Road Trip in a Mercedes Benz Convertible

Posted on April 27, 2013 by John Swinburn

My wife keeps frighteningly meticulous records.  I, on the other hand, assume I will remember things.  I don’t.  Not unless reminded.

Today, she reminded me of the trip I made to Florida back in 2007.  She pulled out credit card receipts from that time and, as I scanned the list of expenses from the Fall of that year, I remembered that trip.

My brother and his wife, who retired to Mexico several years ago, had successfully bid on an eBay auction for a mid-nineties Mercedes convertible from a couple in Florida.  My brother asked me if I would pick it up for him and drive it back to Texas, where he and his wife would pick it up and drive it up to their “other” home in Portland, Oregon.  I readily agreed, as I love road trips.  He paid my airfare to fly over; I don’t recall if I flew into Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach, not that it matters.  I flew in, arriving mid-morning on October 23, 2007 (two days after my birthday), and took a taxi to their house.

I think they lived in West Palm Beach.  Their house was on a waterway; entering the front door of the home, I was immediately struck by the entire wall of glass looking out over the waterway, where their large, luxurious sailboat was moored.  The pleasantries lasted only a few moments, then we went outside to get me acquainted with the car.  They guy cautioned me to be VERY careful not to open the convertible top without first releasing a couple or three fasteners; he said it would damage the hydraulics that lift the top.  Rather than muck with it at the time, I decided to just head out with the top up.  As it turned out, I didn’t put the top down during the entire trip to Dallas.

That first day was most memorable for what I witnessed as I drove across Florida.  I saw the Space Shuttle Discovery just seconds after its launch.  I had been listening to live coverage of the launch on the radio, but it hadn’t occurred to me that I might actually be able to see it.  I don’t know how far away the launch site was, but even in the midday brilliance of a blue sky I could see the bright light of the rocket fuel burning and the trail of exhaust the shuttle left as it streaked across the sky.  That was an unexpected treat.  I don’t know whether I saw the shuttle before or after I bought gas at a Citgo station in Wildwood, Florida.

The credit card record of the trip revealed that I ate dinner at Los Compadres Mexican restaurant in Tallahassee, Florida, then stayed overnight at a Howard Johnson’s motel, which cost $64.64.

The following day, October 24, I bought gas not far from Tallahassee at an Amoco station in Quincy, Florida.   I recall from that day that, almost an hour into my trip, I realized I had left my cell phone at the Howard Johnson’s.  The reason I had reached for my phone in the first place was to call my wife to let her know my trip might be delayed because an accident ahead of me had shut the highway.  My first reaction to the absence of my phone was to want to call the motel; I quickly realized how utterly mindless that was, as I had no way to call them.  So I crept ahead to a nearby exit, drove back, got the phone, then hit the road again.

I stopped for gas at a Shell station in Biloxi, Mississippi before continuing west toward lunch.

The credit card record revealed that I had lunch in Slidell, Louisiana, at a place called Bad to the Bone BBQ.  Lunch was a flat $11; based on the menu for the place today, unless the prices haven’t gone up in more than four years, I suspect I had the 2-meat combo.

I drove straight through to Alexandria, Louisiana, where I bought gas at a Texas station.

Next up, the credit card record reveals that I stayed overnight at a Days Inn in Shreveport, Louisiana.  It was more reasonably priced for a place to just lay my head: $49.71.

The trail goes cold there, but considering the distance, I am sure I just drove on home that day, arriving back in Dallas on Thursday, October 25, 2007.  I parked that beautiful green Mercedes convertible in my garage for a month or two before my brother and sister-in-law came to visit.  Before they did, though, I discovered that the convertible top did not work properly, so after conferring with my brother, I had it repaired at a horrifically expensive shop that specializes in Mercedes repair.  But there’s no record of that repair on this particular credit card statement, so I’m relying strictly on memory for that last bit.

Posted in Cars, Family, Memories, Travel | Leave a comment

Hidden

Posted on April 26, 2013 by John Swinburn

You cannot think through my  mind, nor can I think through yours.  This is a terrible dilemma.  Not so much the fact that I can’t think through your mind, but that you can’t think through mine. If only you could, you would see things from the proper perspective.  Mine.

I am kidding.  Just a bit.

If you could think through my mind, you would understand why the music of Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen and Brandi Carlile and John Hiatt and even Dolly Parton can reduce me to tears.

If you could think through my mind, you would understand why I am fascinated by serious assertions that plants may well communicate with one another.

You would understand why I find stone more attractive than brick.

You would understand why I would rather risk the dissolution of the United States than accept societal regimentation in the extreme.

You would comprehend the confusion that rips through my brain every day, whipsawing my mind between radical left-wing crusader and crushingly angry right-wing pig.

You would love the tranquility of living far, far away from other people.  You would ache for human companionship and proximity.  You would be willing to drop the guillotine to sever the heads of death penalty proponents in order to stop the madness of putting people to death for unspeakable crimes.

You would acknowledge the sanctity of marital fidelity while condemning social and legal prohibitions against extramarital sex.

But, of course, you cannot think through my mind.  You cannot understand, from my perspective, the conflicting ideas that reside there.  You cannot experience my emotional extremes that cause night sweats and shrieks and screams and laughs and bellows of rage and hatred and love.

You are fortunate, indeed.  But, then, I may be just as fortunate.  Because I cannot think through your mind.  I cannot experience the terrors that you hide therein.  Maybe that’s as it should be.   Maybe not.

 

Posted in Dreams, Philosophy, Wisdom | 1 Comment

Well, Tread Lightly, Then…

Posted on April 26, 2013 by John Swinburn

A few days ago, I wrote about my concerns with the police searches in Watertown, MA in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.  I remain concerned with attitudes that allow U.S. Senators to call for a United States citizen to be treated as an “enemy combatant.”  And I continue to be troubled by philosophies that permit people to think it’s acceptable to dispense with an accused person’s Miranda warning.  But my concerns with the ways in which the police searches were conducted have diminished.

I give credit to the people who ask and answer questions on Quora for helping to quell my fears.  If you’re interested in reading what others have to say about the searches, read the questions and comments here.  Though the responses and comments have not been vetted by “experts,” I have enough confidence in them to allow myself to be soothed.  And we all need soothing, don’t we?

Posted in Government, Legal Rights | Leave a comment

Too Terrible to Consider

Posted on April 25, 2013 by John Swinburn

Almost no one dared think it, for it was too terrible to consider.  But Galen Cameron thought it.  And he spent the better part of ten years delving into it. Not that finding the answer mattered one whit, because if “it” were a possibility, if “it”really could happen, there was nothing anyone could do but await the inevitable.

“The ultimate disassociation.”  That’s what Galen called it.  “The ultimate nutcase.”  That’s what the physicists, the astronomers, the priests, and the politicians called Galen.  The ridicule by the physicists and astronomers wounded Galen most.  He didn’t care so much that everyone else was too narrow-minded to consider the possibility, but he was upset that people who pride themselves on searching for facts, for truth in whatever form it takes, were so quick to label him a quack, a pseudo-scientist whose theories were on their face so utterly and completely ridiculous.

The thing is, they weren’t so utterly and completely ridiculous.  Finally, in April 2015, after years of suffering the contempt of his intellectual inferiors, his postulates were given the attention, within the scientific community, they deserved.  They were tested by the same people who had ridiculed him. The very same scientists who had mocked him sat in stunned silence when it became clear that he was right.  These same people were horrified to understand, finally, that Galen Cameron had uncovered fatal flaws in the science that informed their understanding of the universe.

These were people cast in the mold of Arthur Stanley Eddington who had dismissed Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar’s prediction of the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf star. Black holes, which were considered a scientific impossibility at the time, were the logical conclusions that would have emerged from Chandrasekhar’s postulates, so his theories were considered inferior and were not taken seriously. But, the Chandrasekhar limit finally was accepted and Chandrasekhar was awarded the Nobel prize in physics in 1983.

Galen Cameron would not be awarded the Nobel prize for his work, though.  Outside a small circle of physicists and astronomers and their overlords, no one would know his theories were more than hokum. No one else would know about Cameron’s celestial conflation because no one would tell them.  Not Galen, not the scientists who came late to his understanding, not the political overlords who funded the “research” that would refute Galen’s theories with his full support. Unlike Chandrasekhar, Galen Cameron’s work would never be welcomed as an important step in understanding the universe in which we exist.

After April 2015, whenever someone stumbled upon Galen’s published work and questioned whether it was, in fact, meritorious, the response would invariably use a false syllogism to illustrate how “absurd” it was.  One of the favorites was:

All white dwarves are stars
Some movie actors are stars
Therefore, some movie actors are white dwarves

Twenty-nine years after that April 2015 meeting when his theories were revealed to have merit and were subsequently shelved and locked away, they would be proven.  In one instant, a tiny fraction of a second, there would be confirmation.  And then there would be nothing.

Posted in Fiction | Leave a comment

Changing Places

Posted on April 25, 2013 by John Swinburn

I wonder how much truth there is in Emerson’s words:

“Traveling is a fool’s paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go.”

His words seem so inarguable.  You take yourself with you wherever you go; one’s place may change, but one’s self does not.

But that is a cynical way to look at humankind, isn’t it?  Are we just vessels for our emotions and our tangled and broken psyches?  I hope that is not all we are.  I hope, and I believe, new experiences in new places with new people can revive and renew us.

In new environments, we are free from the expectation that we will continue to be what we have always been.  People who don’t know us have no preconceived notions about us. We have the opportunity to build a new set of expectations in the people around us when we go to new environments.   For that to happen, though, one cannot just change one’s place.  One also must change one’s mind.  Unless one changes one’s mind, Emerson’s words ring true.

Ah, so he was right.  It’s not just about changing one’s place.  But if changing one’s place helps to change one’s mind, then one shouldn’t mind changing places, true?

Doesn’t all of this fly in the face of my interest in the Third Place?  No.  I still love the idea of creating, or finding, a Third Place.  Remember, the characteristics of a Third Place:

It is neutral.  No one is obligated to be there and there is no financial tie to the place.
Conversation is a key activity, though not necessarily the only one.  The Third Place is a place people come to talk and to listen.
It is accessible and accommodating, easy to be there and get there.
There are plenty of regulars who spend time there, people who serve as hosts or guides to those new to the environment.
The Third Place is low key, relaxed, absent pretense. Everyone can feel comfortable.
The atmosphere is relaxed, the mood is playful.
It is warm, comfortable, and homey. It is a home away from home.

Will I become more of an entrepreneur, more of a risk-taker, when I change my place?  Only time, and place, will tell.

Posted in Philosophy, Travel, Wisdom | Leave a comment

Don’t Tread on Me

Posted on April 21, 2013 by John Swinburn

Maybe I’ve allowed paranoia to set in.  Or maybe I’ve just begun to shed my naiveté.

The horrendous attacks on the Boston Marathon were devastating.  But the chilling events surrounding the ensuing identification of, and manhunt for, the perpetrators have been equally upsetting.

And they’ve caused me to consider the very real possibility that the parents of Dzhokar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev might be right; they may well have been set up.  I don’t doubt the two young men are, in fact, responsible for the bombing.  But I wonder if they have served as pawns in a series of events, the consequences of which could further erode our civil liberties.

Hear me out; I’ve never been a conspiracy theorist and I’ve never bought into the nonsensical B.S. manufactured by conspiracy theorists.  But this situation feels different, though it doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s a conscious conspiracy.  And it may not be a conspiracy at all; it may just be a complex set of accidents, circumstances in which events just fall into place in such a way as to put democracy as we know it in peril.

I’ll not try to connect all the dots; I’ll just present some of the issues and questions that have given rise to  my paranoia…if that’s what it is.

  • The unparalleled governmental shutdown of an entire city may have set a precedent; in the future, less ominous circumstances could be used to accomplish the same thing.  In the wake of Boston and Watertown, we’re not as likely to complain.  We’re likely to obediently stay off the streets, close our businesses, and do as we’re told…whatever the reason for the order, next time.
  • The images of police officers going door-to-door, entering homes and searching them, will not leave me.  What reasons will be given the next time the police come to our doors?  Did they have warrants for searching all of those homes?  No one objected…how could you?  After all, this was a life or death scenario; they were going after terrorists who had killed and maimed people on American soil.  How much easier will it be, next time, for us to accept door-to-door searches without warrants?
  • The government’s present stance…that Dzhokar Tsarnaev will not be read the Miranda warning…is of grave concern to me.  The use of the “public safety exception,” which allows investigators to question a suspect before apprising him of his rights when they believe there is an imminent public safety threat, appears to me to be unnecessary and sinister.  But if it works with Tsarnaev, its use in other circumstances will be a little easier for the public to swallow. Incremental dissolution of our rights is a scary thing to consider.
  • The demands by some U.S. Senators that Tsarnaev be treated as an “enemy combatant” gives me chills.  This guy is an American citizen who set off bombs at an American event in an American city and then participated in subsequent crimes of robbery, carjacking, and murder (yes, I know they are allegations, but I don’t doubt they are true).  Yet these Senators want to treat him as an “enemy combatant” so his rights as an American citizen can be taken away in the interests of expediency.  Consider this: how much of a stretch would it be for them to call for the same thing for a naturalized American citizen of Mexican birth who is accused of running guns for a Mexican drug cartel?  And then, how much of a stretch to apply the same designation to a natural-born American citizen accused of aiding and abetting the gun runner by robbing banks to supply the gun-runner with cash?  Incremental diminution of citizens’ rights, even the worst citizens among us, has the potential to diminish the rights of all of us.  We have laws that protect our rights for a reason; they can work, even in an age of terrorism.
  • In the aftermath of the bombing and the subsequent manhunt, we were told things would change for us…this post-911 attack would understandably add inconvenience to our lives as the government further intrudes on our freedoms.  Of course it’s understandable; something like that doesn’t just happen and go away.  It’s as if we’re being told: “You must understand that government needs to be more intrusive, needs to infringe on your liberties just a bit more, because that’s the new world we live in.”  And, of course, we do understand.  Which is exactly what “they” are after.  Who are “they?”  I wish I knew.  Whoever “they” are, I do not want them enshrouding my rights and the rights of other American citizens with suffocating blankets that will be hard, if not impossible, to cast off.

My fear is that we’re being led well beyond where we need to go, to a place that makes it harder and harder for us to push back against unacceptable levels of government trampling on our rights. My concern is that the very real threats we faced with the bombers have caused us to accept things from the authorities that we would otherwise not have accepted.   I’m not convinced the authorities needed to do what they did in Boston and Watertown to get those guys.

Was it a conscious conspiracy to overstep the bounds in an effort to “soften” us for the next time?  I don’t know.  Actually, I rather doubt it.  But I think that may be exactly what happened.  And I think the “authorities” know that.  And they will remember.  And the next time it may be a little easier for them to decide to go beyond what once was off-limits.  And the time after that it will be easier still.

It is plausible that a “legitimate” and excusable overstepping of governmental authority this time can be used as a rationale for more extreme measures in the future.  For that reason, alone, I think the public should be vocal in condemning unreasonable searches and questioning suspects, even the most heinous suspects, without reading them their rights.

Put the bastards away forever…make the remainder of their lives empty, hopeless shells…but do it legally and do it in accordance with the laws that protect ALL of us from a government that takes more power than we’re willing to give.

I am a strong believer in the need for government to serve people.  We give government control over many aspects of our lives to ensure that we are safe, protected, and can indeed pursue our rights.  But we must never cede to government the ability to remove or run roughshod over the very rights we ask it to protect.  Guns will never protect us from a government we have allowed to transform into a tyranny.  We simply must never allow that transformation to take place.  And we prevent that transformation by speaking out, early, against those incremental attacks on our liberties.

 

Posted in Government, Legal Rights | Leave a comment

Confusion, Perhaps

Posted on April 20, 2013 by John Swinburn

It begins as a whisper, faint and indistinct.  But it grows incrementally, almost imperceptibly, louder with the passage of time.  The amount of time varies with each whisper and every ear.  Eventually, though, the whisper becomes a voice and the voice becomes a scream and the scream becomes an obsession.

And the obsession becomes a passion.  And the passion becomes a regret.

That having been said, here’s what Kierkegaard had to say about something else entirely:

The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.
~ Søren Kierkegaard

I am not a follower; I just like some of the quotes attributed to him, including this one. And the one following:

What is a poet? An unhappy person who conceals profound anguish in his heart but whose lips are so formed that as sighs and cries pass over them they sound like beautiful music.
~ Søren Kierkegaard

Posted in Philosophy | Leave a comment

The Core of the Problem Could be the Processor

Posted on April 18, 2013 by John Swinburn

When I created this site, I had grand visions that it might become a place of “big ideas.”  I envisioned earnest conversations and civil debates leading to secular epiphanies and a deeper appreciation of this universe.  Sadly, those things require nurturing and eloquence and understanding far beyond my capabilities.  And those things tend not to flourish in a bathtub filled with rancid soup.  They don’t blossom when fed a fuel of pre-digested opinions, opinions borne, not of logical thought, but of elemental emotional reaction.

There are days, and this is one of them, I consider wiping the slate clean, removing every post I’ve ever made.  I could replace them, slowly and deliberately, with posts worthy of generating discussion and debate.  But, then, where would I put my recipes and my rants?

And now you must see the dilemma. It’s not the recipes and the rants, it’s the mental process that allowed them to surface here, of all places, in this post.

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Treatment Deferred

Posted on April 17, 2013 by John Swinburn

Maybe, if I were smart, I’d go see a doctor.  Well, smart isn’t it, really.  If I were rich, or had health insurance, I’d go see a doctor.  But neither describes me, so I won’t, at least for now.

Just as I was…finally…getting back into my habit of going for long walks, something happened to my left foot.  A very strange thing.  The top right quadrant of my left foot started hurting like hell.  To my knowledge, I didn’t twist it, drop anything on it, or otherwise injure it in any way.  It just started hurting.  And it hurts most when I get up in the morning and move it in a certain way.

This has been going on for well over a week, now; no change.  My guess is that it might be related to arthritis, as I’ve been having some pretty severe arthritis in my elbows and knees lately.  But my foot?  I don’t know.

It’s one of those pains that you know will be hard, maybe impossible…and expensive…to diagnose.  There would be X-rays, probably, and a referral to a “specialist,” who might want additional tests, none of which would be inexpensive.  So, for the time being, I will simply put up with it and hope it doesn’t get worse.  I will wait until insurance companies are forced by the government to give me insurance.  I know that insurance will be very, very expensive, so I need to save my money now so I can afford it.  So, for now, no doctor.

My loathing of the health insurance industry has not diminished.  With every ache or pain, it increases.

Posted in Health | Leave a comment

Comfortable Clothes

Posted on April 15, 2013 by John Swinburn

Photo by Tania Rashid/Al Jazeera.

For years, I’ve been intrigued by some of the clothing worn by men in India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.  My intrigue is based, primarily, on my belief that some of the clothing worn by men in those countries is ideally suited to hot climates.  Like Texas.

So, I wonder, why have these types of clothes not caught on here?  Well, maybe they have, but not so much among the aging conservative geezer set.  I’ll have to explore.  In the meantime, I’ve just come across some news from Dhaka, Bangladesh about a series of protests in response to the banning of certain clothing by rickshaw drivers (AKA “rickshaw-wallah”) in the diplomatic quarters.  This clothing, the lungi, is a type of sarong worn not just by rickshaw-wallah, but by all sort of men, both in public and around the house.  They wear lungi because it’s comfortable, and it’s traditional garb.  But, apparently, the more well-to-do Bengalis and the diplomats in the diplomatic quarters find such clothing offensive…only riff-raff wear such stuff, you know.

Regardless of Bengali issues over lungi, I find it an appealing garment, though I’m not sure I could figure out how to tie it and wear it without it falling down.  Not that I’d be likely to wear it out in public; I’m still a “fraidy cat” when it comes to utterly and completely flaunting fashion (many people might be surprised to read that, having been embarrassed to have been seen with me in public places).

Apparently, it’s frequently worn without underwear; were I to wear the garment in the traditional way but failed to tie it properly, lives could be lost from the horror and shock if it came “undone.”

From Exotic India catalogue

It’s not just the lungi I find appealing.  I also like kurta, a long shirt (which may fall just below the knees).  Wearing a kurta would address the problem I sometimes have of my shirt either coming untucked (I really don’t like to tuck in my shirt, though) or the shirt-tail being slightly too short when worn outside my pants.  A kurta would address those issues…they are never worn tucked in and their length would address the second problem.  Notice the trousers the guy is wearing; don’t they look super lightweight and comfortable (actually, I think they’re called kurta pajamas)?  I could forego the lungi, I think, if I could get my hands on the right kurta and lightweight, loose-fitting pants to go with it.

I suppose it’s silly to be concerned what someone else might think, but I can imagine what it would be: “Is that geezer trying to make a fashion statement?!  Ha!  Or is he trying to look like he’s leading a fashion trend?!  Ha!  Or is he just an oddball?  Or maybe he’s a combo-pack of all three.”  Should I care?  No.  Do I?  It depends.

Anyway, back to my enchantment with the clothing of the Indian subcontinent and environs.  I wonder what it would take to get the “fashion world” to actively embrace and promote clothing that’s actually comfortable and simple and attractive?  Even if I knew what would do it, I don’t have the wherewithal and, truth be told, the inclination to do it.  Instead, I’d be happier just staying out of sight in my cheap, comfortable clothes.  Next step: finding this stuff I can wear around the house…loosely translated, that means I want it cheap and easy!  If I stumble across an “outfit,” I may post photos.  But probably not.

Posted in Fashion | 4 Comments

What “Drives” A Person to Live Out of a Vehicle?

Posted on April 14, 2013 by John Swinburn

As I started exploring what “life on the road” might be like, I came across a fascinating blog, http://cheaprvlivingblog.com/.  The blog and its associated forums, as well as other blogs linked to them, are loaded with tips for living on the road…things vitally important to  know, especially if your life on the road does not include a luxury RV.  For example, what does one do about using the bathroom?  What about keeping clean/taking showers?  What about places to stay overnight, places that don’t eat away limited financial resources?

Reading the site’s forum about options for showering, I was impressed with the ingenuity of people who have chosen to live out of their vehicles, whether out of necessity or desire for freedom.

Reading the blogs and forums gave me a better understanding of why people make choices that, to most of us, seem strange.  In reading forum posts and comments, it became clear to me that this lifestyle is, for most of the people who visit these sites, a conscious choice. It is not driven by poverty, job loss, mental illness, or a desire to be different.  While some people make the choice under financial duress, many others do not.  They do it for the freedom and the experience and the adventure such a lifestyle offers.

I’m not planning on living out of a van…at least not now, and not for the long haul, but I find the lifestyle intriguing.  I think I may want to give it a try, though, for just a while.  And I may want to meet some of these creative, interesting, and adventurous people who break social convention without fear.

Posted in Philosophy, Travel | Leave a comment

Cognitive Development Conspiracy Theory

Posted on April 13, 2013 by John Swinburn

I have vague memories, from my college years, of reading about and discussing the role of language in cognitive development, and vice versa.  Somewhere, deep in the recesses of my mind, I harbor memories of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, which as I recall involved a four- or five-stage process…the components of which I have long since forgotten.

Despite the fact that what I learned has faded, it has never disappeared entirely.  Periodically, I still read bits and pieces about cognitive development and how Piaget’s theory is occasionally updated to incorporate new information gleaned from research, observation, and assessment.  Some of the “updates” to Piaget’s theory, as I recall, argue that the “nature” versus “nurture” assertions about cognitive development are specious and that there are as-yet-unknown-but-powerful interactions between nature and nurture that inform cognitive development.

Somewhere along the line, maybe in college or maybe afterward, I was introduced to the concept that language informs cognition; that is, that a person cannot even recognize the existence of an object or an idea for which he or she has no descriptive word.  My immediate take on that concept was that it was absurd on its face.  But something tempered my original rejection of that idea.  Which brings me to the reason this issue has arisen from the recesses of my mind this Saturday morning.

The reason: I started wondering: is it possible that the North Korean state is using language as a means of keeping its own people under control?  That is, are there subtle and not-so-subtle manipulations of language that are being used by the Kim Jung Un regime to keep the North Korean people “in line” and to color their perceptions of the world outside their borders?  Well, I suppose the assumption is that “of course that’s what he’s doing;” but I wonder if we really know.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to know how, other than brute force and absolute control over the public’s access to media, the regime is able to control the people by “talking them into” believing what the state wants them to believe?

And that leads me to a question that hits closer to home: are we, here in this deeply democratic and open society (tongue firmly planted in cheek) being controlled in the same way? To what extent has our own cognitive development, individually and collectively, been shaped and molded to fit the government that we ostensibly elect to lead us?

Old, tired, and worn-out ideas from college can come back to haunt the state, methinks.

Posted in Language, Lies/disinformation, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Above all, they are poets

Posted on April 12, 2013 by John Swinburn

Even in coarse popular media I sometimes encounter beautiful gems of language, words and phrases so beautiful as to bring tears to my eyes.  Most recently, I encountered such a stunning surprise while I was watching the BBC spy thriller series, MI-5.  The series element in question, Volume 8, Episode 7, dealt with a Bengali terrorist, a man driven to seek revenge for the death of his sister.  The surprising gem of verbal beauty came during a conversation between an Indian translator and MI-5 operative.  The translator was being used by MI-5 to translate a communication conducted in an archaic Sanskrit dialect between the terrorist and one of his minions.  At a point in the conversation concerning differential morality when killing one’s enemies (i.e., morality depends on one’s perspective), the translator suggested that Bengalis should not be underestimated, saying  to his MI-5 handler:

“They are many things, but above all they are poets, for whom love and hate are worth dying for.“

That is the sort of language that brings me to my knees and breaks my heart.

Posted in Television | 1 Comment

Change…Big Change

Posted on April 12, 2013 by John Swinburn

If it seems like I bounce around in many different directions, it’s because I do.  One day, I might be ready to buy land and a tractor, the next day I come to the conclusion that it’s impractical or unaffordable.  Then, I might decide to abandon yard-work in favor of living in a condo.  Or I might decide to start a new business.  I must be/have ADD or something like it.  In the words of Paul Simon, I must have a “short little  span of attention.”  But sometimes, all that fades away into unimportance when the right thing “hits.”

The conversation came when we returned home after looking at the quality of workmanship of a fence company that had been recommended by some neighbors.  I don’t know what prompted me to say it: “Instead of spending a chunk of money on the house, maybe we should just spent what we must to maximize what we’d get out of it and then sell it.  Then we could buy a smaller place, for less money, and spend some of the difference fixing it up exactly like we want it.”

From there, we talked about just selling it and NOT buying another place.  Maybe, instead, we would buy an RV and travel around to places where we might be interested in settling…but we’d just set up shop temporarily and explore.  No long-term commitments; just a look-see.  We might rent a furnished place when we found a town, an area, with potential.  Yeah, we’d have to sell most of our “stuff” when we sell the house…we wouldn’t want to cart a bunch of “stuff” around with us. Just the bare essentials in the RV.

We’d buy a used RV that’s small enough for me to be comfortable driving it, but big enough to tow a car; we wouldn’t want to be saddled with an RV as our only means of transportation once we got to a stopping point.

And then we started talking about WHERE we might ultimately like to land.  My wife does not want to deal with snow and ice…rarely, maybe, but she doesn’t want to have to cope with it regularly.  And she doesn’t like cold weather.  Neither does she like abysmally hot weather, the kind of weather we’ve come to hate in Dallas…and many other places with winters that are at least tolerable.  Immediately, we both began to focus on the Pacific northwest.  The time we’ve spent in Oregon, albeit brief, sold us on that area of the country.  We love Portland and we enjoyed wandering through the Willamette Valley; we liked (me, perhaps, more than my wife) the little town of Woodburn, a place that appears to me to be a blue-collar, agricultural town with a heavy concentration of Hispanics in the population.

We talked about the coast, too.  I remember our trip to Cannon Beach and how much we enjoyed the beauty of the coast.  And we talked about places where I could, if necessary, find a job or find a way to generate some income.  We agreed we would need to do some research about places we might want to consider visiting, with an eye, eventually, toward settling down. My wife suggested we might not want to buy a place…certainly not immediately, maybe not ever.  Maybe, she suggested, we’d want to retain the freedom that   is impossible to have with home ownership.  “We could be gypsies,” I said, and she said “Yes, gypsies!”

And so I started, immediately, doing a bit of research.  For reasons I may address in a future post, I quickly targeted Astoria, Oregon.  It’s a small city with a population of only about 9,500, located at the mouth of the Columbia River just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean.  A quick check on real estate revealed that there are some affordable homes, plus there appear to be reasonably priced rentals…between $700 and $1100 per month (not cheap when you don’t have an income, but not obscenely over-priced).  I checked into voting records for Clatsop County (in which Astoria is located) and found that a majority (though not an overwhelming majority) voted for Obama in 2012…I like a place that’s got some balance, unlike the blood-red state of Texas (though I hope that changes, over time). There’s a nice mix of small businesses, a two-year community college (more on that below), and some very interesting “tourist” attractions, as well.  And it’s near places I’ve been and enjoyed when last we visited. And it has a hospital and doctors…though I suspect neither are “world class” with the latest gadgetry and technologies.

Clatsop Community College has a “community education” program as well as some certificate and an associate degree program track.  I was thrilled to see that the college has a certificate program in welding!  I would love to take some more courses in welding so I could actually get back into doing art (and some practical stuff) with welding.  Other course include classes such as these:

  • Fine Arts
  • Exercise
  • Computers
  • Martial arts
  • Foreign language
  • Music
  • Hobby classes
  • Writing
  • History
  • Astronomy
  • Personal enrichment
  • Ballroom dancing

Facebook friends gave me some valuable feedback, plus links to relevant websites, that made Astoria and the Oregon coast, in general, even more appealing.  Yeah, it’s way too early to settle on a place (especially one we’ve not even visited), but I’m pumped about taking a closer look.  So, next steps are in order.

First, more research.  Much, much more research.  Places, cost of living, etc.

And, of course, I need to explore what would be involved in buying, driving, and maintaining an RV.  I’ve never driven anything larger than a pickup or an SUV, so I’d have to get used to driving a beast like an RV.  And I’ve never pulled a trailer or towed a vehicle.  A lot to learn there.  And what about this house we live in?  What would we have to do to maximize the value?  How much would we have to spend to get it “right” to sell it?  And what does one do about mail when one is a gypsy?

When I decide on something, I like to move fast.  My wife likes to ruminate…for a long while.  So the challenge is going to be how to accommodate my impatience and desire for quick action and her desire to think everything through, slowly, ensuring that we don’t miss something in the rush to do something radically different from what we’ve done before.  I am sure we’ll be able to do it.  This conversation lead us to what will be a HUGE step for us.  The question, then, is how big, how fast…and how?

It may not be Astoria.  It may not be Oregon.  But it will be someplace.  We will, indeed, hit the road to start seeking a place for us.  When, I don’t know.  But it will happen.  Now, I KNOW it will happen.

 

Posted in Change, Travel | 7 Comments

Serious Questions that “Sound” Stupid

Posted on April 11, 2013 by John Swinburn

I’d call it being blind-sided. Something happens, some idea enters your head, some “data” is presented to you…something that brings about confusion and doubt. Serious doubt. Something that causes you to question almost everything you’ve ever learned.

Has it ever happened to you? It happened to me. Let me tell you about it.

It was just another nature show.  I enjoy watching two programs on PBS, Nova and Nature, though I do not watch them religiously, just when the mood strikes me.  And recently, the mood struck me while I was flipping between channels, trying to find something of interest, something that would be neither insulting in its stupidity nor challenging in it depth.  I didn’t want to have to think; I wanted to be entertained. I got something else.

I stumbled across a Nature program entitled What Plants Talk About.  Watching that program changed the way I think about the world around me. Maybe it was just the mood I was in…maybe I was receptive to something that would challenge my basic assumptions about the world and didn’t even know it. Whatever it was, I question my assumptions, and the assumptions I believe we all make, about the world around us.

Can plants “think?”  Is that a stupid question?  Or is it a question that we don’t ask because we think it would make us look stupid if we ask it?  After watching the program, I no longer think it’s a stupid question.  And I don’t think it’s stupid to question other things we “know.”  Can insects feel pain?  And does it matter?  Is our “universe” just a tiny dot in a much, much bigger existence?  Does time fold back on itself?  Could it be that every possible permutation of our own universe, including the people in it and their conversations and experiences, are duplicated billions upon billions of times across the full expanse of existence?  Those questions arose after I watched this one program.  I’ve embedded it below.  Maybe I’ve overreacted.  But I’ll never know.  There’s too much to know for me to understand whether it’s an overreaction or not.

Watch What Plants Talk About on PBS. See more from Nature.

Posted in Nature, Philosophy, Television, Wisdom | 2 Comments

Night on the Town

Posted on April 10, 2013 by John Swinburn

Angry clouds, grey chalk and dried blood,
churn mercilessly against the setting sun,
inciting gentle souls toward a felonious night.

Even the street lights are afraid,
shuddering and blinking with each shrieking gust of wind
and every snarling howl of gangs on the prowl.

Monks and priests shred their robes and cassocks,
flinging debris toward the sky that deceived them
without reason or recourse.

Their hours of good counsel, the years of good work,
melt into pools of crack cocaine and mortgages, luxury cars and
outdoor kitchens, psychotic children, and emptiness.

Dawn comes as the shadows fade into commute rush traffic,
muting the brilliance and sharpness of the night lights.
It ends, just another night on the town.

Posted in Philosophy, Poetry, Religion | Leave a comment

The Last Jolt of Winter

Posted on April 10, 2013 by John Swinburn

Last night when I went to bed, about 11:00 pm, it was unusually warm…about 78 degrees. That’s not so uncommon for summertime temperatures, but we’re net yet in mid-April, so these beastly hot evening temperatures are neither expected nor appreciated.

Everything has changed now, though.  The temperature has fallen to 46 this morning.  A steady rain has begun to fall.  Thunderstorms are in the forecast through mid-day.

Though there’s no longer a threat of freezing weather, this latest blast of cold air signals that winter has not left us completely.  Summer was trying to come early, but it was stopped.  I only hope the early onset of high seventies at night is not a sign of things to come, but I am afraid it is.

Posted in Weather | Leave a comment

In the ‘Hood

Posted on April 8, 2013 by John Swinburn

Sometimes, you just have odd questions. Sometimes, they get answered. Sometimes, they don’t.

Adulthood
Falsehood
Parenthood
Babyhood
Livelihood
Childhood
Knighthood
Bachelorhood
Likelihood
Brotherhood
Personhood
Priesthood
Sisterhood
Statehood
Sainthood
Motherhood
Boyhood
Girlhood
Manhood
Womanhood
Nationhood
Fatherhood
Widowhood

Posted in Language | 1 Comment

Spring Winds

Posted on April 4, 2013 by John Swinburn

Spring weather in north Texas tends toward the dramatic.  Last year—on April 3, 2012—a monstrous band of thunderstorms, some spawning tornadoes, ripped through the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  Video of semi-trailers being flung hundreds of feet in the air made national news.  Images of massive damage to structures made the news, too.  But the images that didn’t seem to make the news were those that preceded the devastating explosion of nature’s wrath.

There is no single path toward the fury that nature unleashes.  Sometimes, ominous black clouds, curling like the lips of a snarling dog, set upon a clear blue sky as if the clouds were about to shred and then devour everything in their path.  Other times, the fury begins more gently.

A dull, grey sky can change almost imperceptibly, taking hours to make the transformation from benign to ferocious.  It may begin with a slightly darker smudge interrupting the monotonous overcast, followed by an even deeper gray smear that fades and disappears into the dullness.  A punctuation mark, a white wisp, may speed across the sky, giving those who pay attention a clue the dull grey ceiling conceals high winds.

Then, the winds that blew that wisp across the sky might dip down, giving those of us who didn’t notice the wisp the first suggestion of severe weather.  Trees begin to bend, and new leaves fly from branches.  Suddenly, the dull overcast becomes a cauldron of black and grey froth.  As if to call attention to the change, a brilliant flash of lightning lights up the sky, followed instantly by a deafening clap of thunder, shaking buildings and the ground beneath one’s feet.  The faint sound of warning sirens compete with the roar of the wind and thunder.  Rain begins to pound at windows.  Gutters meant to divert rainwater from roofs instantly overflow, sending sheets of water cascading to the already soaked ground below.  Storm drains cannot handle the volume.  Streets begin to flood.

Umbrellas are useless.  Either they are ripped from one’s hands and sent tumbling down the street or they turn inside out.  The wind is blowing sideways by now, anyway, so even the strongest umbrellas over one’s head, anchored to a concrete post, would provide no protection against the rain.

Strong brick houses with well-built roofs, houses that normally seem perfectly adequate for protection against the elements, feel flimsy and vulnerable during these storms.  If the storms turn particularly violent, the houses and their inhabitants stand no chance; the winds can rip them from the ground and send them skyward in an instant.  Hailstones, some as big as grapefruit, can shatter windows and walls and roofing materials.  Big, old-growth trees can be stripped bare and broken into kindling by the fierce winds.

The aftermath of violent storms is awful.  But the storms themselves are beautiful.  The strength they possess, the power they unleash is stunning.  Watching the sky become carnivorous is mesmerizing.  Frightening, yes, but mesmerizing nonetheless.   I understand why amateur storm trackers do what they do.  They are after savage beauty.  They want to witness the brutal power of nature.

Posted in Nature, Weather | 1 Comment

Chatter

Posted on March 31, 2013 by John Swinburn

We had a good time yesterday and today.  My brother, the one who’s retired in Mexico, came through and stayed the night with us.  He left this afternoon, bound for Paris where he’ll join his wife and, after a few days, fly to Prague, where they will spend several days.  His wife has been in Paris for a couple of weeks with her daughter and granddaughter (the latter’s graduation present).

Anyway, we had a good time.  The first step was to go have lunch at Jack Mac’s Swill and Grill, a wonderful place that serves unique and exceptional meals.  I had the lamb burger with goat cheese, along with a wonderful Cascadia dark IPA.  Then, last night, we grilled ribeye and drank malbec.

And, now, I’m listening to music.  John Hiatt, Keb Mo’, and others.  Television has lost its luster, not that it ever had much for me; lately, television seems like such a time waster.

Posted in Family, Food, Music | Leave a comment

A Place…A Real Place

Posted on March 29, 2013 by John Swinburn

Lest you get the wrong idea…The Third Place is not my original idea.  It was first proffered by Ray Oldenburg around 1989. But even then the concept was old.  Oldenburg was simply the first one to successfully identify and promote the idea publicly.  The reality of The Third Place has been around for many, many years.  It’s as old as the hills, as they say.

So, what is it?  What is The Third Place?  It is a an environment that has the following characteristics:

It is neutral.  No one is obligated to be there and there is no financial tie to the place.
Conversation is a key activity, though not necessarily the only one.  The Third Place is a place people come to talk and to listen.
It is accessible and accommodating, easy to be there and get there.
There are plenty of regulars who spend time there, people who serve as hosts or guides to those new to the environment.
The Third Place is low key, relaxed, absent pretense. Everyone can feel comfortable.
The atmosphere is relaxed, the mood is playful.
It is warm, comfortable, and homey. It is a home away from home.

There are dozens of bars and restaurants and coffee houses around the country and, probably, around the world, that have adopted the Third Place concept because it is so appealing.  Libraries and community centers, too, have opted to become Third Places. But to me, the Third Place is something bigger, more appealing, longer lasting, and more important.  It is a new reality.  It is a new beginning for our society.  It is a place to begin to plot the future we’ve almost forgotten we need to leave for the next generation.  It is the soul we’ve almost forgotten we own.

It may be too big a concept for me to execute.  But maybe not.

 

 

Posted in Philosophy, Third Place | 2 Comments

The Third Place

Posted on March 26, 2013 by John Swinburn

3rd PlaceThere is a place in the world that is welcoming.  There is a place in the world that calls out to you in a way that no place else can.

There is love and solace in your home.  There are kindred spirits in your workplace.  But both places have baggage.  Both places stipulate the appropriate way to think and feel and behave.  They are important places.  They anchor you to your life and your love and the people who matter most to you.

But they can’t give you everything.  They can’t give you the sense of appreciative love and freedom you need.  They can’t eliminate your sense of obligation.  They can’t give you the absence of demands on your mind, your soul, your body.  For that, you need a third place.  You’ve found it.  It’s here.

My friends, I think I’ve found what I want to do in this next phase of my life.  I want to create The 3rd Place.  You may have heard of it.  It’s not new.

I will write more about it.  In the interim, know this: The 3rd Place is the place you want to spend your time.  It’s a place where you can feel at home, where you can enjoy the company of friends and strangers. Where there will be no strangers, not for long.

I want/I need some help to make it happen.  If you’re interested, tell me.  We can make this work!

 

Posted in Philosophy, Third Place | 1 Comment

An Antonymic View of The World

Posted on March 25, 2013 by John Swinburn

The world is a reflection of itself, an inverse expression of who or what it is. Land versus water. Matter versus void.  Certainty versus doubt.  Truth versus deception. Love versus hate.

My view of the world says these opposites are expository.  They tell us stories we haven’t asked to hear.  Yet we pray to magical beings for access to the truth they reveal.

We want the truth, but we don’t know we want it…so we invent our own version of rationality and work hard to make it match reality.

But it never does, does it?   We do our damnedest to grasp the true nature of existence…we try HARD to translate the theory of relativity into social practice.  But we fail.   Irrationality has its own rigid rules that must be obeyed.  And so we do.  We obey them while calling them names and ripping their entrails from the creatures we are about to consume.

Nature is a shadow, peering over our shoulders like the vultures she has used in a vain attempt to make us understand what happens next.

Good: Bad
Light: Dark
Kindness: Cruelty
Full: Empty
Truth: Lies
Honesty: Deception
Rich: Poor
Up: Down
Reality: Fantasy

But then you get to religion. That’s where the full versus empty things starts to fall apart.

Posted in Philosophy | Leave a comment

Foreign Service

Posted on March 22, 2013 by John Swinburn

Over dinner tonight (my wife’s wonderful Osso Bucco with rice and green beans and a superb salad), I mentioned to my wife that I had read some interesting comments on an online forum. I subscribe to a Quora feed on typical breakfasts around the world.  This afternoon, I read a new post about Chinese breakfasts.  As is typical of me, I didn’t stop there.  I read on and on, stopping at one point to read a post by someone about Turkish breakfasts.

This post about Turkish breakfasts wasn’t made by the typical poster…someone who once visited a foreign country on a stopover, had breakfast, and deemed himself an expert on all things related to the stopover country.  No, this post was made by someone who served for many years in the foreign service and who lived the culture of the country to which he was assigned.  I was fascinated from the moment I started reading about the Turkish breakfast.  The menu isn’t important.  What’s important is the thought process that followed, and the ideas that emerged over tonight’s dinner.

As I told my wife the story, I mentioned how much I wished I would have pursued the opportunity…or tried to make the opportunity…to serve in the foreign service.  My interest in foreign cultures could have been addressed by a career in foreign lands.  My thirst for knowledge about other cultures could have been quenched in such a role. But then, my wife and I began to talk: what, exactly, do foreign service officers do?  What roles do they play? Are ALL of them spies?  Are SOME of them spies?  Do they perform functions that truly serve the American people?  Do they help the people of the countries to which they are assigned?

The questions mushroomed.  And so I ask: if anyone who stumbles across this post can answer my questions, will you?  I am serious.  I know this post will be read by a small number of people, but maybe ONE of you will accidentally find yourself here and will have answers.  Will you share them?

Please.  I want to know more than I know.   That’s not hard, of course, but YOUR knowledge could be just what I’m after.

Posted in Government | Leave a comment

The Legacies of Bigotry

Posted on March 22, 2013 by John Swinburn

As I watched the video presented below, I was struck by the fact that there have been so very many lives lost and ruined by bigotry in all its many forms. Stop, think what bigotry means:

big·ot·ry /ˈbɪgətri/
noun, plural big·ot·ries.
1. stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own.
2. the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.

Now, consider that lives are lost and ruined due to narrow-mindedness…the simple unwillingness to accept that others’ ideas, beliefs, or world-views have any merit whatsoever. I shudder to think this. But it’s a fact of life. I take issue with one point made by the video: we cannot change history today, but we can change the future. We can shape history for generations to come, just by opening our minds.

Posted in Philosophy, Secular morality, Wisdom | Leave a comment