Now Wendy is doing it

Usually it is Sunni who writes what I’m thinking. Today, though, it’s Wendy:

The problem is the culture in which I live, including people (like
family members) whom I cannot simply ignore. They value money and
prestige above happiness — indeed, above all else. They judge a person
as successful or a failure based on bank accounts, cars,
bling…whatever costs a bundle to have means you are a success; if you
don’t have it, you’re a failure. I honestly don’t think it occurs to
them that someone would deliberately reject what they consider to be
success. It is like saying someone would choose not to be American; it
just doesn’t register as possible.

Finally!

I’ve been wondering when my favorite author’s new book was coming out.  Amazon finally announced it. I’m marking my calendar.

Better late than never

Just watched the first (3 hour) episode of Battlestar Galactica.  Wow!  Great story and wonderful characters. Netflix can’t get the next episodes to me quickly enough.

I think someone is trying to tell me something

First it was Sunni, here and here, then it was Presto. Now it’s Ernie The Attorney’s turn. Much to think about as I ponder changes in my life.

Thanks to posts over at Rich’s & Art’s, I picked up a copy of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.  It’s a fascinating read and ties together a ton of other ideas I’ve absorbed from other authors, ranging from Jerzy Kosinski to Ayn Rand to Jacques Monod to Alfred Korzybski.   I highly recommend it.

Speaking of Kosinski, it was a book review of his book Passion Play that led me to cancel my subscription to the National Review.  It wasn’t that the review was negative, it was that they made the factual error of saying that Kosinski won the National Book Award for his novel, The Painted Bird, when he actually won it for Steps.  Coming as it did after the Review’s scurrilous article on libertarianism, that error was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.

Anger

I’ve been reading Billy Beck’s stuff since his days on usenet (remember alt.philosophy.objectivism?) . I know that there are some people in the blogosphere who chide him for the tone of some of his posts, especially when he focuses on current events. Those folks think he’s too antagonistic, too angry. However, when I look at the current state of affairs, I can’t help but think his tone is just right. People who are out to steal your money, your time, your life, should be treated with disdain and anger. On those rare occasions when I listen to some candidate wax eloquent on how they want to regulate and control my life,  I check to see that my shotgun is loaded. And on those occasions, I think Billy isn’t angry enough.

Successful life

In reading Sunni’s post on this topic and the comments people made, I find myself nodding in agreement with most of what was written. I would like to note, however, that it would all come to naught without maintaining a certain level of awareness, what the Russian Rage - thanks for that characterization, Billy - sometimes called focus. It’s a constant struggle in a society where the average person watches several hours of television a day and where the siren call of the computer sucks untold hours, to pull away and actually think. Many people exist in a state of semi-consciousness for most of their lives. Can you really be happy when you aren’t totally aware?

Another one bites the dust….

Athur C. Clark, RIP.

Springtime reading

Last Night As I Was Sleeping by Antonio Machado
Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Translated by Robert Bly

Hello?

Anybody still out there?  Sorry I haven’t written in awhile - I’ve been out of the country attending the funeral of a close relative.  Things should get back to normal fairly soon.