Life On A B-I7

Day #339

Am I a good father? I suspect not. How does one know? Obviously, ask your children…

But, will they tell you? Therein lies the rub. If I were to rely on my own analysis, it would go something like this.

Yes, and no.

Big surprise. I think probably more “no” than “yes.” How many of us can say, without hesitation, honestly, that we have been great parents. Ultimately parenting comes down to love, guidance and example. I have tried to be a good example for my children when they were in my presence, occasionally even when they weren’t. I can’t be the judge of how well I did at that.

Bottom line, I tried, but I think I could have done better. This is an attempt to tell myself it’s not too late to try a bit harder.

Only those we are responsible for can make that call. Its likely we’ll never know the answer, because they might not even know the answer themselves until sometime after we have shed the parenting role (which not surprisingly corresponds to our shedding of everything else…)

That’s okay. In the interim, we need to do the best we can.

My cat thinks I am a pain-in-the-ass because I make him stay in the yard. I think that qualifies as parenting, sort of, right?

Day #338

“In 1978 Haruki Murakami was in the bleachers of Jingu Stadium watching a baseball game between the Yakult Swallows and the Hiroshima Carp when Dave Hilton, an American, came to bat. According to an oft-repeated story, in the instant that he hit a double, Murakami suddenly realized that he could write a novel. He went home and began writing that night.”

Now, 46 years later, Haruki Murakami has written 14 novels, 6 short story anthologies and 5 nonfiction books.

It’s hard for me to imagine that sort of productivity. Even harder to imagine is the focus and determination required to accomplish a body of work so prolific, so varied and so down-right fun.

I’m envious.

It would be nice to apply something like his focus to what remains of my own creative endeavors. Perhaps taking in a few Seattle Mariners games would help.

Day #337

There have been few musical groups that have created more depth of sound and emotion with just three instruments than Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. After ELP, I’d take Steely Dan in a heartbeat.

Day #336

The attitude that dogs are okay and cats are not, is, from a feline perspective, unwarranted. It would be much better if both cats and dogs were treated equally. Cats would appreciate that. I’m not sure dogs would even know there had been a shift in perspective.

Day #335

I realize the dates on my posts do not align with reality. Some that know me might say that is not surprising. If I were to offer an explanation, I would tell you I’m a bit over my skis because I’m excited about finishing my “Year of Living Thoughtfully” Project. So much so, I forgot my sister’s birthday… I’m sorry sis. I have to hand it to you, while I am aging (normally I hope) you seem to be aging in reverse.

Will you allow me to use that as an excuse?

Day #334

There is something about the human mind that makes it fearful of change.

It may be reassuring to look to the past for solutions, but rarely does that offer any answers. This is the fallacy of conservatism. I am a liberal on most issues because I prefer to look forward and not back. However, I do not subscribe to every liberal solution that comes down the pike. In fact, many propositions are simply too extreme to be successful catalysts for societal change.

If we all could just take a deep breath, perhaps we could begin to find common ground.

I am also an idealist, in case you were wondering.

Day #333

A person that is impatient can teach you patience, as long as you care about that person.

Day #332

The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

I’m often teased for “exaggerating.” For example, I will occasionally say something like, “That is the best pork chop I have ever eaten.” It may actually be the best one, but it doesn’t sound good to people that don’t know you when you make those sorts of statements. So rather than tell you that “The Traveling Cat Chronicles” is the best book I have ever read, let me just say, it is the best cat book I have ever read…

I don’t say that lightly. Why would I say that in any case, especially in light of that fact that I am know to exaggerate somewhat? I offer as evidence, the idea that a book that moves you emotionally is possibly the best standard you can use by which to make that call. That said, a book that makes you cry has probably has done a pretty good job in that regard.

It could be that as we get older, we become more emotional. Perhaps, I don’t know. I like to think the special bond between the main character in the story and his cat is a reflection of bond that I have with my cat. That is probably the most logical reason why I felt so moved by the story. Towards the end of the book, I could not read even a few pages without crying. I set it down several times to gather my composure. That doesn’t happen very often. Less than often actually.

The book is a keeper.

Day #331

Dear Justice Roberts

Our founders believed that humankind is not a perfect creation. To rule ourselves with proper care and concern for the welfare of every citizen requires a government where the power wielded by each branch is equal in its ability to oversee and correct any direction taken by one of the other branches. This is the basic idea our founders used when drafting our Constitution and was so eloquently expressed in the Federalist Papers

Your court in all its self-professed “textual” knowledge has completely failed to understand this basic concept. You have allowed the court to become a partisan body that sees itself as wiser and more fit to judge the future course of our nation than either branch that has been elected by the people you profess to serve.

The prime example of this is the Court’s decision to set itself up as the sole judge of what constitutes a “legal” act by the Executive Branch. By giving yourself that power you have created a monarchy that is only answerable to one branch of government. Worse yet is the fact that in so doing, you have actually created a monarchy that can ignore the wishes of that oversight branch (you) if it so chooses. Your seat of self-proclaimed authority is functionally a sham.

The conclusion I draw from this turn of events is that five shallow self-serving men are hiding behind robes. Unfortunately this is not the first time in our history that robes have been used to mask the true intent behind a corrupt view that exceeds the bounds of decency and the vision of the founders.

This is the legacy of your court. Not one I would be proud of if I were a well educated man entrusted with the responsibility, above all others, to preserve and protect our constitution and the freedom of it’s inheritors.

Day #330

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Five Principles of Personal Freedom.

The Journey is the Destination

Happiness requires a purpose. Happiness is more likely to be found in the pursuit of a goal than in the attainment of it.

To Be Alive is to Embrace Freedom

Following a path prescribed for you by someone else never leads to happiness. True happiness is found following your own path.

Beware the Palace of Crystal

Experiencing the real world is better than living apart from it. Contact with fellow humans is what brings us into a true relationship with reality.

The Pain is the Point

A life without suffering leaves no room for true appreciation of love and no capacity for gratitude.

Look Up

We choose what we believe. If we are not choosing with intention and examination, we are not living up to our full potential.

Day #329

Everybody has an opinion. Go with what you know to be your truth, not what you’re told. To arrive at your truth requires thoughtfulness, compassion, research and critical thinking, not social media memes.

Day #328

We don’t know what we don’t know. How do we continue when the future is unknown? I think the answer to that is a gift that is given to us. We either have the desire to press on or we don’t. In the case where we do, that is the gift. A gift, perhaps given by a parent, perhaps given by someone we respect or perhaps given by our own experience and belief. However it is obtained, it is the most precious gift one we can receive. We need to carry that with us everywhere we go.

If you don’t find this message useful, take heart, you can always go listen to D.K. Harrell’s album “The Right Man.” My cat finds it meditative.

Day #327

Van Morrison live at the Santa Monica Civic Center, 1973.

“Into the Mystic.”

A song that takes us on a spiritual quest to show us how to become part of the universe.

Into the Mystic

Day #326

On a scale 1 to 10, where 1 is “stock” and 10 is “my girlfriend won’t get in it,” I want my truck lifted to about an 8. Let’s not forget the Magnuson Supercharger and the MagnaFlow exhaust system, there has got to be some give-and-take in every relationship…

Day #325

I like the way my nail polish makes me stand out in Redmond Oregon. I will say though, I find it’s best if I stick to army green and camouflage shades.

Day #324

It is a little embarrassing to admit I have been unable to teach my cat not to scratch the furniture when he is hungry. He has certainly trained me to feed him whenever I’m around and he wants food from me. Does this make him smarter than me… it’s very possible that is the case…

Day #323

I’ve never driven up Grape Vine Hill outside L.A. in a Hot Rod Lincoln listening to Commander Cody on the radio, but I’m sure there were plenty of times my father was unhappy with me. Thankfully not to a point that drove him to drink.

He was a bit short on patience. I normally had to ask twice to get him to play catch with me in the back yard. Often, if I threw the ball too high or too low, he would simply say we were done. Thankfully now we have the internet to teach us skills and we no longer have to rely on our parents exclusively when it comes to learning.

He had a basic workshop in the garage which as a kid I thought was very cool. As I got older he even let me use his tools to build things, nothing extraordinary. In fact, looking back now I can’t remember anything that I built even though I was out in his shop quit often. I learned a love of construction that I have taken to a higher lever than he did (which I did partly out of spite). That said, I think he would still be proud of me.

Was he a great father? Probably not the best, but he still gave me many gifts that I hold dear to this day. Most of all, I learned from him what it takes to be a good father — at least by comparison. It is without reservation that I thank him for that. I think that would make him proud too.

Day #322

Dr. Fauchi is an American Hero. Sadly he is a victim of political brainwashing. One hundred years from now history will write the tragic story of a hero maligned for the purpose of aggrandizing a political party that had no moral conscience.

Day #321

Sun Valley or Alta?

Sun Valley is the oldest ski resort in the United States. Established in 1936, Sun Valley was designed to be a “destination” ski resort. Indeed, it was the darling of the Hollywood set. Ernest Hemingway lived there until his death in 1961. Baldy, the premier lift accessed mountain in the valley is fun to ski, you can get a lot of vertical in a season if you put your mind to it.

On the other hand, Alta was chosen as a resort location because it has the greatest snow on earth. So they say, and they are probably not exaggerating as much as the slogan suggests. I like the fact that Alph Engen who started the ski school at Sun Valley moved to Alta to start up their ski school. He was know for his ski jumping ability, but more importantly, he was the pioneer of what became knows as powder skiing. This is largely because the snowfall in Little Cottonwood Canyon provides more days of powder skiing in a winter than almost anywhere else on earth.

January 15th 2024 marked the 85th Anniversary of Alta. Alta was established two years after Sun Valley opened. For various reasons, some personal, some related to terrain and snow conditions, I prefer Alta, but I make it a point to ski both every winter.

Day #320

I’ll bet you didn’t know Bullet Rye comes with a screw top lid. Desperation is the mother of invention.

Day #319

Age of Revolutions by Fareed Zakaria

What first drew me to this book was the fact that it took Fareed 10 year to write it. That’s a long time to bring a book from concept to publication. He ended up writing two other books in the interim in order to better present this topic. As I anticipated, it was a very good read. What made it good was the clear explanation of how progress is often (indeed, almost always) followed by periods of counter-progress.

We are facing a period in our history where the liberal order of the Post WW-II period is now being challenged by conservative, many would say reactionary forces. Viewed from the sweep of history, this is really nothing new. Fareed demonstrates clearly how progress has always been accompanied by periods of push-back. One of many examples was how the democratic revolution in France in the 18th Century ultimately led to the rise of Napoleon. There are no shortages of such examples throughout history.

Lately I’ve been feeling like we were heading toward another Robespierre/Napolean moment in history. I’m feeling much better now that Joe has woken up and handed the torch to someone younger, and more likely to defeat that scenario. I appreciate the fact that the word “woken” contains the word “woke.” That makes me smile.

Day #318

Great American Quotes

That Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
—The Constitution

We have a great dream. It started way back in 1776, and God grant that America will be true to her dream.
—Martin Luther King Jr.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
—John F. Kennedy

This is a new nation, based on a mighty continent, of boundless possibilities.
—Theodore Roosevelt

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair.
—George Washington

The principle of free governments adheres to the American soil. It is bedded in it, immovable as its mountains.
—Daniel Webster

Whatever American hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower

For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest sleeping in the unplowed ground. Is our world gone? We say “Farewell.” Is a new world coming? We welcome it —and we will bend it to the hopes of man.
—Lynden B. Johnson

Every generation has the obligation to free men’s minds for a look at new worlds… to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.
—Ellison S. Onizuka

May God continue the unity of our country as this railroad unites the two great oceans of the world.
—Inscribed on the Golden Spike, Promontory, Utah, 1869

The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or class —it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.
—Anna Julia Cooper

All of these quotes are found in the United States of America Passport Book. They are inspirational and provide living guidance for all of us that call ourselves Americans.

Eisenhower said it best. Our hearts must not be swayed by empty rehetoric, rather, we must hold to the dream as expressed by Martin Luther King.

Day #317

White Line Fever

There are crosswalks at most intersections and they usually have white lines in front to indicate where to stop. There are two types of drivers, those that can see the white line in front of their car after they stop and those who can’t. The second type of driver may or may not be over the line, for them the line is mostly there as a suggestion.

There is a third type of driver… those that can’t see the white line but they are not over it because they know precisely where the front of their car is without looking. This is because they have extraordinary perception and visual skills. I fall into the third category. It never fails to mystify the companion in the passenger seat…

Day #316

Driving North on I-5 today, I was passed by a semi with the slogan “Don’t follow me, follow Jesus” in large letters on the back of the truck. A short distance later I passed the same truck now on the shoulder with a State Patrol car, lights flashing, pulled up behind him. It was pretty clear the truck had been stopped for speeding. I wonder if the driver asked the patrol officer to give the ticket to Jesus…

Day #315

Republicans think they can use Trump, and they can. They can use him to implement the Project 2025 plan, as long as they give him what he wants which is money and immunity. He has a lot less money than he says he does. He could also use immunity, but that would be cheating the justice system, something he is very good at even without help from his Republican enablers.