What Is Normal for the Fly...

"Before you speak, you are master of the words. After the words are spoken, they are master of you." That's either a Zen saying, or I've read so many Zen sayings that I made one up.

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Roger Sterling- "Well, I’ve got to go learn a load of people’s names before I fire them.”

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A correspondent on This Week had a friendly interview with a Georgia Trump supporter and asked her what it would take to restore her faith in the election system. 

"If Trump wins, that would restore it."

Her sentiment crystallizes what I've found echoed over and over and over through countless conversations. There's a widespread belief among many on the right that there's only one possible outcome- either Trump wins, or the election was illegitimate. This insanity starts right at the top, Trump has said it outright. It's beyond politics- it's about reason versus nonsense.

The Republican in charge of Georgia election integrity was interviewed next and stated the obvious- that our belief in the election system can't be based on whether or not our chosen candidate wins.

Trump might win legitimately, and Biden might win legitimately. If someone can't admit that on either side, there's no foundation to start a conversation. These people have no integrity to their beliefs, and their words on the subject are meaningless. They assume that their wishes define reality.

April 28, 2024

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Oh my goodness, I just played racquetball harder than I thought it was possible for me to play. I was dead tired and lost against the best player, 7-15. He then said he had seven minutes left for another, there were no takers, and I said I'd give it another shot. I started out with an ace to his backhand, then an ace to his forehand, then another ace to his backhand. We went back and forth for awhile with me peppering in more aces. Games usually take about 20 minutes but points were flying fast and furiously. At the 7 minute mark I ended it with a another ace to his backhand, winning it 15-7. Fantastic. I played the soul out of my body, and hobbled home. It was worth it. I'm not always going to be able to do this. Will I ever again be able to do this?

April 28, 2022

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Regardless of guilt or innocence, I can't help but think Johnny Depp is tossing in 10-20% of Edward Scissorhands into his mannerisms and testimony to gain extra sympathy.

April 28, 2022

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I always enjoy watching presidents' addresses to Congress. I love the precision of the language, the subtext, the grand themes. I think there's a good way to measure the strength of the speech, no matter who is president. They win if they word their ideas so perfectly that it makes their opponents look absolutely ridiculous sitting there not applauding.

April 28, 2021

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Very sorry to hear that Michael Collins died. Imagine being on the Apollo 11 mission but being the guy who circled the moon versus the guys who got to walk on the moon. I read an Apollo 11 book that had the craziest tidbit about him. I've never been able to forget it. When he was young he would use crabs as bait to catch fish, then he'd chop up the fish to use as bait to catch crabs, and so on. An endless cycle of life and death with Michael Collins right in the middle of it. Strange. We are all simultaneously a thing unto ourselves, and always in the process of becoming something else. Michael Collins manifested that not only in that weird crab/fish tidbit, but also in his life dedicated to pushing the frontiers of science.

April 28, 2021

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Trump-style leadership in a nutshell: Here are some guidelines to follow for everyone's safety, so now stick them up your asses because rules are like, made to be broken, man! God bless the United Shtates of America. 

April 28, 2020

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The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe was born on this day in 1757.

"How difficult it has been for mankind, in all ages and countries, to preserve their dearest rights and best privileges, impelled as it were by an irresistible fate of despotism."

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Ferruccio Lamborghini was born on this day in 1916.

“Everything went like a dream for three-quarters of the race-until we ran off the road.”

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Benito Mussolini died on this day in 1945, at the hands of his own people. It was Saddam Hussein's 8th birthday.

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David Letterman-

Based on what you know about him in history books, what do you think Abraham Lincoln would be doing if he were alive today? 1) Writing his memoirs of the Civil War. 2) Advising the President. 3) Desperately clawing at the inside of his coffin

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Just noticed that some fans at the Ridgemont/Lincoln football game were wearing "ASSASSINATE LINCOLN" buttons. Haha.

April 28, 2015

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Do you know the word Schadenfreude? It's a German word without an English equivalent that means "to take delight in the misfortune of others." When you recognize it, you can resist it. Here's an example... imagine Pence contracting Coronavirus after visiting the Mayo Clinic without a mask. Resist... resist... resist...

If he already had it, and gives it to others, knowing full-well it was possible, then apparently he can delight in the misfortune he caused. What a perfect example of Trump-style leadership!

April 28, 2020

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Kurt Godel was born on this day in 1906.

"The more I think about language, the more it amazes me that people ever understand each other at all."

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Richard Dawkins, from The Magic of Reality:

"The whole world is made of incredibly tiny things, much too small to be visible to the naked eye - and yet none of the myths or so-called holy books that some people, even now, think were given to us by an all knowing god, mentions them at all. In fact, when you look at those myths and stories, you can see that they don't contain any of the knowledge that science has patiently worked out. They don't tell us how big or how old the universe is; they don't tell us how to treat cancer; they don't explain gravity or the internal combustion engine; they don't tell us about germs, or nuclear fusion, or electricity, or anaesthetics. In fact, unsurprisingly, the stories in holy books don't contain any more information about the world than was known to the primitive people who first started telling them. If these 'holy books' really were written, or dictated, or inspired, by all-knowing gods, don't you think it's odd that those gods said nothing about any of these important and useful things?"

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"I have total authority," and "I don't take any responsibility at all."

From an Irish Times article by Fintan O'Toole on how for the first time, the world looks at us with pity. The only countries that look to us for guidance are Brazil, and other countries with autocratic leaders.

"Trump embodies and enacts this mindset, but he did not invent it. The US response to the coronavirus crisis has been paralysed by a contradiction that the Republicans have inserted into the heart of US democracy. On the one hand, they want to control all the levers of governmental power. On the other they have created a popular base by playing on the notion that government is innately evil and must not be trusted.

The contradiction was made manifest in two of Trump’s statements on the pandemic: on the one hand that he has “total authority”, and on the other that “I don’t take responsibility at all”. Caught between authoritarian and anarchic impulses, he is incapable of coherence."

April 28, 2020

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For Earth Day in Gretel's class they asked all the kids to name one way that we can help the Earth, and they wrote the answers on the whiteboard for all the parents to see when we picked them up. Gretel said, "We can put food on the Earth for the Earth to eat." One kid said, "Robots help." Another said, "Dogs eat bugs." Haha.

April 28, 2018

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Morticia Addams- “Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.”

Carolyn Jones was born on this day in 1930, in Amarillo, Texas, on Route 66.

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Hey all, I've done a lot of performance reviews in my day and today I read about a really tremendous personal assessment from an employee. Phenomenal really. Try it out next time, and see how your boss likes it. 

Q: How do you think your job is going?

A: I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. I—actually, this is more work than my previous life. I thought it would be easier.

That boss should fulfill that employee's dreams!

April 28, 2017

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A couple of goodies right here...

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On this day in 1881, Billy the Kid escaped from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico. I know he was a bad guy. I know he killed people. I know he should be locked up. But I simply can't help being excited for people when they break out of jail! This must be why I was so drawn to John Dillinger. No matter what I think of them as people, I just can't help sort of inhabiting them in the moment of escape, and feeling the thrill they must have felt. I can't explain it.

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Muhammad Ali refuses his induction into the United States Army and was stripped of his heavyweight championship on this day in 1967. A model for us all to follow- be on the side of what's right, no matter the consequences.

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"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing." One of the greatest lines in the history of literature or film. Author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, born on this day in 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama

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Austrian author, Karl Kraus, joined us on this day in 1874. 

"The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so they believe they are clever as he."

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Dutch astronomer, Jan Oort, was born on this day in 1900. He discovered the first evidence of the Milky Way's rotation. I wonder how much it's rotated since then. I wonder, but not quite enough to look it up.

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Famous list maker, Oskar Schindler, was born on this day in 1908. His secretary just died a few weeks ago at 107 years old. 

There was a joke on BoJack Horseman that was so ridiculous I had to rewind it and just sit and reflect on it for like 5 or 10 minutes. Hollyhock reminded BoJack of a skit from Saturday Night Live when Matthew Perry hosted it. The skit was titled Chandler's List, and Matthew Perry was in character as Chandler playing a sarcastic version of Oskar Schindler, asking himself to riotous applause, "Could have I PUT any more people on this list?" Then he gets quiet and reflective and asks himself seriously, "COULD I have put any more people on this list?" I'm embarrassed to say that I looked it up, and of course it wasn't a real skit. What a weird joke! A conversation within BoJack about an old skit on Saturday Night Live that never happened.

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Car enthusiast, Jay Leno, was born on this day in 1950. There's a certain type of person who will forever mystify me. It's the type who has a hundred million dollars, then sells their soul for 10 million more.

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Regardless of guilt or innocence, I can't help but think Johnny Depp is tossing in 10-20% of Edward Scissorhands into his mannerisms and testimony to gain extra sympathy.

April 28, 2022

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Penelope Cruz was born on this day in 1974. I was two months and one day old, perhaps able to finally support my own wobbly head.

"I came to Los Angeles for the first time in 1994. I spoke no English. I only knew how to say two sentences: 'How are you?' and 'I want to work with Johnny Depp.'"

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On this day in 1983, Valley Girl was released.

https://youtu.be/FcEchaH6EJk

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On this day in 1989, Mitch Williams recorded a save for the Cubs without throwing a pitch. He came in with two outs and picked off the runner on second.

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Daredevil Bobby Leach left us on this day in 1928.

"British daredevil Bobby Leach made history in July 1911 when he stuffed himself into a steel barrel and plummeted down the cliff and into the mists of Niagara Falls - and lived to tell the tale, albeit with some injuries. With this extraordinary achievement, Leach became the second person to barrel over the falls and survive. The first person was sexagenarian teacher Annie Edson Taylor, who completed her Niagara adventure a decade earlier.

"Leach was accustomed to putting himself in risky situations. He performed with the Barnum and Bailey Circus (pre-Ringling Brothers days) and routinely undertook harrowing feats, like jumping out of hot air balloons. 

"Despite regularly playing Russian roulette with his life, Leach's end came in a curiously mundane manner. While visiting New Zealand in 1926, he fell after slipping on a fruit peel - likely that of an orange, although some sources say banana - and injured his leg. He later developed an infection that claimed his life two months later."

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Understand 2018, my kids stomping some puddles.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0e3rHpcNWwMz7Jr5yTWNnHaTDuTgnBBnDGNNm4qjdHeJZGaiaBauh3mm29ouNS6wDl&id=741063511&mibextid=irwG9G

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Mother Jones- Trump Learns the Presidency Is “More Work” Than His Old Job

It would be an act of Goodwill to impeach him.

"I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. I—actually, this is more work than my previous life. I thought it would be easier."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/donald-trump-100-days-interview-easier

April 28, 2017

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The Onion- Man Coming To Terms With Fact That Shower Not Getting Any Hotter

I've been in that position hundreds of times. A terrible it would be to be filthy rich and never experienced that!

http://local.theonion.com/man-coming-to-terms-with-fact-that-shower-not-getting-a-1819579864

April 28, 2018

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Hemingway never did this, by Bukowski

I read that he lost a suitcase full of manuscripts on a

train and that they never were recovered.

I can't match the agony of this

but the other night I wrote a 3-page poem

upon this computer

and through my lack of diligence and

practice

and by playing around with commands

on the menu

I somehow managed to erase the poem

forever.

believe me, such a thing is difficult to do

even for a novice

but I somehow managed to do

it.

now I don't think this 3-pager was immor-

tal

but there were some crazy wild lines,

now gone forever.

it bothers more than a touch, it's some-

thing like knocking over a good bottle of

wine.

and writing about it hardly makes a good

poem.

still, I thought somehow you'd like to

know?

if not, at least you've read this far

and there could be better work

down the line.

let's hope so, for your sake

and

mine.

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Blondie- Dreaming

https://youtu.be/-laAHVIfBvQ

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Stanley Kubrick's NY Street Pictures

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Morty- “I have English homework.”

Rick- "You're still learning English? It's the language you speak. How dumb are you?”

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Michael Faraday- "There’s nothing quite as frightening as someone who knows they are right."

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Earl Nightingale- "Problems are challenges to creative minds. Without problems, there would be little reason to think at all."

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Bertrand Russell, My Philosophical Development- "Science is at no moment quite right, but it is seldom quite wrong, and has, as a rule, a better chance of being right than the theories of the unscientific. It is, therefore, rational to accept it hypothetically."

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Robert M. Pirsig- “We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone."

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Sam Harris- "We read the Golden Rule and judge it to be a brilliant distillation of many of our ethical impulses. And then we come across another of God’s teachings on morality: if a man discovers on his wedding night that his bride is not a virgin, he must stone her to death on her father’s doorstep (Deuteronomy 22:13-21)."

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John Muir- "I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news."

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John Waters, Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters- "I've had it with being nice, understanding, fair and hopeful. I feel like being negative all day. The chip on my shoulder could sink the QE2. I've got an attitude problem and nobody better get in my way...I'm in a bad mood and the whole stupid little world is gonna pay!"

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Einstein- "Black holes are where God divided by zero."

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Emerson- "When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."