10.29.2023 – too much one-track mind

too much one-track mind
to engage in every piece
of speculation

“I’m with you in the situation. You just have to let it play out, cooperate with the investigation and watch how it plays out,” Harbaugh said. “The speculation part, as I said, I have too much of a one-track mind coaching the team to be able to engage in every piece of speculation. I just channel my inner William Wallace. That’s the visual I think of to keep a one-track mind.”

Jim Harbaugh on was he aware of the sign stealing by the numb numb-nuts on his coaching staff.

I think, back in the day, this was called the ‘non-denial denial.’

As a Professor of mine said about JFK … “He took the blame for the Bay of Pigs … After all, there was no other President at the time.”

Oddly enough I would have heard this lecture back when Jimmy Harbaugh and I were in school together … along with 30,000 other students.

Oh yes, he channels William Wallace.

Oh Boy!

I cannot watch that Braveheart movie with thinking one simple thing.

If either Mel Gibson or Mr. Wallace had watched Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon that movie would have had a much different ending.

As Mr. Bogart said: “If all I’ve said doesn’t mean anything to you, forget it and we’ll make it just this. I won’t because all of me wants to — regardless of consequences — and because you’ve counted on that with me the same as you counted on that with the others… I won’t play the sap for you.”

As Mr. Hammett wrote it, Sam Spade said, “It’s easy enough to be nuts about you.”

He looked hungrily from her hair to her feet and up to her eyes again.

“But I don’t know what that amounts to. Does anybody ever?

But suppose I do?

What of it?

Maybe next month I won’t.

I’ve been through it before — when it lasted that long.

Then what?

Then I’ll think I played the sap.

And if I did it and got sent over then I’d be sure I was the sap.

Well, if I send you over I’ll be sorry as hell — I’ll have some rotten nights — but that’ll pass. Listen.”

He took her by the shoulders and bent her back, leaning over her.

“If that doesn’t mean anything to you forget it and we’ll make it this: I won’t because all of me wants to — wants to say to hell with the consequences and do it — and because — God damn you — you’ve counted on that with me the same as you counted on that with the others.”

Come on Jimmy, don’t play the sap for these guys.

They are counting on that .

Don’t play the sap.

(Full disclosure – this interview was on October 30th and I back dated my post as I missed a day)

10.28.2023 – immanence of ghosts

immanence of ghosts
foam’s oblivion whitening
under crumbling coasts

From the poem, Ultimatum, published in Vigils by Siegfried Sassoon, 1935, LONDON, WILLIAM HEINEMANN, LTD.

Something we cannot see, something we may not reach,
Something beyond clairvoyant vision of the years
Our senses, winged with spirit, wordlessly beseech.
Meanwhile rife rumourings of the earth are in our ears, —
The lonely beat of blood, the immanence of ghosts,
And foam’s oblivion whitening under crumbling coasts.

I watched the sunrise this morning.

I watched the sunrise this morning with my morning coffee in my hand and my morning reading in my lap.

I watched the sunrise this morning looking out my window over the roof of the building next door.

I watched the sunrise this morning but I never saw the sun.

The sky above the building next door was black, full dark black, then first light black, then dark gray, then gray, then silver gray, then silver then the lightest light blue as the particles in the atmosphere began to pick to the presence of the ocean about a mile away from me but miles away from the sky.

To the sky, the ocean is almost just rumourings of the earth

Those particles in the atmosphere are something we cannot see, something we may not reach.

I understand or at least, accept the physics of what is happening here.

The colors are there.

Not just in our senses … or are they?

That ocean reflects its color into the sky while the foam’s oblivion whitening under crumbling coasts.

I watched the sunrise this morning and never saw the sun.

10.27.2023 – fantasies drawn more

fantasies drawn more
real says a lot about what
going on in his head

I allowed myself to get excited when I saw that there was an upcoming article to be published in the New Yorker titled, Life after Calvin.

It was reported to be look at the life of Bill Watterson in one of the few interviews the artist/writer/creator has granted since he stopped creating the Calvin and Hobbs comic strip.

I love Calvin and Hobbs or at least I really enjoy.

Much of it, for me, can be seen as biography.

Much of what Calvin thought, says and does sounds very familiar to me.

With much interest, I have been waiting for this article.

So it is here.

And I have read it.

And …

I am not sure what I wanted it to say.

But it sure didn’t say much.

I think the writer got one or two quotes and fleshed out a New Yorker profile.

I am reminded of something Jim Harrison said about giving interviews.

Mr. Harrison remarked that he could get through any interview by repeating any question back as a statement.

He didn’t have to think much.

And the writer was able to prove all their preconceived notions.

The was one take away thought, but it seems to have been said in some other interview.

The writer, one Rivka Galchen, writes, “Watterson has said, of the illustrations in “Calvin and Hobbes,” “One of the jokes I really like is that the fantasies are drawn more realistically than reality, since that says a lot about what’s going on in Calvin’s head.” Only one reality in “Calvin and Hobbes” is drawn with a level of detail comparable to the scenes of Calvin’s imagination: the natural world. The woods, the streams, the snowy hills the friends career off—the natural world is a space as enchanted and real as Hobbes himself.“

… the fantasies are drawn more realistically than reality, since that says a lot about what’s going on in Calvin’s head.

I like that.

I like that as I think I live that way to this day.

So I can find affirmation of my lifestyle.

As for Mr. Watterson?

In this article, I think there are more quotes from Calvin or Hobbs than from Mr. Watterson.

Maybe the title should have been, Life after Bill.

10.26.2023 – the term for morning

the term for morning
grogginess grouchiness is
sleep inertia

Grogginess.

Grouchiness.

That’s me.

I have never ever been a morning person.

I can’t say I am an anytime of the day person to be honest.

But waking up?

Forget about it.

Of late, I have been noticing how much longer it takes for the caffeine to make a difference.

I am on a ‘hybrid’ schedule and I work from home and I work in the office on different days so getting into a daily rhythm is proving to be a bit difficult.

As I think about how long it takes to wake it seems to make it all the harder to wake up.

Then I read the article, “The Art of Being a Morning Person (Even if You’re Actually Not One)” By Catherine Pearson a reporter for the Well section of The Times, covering families and relationships.

Ms. Pearson writes: Even if you are a naturally early riser, you may not wake up ready to start the day — or even in a particularly good mood. The clinical term for the grogginess and grouchiness many of us experience after waking up is “sleep inertia.” It tends to last 30 to 60 minutes, though the length and intensity depend on the person and circumstances.

I like that.

Inertia.

Sleep Inertia.

Isaac Newton’s first law of motion states that, “a body at rest remains at rest“.

Mr. Newton’s first law is also known as the law of ‘Intertia.’

A body at rest stays at rest.

Yup, that’s it all right!

Ms. Pearson writes: Simply acknowledging that reality can help bring a feeling of peace and acceptance to the morning, she said. Find ways to protect that quiet time: Maybe sit in bed and take a few deep breaths. Couple it with a strategy known to increase wakefulness, such as soaking up some sunlight (or bright artificial light) or moving your body …

So if your goal is to wake up earlier — or to mitigate early morning grouchiness — it is essential to build in immediate rewards … Consider what would feel good in the moments after you wake up. Maybe it’s a delicious breakfast, she said, or cranking up some music that you love.

Be patient with yourself. “Habits are very persistent, and you shouldn’t expect them to change immediately … If you set in place ways to reduce friction, and ways to increase rewards, you’re more likely to be able to change.”

I like it.

I will have to work on other essential, immediate rewards.

But my first choice for a reward is to crawl back under the covers.

And over come a general reluctance to face my day.

On the other hand maybe I will embrace grogginess and grouchiness.

It is who I am and I am what I am.

Though I will feel some empathy with those other drivers out there who have to share the road with me.

10.25.2023 – sclerotic system

sclerotic system
lets people rise through deceit
and thrives through failure

I love that word sclerotic.

Never heard before today.

According to the online Merriam-Webster it means:

“grown rigid or unresponsive especially with age : unable or reluctant to adapt or compromise”

And guess what?

I did not come across the word in any article about the House of Representitives.

Nope.

It was used in an article about the House of Commons in Britain.

In the article, Here’s the key question about Britain in 2023: why do we put up with this rubbish?, by Gavin Esler, Mr. Esler writes:

It’s not the five failed prime ministers since 2016 and their incompetent sidekicks.

It’s Us.

We tolerate a sclerotic, antiquated democratic system allowing people you wouldn’t trust with your wallet or to babysit your children to rise through deceit and thrive through failure.

British politicians lied occasionally in the past; now lying was frequent and shameless. Nothing worked.

The “bad eggs” used to resign; now they were promoted.

They created problems but rarely solved them.

I was watching some on-air discussion about the House the other night and the question was asked, doesn’t this bother the men and women in the House?

The answer was, for the most part, the men and women who have brought about the current State of Affairs had no interest in governing.

They wanted exposure.

They wanted media time.

They wanted money.

For THEMSELVES!

Service to their country?

Don’t waste their time.

I was struck when one commentator said the Republican’s don’t like the leadership role where they have to produce, they would rather be the ones who get to just complain.

I don’t know what to say but we are putting up with this.

As Obi-Wan said, “Who’s the more foolish; the fool, or the fool who follows him?”