Observations from the Window 10.8

This blog has evolved into something part vent, part, thought, and part directionless rambling. Sometimes I just want to share something without sending out emails and that is what you have here. I ran into this blog post following one link or another and the problem is the actual links for the blog don't seem to work. It was written by Rosemarie Urquico and I hope she doesn't mind my using it here, it's doubtful she will ever know anyway. What caught my attention is the title of the post, "CarrollBlog 9.30," you gotta like somebody that thinks like me. It's not anything I would have written but I really like it and wish I had.*

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow. She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book. Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does. She has to give it a shot somehow. Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two. Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are. You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype. You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes."

*a little update - With some help I managed to track down the blog where the post originated. The line at the top of it is simply brilliant, why don't I think of these things? "A friend asked yesterday if this blog is addressed to anyone in particular? I said yes– it’s a love letter to someone I haven’t met yet." Jonathan Carroll

Observations from the Coffee Shop 10.7

At times I 'm just so disgusted with the conservative holier than thou tea party politics in this country that I sometimes wonder if any of them care about anything other than money. Than something comes along that snaps me back from the edge and makes me realize that it's not them all, it's just that far right lunatic fringe that somehow has come to dominate politics in this country, that applauds executions, and cheers allowing a cancer patient to die because he doesn't have health insurance. They don't all want to do away with Social Security and cut first responder funding to pay for hurricane relief.

While I probably don't believe some of what I just wrote it was good to think it for a moment and it is nice to see that some of the right do have a mind of their own and didn't drink the tea. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is far from my favorite politician but it was nice to see him decide not run for the GOP nomination for President not because he thinks it isn't his time, it probably is, but because he doesn't want to drink the tea. Even he is too moderate for the current version of the Republican Party.

Than there is this which prompted this post. David Frum is a former economic speechwriter for George W. Bush and in his column for the National Post yesterday he wrote that the Republican Party is seriously flawed in its plans for recovering from our current mess.

"It is wrong in its call for monetary tightening.

It is wrong to demand immediate debt reduction rather than wait until after the economy recovers.

It is wrong to deny that “we have a revenue problem.”

It is wrong in worrying too much about (non-existent) inflation and disregarding the (very real) threat of a second slump into recession and deflation.

It is wrong to blame government regulation and (as yet unimposed) tax increases for the severity of the recession.

It is wrong to oppose job-creating infrastructure programs.

It is wrong to hesitate to provide unemployment insurance, food stamps, and other forms of income maintenance to the unemployed.

It is wrong to fetishize the exchange value of the dollar against other currencies.

It is wrong to believe that cuts in marginal tax rates will suffice to generate job growth in today’s circumstance.

It is wrong to blame minor and marginal government policies like the Community Reinvestment Act for the financial crisis while ignoring the much more important role of government inaction to police overall levels of leverage within the financial system.

It is wrong to dismiss the Euro crisis as something remote from American concerns.

It is wrong to resist US cooperation with European authorities in organizing a work-out of the debt problems of the Eurozone countries.

It is wrong above all in its dangerous combination of apocalyptic pessimism about the long-term future of the country with aloof indifference to unemployment."

That about covers it.

Observations on Art, The Muse

The muses of the ancients were divinities. In Greek mythology Apollonis, Cephisso, and Borysthenis were known as the three muses, the goddesses who were said to inspire works of art and literature. The word museum finds its root in the Greek word mouseion which was a place where these daughters of Apollo were worshiped. The mythological muses met their end in Dante's Devine Comedy which was inspired by his very earthly muse Beatrice Portinari who he claimed to have met when they were both 9 years old. From than on the muse has come to be known as an artist's source of inspiration, whether real or imaginary, and generally refers to a person who inspires an artist.

During the Renaissance the model for two of Raphael's most famous Madonnas was a Sienese baker's daughter named Margharita di Luti, who was probably Raphael's lover. In one of my favorite stories the painter Fra Filippo Lippi went in for a riskier muse relationship when he seduced a young nun named Lucrezia Buti and went on to live with her, using her as the model for several portraits including one of the Holy Mother. Renaissance muses were subordinate to their artists, bound to their sexual needs while the artists were free to do as they pleased.

Modern muses seem to be powerful and creative women in their own right like Georgia O'Keeffe who didn't just inspire photographer Alfred Stieglitz, but influenced the direction of his art as well. I could write all day about Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, mutual muses and collaborators. They were in and out of each others lives and art for over two decades until Mapplethorpe's death from AIDS in 1989. People will debate till the end of time on whether Yoko Ono was good for John Lennon's music but nobody will ever debate the effect she had on him.

Than again artists and muses seem to traditionally take a toll on each other. Salvador Dalí's wife Gala shrewdly tortured her sex-averse and masochistic husband with her affairs and the dancer Suzanne Farrell, George Balanchine's astonishingly beautiful muse, married another dancer the day his divorce was finalized. Pablo Picasso met Marie-Thérèse Walter in Paris when she was 17 and immediately made her his mistress, sometimes having his chauffeur wait outside her school to pick her up and take her to the artist's studio where she modeled for countless paintings. Walter later bore him a daughter though he refused to marry her, and killed herself in 1977, four years after Picasso died.

So what do I think a muse is? Somewhere in the past or present is a person that comes back to you again and again in your thoughts and dreams. You may have barely known them or you may know them well but either way they left an indelible impression on you. I had a professor who used Carl Jung's animus when she described her muse and the idea works for me too. Jung described the animus as the unconscious male dominated part of the female psyche. In my professors description this core part of your being, part of your very soul, is projected to the other person and when you look at them you see its reflection. You want desperately to speak to it but find it impossible and so turn to the only language that works, your art.

In an LA Times article on the death of the muse UCLA sociology professor David Halle wrote, "The concept of the muse is part of the Romantic tradition and this is just not a romantic age.” I don't agree at all and I'll finish with the words that best sum it up for me.

Everything I did I did for you.

Observations

With all the things going on right now this seems a strange post for a Monday morning but I was paging through an old book, saw this, and it made me smile. Too long for twitter and not right for tumblr I'll just post it here and hope it makes somebody else smile too.

“If I knew that today would be the last time I’d see you, I would hug you tight and pray the Lord be the keeper of your soul. If I knew that this would be the last time you pass through this door, I’d embrace you, kiss you, and call you back for one more. If I knew that this would be the last time I would hear your voice, I’d take hold of each word to be able to hear it over and over again. If I knew this is the last time I see you, I’d tell you I love you, and would not just assume foolishly you know it already.”

Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

Observations from the Edge 10.2

This is a segment of The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell from last week that shows, rather graphically, the pepper spray incident I mentioned in my last post. The video speaks for itself so I won't say much but I am a little amazed how little attention it has received in mainstream media. Keep in mind the officers wearing the white shirts are actually senior commanders and don't miss the part about the video camera.

Below the video I added a link to the blog post that he mentions in the clip. I like the first comment found below the blog post. Charles wrote, "Soon some of these "heroes" will be explaining to their children why Daddy lost his job."
     
Link
Rewriting Police vs Protesters

Observations from the Edge 10.1

After being warned by Ash not to 'get maced and bring back the smell' I wandered over to Zuccotti Park to see what was going on and and take some photos. Ash was referring to the unprovoked macing of four protesters by a senior NYPD commander. It was a move that made it look as if New York's Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is a closet supporter of the protests because they seemed to be heading nowhere and getting no national media attention until that incident. It now seems that shouting and annoying bankers is grounds enough for getting maced.

People were beating drums, blowing whistles, carrying signs, and chanting “Banks got bailed out, you got sold out!” and “We are the 99 percent!” Many of the protesters carried computers as they marched and I found out that this was for tweeting and live streaming what was going on. I heard no mention of plurking so I guess that's left to me.

At one point I listened to a never ending lecture by an unemployed professor looking type about how corporate CEOs and Wall Street chieftains had staged a silent coup in America. I also learned what a human microphone is, it's when one person shouts something and everybody else repeats it in unison. They use a human microphone because the protesters are forbidden from using amplified sound. After all one doesn't want to disturb the executives on the 20th floor does one.

Next week New York labor and community groups including The United Federation of Teachers plan on joining the protest and MoveOn.org will help promote it. "We're getting involved because the crisis was caused by the excesses of Wall Street and the consequences have fallen hardest on workers," a spokesman for Transport Workers Union Local 100 said. A solidarity march scheduled for Wednesday that is expected to start at City Hall and finish a few blocks south at Zuccotti Park. By the end of the week there could over two dozen 'solidarity occupations' across the country.

My two trips to the park have me thinking and I'm sure I'll stop back from time to time. I just won't tell Ash about it ahead of time.

Rage Against The Machine - Testify

Observations from the Edge

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Quote seen on a sign seen in Zuccotti Park

We Are The 99% from socially_awkwrd on Vimeo.

"On September 27th, 2011, we marched on the Financial District's Luxury Night Out, where couples wore outfits that cost more than we will ever make in a month and looked at cars that cost more than we will ever make in a year, afterward, they went back to one of their many houses that cost more than we will make in our lifetime."

OccupyWallStreet

Observations on Sports 9.28

With the frightening 8 game losing streak behind them the Phillies regular season comes to a close tonight. Hopefully it will end with a win and a series sweep of the Atlanta Braves. With a win the Phillies will finish the 2011 season with 102 wins and break the record for most wins in a season currently held by the 1976 and 1977 Phillies. A win will also move Charlie Manuel ahead of Gene Mauch as the winningest manager in club history with 646 wins. If they win I can get back to arguing with my dad about which Phils team truly is the best ever.


link
September is almost over.

9.29 update - The Phillies won in 14 innings last night and with the win became the winningest Phils team in history and Charlie Manuel has now won more games than any other Phillies manager. "This has been exciting, this has been good," Charlie said after the game. "It has been a good trip, but at the same time we haven't finished the journey. We have a little ways to go yet. That's the way I look at it." As a bonus the Boston Red Sox lost to finish the greatest September swoon in MLB history wiping away the 1961 Phils collapse in the process.

Today I learned something that I honestly didn't believe at first, since 1969 no NL team has been in more World Series than the Phillies. How is that possible?

The Phillies win over the Braves, combined with a St. Louis win over Houston, eleminated Atlanta from the playoffs and clinched a spot for St' Louis. The Phillies will face the St. Louis Cardinals in the Divisional Round beginning Saturday at 5PM.

Observations on Sports 9.24

The Phillies lost to the Mets tonight in the second game of a doubleheader, they lost the first game too, and the six before that. Eight losses in a row. The Phillies haven't lost 8 in a row since September of 2000. according to Elias Sports the losing streak is the longest in major-league history by a team that had already won 98 games. It is also the longest losing streak by a team that has clinched a playoff spot.

After his awesome game was wasted earlier today Cole Hamels said “I know the pitchers and we're ready to go. We're gonna go out there and t try to throw nine-inning shutouts. I know it's not possible, but that's our plan, so everybody just needs to get on board."

Today the Phillies played 18 innings and scored only three earned runs. They have scored three or less runs in 14 of their last 16 games.

If they lose to the Mets Sunday with Roy Halladay on the mound all bets are off. Than again the Mets have already beaten Cole Hamels this weekend so in all honesty I won't be surprised if they lose again. They now need to win all their remaining games to set a new Phillies record for wins, something they could have done a week ago.

The baseball gods do indeed taunt me now.

Observations from the Window 9.23

For my own reasons I did something rather extraordinary yesterday. To clear my head and do some thinking I completely shutdown the 'empire' for the day. For the most part I stayed away from flickr, tumblr, twitter, and everything else. I left my comp at home, ignored most of my email, and let the lights flash on my Droid until they gave up and stopped. A very introspective day that probably cleared up nothing at all but solidified a description. An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in mystery. As of now it seems the world has done just fine without me.

I woke up to this horoscope today and realized I may have just possibly picked the wrong day for reflection.

“The melodramatic Leo Moon joins feisty Mars in your 1st House of Personality, encouraging you to let others know exactly how you feel. But you could come on too strong if you forget to consider their opinions, too. Slow down and think about what you're going to do instead of just doing it. Adding a short time delay to your responses will improve your chances of making the best decision the first time around.”

Damnit.

A Phillies update from the dubious record at best category. The Phillies became the first team to lose six in a row after winning their 98th game since the 1904 Giants. My dad will be laughing like hell when he hears that one.

The gods of baseball taunt me now.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
(tune!)

Observations from the Window 9.20

I always carry a real paper tablet in my backpack because I like to scribble, doodle, and sometimes just plain scratch. I also have a terrible short term memory so I write myself notes telling what I should but won't do. Somebody actually asked me today why I always have one, well it's to save these momentous thoughts. I did do a little editing and added some explanation so they make some sort of sense.

I love waking up and seeing Mika Brzezinski on my TV but lately Joe Scarborough has been pissing me off so I tend to turn the sound off until somebody is on I want to hear. She used to have competition over at CNN but I forget her name but there still is Stephanie Abrams on The Weather Channel.

Best tumblr titles I saw today, "Love Ends Hope Dies" and "Shit You Need To Know." In saying 'today' I'm saying I look at too damn many tumblrs. I wonder what happens when somebody reblogs a photo I already deleted? I wonder because that happened today. And why do so many tumblr blogs disappear the day after I find them? I'm getting a complex.

Sanity is relative but insanity, well, the jury is out on that.

Blog ideas.

List of food I should buy tonight but won't. I never seem to have food in the apartment, coffee and alcohol but no food. What's up with that? I drink way too much coffee, DP, and beer and nowhere near enough of that watery thing.

I sketch my own tat designs that I want to get and know I never will because I have a thing for needles, which also means I can't sew or knit worth a damn. Not that I ever really wanted to do either. I have absolutely no fingernails left, where have you gone my long black shiny nails? I miss you.

Mary is just hot, straight as the proverbial arrow but so effing hot.*scribbles this line out quick before anybody sees it.

Notes to call my sis, dad, Ash, and the paint free sample salesman guy sometime today. New paints are sweet but the dark shades seem a bit dull. I have to so get around to finishing a couple of art posts I was doing for somebody. Call Karson and see if she had enough shots, she would prob call me but it doesn't hurt to follow up. Talk to Ash at dinner about her internet art idea.

The whole Troy Davis thing make s me want to hurl. Seriously a former FBI Director, and President Reagan's no less, pleads for his release and the good ole boys of Georgia shrug and get out the needle. Pathetic.

Why do the Phillies just suck all of a sudden? Yeah I know the games don't matter at all but still. Wouldn't it be awesome to have Charlie Manuel as a granddad?

Chinese, Mexican, or burgers?

And this goes on every day.

Moby - New York New York

The End

Text of the memo ending "Don't Ask Don't Tell" in the U.S. Army. DADT ends throughout the military at one minute after midnight tonight, or 00:01 AM, 9.20.2011.

"Today marks the end of "Don't Ask Don't Tell." The law is repealed. From this day forward, gay and lesbian Soldiers may serve in our Army with the dignity and respect they deserve. Our rules, regulations, and policies reflect the repeal guidance issued by the Department of Defense and will apply uniformly without regard to sexual orientation, which is a personal and private matter.

For over 236 years, the U.S. Army has been an extraordinary force for good in the world. Our Soldiers are the most agile, adaptable, and capable in history and we are ready for this change.

Over the last several months our Leaders, Soldiers, and Department of the Army Civilians have discussed, trained, and prepared for this day. The President, Secretary of Defense, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs have certified that the repeal is consistent with military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention. Your professionalism, leaderships, and respect for your fellow Soldiers will ensure that this effort is successful.

At the heart of our success is adherence to the Army Values. The standards not only infuse every facet of our culture and operations, but also guide us as we adapt to change. Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage are not mere words - they are the very principles by which we live, train, and fight.

Accordingly, we expect all personnel to follow our Values by implementing the repeal fully, fairly, and in accordance with policy guidance. It is the duty of all personnel to treat each other with dignity and respect while maintaining good order and discipline throughout our ranks. Doing so will help the U.S. Army remain the Strength of the Nation."

It was signed by Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III, United States Army Chief of Staff General Raymond T. Odierno, and Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh.

Observations 9.19

Circumstance is a movie I first read about when it won the Audience Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. I had never actually seen any of it until I ran into this trailer today.

Four years ago during a speech at Columbia University Iranian President President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that there were no gays in Iran. Seems he was wrong. Circumstance is the story of a forbidden lesbian romance in Iran and was made by a bi-sexual Iranian director Maryam Keshavarz. The leading roles are played by Iranian actresses Sarah Kazemy and Nikohl Boosheri. For safety reasons Circumstance was filmed in Lebanon but even there the local authorities weren't told the film's subject matter.

In Iran homosexuality is punishable by death.

YouTube Link

Observations on Sports 9.18

I've been wanting to write a stand alone post about my Phillies but never seem to get around to it so I'm sitting at the bar and I'm going to do it right now. I just started watching them play St. Louis and with a win they will lock up their 5th straight National League Eastern Division title.* One more win after that and they can clinch home field throughout the playoffs and with currently 97 wins the Phillies team record of 101 wins should easily fall before the end of the season.

A look at current stats shows an offensive monster. Ryan Howard leads all of baseball with 113 RBIs while in the National League Hunter Pence is in the top 10 in hits, doubles, and batting average, Shane Victorino is 2nd in triples, Ryan Howard is 3rd in home-runs, and Jimmy Rollins is in the top 10 in stolen bases.

But it is the starting pitching, which leads baseball with a 3.00 team era, that fuels the Phillies machine. The Phils' five headed monster starting rotation is made up of Roy Halladay (18-5), Cliff Lee (16-7 including 6 complete game shutouts), Cole Hamels (14-8), rookie Vance Worley (11-2), and Roy Oswalt (7-9). Halladay and Lee are both front runners for the National League Cy Young award with each one having pitched over 200 innings and each having over 200 strikeouts.

So why all the stats? Because I have been having a running argument with my dad for weeks now. If it wins the World Series, a big if, is this the best Phillies team ever?

I don't think my dad will ever yield in his belief that the team of the late '70s is still a better team. That team won the Phillies only other World Series Championship in 1980 and included two future Hall of Fame members in Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton and one should be member of the hall in Pete Rose. The team also included Greg Luzinski, Larry Bowa, and pitcher Tug McGraw, a man I know better as the father of country music singer Tim McGraw. The 1980 team led the league in almost every offensive category and had the league MVP in Schmidt and Cy Young winner in Carlton.

My argument is that if they should win the World Series in the last five years this Phillies team will have won 5 division titles, 3 National League pennants, and 2 World Series Championships. How can I not be right?

I guess I won't go looking for a job as a sports writer any time soon.

*The Phillies won the game 9-2 and with it their 5th consecutive division title. The game included a 6 run 8th inning highlighted by a 2 out grand slam by Raul Ibanez. Hunter Pence makes his first trip to the post season after being drowned in champagne. Total awesomeness.