I loved my last post about sports. It was so cathartic. After the election, I thought I would blog a lot more but life is changing as it always has. My Facebook posts reach a larger audience and even when I have nothing creative to do with the post, as in sharing someone else's for instance, I feel a sense of participating in a dialog that is important and affects things. Yet, my heart is here with the blogs so I will be here, just less often.

The Only College Football Post I Ever Do, I Hope

I noticed Alabama's Coach Saban shrug his shoulders over and over in a post game interview. It was funny. I completely remember being punished for shrugging my shoulders at my teacher in first grade. She said "Stop shrugging your shoulders at me." I did not even know what the word "shrug" meant and shrugged my shoulders in reply. I got swatted.

My stepson had been watching the Alabama-Auburn game and it was in it's waning moments when I got home from work. I watched Alabama's coach in a post game interview. I noticed him shrugging quite a bit. I backed the tape up and counted Coach Saban's shrugs just for the heck of it. 17 shrugs were apparent if I included the micro shrugs. AND it was an extremely short interview. So at this point I thought that surely someone had noticed this before. In all likelihood, Coach Saban must do this constantly. So I looked it up on the Internet and to be sure found THIS.

But oddly, before I found that one, I found this: 

 

It was coincidentally the same number that I counted and posted in almost exactly the same form I used on Facebook, to wit: "Saban 'Aww gee whiz' shrug count in post game interview = 17".  I post anything on Facebook. If someone doesn't like it, there is an unfriend button for me and them.  :)  I have defriended dozens and dozens because of annoying sports posts. Otherwise intelligent people have to be banned for me to be able to enjoy Facebook. And I do enjoy it.

Furthermore, since the date was different in this tweet which I had uncovered, this tweet must have referred to a different game. How strange! As with most things, even when I have an original thought, someone else has beat me to it. But, in reality, I actually knew this kind of thing would be out there in cyberspace somewhere because of three reasons. (1) This man shrugs like nobody's business. It makes him look very insincere. His first grade teacher had nothing on mine. (2) I hardly ever watch sports anymore, (college football sports was the last to go) so what was the likelihood this was unique? The only thing unique was that the game was on my TV. (3) College football fans spend godawful amounts of time discussing and studying every unimportant aspect of their hobby. I used to be this way about my hobby, The Beatles, and in some ways I still do this. But there isn't a competitive thing going on in my hobby. Nevertheless, I kind of get it. I think the competitive thing is dumb, but I get it. 

So, it all boils down to this: I basically only like "Curling" which I see in the Winter Olympics. I used to like lots of Winter Olympic sports and will watch them a bit, but the best sport of all, in the entire world, bar none, is Curling. They are gentlemen, or gentlewomen. The sport has good sportsmanship. The rest of sports you can toss in a barrel and burn. Drugged performances, commercialism, bribed players, shallow fans, idiotic interviews, and commentators that are as dumb as toasted oats. 

Sadly, the Alabama or Auburn football fans honestly fail to see how their hobby colors their world negatively. Some sincerely speak about tolerance and in the next breath, or post, are extremely intolerant of someone because of the sports team they support. Is there a better metaphor for the dehumanization of mankind? Because, in general, the state of Alabama does not have a lot of folks that are tolerant towards anyone different or any thought which is not a truism directly from Fox Noise. And, that intolerance seeps in  through the back door of college football for those others who would otherwise be very thoughtful people. It is like racism without even a racial characteristic to recognize.

Shit!, my father would have said.

The Morning Line

Nate Silver's Odds on Tuesday Morning
Of course I have voted. Stop your silliness.
Who in heaven's name wouldn't vote when it's this close??? :)

Drawing for an Inside Straight

Nate's final column: "All of this leaves Mr. Romney drawing to an inside straight. I hope you’ll excuse the cliché, but it’s appropriate here: in poker, making an inside straight requires you to catch one of 4 cards out of 48 remaining in the deck, the chances of which are about 8 percent. Those are now about Mr. Romney’s chances of winning the Electoral College, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast.

As any poker player knows, those 8 percent chances do come up once in a while. If it happens this year, then a lot of polling firms will have to re-examine their assumptions — and we will have to re-examine ours about how trustworthy the polls are. But the odds are that Mr. Obama will win another term."

 Nate:
O 91.4 - R 8.6

Electoral: 314.4  -  223.6   

Nate Silver, A Heartfelt Thank You for the Line; or, Yet Another Reason to Vote for Barack Obama

Tomorrow and Monday, I'm off. Tuesday night, election night, is a work night for me. I have missed election night coverage once before standing in line for hours and hours to cast my vote after work. I have a pleasant memory of listening to a small radio with headphones.This was how I experienced the election of Bill Clinton 20 years ago. I had said "Yes!" under my breath a number of times for key battleground states, trying to contain my excitement as it became more and more obvious that Clinton would beat Bush, Sr. After a few interruptions by people asking me what was happening, I learned to contain myself. I was just not used to missing television election coverage.

The long lines I encountered were the result of having too few voting machines at my polling precinct. The reason was surely voter suppression. I had worked all day at a library, which was used as a different precinct where lines were nonexistent. I was not happy to be in a line that ran through the parking lot of the precinct where I had to vote. People would actually drive by the line asking how long we had been waiting and drive off after hearing the answer. Where I had worked, people had voted without a wait.

It was a bit more fun to confirm the rumor in the line that Clinton had been projected our next president. I remember someone interrupting  me yet again. I took my headphones off to say: "Oh yes, they said a few minutes ago that Clinton has won." It was at least another hour before I cast my vote. I don't know how they vote in Montgomery, AL now. We use paper ballots in Opelika, AL and there is no wait here. It is much much much better. I am actually able to plan voting as a small stopoff on the way to work. I can't even begin to imagine the luxury of paper ballots combined with early voting.

In this year's election, there is a different line: Nate Silver's line on the horse-race nonsense that is America's educational tool for whom to choose as president. I now consider Mr. Silver to be one of the few journalists in America, adding him to the column with Rachel Maddow. I made this decision after reading his column this morning, if a blog can now be called a "column." His brilliance is a little subtle but bear with me. Here is the final argument of his piece:

Yes, of course: most of the arguments that the polls are necessarily biased against Mr. Romney reflect little more than wishful thinking.

Nevertheless, these arguments are potentially more intellectually coherent than the ones that propose that the leader in the race is “too close to call.” It isn’t. If the state polls are right, then Mr. Obama will win the Electoral College. If you can’t acknowledge that after a day when Mr. Obama leads 19 out of 20 swing-state polls, then you should abandon the pretense that your goal is to inform rather than entertain the public.

But the state polls may not be right. They could be biased. Based on the historical reliability of polls, we put the chance that they will be biased enough to elect Mr. Romney at 16 percent.

Mr. Silver gives Gov. Mitt Romney a 16% chance of winning and that is almost entirely based upon the possibility of systematic bias in the polls. Here is the key point of this assessment: pundits (as opposed to journalists) who come up with totally fallacious arguments based on one poll or another are just plain wrong. There is very little, if any, evidence that one poll would be correct even as a snapshot in time. Additionally, pundits who now say the race is "too close to call" are merely shilling for their media outlet whether it be on television or otherwise. The polls, when coupled with the electoral college, are very clearly leaning or almost falling over to scream that Obama is likely to win. No, Mr. Silver does not say Mr. Obama will win... and that is a major distinction.

In explaining polls, we usually say they are within a certain percentage of being wrong. The more people you survey and the more random the sample, the more likely that the poll will be right. It could, within that percentage, be wrong. Nate Silver has scientifically calculated that percentage to be 16%, period. Reading the article you must also believe that Nate Silver is using valid methods to aggregate the polls, which I believe he is and want the election to help prove.

By reaching out and attacking the "too close to call" statement (which almost every pundit is now basing their arguments on) Nate Silver is attacking the very heart of punditry. His cold mathematical calculations are exactly what pundits are pretending to go on and on about. If so, they are wrong, It is the idiotic horse-race media show that Mr. Silver is attacking. If you want to use the science of polls, here it is. Splat! Ready to go on to another story like global warming? Well, by all means do that, because unless you want to read out of a statistics textbook, here are the numbers in one fell swoop. [By the way, Nate Silver does a fine job of explaining those statistics textbooks as well.]

So, does it matter which way the results go?  Scientifically speaking...not really. By giving us the actual scientific "line" or odds, Mr. Silver has put his reputation on the "line" which is something the pundits just do not do. And this is why Nate Silver is a true journalist. He has presented the facts as he knows them.

If the election goes to Romney, it might muss up Mr. Silver's reputation a bit, that is, in the eyes of the unscientific. After all, it would have defied the odds. Yes, there is 16% chance of this happening. But will Nate Silver subsequently be correct about the unreliability of polls and punditry based on the polls? Hopefully, yes. In the case of Romney winning, we should be able to prove the polls completely unreliable.  If Mr. Silver is to be believed, polls used by pundits will take a hit if Mr. Romney wins. If Mr. Romney loses, pundits will take a direct hit because they have battled with political science in the form of Nate Silver.

I say Nate Silver is a geek genius until proven otherwise. He already has the creds under his belt. So, if you like geeks over pundits (which surely you do), vote for Barack Obama. If Gov. Romney wins, you never know what strategies the pundits will use to lie their polls into the clear.

Why Obama Now

Slipstream - another post

I knew I had written about "Slipstream" by Jethro Tull when I accidentally came across an article in Daily Kos which was oddly about the second "side" of Jethro Tull, the side devoted to religion. link   I did post something, but looking back, I never explained the meaning, just assuming my hint would unfold the meaning. The entry was in this blog for some reason, rather than another, so here I place this. Sorry, I'm learning this blog stuff as I go. It is odd that the writer at Daily Kos said second "side." This goes back to vinyl.  I knew the second side was a different album from the first which was entitled "Aqualung." The second side is an album entitled "My God." And I knew this because, with vinyl, I held the music in my hands. Look at the labels on the vinyl:

Look to the right under "Side One"

...and under "Side Two"

In the article, the author admits his inability to understand the meaning of "Slipstream."  I have lived with this album being a primary influence on my life, so you know I have an opinion.
The lyrics:

Well, the lush separation enfolds you
And the products of wealth
Push you along on the bow wave
Of their spiritless, undying selves

And you press on god's waiter your last dime
As he hands you the bill
And you spin in the slipstream, timeless, unreasoning
Paddle right out of the mess and you paddle right out of the mess

Song link, Youtube.

I have always liked the first line of this. The lush separation that enfolds a person is the separation between one and God. It is a richly patterned separation; it is clever; it is from society all around with it's entertainment and fine clothes and fine decoration. This song is going to be about the arrogant hypocrisy of the wealthy who believe they can serve both God and money.

Continuing... the products of wealth push you along on a bow wave. This is the first analogy to water and a ship. One can ride on a bow wave, the wave that spreads outward from the front or bow of a ship, being pushed along by the force of the ship. Dolphins do this and small boats can do this.

It is a short song. Second and last verse: to press on God's waiter your last dime, is an indication of the limits of being human. God's waiter must be serving you the food or word of God, so this must refer to organized religion or churches. "The distinction between religion and God" is important in almost every song on the My God side of the album deferring to Rolling Stone here for the phrase but their review seems to mush together the two separate themes of the album. (Side one seems much more thematically about society and Dickens.) Side two is dead on obviously about God and religion.

In pressing a dime on the waiter for God, I have vision of slipping money into the hand of the waiter to look the other way. Since my youth I guessed this referred to the selling of indulgences. There are two kinds of indulgences:  partial and plenary.  A partial indulgence removes part of the punishment of sins that has been or is yet to be committed.  A plenary indulgence removes all of the punishment of sins. It is one of those things I would not want to explain to my child when going over the history of the church.

Using one's last dime must refer to the temporary nature of human existence. And you spin in the slipstream which is that part of the water behind a ship that is moving along ahead. Unlike the bow wave it is more turbulent and might cause your small boat to spin. To me the ship refers to life and now it is passing us by, as it must. It just moves without regard to you. A slipstream can also be ridden as it sucks a small boat behind it. Paddle right out of the mess and you paddle right out of the mess would refer to our attempt to paddle out of the spin. Man's attempt to do this and the ship itself is timeless, and unreasoning. It is complete arrogance to believe that wealth has no responsibility attached to help one's neighbor, to save a starving man, to at least put one's vote to use to accomplish a good society and eradicate poverty and war... and it is the wealthy this song is describing. There is no last dime in wealth, it is the last dime in health. There is an inevitable end. Indulgences, perhaps, but I think that is more of a pig in a poke sold to the wealthy by the churches they fund, churches that teach the acceptance of camels going through the eyes of needles.

Fold out album inset. This was one great package of ideas.

One side of album inner sleeve.

Close-up of inset one, classic Tull one legged pose.

Album inner sleeve, other side.

Close up of inset 2.

There is nothing but nothing like holding the music in your hands, holding your prized possession of awakening.

Headaches

Ouch... or a very long ouch.

Hope

We had an interesting church hunting experience this morning. The pastor at the church we were exploring was a woman. Unfortunately, or somewhat fortunately as it was a nice experience, the theme was music and there was not a formal sermon. We will be going back next week to see her in action. I have to admit it was so unique having a woman guiding the church. If she just hadn't mentioned the presidential election in passing.... But we will go back and hope (pray) she doesn't mention politics again. Another nice thing was an older gentleman in the choir being helped by a lady beside him, with the pages of his music. She also helped him down from the stage. I have often admired the endurance of older people in churches. I myself get tired of standing and sitting and standing again. I guess churches want to have participation from the members but I get tired of standing at rock concerts, too. Just once I would like to relax and watch an entertainer perform while I was seated as if in a recliner at home watching TV.

Sunday as a Saturday

Sunday morning. Still on a church search so Wanda and I can be together on the first morning of my weekend. Last time, the church pastor mentioned politics three separate times. There was a subtle wink wink push in the "right" direction and very strong push to vote. I never thought it likely that I would ever hear the politically wonky term "election cycle" during a sermon, but there it was as if by Biblical inspiration. :) Today I think it's a Methodist church. I actually may have found a church I like, Episcopalian, decided more on the people attending than the dynamics of the ritual or the sermon, but we are trying to find one together. My marriage to Wanda and a similar central connection to my stepchildren are the most important aspects of my life.

Late at Night

I seem to have very good ideas late at night. If I act upon them, late at night becomes later and later. If I wait until morning, well, I certainly have no time or inclination for action. I guess I am somewhat doomed to lose sleep over losing sleep tonight.

Meme GOP on Facebook

 

This is the group I have been helping and this is my graphic for the occasion, mine, sort of, as always, sort of. :) I feel really nice tonight that in a short period of time I have grown so much. My married years have just been so fulfilling.

 

 

 

Simply This

I now see exactly why parents often hold their children back. This meme shows up everywhere in movies and show business. Think of it as the daughter with overbearing mom meme. She can do nothing right. She sees in everything her mother says, a putdown of her efforts. I think it naturally shows up in show business because what could possibly be more likely to fail?

What parent would actually encourage their children not to become a dentist, and instead chase a dream? Not many. I'm past the stage of dream chasing, actually, so it hardly matters that my parents are not around to smack me down and get me going in the proper dentistry accomplishment direction. Too late. I've been off on my own for most of my life now and while not as successful in monetary terms as others and more successful than some others, I really don't care. I eat, I have roof.

I have never been a parent and now am a step-parent. My first inclination is always is to pop the heck out of someone's dream with ideas because I sense that things are not realistic in my own terms of reference. I really admit that is my first thought in being the proper parental figure. I only noticed it as I saw it in someone else. But the terms of my reference are really not enough to go by. Why the heck cannot we just say to ourselves: I don't know everything? Enjoy your life sweet stepdaughter, nice stepson. I will not be in your way.

Have I not enjoyed my own life? And when everything is considered, what are the sparkling achievements?  I know what they are and they didn't come from a lack of dreaming.

So how to balance this mess of being a step-parent, in whatever way, and being true to what I really did in my own life? I don't know really. I'll take a guess my own parents were winging it as well.

Oh, Apple, Apple, Apple (the non-Beatles one)

Life

Our journey through life could be defined as one thing after another. However, when we say, "It has been one thing after another," we are not saying it in any positive way.

I do understand that the art of keeping yourself busy can be the most positive experience that can be found. So, I'm sitting in this room of sick people reading a book about how Wall Street has purchased the government, and my Kindle beeps to tell me that there is only 15% battery left. But, instead of say, going out to get another ebook reader, I just put it down and bask in the quiet.

Oh yes, a cough now and then, but that only reminded me that there were people sicker than I. Eventually I am in an exam room and it seems too quiet  so I start reading again and soon, put my book down for a second time, just basking in the now utterly silent room. I honestly was in no hurry, other than the fact that I needed to get to work, for my doctor to come in.

Now, this is, as you have probably suspected by now, an entry of little or no interest. I have an ear infection and sinus infection which is par for the course for me. I got to bare my bottom to a nurse for a shot of antibiotics and that was it. But, honestly, I have been so busy. I like my life with a little completely boring downtime these days. Never before did I enjoy wating in a waiting room with a headache. And that is the only unique and interesting aspect to recount. I enjoy waiting now....nah, perhaps it was just that damned headache...

Non-profit Happiness

Busy at work, busy at home doing political graphics. I am feeling so good physically and mentally. When I had to do graphics and websites for money for some local businesses, I hated it. I slogged through the work but did enjoy using the money to make earlier payments on the house and not feel so guilty paying for cruises. But the work was never fun.

If you would like to view my graphics, look for a picture folder called "my photoshop".

Woweee

First up, a guy who comes in here and always has problems of one kind or another who reminds me of Cliff Barnes from Dallas had to go out and roll up his car windows because we just got rain from the tropical storm Isaac. I said "Naturally his windows would be down. It's not like we all haven't done that once in a while, it's that this guy does all the things all the time that we all just do once in a while."

Secondly, the Tomato Sandwich of Truth has a purpose. I can share a little truth. :) Last night I was looking at political graphics I have shared with a sort of distribution page. I am getting thousands of shares. Thousands and thousands of comments on those shares and I can, like, scroll down page after page of people who discussed my political thought! MY IDEA! 

 I'm on cloud 9. This is the Tomato Sandwich, either you like them, or you don't. So there. :)

Finally, My Morman Story

I've thought a long time about this and have concluded that I really must tell my story and and inside joke that I have battered like a dead horse for years around here. This is not an anti-Romney story but there is one odd coincidence. Anyway, I'll tell my story here where the truth will always out.

My colleague has the neatest desk imaginable while mine is filled with things I do not know what to do with and can't bear to part with in weak moments. I just put the undecided thing in my desk and say, well, at least I don't have to worry later about having thrown it away. It is small pack rat thing going on. But my colleagues desk is organized like the perfect office worker that she is.

We loan or give out pens, pencils, paperclips, staples, tape, white out, Kleenex, and sometimes scissors. Each of us have a few pair of scissors but my colleague, unbeknown to me had a pair she had purchased herself that were of a much higher quality and price.

Mormons come in to where I work to use the computers. I don't know about the unique rules they have to follow about transportation and media, but they often come in small groups. This had been happening for about 5 years and they were always men. They change out every so often, maybe every 6 months or so. Then we will meet a whole new group  dressed as meticulously as their predecessors.

One period of time was different. Mormon women came to the library. The event which has always haunted happened at the very end of their missionary cycle. A young Mormon woman, whom I had come to know fairly well, came to the desk to ask for a pair of scissors. I could not find my scissors among the mass of hoarded shiny objects in my desk and reached over to my colleagues desk to get a pair of her scissors to loan out.

She never came back with them. In fact none of this group of girls came back, and of course, yes, they were the expensive scissors that my colleague had purchased for herself. I tried to explaint the fact that I trusted the girl with these scissors precisely because she was a Mormon and Mormons were the most polite people we ever have in here.

"Because," I said, "If you can not trust a Mormon, who can you trust?" Well, this was an inside joke for years about me not letting Mormons borrow scissors. It took on many variations. I tend to like repetitive humor which drives other people crazy.

When Romney was running, I made a few scissor jokes but none that really were out of character. I honestly highly respect the LDL Church primarily because of all the creative  television commercials they used to do as a public service. No matter what their selfish intention might have been, they were using television to increase the community and personal character of everyone and improve the values of common Americans. Then....along came Paul Ryan. And there was a political cartoon with Romney running dangerously with a pair of Ryan's budget cutting scissors.

Now that is odd.

Truth About Hallmark

The days continue to meld together seamlessly. I am pretty much happy all of the time. I switch interests so fast as well. One day I'll be into Facebook, the next, not so much. I enjoy pretty much everything that comes along. Last night I fell asleep watching "When Worlds Collide." It varied from my usual installment of Dark Shadows but was just as interesting.

I contemplated the fact that sometimes I like new dramatic shows, sometimes old ones. I feel very much at home now watching almost anything, though reality shows grind a bit. When I say "pretty much anything," I mean anything except commercials. Also I mean shows that are in their original state and not chopped up for commercials and sped up for more commercials.

I taped a bunch of Perry Mason shows on the Hallmark Movie Channel. Now I have always associated Hallmark with good quality, but no more. First they didn't show the full opening credit sequence. It lasted about 5 seconds, chopped down to the title and a few bars of the song. Seriously, 5 seconds. I was ok with that if they just showed the entire episode after this but alas, they showed the beginning of the story chopped down to as little time as possible (though I did not notice any speeding up of the film). And during this short clip they also pasted a graphic at the bottom over a fourth of the screen. When this was gone they had a flashy animated "Hallmark" logo that grabbed one's attention.

In this particular opening clip of Perry Masson, a woman in a short skirt (meaning it showed her calves) was walking away from the viewer. The entire ambiance of the 50's was in that opening scene and in the bottom third of the screen, the part that was just unimportant to Hallmark Movie Channel.

I immediately erased all the Perry Mason shows that I had DVRed.

This is where providers like Netflix will find their best audience, people who are sick and tired of commercials that not only fill the space between the scenes, but now fill the scenes and shorten the scenes and speed up the scenes.

I read an article of how people are abandoning cable and satellite subscriptions in favor of Netflix and alternate sources of programing like Over-the-Air television. This will continue as long as the cable networks veer more towards wall to wall commercials rather than shows the view wants to watch AND is paying a fee for.

Yes!!!!

I think I finally have a way of uploading my old VHS tapes with a minimum of trouble (and expense) and a maximum video quality. It is not perfect, but we are talking about old VHS tapes. I am going with Vimeo for now. I posted something on Youtube and got one really ignorant comment so I will just post here on my blogs and Vimeo. My videos are on the link above marked "TV Blog."  I really didn't care much for a wide audience anyway. It's just a hobby.... and a proper hobby for a librarian. :)

All is well. This was my day off. My wife is working late unfortunately but I have had a nice quiet Monday. I think my off days of Sunday and Monday are going to work out.


Odd noise outside...  the mosquito bug spray pickup truck. :)  Gees, it is nice here with that being the only noise that I have heard all day except for the TREC man coming to take some voltage meter off the side of the house. I'm finished with those guys. They can do with me what they will. I will just continue my parody blog oblivious to their nonsense. :)

The Grand Old Party

"Well, you may take my word, that nine parts in ten of a man's sense or his nonsense, his successes and miscarriages in this world depend upon their motions and activities, and the different tracks and trains you put them into, so that when they are once set a-going, whether right or wrong, 'tis not a half-penny matter,--away they go cluttering like hey-go mad;and treading the same steps over and over again, they presently make a road of it, as plain and as smooth as a garden-walk, which, when they are once used to, the Devil himself sometimes shall not be able to drive them off it."  -- Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy

Lost in Space

I was writing this rather longish post on here about a week ago when the electricity went out, and of course, being a geek, I just went on with life without complaint, not wanting to admit that I had not saved. :)

I was thinking that I  might have two options here. One, to just admit everywhere I go that I idiotically don't follow what I know is right, or kinda cover it up and pretend it never happened.

Then I started wondering if that was perhaps something someone who is steeped in any belief might wonder. Why was I speeding? Isn't that against the law? Why didn't I just give that guy a dollar who had his hand out and a homemade sign saying he was homeless?

But my antistress training kicks in somewhere here, and I just do not worry about things. I think that perhaps those who have problems with stress just don't know when to quit thinking about something too deeply. I know that my individual problem is worrying about not supplying what another needs, either in my personal life or in my job with its rather generous and broad job description.

I quit a Psychology major because of the same reason: the unspecified. I felt my courses of study to just be too broad and general to be of use in helping individual people. Later they went on to find drugs, so good for them. :)

Meanwhile I somehow ended up in a job that was really amazingly broad and general...

Oh, and on Saturdays.... it is even more out there in space... if this morning was any indication.

Update: it was a great indication.

In Which I Am Red Faced and Forgotten

This is a picture I took of myself in a mirror during the time when I was sick. It seems hard to believe I was so sick and the doctors had no clue. My stomach was the main problem but my face, as seen here, was very red. This was not sunburn. I don't know if there is a medical explanation for this. I had so many symptoms. Dizzyness (which turned out to be my inner ear) and all forms of odd things were happening. All I know is that most of these symptoms are gone now, my problem mainly being caused by the effects of anxiety on my stomach, acid reflux, IBS, etc. I took a number of photos trying to actually get a profile picture so I was actually trying to find a shot that demphasized the redness.

I just ran across this picture while weeding out some files. It is nice to have this momento of a time when I could find no answers and it seemed that all would just continue downhill. Although I am a fairly huge wimp when it comes to illness, I kind of admire the simple fact that I got through this time. I found the right doctor. And as time went by, I have forgotten what my tender to the touch red face even felt like.

The history of me is full of mysteries. My parents died when I was in my early 20's so it has been so long since I had their imput to my early history as a kid. People die all the time and we lose just a little of the history of us each time this happens.

I have taken on a project to put my videotapes on Youtube, indexed on one of my other blogs. Most of this stuff will be boring to all but a few, I suppose. A few things might be interesting to a lot of people. My picture above may be interesting to only me. But I did tape stuff from CNN backhaul feeds, shows that featured the Beatles, a few soap operas, and things that I thought woud be forgotten. I taped them for a reason, I knew that they might just never be saved by someone else.

Real World Dark Knight

Day of mixed feelings. I just assume gun violence as a cultural problem we will never shed. I usually pay just a little attention to the tragedies that I assume will occur on a constant basis. Yes it is gun laws, but it is also very cultural. Yet today, it just seemed so much more heart rending. It reminded me of Mark David Chapman's moment of fame and one of the worst days of my life. To an old man it is terrifying what people find entertaining at the movies and in video games. What was so awful to me today was the description of a very good eyewitness of how long it took people to realize the moment was a real world event and not just a part of a show. We need to change the culture and what we fill our days with.

In which I begin yet again...

The truth has no single beginning or ending. It has lots of them. I am back to my favorite blog. Forget the others. They are but fluff. Here is where the truth comes out. And I begin yet again...

It was an odd day at work today. There were so many people who think in so many different ways. Really, if you get a really good meme going and sort of get people moving in the right direction, I fancy you might get something done. I'm pretty darned positive though, it would be the wrong thing.

For whatever reason, these people are way different. This week's Romney antics make you wonder how the heck this guy is in the position he has come to occupy. How did they get him past the vetting process? Was there a vetting process? Was everyone in the equation just so oddly different from each other that they could not get together and realize this man's public persona is that of Sybil Isabel Dorsett? Flip Flop is not even the right phrase. His is a world where two opposite things can be true at the same time. He is the first candidate that straddles the Fringe universe.

This is happening in my time. Surely not enough time has passed that half the people in America would believe you can retroactively resign from a job.

You see my problem?  Beginning again and again and again. There is no common thread. But after all, this is the truth.