Life On A B-I7

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 1

Little things add up. Your life is the summation of your individual choices and how you learn from them.

In Session

If you want to hear some classic electric blues, you gotta dig into the “In Session” album. Albert King does his thing with Stevie Ray Vaughan sitting in. This is the only known recording of the two virtuosos playing together. Grab the remastered version from 2024. Every track is a classic. My two favorites are “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and “Blues at Sunrise.” Mary is an example of a song that doesn’t need any words, or maybe better yet, a song with words that don’t make sense, but work anyway. In “Blues at Sunrise,” Albert reprises a song he did with Jimmy Hendricks and Janis Joplin at the Filmore West. Stevie sits in on Jimmy’s part. The track knocks me over. I like to put the headphones on and let myself be carried away. It’s great driving music too. It’ll make you forget how far you’ve gone and how far you have left to go.

Happy Birthday Sister!

Guedelon Castle

I would like to visit Guedelon Castle in France. Twenty-Five years ago, Michel Guyot decided to build an authentic 13th century medieval castle using only period tools and construction techniques. Craftsmen and volunteers from all over France have participated in the project. The project is now nearing completion.

The castle gets 300,000 visitors a year. It’s a step back in time that even Disneyland could not replicate.

Kingdom of God

We recently received a very nice hand-written letter addressed “Dear Neighbor.” The letter focused on all that is wrong in the world today and suggested that the solution has been written in the Bible and can be explained by visiting the jw.org website. While ultimately the second coming and establishment of a new religious order on earth led by God’s Son might be a solution (recall the argument two twins were having in the womb) I believe we have a responsibility to do more than wait for a solution that does nothing to make things better in the here and now. I believe there are things we can do to change the world. To be clear, I’m not talking about this political party or that political party, this particular religion or that particular religion. I’m not talking about violence or punishment for those you don’t agree with and I’m certainly not talking about blaming people that look different than you. I believe it comes down to how we treat each other. The answer is kindness and respect, a willingness to listen, and a willingness to compromise. These things do seem to be in short supply at times, it’s difficult to argue they don’t, but each one of us can make a difference if we take the time to ask ourselves what we can do to make things better.

Inner Compass

I remember my first year of college. I took an introductory class in geology and I found it fascinating. Indeed, I found many subjects fascinating. That did not change the fact that eventually I would have to choose one subject. When I graduated I had no idea what I was going to do next. Not surprisingly, I took a couple of jobs that had nothing to do with my studies in school. I did not seem to have any real direction. Finally on my third attempt at employment, I found work that was satisfying. I’ve asked myself how did I arrive there, the only answer I have for that is I followed my inner compass as best I could and kept trying different things until I found the answer. For those of us not born with knowledge of what we are going to do with our lives, that is probably the best approach we can take. I’m fortunate, it worked for me.

The Quality of Your Thoughts

One of the beautiful observations I picked up from Cliff Dancer’s book is that the quality of our thought determines the quality of our life. Think about it. Always complaining? Don’t have enough? You probably aren’t happy. Self-talk that is not positive only leads to an unhappy life experience. We are in charge of our lives and we have responsibility for shaping our experience, first and foremost by whether we view it positively or negatively. Thank you Cliff Dancer for this beautiful observation. You are a Stoic Master.

30 Years Compiling Code

I spent the better part of 30 years writing software. I’m happy to report I’m proud of that, even though it damaged me for life. The problem is, you spend that much time worrying about spelling and punctuation, you lose the ability to understand what people are saying to you. You see, no one speaks in complete sentences. At this stage in my life I find myself lost unless people are using complete sentences, including, and most importantly, a subject, a verb, and a noun. I often find myself replying to someone, “could you put that in a complete sentence for me, I have a vocationally acquired lexical disability…”

Introduction to Welding

I’ve been exploring the classes available at the Senior Center. Yesterday they were offering a watercolor card making class. That sounded interesting. I was warned that I would be the only man in the class so I was prepared. Sure enough, I arrived a few minutes early, there were several women and the instructor (also a woman) already in the room. I started looking for a place to sit down, but before I could take a seat, I was asked if I was in the right room. It just so happens the person asking me was the program director who happened to be in the room chatting with the instructor. The program director was a man. I decided that if I was going to be challenged, I might as well get some mileage out of the situation. I looked right at him and said, “this is the introduction to welding class, right?” His eyes got big and he stared back at me and said, “seriously?” After a long pause, I said, “no.” That lit up the room. I was welcomed into the watercolor class even though I forgot to bring my welding helmet.

Walking In Wonder

A good friend completed the northern 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail last summer. (Canada to California.) When he and his hiking partner reached the Bend Oregon resupply point, we picked them up and hosted them with home cooking and a comfy bed. His trail name is Cliff Dancer and his hiking companion last summer was Raw Dog. They are fantastic people and it was a pleasure to help them along on their hiking journey. I was doubly pleased when to my surprise, Cliff Dancer wrote a book about the experience and sent me a copy. It arrived in the mail two days ago and I have already devoured it. Such an inspiration! It’s not easy to hike and write at the same time. I’ve cycled and chronicled at the same time and while that’s not easy, I think I got more out of the experience capturing it in the moment than if I had attempted to document the journey post-mortem. I will have more to say about Cliff Dancer’s wonderful work in the coming days. You can get a copy for yourself of “Walking in Wonder On The Pacific Crest Trail” from Amazon Direct Publishing. Walking In Wonder

3.5

I got my 3.5 Pickleball rating a few days ago. That’s a significant accomplishment, but not one to get too carried away with. The 4.0 level is where good play really begins. 3.5’ers are still learning the game and still working on loosing beginner habits. Making the jump from 3.5 to 4.0 requires a lot more skill than making the jump from 3.0 to 3.5.

After the testing completed, those of us that tested were sitting around with our “play-ins” having a beer. Someone asked me if I was going to try and get to 4.0. (It’s a good question, many people that make 3.5 never get to 4.0.) My reply went something like this. I want to correct my bad habits, improve the weak points of my game, and improve in overall consistency so that I will feel comfortable playing with 4.0s. I also added that due to my advanced age, I would be very happy if I was still a solid 3.5 ten years from now. I think that is probably the best goal of all.

Change The World?

You can’t change the world entirely, but you can change someone’s entire world.
—Timber Hawkeye

The message here is you can’t single-handedly change the world. Many have tried and ultimately that approach fails. You have to decide what is enough, once you figure that out, that should become your goal. There is a school of thought that says the desire to change the world only leads to emotional distress, depression, or at the very least, a warped sense of reality. In the worst case scenario, it makes the world worse, not better.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to a very special someone. I hold you dear in my heart and wish you all the best. You deserve it.

Competitive Sycophancy

If Competitive Sycophancy (not Democracy) is what you wanted when you voted, then that’s what you are now getting.

Definition: Weak spineless people competing to win the favor of a sycophant. Look it up.

Teaching Myself

It just occurred to me that when I edit my blog entries before posting them I should read them for consistency with the stoic advice I have started including on these page.

It won’t do me any good to offer stoic advice on correct living if my blog posts are out of step with those messages. That said, I will try and present my posts in a manner consistent with my own advice, at least as best I can at this stage in my evolution.

Twins

A pair of twins are holding a discussion with one another inside the womb. One fetus says to the other, do you think there is anything after this life. The other laughs and says, why would you ask that? The first replies, there must be something else after this life, this life is too perfect. The second twin sneers and says, that’s true, we have everything we need here, why are you complaining? The first says, yes, but we can’t stay here forever, there has to be more than this. The second says there is only darkness and uncertainty outside of this world. Then, one day there is a cataclysm, the second twin is freightened and looks at the first twin and asks what is happening, the first twin replies, we are evolving.

Who Am I

There’s a question for you. I think the answer to that has been constantly evolving over the course of my lifetime, so all I can say is what it possibly means right now. I am a seeker of wisdom (short of that, learning). Sometimes successful, often struggling with little success. I am happy with that. After all, to quote a good friend, I’m just a hard working 81 I.Q. With that in mind, it would seem that I’m doing just fine.

Reading

I probably read a lot for someone of my advanced years. i’m actually rather proud of that. There is one problem, though, I have books on my bookshelf that I haven’t actually read. Worse, I have books on my bookshelf that I have read and I don’t remember that I’ve read them.

There’s probably a drug for that. I’m not sure I want to go there. Anyway, I pulled a book off my shelf titled Turning To Stone: Discovering The Subtle Wisdom Of Rocks, by Marcia Bjornerud. Obviously, it’s a book about geology. I’m not exactly sure what possessed me to buy it, but there it was, so I opened it up and started reading. I was blown away. It contains some of the most beautiful writing I’ve encountered in quite some time. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. There are wonders to be had all around us and sometimes they appear where we least expect them. Still, a beautifully written book about geology? I’m going to try to remember this one.

Sinking To A New Low

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is reportedly trying to use AI to ferret out national security employees that are not deemed politically acceptable to the MAGA agenda. To do this she is trying to gain access to emails and text messages of all national security employees. Watch out. We are witnessing the birth of a new repressive era. Without a huge stretch of the imagination, this could also be used to profile every U.S. citizen.

During the McCarthy era, the stated purpose was to find communist sympathizers inside the U.S. government (with only very rare exceptions, there were none). Today is different in both scope and purpose. Today this paranoia and lust for power is being turned on law abiding U.S. citizens. We are watching first hand the death of personal and political freedom.

Tattoo

I spent the better part of two years deciding if I should have a tattoo. After carefully considering the choice, I decided it was the right decision for me. Not just any tattoo, not art for art’s sake, I wanted something that would remind me every time I looked at it who I am and what I should be doing. I’m happy to say I fulfilled that goal.

Bastrop Texas

I would like to visit Main Street in old town Bastrop Texas. There’s a little bookstore there owned by Ryan Holiday. He is one of the world’s bestselling Philosophers.

America Is Killing Itself

From almost no investment in alternative energy sources (about 10% of the world’s total investment) to climate change denial, to the food we eat, America is living for today with no care for tomorrow. We are killing ourselves and not leaving anything for our children.

Get Out And Vote

Now Trump is pandering to Christians. People I’m quite sure he is courting on not because he sees himself aligned with them religiously or morally, because he sees them as targets for manipulation.

“Christians, get out and vote!” Trump told supporters in Florida at a July event. “Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine! You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians!”

Trump added, “You gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.”

What exactly is meant by “You don’t have to vote again?” Let me guess, Trump doesn’t intend to leave office at the end of his second term as is written in our Constitution. Shameful and un-American, not to mention ignorant.

Yes. By all means. Get out and vote, just not for the man that wants to end Democracy.

Play The Game Right

Chicago Cub Ryne Sandberg, when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, said: “I didn’t play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel. I played it right because that’s what you’re supposed to do—play it right and with respect.”

So if you are not a baseball player how do you find meaning in life?

It does not come from marching under someone else’s banner (Lenin, Mao, Hitler, Trump) you have to believe there is a natural moral order that applies to all of us. Once that is realized, we have to be willing to apply that order to all our actions.

It’s not about my preference or your preference as many people today would have it, it’s about which preferences are best for society as a whole. That is how the game should be played.

Game Plan

To paraphrase Bertrand Russell:

If you want to establish a Fascist State, the first step you need to take is to entertain the fools. Once you have them firmly captured and fascinated you then silence the intelligent.

This is Trump’s playbook. The only problem I have with this is that I find it difficult to believe Trump has read Bertrand Russell.

Biopsychosocial

Body, mind, and spirit therapy… Also know as Pickleball.