Life On A B-I7

Humility

You can tell when someone is humble, and when they think they are special. Unfortunately that is a skill that a lot of voters appear not to possess. It leaves me wondering why this is such a difficult skill to acquire. The only reason I can come up with is because people that don’t possess this attribute also lack the ability to look at themselves critically and ask, what can I do to make myself better. If that is indeed the case, it appears this is a problem impacting society in general in this day and age.

Free Exercise of Religion

In so far as abortion is a religious conviction, either pro or con, the government has no role in either prohibiting or establishing a right to the same. This is guaranteed to all citizens under the First Amendment. This means that the government can neither condone nor forbid the practice. Whether or not to engage in the practice falls upon the individual, not the state. Since all States are bound to uphold the Constitution, neither the States nor the Federal Government have jurisdiction to dictate to citizens their freedom of choice in regard to this matter.

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution

Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Let us pray that J.D. Vance is up to the task. My only reservation is that he would make a less than ideal replacement for his predecessor.

Knowledge Forgotten

States are doomed when
they are unable to distinguish
the good men from the evil.

—Antisthenes

I love her.
She completes me.
That’s not to say I fulfill her.
I don’t know the answer to that.

Perhaps I should wait until she writes a poem that answers that question.

No.
That’s a waste of time.
I will love her as long as she lets me love her.
That is enough.

Concerned

Even though this is an online journal, it doesn’t matter what I say because no one reads it. Even the person closest to me doesn’t read this, and that’s okay, I don’t take it personally. In fact, it’s probably a lot healthier for everyone that way. Journals should only be read posthumously anyway.

I’m very concerned. I’ve been bothered for the last month. I should have started being bothered seven years ago, I’m always the last to the party. Now that we are approaching the most critical election in the history of our country, I’m scared shitless.

The Republican candidate is a deranged idiot. I marvel at how few (at least as far as I can see) people seem to agree with that. For goodness sake, he’s selling limited edition watches to make money for himself, and he’s pitching them in his own voice. If you listen to his adverts, the syntax and grammar is that of a sixth grader. It’s hard to imagine why the Republican Party would stand behind a candidate like this. (That’s another topic entirely.)

I don’t have an answer to that. I’m not smart enough to answer that question. I am smart enough to realize that our country is in grave danger should he be elected to the highest office. There has been a presumption throughout our history that the leader of our country would be a man of conscience. We may not always agree as a people with our approach to problem solving, but the presumption has always been that the leader would be reasonable, intelligent, and responsible. That is not the case with the Republican Candidate.

I cannot bring myself to say his name. For me, that is akin to swearing.

It is poetic and apropos that his opponent is a woman. I’m not surprised that when the outcome is truly hanging in the balance, it is a woman that should rise to the occasion to save our souls. I just hope that is what happens.

A Political Genera

Doves
Surround themselves with doves.

Hawks
Surround themselves with hawks.

Idiots
Surround themselves with sycophants.

Day #365

The project “A Year of Living Thoughtfully” is over. That does not mean living thoughtfully has ended (with any luck).

The effort put into this project over the last 365 days has reaffirmed that every day should be a day for thoughtfulness. It does not have to be remarkable, most of what I have taken the time to share on these pages has been unremarkable. My ambition for these pages was for them to be instructive to me. If you take away anything from this effort, That makes me happy.

My next project should probably be “A Year of Living Grammatically.” Goodness knows I could benefit from a project like that. I don’t know if there will even be another project. I have enjoyed this writing and I intend to keep on writing for as long as I can. Nothing long-form, that’s not my bag. If the urge ever magically struck me, I would certainly listen, just don’t hold your breath.

My wish for you is that you too can find a project or an activity that brings you peace, satisfaction, and progress toward a personal goal, no matter how small the progress nor how small the goal.

Day #364

Who votes for Donald Trump? Insecure white men for sure. (That includes Christian Nationalists from Idaho.) The election of 2024 has become a referendum on race, gender, and all manner of life choices. (It was in fact even prior to Vice-President Kamala Harris entering the race.) The country has been leaning towards toxic masculinity for the last decade or so, and the trend continues. This is not just a United States phenomenon but is being echoed around the globe.

A fireman in Greece asked me who I was going to vote for in November. I like to keep face-to-face, political, discussions, lighthearted, so I told him Harris because “Trump is crazier than I am.” he replied to me, in all seriousness, saying Trump was the better choice of the two. I probably should’ve pursued the conversation a bit further, but frankly, I wasn’t interested. It’s probably rash of me to assume that all firemen are the same everywhere in the world (I’m sure that’s not true) but I found his answer reflective, if not at least typical of his profession. What did surprise me is that this was coming from someone living in a country whose economy could be seriously harmed by the election of Trump.

I find it difficult to fight back against such absurd views.

I consider myself a liberal, not in the sense of whom I should vote for, but in the sense espoused by the post enlightenment philosopher John Stewart Mill. That is, someone who believes in standing for the rights of individuals, consent of the governed, political equality, private-property rights, and equality before the law. nowhere in Mills political thought did the role of race or gender come into consideration.

Day #363

Cribbage

I spent a good bit of time playing cribbage with my dad when he was in assisted-living. He taught me the game and he was patient with me. I’ve never been a good card player. I appreciated the fact that he enjoyed playing with me and I enjoyed playing with him. He beat me regularly. I was fine with that. I wasn’t really there to play cards, I was there to be with him. I think he knew that was what was going on and I think he appreciated that.

I remember as a kid, I would ask him to play catch with me. I would do my best to throw the ball perfectly but if I didn’t hit him right in the chest, after the third or fourth miss he would say “we’re done”. That was earlier in life. By the time we were playing cribbage, I think he realized that patience is a virtue. At least I assume he did because I actually won from time-to-time.

I’m teaching my partner to play Cribbage and I haven’t won a game yet. I must suck pretty bad at it…

Opportunities

The time of life is short!
To spend that shortness basely were too long
If life did not ride upon a dial’s point
Still ending at the arrival of an hour.

—Shakespeare

Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg’s favorite quote.

We’re not here for a long time, so kick ass and take names. I suppose that’s not the best way to look at it, but it gets the message across. Take advantage of the opportunities you receive. If not a lot of opportunities come your way, that’s okay because you should also be making yourself the best person you can while taking advantage of the opportunities you do receive.

The Law

Let me lay this out very simply.

Textualist interpretation of the law is nothing more than an excuse to dictate whatever purpose you see fit in the moment.

That is not a responsible way to interpret the law. That interpretation ignores evolution (cats included). It is an excuse to mask your personal bias (owned or sold). That sort of thinking leads to dire consequences for society.

Sit Down

I told the cat to sit down then I sat down myself…

“Do not explain your philosophy. Embody it.”

—Epictetus

Cats

Cats are probably smarter than we are.

They were left on earth by Aliens milennia ago. Sadly, the Aliens forgot to give them the proper skills needed to communicate with us. That tiny oversight has, sadly enough, prevented the highest evolution of human intelligence from being obtained…

Guitar

If you could do one thing before you die, what would that be? For me most likely… at this point in time… it would be to learn to play the guitar. Why? That is a very good question. I think it is because music is the one thing that can move me to cry. Cry with joy, cry with love for someone, cry just to fucking cry.

Why not learn other things? You should! Never stop learning! It’s a damn shame this life ends. Imagine how smart you might become if you could live for say 500 or 1,000 years? However, that’s not how it works. I sometimes wonder if thinking people (sometimes referred to as intellectuals) didn’t create the concept of god simply to give someone (if not themselves) the opportunity to learn more?

Thank God no one reads this blog…

How to Break a Political Party

How do you get someone to bend to your will?

Feed them what they want to hear, especially things that they already have a desire to listen to. If you can master that technique, you can rule the world.

How do you do the right thing when it comes to life?

Always work to educate yourself as well as others. Don’t insist that people believe what you do, convince them with facts and examples of what the potential consequences might be.

As an aside, my cat takes no convincing, he hangs on my every word. The number of people that take no convincing are few and far between…

Day #362

A new science has recently been born, comparative thanatology. How animals react to individuals that are dying or are close to dying, and what that behavior says about how animals relate to death.

I find this interesting in light of that fact that I now am living with a pet that is, or soon will be, facing his own end of life. Hopefully of course, I will not precede him, that said, I agree with the song by Curtis Salgado and Alan Hager, “I Want My Dog To Live Longer,” only in my case it is my cat.

Day #361

I’d like to be a bit more like Mr. Nakata…

Mr. Nakata is a good looking man in his 60’s. He is an excellent cook. He’s a bit on the dumb side, but it serves him well because he doesn’t ask a lot of questions of the people he meets. He can also talk to cats and rocks. Two skills that I think would be marvelous to have. I suspect there would be a lot to learn by having a personal relationship with both. I do have a cat and I think we have a special bond, but it would be even better if we could converse with one another. My interest in history would make the ability to talk to rocks all the more fascinating. The most admirable trait that Mr. Nakata possesses is his acceptance of other people. He never criticizes others and seems to get along with everyone. The trait I envy the most is his ability to keep things simple. There are a lot of reasons to adopt that view of life.

Mr. Nakata can find in Haruki Murakami’s “Kafka On The Shore.”

Day #360

Now, on to a somewhat touchy subject…

The highest level of wealth, and the way it is amassed, not through labor, but via money making money, is structurally deforming. It makes it harder for those of us who are primarily paid through our labor to be properly compensated. The minimum wage is a perfect example. The highest levels of wealth, by and large, are responsible for the breakdown of society as they pursue their agenda both personal and social that benefit only themselves and others of their class.

Day #359

Metaphor

_ A word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar._

I’m not sure that definition nails it. I think it can be much deeper than that. I think a metaphor is a way to explain some aspect of reality that can’t be explained any other way. If you have ever been confused and can’t resolve what it is that is actually happening to you, a metaphor is probably the only explanation that you can reach for to explain what it is you are experiencing.

It may be that we can’t fully understand life unless we look at it through a metaphorical lens. What do our daily actions mean. What do they lead us to. There may be no way of knowing without viewing them as symbolic of something greater than the events themselves. In other words, viewing them as a metaphor.

Day #358

Donald Trump will have to answer to your God for all his depravity and destruction. If his punishment in the next life is commensurate with his acts, it will be severe. Let’s hope that you won’t have to answer to your God for the act of having voted for him, or if you do, the punishment you receive for that won’t be as severe as what he is going to receive…

Day #357

Songs that move me

Don’t worry about the neighbors, turn the fu#%ing volume up to 10 and get into it.

“Honeycomb” Luke-Winslow King
“Waiting On The World To Change” Keb’ Mo’ and Taj Mahal
“Scratch My Back” The Fabulous Thunderbirds
“Sweet Inspiration” The Derek Trucks Band
“Been Around A Long Time” Delbert McClinton & Glen Clark
“Simple Man” Robert Randolph and The Family Band
“Watch Me Go” Luke-Winslow King
“Give Me One Reason” Big Daddy Wilson
“Life Is Beautiful” Keb’ Mo’
“Revolution” Eric Lindell
“Call Me The Breeze” John Mayer

You get the idea…

Day #356

I got to thinking the other day (yes, I can hear you congratulating me) if I could express in three words what it means to live fully and freely, I think those three words would be “It’s not cake.”

What does that mean? Simple really. It means there are no limits. The more we give the more we receive in return. There is not a fixed quantity of life, or for that matter, there is not a fixed quantity of anything of value. we can participate in life as fully as we are able or not, it’s up to us. Unlike cake, which disappears once all the pieces have been handed out and everyone has set down their fork, the best things in life can be experienced over and over again. The only requirement is that we recognize those things.

Day #355

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

— Haruki Murakami

Day #354

You never make the same mistake twice. The second time it’s called a choice…

Coming up to the kitchen line after serving is never a choice… Serve and Stay…