a bit to bring all of that life back into focus. I can do it, but I certainly would not want to live there ever again. That was a different “me.” My acquaintances are clearly musicians still, he a composer and violist, she a violinist and world-class Suzuki teacher. I really like these folks, but have almost nothing in common with them now. We visited about our lives, our children, our former colleagues, our plans, etc. and it was quite pleasant.

Afterward, I felt somewhat out of focus and disoriented—a little “sea sick.” Coincidentally, their daughter and Elyn’s son are living near LA and they were talking with their daughter about the 5.4 earthquake today in LA as I joined them. It was their daughter’s first California earthquake and she was impressed. Jesse, as a long-time California resident took it all in stride. It occurs to me that the disorientation that I felt is a little like being in an internal earthquake.

It is fascinating to realize how many different people have been "me." I was talking with Elyn about these feelings and she pointed out that I never use the word “I” when referring to the “me” of that time. I never say "how many different people I have been." That would imply that there is an "I" that continues through all these different manifestations. I think I can understand a bit about how it must feel to be a multiple personality and know that other self.

Other blogs

I sometimes scan other blogs and there are a few that I read every day. In particular I read Time Goes By (click to go there) because it is a serious and thoughtful discussion that I enjoy participating in. I regularly check in on Big Fun in a Tiny Pueblo because the American who writes it lives with her husband Paddy on a farm very near to the place we will be moving to. She puts up lots of photos and even videos that give us a picture of that part of Spain. Other blogs I find by clicking on the suggestions listed on the blogs I read. I have recently found blogs like Views from the Back Row, written by a bass trombone player in a symphony orchestra that are interesting. A blog that intrigues me is one that has the pedestrian name Married in Ohio. This couple has had over 1,600,000 hits on their blog simply because they are carefully documenting their entire sex life in photos and video. Don't go there unless you are prepared for graphic sexual content. What I find amazing is the number of hits, which are nearly a thousand times any other blog I've seen. The interest people must have in viewing other couples like themselves having sex is amazing.

There is a tremendous variety of stuff out there on the blogosphere. Most is pretty much random firings like mine, but there are thoughtful discussions, silly blogs, blogs devoted to cats and dogs, and blogs that just whine most of the time. Have fun!

A Day of Frustrations

I’m wondering if Mercury is in retrograde today. Everything we start out to do meets with frustration and delay, along with snippy comments from strangers.

Elyn and I were in line at Whole Foods (locally known as “whole paycheck”) waiting to check out. There was a young mother ahead of us who was trying to get her groceries together while taking care of a toddler. The kid had picked up an apple and started eating it while the mother wasn’t looking. When the checkout clerk tried to scan it there was no label. The mother grabs the kid and runs back to the produce department to get a sticker while we wait. She returns and the transaction is completed. Now she has to write a check, which takes her eyes off the kid for a second or two, in which time the kid is running back into the store. Elyn’s mother instinct kicks in and she corrals the kid. The mother comes up and tells her in no uncertain terms to “take your hands off my child.” Now, as a male, I would have let the kid go, knowing how males are thought of in the US. But Elyn is really rattled and angry at the mother’s response. I can only think that this is another example of how fear based this culture has become.

The day seems to have progressed from there. We were to have registered voters for the Obama campaign from 11 am to 2 pm. When we arrived at the headquarters there was only a small sign with a phone number and no indication of the new address. We called and got a message. After some confusion, we found the new location, but they hadn’t unloaded their stuff yet and had no voter registration signs. We gave up on that venture. I am reminded of the famous quote of Will Rogers (younger people won’t even know the name but you can Google it): “I belong to no organized political party—I’m a Democrat.” The campaign is run by bright-eyed, idealistic youngsters in their 20s. It is too much to expect them to be professional political organizers. They are just getting their feet wet with this campaign. We were pissed for awhile and there was a long “mea culpa” message on our phone when we got home, so we’ll give the kids a break and try again. The campaign just called again on Elyn’s cell phone and a second apology is under way as I type.

Downtime

We spent the day yesterday just being in the house. I did a few computer chores and helped a high school friend get on my other blog, but the only time I stepped out the door was to check on our backyard fountain. It was a day of downtime and I felt very good at the end of the day.

Sometimes when I look back over this blog I wonder where I get the energy to do it all. The answer, of course, is in the title of the blog—I'm having fun doing it. Fun is a great motivator. I recommend it highly. No matter what you are doing, have some fun doing it.

Planning a Labyrinth

Elyn and I spent most of the day yesterday at a friend’s house in the mountains above Pecos, NM helping to plan and site a labyrinth. (We are trained as labyrinth facilitators and have built several labyrinths over the years.) We arrived in mid morning and spent the time before lunch finding the right place on their land. This involved much walking of their land with dowsing rods in hand until we came to the right place. Elyn did most of the dowsing, but she taught our friends the basic technique and they also tried their hand. I mostly looked at potential sites from a practical perspective. How level is the site? How free is it of obstructions? Before noon we had chosen a site that was to everyone’s liking. It had the advantage of looking out over a high bluff at the forest and mountains across the Pecos Valley.

After lunch I showed our friends the booklet we had created many years ago with detailed plans for construction and we set to work. The tools needed are quite simple: a long length of rope or cord, a central stake to tie the cord to, and surveyor’s flags to mark the paths. Their finished labyrinth will look like the illustration above. It will be 24 feet across with paths that will be about 12 inches wide. They will build the labyrinth using small stones that are abundant on the site.

We had a fun time and were very satisfied with our efforts. Our friends will finish the construction and we will plan on going up to see the labyrinth when it is ready to walk.

Anniversary

This is our 14th anniversary, Elyn and me. What a great 14 years it has been—the best of my life, for sure. We have had adventures, endured personal hardships, and mostly had a lot of fun together.

We originally chose July 25 for two reasons—it is the saint's day for St. James and it is Elyn's son's birthday. Elyn's passion for St. James (Santiago for Spanish speakers) goes back to 1981 when she chose the Camino de Santiago as her thesis topic. That choice has led to at least three books (Following the Milky Way, Dead End on the Camino, and The Journey), magazine articles, and several visits to Spain over the years. It is what has seemed to propel us back in that direction this year.

So, happy anniversary, Elyn; happy birthday, Jesse, and happy Dia de Santiago for the rest of the world.

Registering Voters Again

Elyn and I spent another three hours today registering voters and got 12 more on the rolls. We find this very satisfying, but tiring work. My "smile" muscles were fatigued after the stint. We met several people we knew and had good conversations. Again, most people are happy we are there, right outside the entrance doors of the local co-op market. A few give us the cold shoulder, but others more than make up for it.

If you are trying to think of something to do to help restart democracy in this country I highly recommend voter registration. For those who don't sign up or tell us they already have, it is a regular reminder of how important their vote is. We'll just keep smiling and asking everyone who passes, "Is your voter registration up to date?" That always causes them to stop and think before going on, and a second or two on a regular basis is just what we need to turn this country around.

Tired, but satisfied with our day's work here in Santa Fe, NM.

Ecuador

I’ve been scanning the areas south of the US for sometime as possible places to visit or live. A high school classmate is living in Panama and enjoys it a lot. I’ve been looking at recommendations made by International Living magazine, but hadn’t seen anything that looked like I wanted to see it for myself.

This week one of Elyn’s long-time friends, a native of Venezuela, called to talk. She is a professional travel agent and in the course of the conversation told Elyn that Ecuador is the most beautiful place she has seen. She says it is like her home country, but safe. This started a more serious search at our house. I got out the IL “Owner’s Manual” for Ecuador and we rented a video at the local travel store. We are liking what we see and are in the early stages of planning a two week visit in November to take a look at the country. Elyn’s friend will provide us with an easy entrée to the country and make the necessary arrangements.

What we can see is that there is tremendous variety there. The Galapagos Islands are just off the coast, there are miles and miles of deserted beach on the mainland, the terrain rapidly rises to the peaks of the Andes mountains at over 20,000 feet, and then just as rapidly descends to the depths of the Amazon jungles. All this happens in a country about the size of Nevada.

What we don’t know is what we would find to do there if we chose to live for an extended period of time. There are Spanish colonial remains, some of which have been renovated. There are the remaining Inca tribes, which seem relatively undisturbed by modern standards. And, of course, there is all the beautiful scenery. We just don’t know if we would become bored after a time. Another consideration is the availability of high speed internet service. I’m totally addicted to the internet and can’t imagine being without it.

It is certain that our cost of living would be a fraction of that of Santa Fe, NM. That alone makes for considerable attraction for me. I can certainly see spending a period of time there, even if we don’t choose to put down roots. Stay tuned for further developments.

Tour de France

Elyn and I are watching the TV coverage of the Tour de France, not so much because we are racing fans, but because the race goes through areas of France that we have walked or driven. We see scenery that is familiar every day and it is worth sticking with all the racing to see those scenes.

The Tour is again awash in controversy due to the number of riders who are doping. The TV commentators express dismay and surprise that riders continue to take performance enhancing drugs, but the bikers are strangely silent in my experience. I wonder how many of them just haven’t gotten caught and don’t feel comfortable coming out against those who do.

The temptation to do anything to give one superhuman ability is almost overwhelming and my guess is that few serious athletes are totally clean throughout their careers. Athletics have reached very near the upper limits that the human body is capable of and even slight advantage can bring huge rewards in publicity and wealth. How many of us, if placed in that position, could make the moral decision to not push our upper limit with a little help.

Rosetta Stone

I’m spending every spare minute learning Spanish using the computer program Rosetta Stone. Even though we lived for a whole year in Spain a decade ago I never really learned to speak Spanish. Now I am determined to do better for this Spanish junket. Rosetta Stone is a great program that offers total immersion in the Spanish language—not one word of English in the entire program. I am learning reading, writing, speaking, and understanding spoken language. Already, after only a few days, I’m feeling more confident.

Our experience is like that of other English speakers we’ve talked with. If you give it a good faith effort the native speakers are quite tolerant of poor grammar and pronunciation. I just want to be able to meet them half way. A bonus is that learning another language is great exercise for the “little grey cells.”

Registering Voters

Elyn and I just got back from a three-hour stint of voter registration for the Obama campaign. In two sessions we have registered nearly thirty voters here in New Mexico. So far, only one has registered as a Republican. Several have wanted to register as "Green" but they can't participate in the primaries in New Mexico unless they are registered as either Democrat or Republican. Of course, the Obama campaign has chosen the local Co-op grocery store as a location, so the Republicans are probably shopping at the big food chains.

We get many interesting comments from people passing by. Many thank us for being there and many smile and tell us they are already registered and planning to vote. A few try to ignore us and one even said, “None of your damned business" when we asked if his voter registration was up to date. People stop and visit and ask many questions, some of which we can answer. People want to know about absentee ballots, how to register their automobiles, obtaining drivers licenses, etc. Elyn will call county offices to try to find any information that we are asked that we don’t know.

We see it as our small way of trying to return democracy to this proto-fascist theocracy. As for the obvious preference of Democrats for wholesome, locally grown and organic food, I say here is a new progressive strategy. Let’s not tell the Republicans about our food choices. Keep them eating fast food and shopping at the big chains. If we can’t beat them when it comes to money, maybe we can at least outlive them. My slogan for the day is, “Let’s outlive the bastards!”

Red Ink

Photos in the New York Times of bank runs in California. Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac being propped up by the Feds. My IRA losing money in five digits every month. Now my A. G. Edwards broker is scheduling a phone conference to decide what to do next. Evidence that the system doesn’t work showing up on all sides. Can the current crop of criminals in Washington, D.C. keep it together long enough to blame it on the next administration?

This is the ultimate failure of a philosophy that markets should regulate themselves—that it is prudent to just leave them alone (deregulation it was called) and everything will be hunkie dory. Now we know it doesn’t work for the middle class in this country. We are nearly an extinct animal. Soon there will only be the super rich and the very poor. Why was such a huge miscalculation allowed to continue while we were treated to a diet of fear and entertainment? Well, look who benefits—the super rich. When will we take to the streets and declare our own war on them? Well, we can take to the streets but we can’t find them. They are safely hidden away in the form of the multinational corporations. Who are they anyway? Why, they are us! My IRA is invested in those very multinationals.

So can we at least bring the Washington criminals to justice? Not, if the Justice Department and the courts have been packed by the criminals themselves. We have not even been able to bring serious impeachment charges against Bush and Cheney, in spite of clear “high crimes and misdemeanors” that is the constitutional requirement.

Meanwhile, a catastrophe that makes the one in the headlines seem like an afternoon thunder storm is looming on the horizon. Call it global warming—call it climate change. Call it what you will, there is mounting evidence that the planet is getting ready to throw us out because we foul our own nests. We have met the enemy and they are us.

So how can I be having fun in the face of all this? Am I just fiddling while Rome burns? I continue to do what I can to make positive changes, but I can’t let myself become depressed and discouraged or I’ll lose my ability to act. Having fun is my way of keeping my head clear and my eyes open. I don’t know if I’ll be able to save myself and my loved ones when it comes the time to make a leap, but I intend to be clear headed enough to try.

Down Among the Dead Folks

One of my hobbies that I haven’t written about is genealogy. Some branches of my family seem to have been cut off abruptly. This is particularly true of my father's side of the family. Other branches seem to stretch back over the centuries in an unbroken line. Just this morning I found a branch that goes back into fourteenth century.

William Moleyns Molines was born on January 7, 1377 in London, England. He married Margery Whalesborough and had at least one child, Eleanor De Moleyns (spellings were very fluid in the 15th century). William died on June 8, 1425 at the age of 48, a rather old age for those times.

I’m not quite sure of what the attraction is to genealogy, but I find myself spending spare minutes on Ancestry.com and the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) site searching out old census records and the family trees of other addicts. You may wonder why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints would maintain the best genealogy records. Well, I’ll tell you.

One of the tenants of the Mormon faith is that people can be baptized into the LDS Church even after they have died. When I search the LDS records there will usually be a baptism date sometime in the twentieth or twenty-first century. This makes the LDS church the largest denomination in the world. They have taken in as much of human race as they can find, without the permission of the people involved. Sound strange to you? Well, to me too, but I enjoy the depth and accuracy of their records, which are stored in salt mines in Utah I hear.

Weekend in Santa Fe

We have a very full schedule of activities on tap for tomorrow, Sunday. This weekend is the annual International Folk Art Market, which brings artists from all over the world to show and sell their wares in booths up on Museum Hill here in Santa Fe. We’ve made this an annual event and this time we are introducing it to two new friends who are moving to SF.

The day will begin with church services at the very alternative Church of Antioch, which is a radical offshoot from the Catholic church. This group is very “far out” with elaborate costumes, great music, men and women priests, and pageantry enough for the most jaded taste. We are taking our new friends there, partly to see the historic Loretto Chapel and partly for the fun of it. Then it is up to Museum Hill to be submerged in the folk art of the world.

While we are doing all that there will be an open house at our home to show potential buyers what they can get in downtown Santa Fe for less than $700,000. (We are selling our SF home, applying for retirement visas for Spain, and moving there when we can.)

After the open house is over we come home to host other friends for tea while we discuss plans for a pilgrimage in the depths of France (Le Puy to Conques) sometime next year. Its a great life if you don’t weaken!

All this is a little more hectic than I would like, but sometimes these events just pile in, in spite of our best efforts to maintain some order in our lives. Santa Fe is certainly an exciting town to live in and we look forward to coming back here when we tire of being vagabonds in Europe.

Sepulchre

I’ve been busy reading a real page-turner, Kate Mosse’s Sepulchre. It is an enjoyable semi-gothic novel set in the depths of France. I won’t go into the plot, which shifts from the late 19th century to the 21st century in a somewhat predictable, but fun, way.

I’ve enjoyed it, partly because I’ve spent a fair amount of time around Rennes-le-Chateau and Rennes-les-Bains, both rather spooky and mysterious places. If you have a day or so to kill and enjoy historical fiction, give it a look.

Ripples From the Past

I received a long letter yesterday from my high school band director. I had sent him a copy of my latest book, Pebbles and he responded with many of his memories of my hometown in southeastern Kansas. His name is George Beggs and he has a remarkably firm and steady hand at age 87.

Those of us who are just in the beginning of our elderhood (I'm only 71) should all take our hats off to our seniors. Mr. Beggs, you were an inspiration to me when I was a lad of 12, and you are an inspiration to me today. You are clearly having fun at age 87 and deserve some sort of medal of honor from all of us.

Membership Has Its Privileges

There is a post this morning on Time Goes By about breasts (boobs, tits, etc.) Click Here. After reading all the comments from women who talk about having too much or too little I’m inspired to do this piece on my manhood.

Dick, prick, cock, rod, member, you know all the words for penis. As boys growing up we kept measuring the length of our dicks hoping they would grow beyond 4 inches, and most of them did. Guys who failed at that always have felt inadequate. As for me, I came in about the average 6 inches.

Length was one measure, but what they could do was another. Could you “keep it up?” Last long enough (whatever that is). PERFORMANCE ANXIETY! Well, that wasn’t a problem for me, at least until recently.

If you gals think that boobs are a problem just consider the guys who are desperately trying to hide an erection that happened for no reason. John Thomas always has a mind of his own. I remember a classmate in high school whose performance in track was marred by erections that he couldn’t control. (And in those tiny track shorts, no less.) It rises for no reason and falls just when you least expect it.

It is true that we held contests to see who could pee the highest on the boy’s room wall in grade school. I wonder what the janitor thought of that? And we could write our names on the wall or someone else’s name if we were feeling mean. That, along with masturbation was the fun our members brought us.

On the negative side, how many times have I been led into situations I really didn’t want to be a part of by the urgency that seemed to be programmed into my cock? Go forth and impregnate the world! Keep the species going and your own genes in particular. I could certainly have made some better choices as a younger man if I had been able to keep my pants on. Presidents, governors, senators, and preachers have fallen over this unfortunate male tendency.

Now, at age 71 I have peace at last. I can’t remember the last time I had to hide an erection. I don’t seem to find myself in situations where my loins take over. In fact, if I don’t think about it, my member seems to be happy to just perform its primary function—elimination. What a relief.

So ladies, while I can sympathize with your trauma over having too little or too much, have some compassion for us guys, who have carried around a separate primitive nervous system and tried, somehow to remain civilized, rational beings in spite of all.

Synchronicity, Chance, and Predestination

I often sense that an event is synchronous—that is, it seems to occur at what seems to be the “right” moment. I am reminded of the old hymn that begins:

“My life flows on in endless song;
Above Earth's lamentation,”

Is this just me putting a pattern on what must be a chance sequence of events? Or, is the pattern all laid out in advance and I just don’t know my next line in the “play” until I speak it? In short, am I living in a universe where chance prevails or is everything preordained? Taking any position in this inquiry is just a matter of faith. So the following is a statement of faith.

I’ve already stated in the opening sentence of this little piece that I am not on the side of “chance.” The experience of my life is one of an “endless song” that is flowing in a definite direction even though I don’t foresee the future. So, I must either believe in synchronicity or predestination. Predestination for me would imply a supreme being that “has a plan” for my life and I’m just an automaton, a puppet on the divine string, dancing helplessly to unheard music.

When asked if their rain dance actually brought on the rain or if they danced when rain was coming, a Native American elder replied, “We dance, and the rain comes.” No cause and effect involved in either way.

How then, does synchronicity work if it is not connected to cause and effect? My usual source of online misinformation, Wikipedia defines synchronicity as follows:

“The idea of synchronicity is that the conceptual relationship of minds, defined by the relationship between ideas, is intricately structured in its own logical way and gives rise to relationships which have nothing to do with causal relationships in which a cause precedes an effect. Instead, causal relationships are understood as simultaneous — that is, the cause and effect occur at the same time.”

Which doesn’t explain anything about how it works. My online source of the “scientific” point of view, The Skeptics Dictionary states:

"What reasons are there for accepting synchronicity as an explanation for anything in the real world? What it explains is more simply and elegantly explained by the ability of the human mind to find meaning and significance where there is none."

Synchronicity was first proposed by C. G. Jung and The Skeptics Dictionary calls his ideas “inane.” As for me, I vote for Jung. Even though I have no logical, “scientific” explanation for how it works, my vote is for that “endless song.”

Death Again

Somehow writing about intimacy and gratitude brings me back around to death—the ultimate “all good things come to an end” and a sense of how temporary everything is. Sure I’m having fun today, and sure last night was beautiful and sweet, but its all just temporary.

When I’m in the dentist’s chair I console myself that as bad as this is, it is temporary. What about “as good as this is, it is temporary?” Is that something I can use to depress myself? Yes, certainly. Why don’t I choose to do it? Well, I can say that being depressed is no fun, but that just begs the question.

Wait a minute. I just wrote “CHOOSE.” I don’t choose to go down that road. Is not choosing depression and fear just a matter of denial? That’s not what it feels like. It feels like, well, choosing. I feel empowered when I choose my experience. Empowerment is fun. I don’t feel any need to “forget” that I’m going to die. I am simply choosing to live this moment and I’m savoring how each sensation feels. Now THAT is fun!

Here's a prayer that just showed up in my in box. It seems appropriate to add it here.

"May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more."

For an interesting perspective on fear of death and dying go to this New York Times article. Click Here.

Gratitude

Elyn and I are sitting across from each other late in the evening, exchanging bits of conversation and shared observation. Comparing notes on a joint spiritual practice we had just done involving the archetypal Adam and Eve figures. Sensing similar experiences and some differences. She tells me about an earlier experience that came in meditation, a powerful, sensual experience.

Our conversation shifts to the afternoon spent with new friends and how much we like them. I relate that sometimes when I look at one or the other I have a sense that we must have met somewhere or sometime, which isn’t likely unless you believe in past lives. It’s just gentle conversation punctuated with silence—comfortable silence.

Suddenly I am overcome with emotion at the realization of just how intimate we are with each other. Tears come to my eyes and I realize that this is the intimacy that I had dreamed about for years and years and thought I would never have.

Later, Elyn reads me the opening paragraphs of Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. We laugh at his droll picture of a youth viewing a very eccentric uncle. I drift off to sleep and we cuddle.

Sure, in the cold light of day we rub each other the wrong way and exchange a few barbs, for which we are sorry. But, that is just the gentle rubbing of two very different personalities against each other and doesn’t even dent the feelings of love and intimacy that we shared last night, and will share again. This is it. This is intimacy. It's not some earth shaking “peak” experience, just the comfortable stillness, punctuated by a phrase here and and sentence there. How fortunate I am to have experienced this in my lifetime. How very precious and rare.

Another Thought

Another thought from my friend, Wilhelm:

"Practice random acts of greatness and senseless acts of creativity."

"Diminish non-kind acts of randomness and senseless acts of reactivity."

Chew on that one.

Gemini Prognostication

My birthday is May 27, which makes me a very early Gemini. Elyn gets a newsletter from a local Santa Fe psychic, Elissa Heyman. Her most recent newsletter has a wonderful description of this year for us Geminis.

The year is much gentler on you, and the surprises are ones that tend to stabilize you. You get better adjusted to your life. Something is set in motion by family or roots. Gemini men could establish themselves in a stronger way now. There's a lot of chance involved in Geminis' creative path: encounters and developments that make for a lively year. Connections galore! You feel like you've come together in some significant way by the end, and you're notably more steady and well put-together. It's an interesting, fruitful, eventful, orderly yet different year, and you're comfortable with change more than ever.

Wow! Does that ever seem to fit where I am right now. Just had to share it.

The INvironMENT

This just in from my friend Wilhelm. There is much food for thought here.

Everybody talks about environmental pollution and protection. What about the invironment. I played with the idea and realized that a lot of what is done on the outer is again a blatant ignoring/projection of the inner and pollution/ global warming and pet topics like that can be transferred to the inner world of the individuum and 'should' be solved there first. We need an INvironMENTAL Protection Agency.

Just transfering the topics and the lingo from the outer world level to describing the inner situation (psychological, physical-experiential or medical) could be a new movement...for instance 'global warming' reflects on the inner in a strongly increasing tendency towards inflammation, physically and mentally. We could look at the descriptions of the reasons of global warming and the measures that are considered and translate it. The SUV would then be the 21 oz. sirloin as compared to the Vegieburger Hybrid, the GMO debate would show up as media homogenized unnatural information selection, that leads to creative sterility, etc.

I am not thinking about it as a political approach, but as a description of the world that anchors the 'projects' in the individuals again, so that they can relate to it. The projected "environmental problems" are too distant for the average person to really care about. And the other side of the coin is that it will give us a very functional description of a lot of the individual 'projects' that are starving for attention, because we do not have the paradigm to sort them into.

He would appreciate any feedback you would care to share.

"WALL - E"

We just saw this "kid's flick." The theater was filled with youngsters. They sat still for a rather long film with a very adult message about environment, corporate greed, triumph of love even among machines, and ultimate redemption when people (in the form of the captain of the star ship) wrest control from the "big machine" and return people to the earth and life. The humans are completely mesmerized by constant amusement and have lost the will to even make basic human contact.

Heavy duty message movie packaged flawlessly as animation. Go and see it now.

Note from the Left

This just in from one of my lefty circle of friends:

ah, obama is my guy. yes, indeed. he just said he's open to retracting his timeline for iraq withdrawal. ahhhh, what a mensch. why pull out sooner when you can earn more votes by staying there?

There you have it friends, the secret weapon of the McCain campaign—the far left!

Go here to see an update on this story. Click here.

A Perfect Day in Santa Fe

What a perfect Santa Fe day it was. Dinner with friends in their beautiful home near the Santa Fe Opera. Then we watched the sun set from the vantage point of the Crosby Theater while waiting for the performance of Verdi’s Falstaff to begin. It was a first-class performance as are all the productions of the SFO. We walked out of the opera house to a sky filled with stars. As we looked for the few constellations we know we were saying, “Why do we want to leave this place? It’s perfect.” Our conclusion is that everyone we’ve told about our impending move to Europe has thought it was an exciting idea, so now we have to do it so our friends won’t be disappointed. So, we’re just doing this for you guys.

I’m sure the sky will be filled with stars in our little rural Spanish village and there will be many opportunities for dinner with our Spanish friends. We won’t have a world-class opera company on our doorstep, but we can travel to all the rest of Europe without the huge expense of ever-increasing air fares. I’m sure there will be many perfect days there, but we may find ourselves homesick for the magic of Santa Fe.

Obama Disappointment

All around me I’m hearing everything from disappointment to outrage at the positions that Senator Obama has recently taken. Perhaps you can get some idea of the left-leaning circles I travel in. Yes, I am not liking much of what I’m hearing about letting the telecoms off, voting for war funding, faith-based initiatives, etc., and I’m sure I’m going to hear more things that don’t exactly reflect my own thinking. Am I going to stop supporting Obama for president? Not likely unless I see some better alternative.

It is very easy to hear only what we want to hear from politicians and they obfuscate enough to make that easy. When they get around to specific proposals is when the shit hits the fan, as with telecom, faith based initiatives, and war funding. For example, it was easy to overlook all his statements about bringing the left and right together in this country. Well, you can't do that and please us lefties (or the right either). He is consensus building and he is very nuanced. I would invite you to watch his actual speech on faith based initiatives on YouTube: Click Here. I also would recommend a piece in the Huffington Post on the subject. Click Here.

Yes, Obama is a politician and, as Harry Truman said, he had a choice of jobs as a young person—either be a politician or play piano in a whorehouse, and he didn’t see too much difference between those two. If Obama wasn’t a politician he wouldn’t stand a chance and wouldn’t have gotten where he is. What do we expect? I’m still feeling that he is better than the alternatives I see—a continuation of criminals running the White House.

So yes, I’m going to continue to support Obama and try to get as many people registered to vote and going to the polls here in New Mexico as I can. It is the only system of government we have and we’ve got to try to make it better or it will just continue to get worse.

Paying to Leave

Did you know that there is a new tax on leaving the country if you give up your US citizenship? I thought it was just another urban legend, but here it is in black and white: Click Here.

Are the current crop of criminals in Washington afraid that we'll all leave if they get in again? I had a vision yesterday. The religious right likes to talk about the "rapture" when all good fundamentalists will be called up to heaven, leaving us poor slobs to try to figure out the mess they leave behind. Well, maybe it will be us that will leave the US, leaving this place for the "born agains" to try to live with.

Maybe that is the plan. The new tax will essentially strip us of a lot of our assets if we want to participate in the secular "rapture." Then they will have assets to work with after we are gone. Land of the free and home of the brave.