tonics

laughing is a tonic, so forget crying
cry and you cry alone
laugh and you...cry alone later
-christopher durang
'laughing wild'

teratophobia

Definition: a fear of monsters; a fear of having a deformed child
Etymology: Greek teras `monster'
just thought it was an interesting word..

ockham's razor

william ockham- 14th century friar and logician
an explanation for unknown phenomena should first be attempted in terms of what is already known.
when you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras
see also- KISS principle
which brings me to my friend in the hospital, young and healthy who had a stroke over the weekend. briefly put, it just seems they are not following the principle of parsimony and things are getting rather messy. sending waves of good karma in her direction...

strength

'moderate strength is shown in violence, supreme strength is shown in levity'
G.K.Chesterton
sometimes i feel weaker than i know myself to be.

decisions

the choices we make for better or worse, define who we are. or as i read the other day- 'many roads take us from our intended destination and lead us where we didnt know'

assassination versus dining out

so the prominent bush backer and founder of the christian coalition, conservative pat robertson states on his '700 club' show the other day (in reference to venezuelan president hugo chavez)'i dont know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him i think we really ought to go ahead and do it...we have the ability to take him out and i think the time has come that we exercise that ability. its a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.'

lovely, cant you just feel the warm, fuzzy emanating from this mans soul?
in response to the unpredicated backlash, robertson, whose remarks obviously were taped took the low road once again , having learnt something from the bush adminstration, (deny, deny, deny--he has referred to bush as being blessed by god) 'i didnt say assassinate, i said our special forces should 'take him out'. that could be a number of things including kidnapping' (or to dinner as i myself frequently use the same expression)

the bush adminstration deemed his remarks as inappropriate- well theres the understatement of the year. robertson is the same man who stated that liberal judges were a bigger threat to america than the 9/11 terrorists.
but needing the vote of the evangelical christians in 2006 and 2008 is obviously more of a priority. but you have to balance that with the fact that venezuela supplies us with nearly 10% of our oil needs...what to do, what to say??

on the other side of things- upon hearing these gentle christian remarks hugo chavez did equate robertson to a rabid dog, which i think is entirely appropriate in this case.
to sum up --the majority of religious people or people that profess a belief in a doctrine or faith seem to be sincere hypocrites- how bout that?

the gift

gift- 'something wondrous produced from nowhere'
where did this habit of gift giving come from? when you think about it, why do we give gifts for special occasions? and what makes an occasion special? is it hallmark or is it tradition? why was i instructed by the big people to never show up at another persons house empty handed?

the story of the three wise men or the magi bearing the gifts of frankincese, myrrh and gold (or golf as is stated in one web site) has been told many times. the etiology of christmas giving stems from pagan roman holidays where gifts were given as strena/etrennes (good luck) and this ritual was usurped by the church and incorporated into religious tradition. personally 'the gift of the magi' by o'henry is one of my favorite and earliest remembered stories from childhood- also 'the ransom of red chief' but thats another post.

in the middle ages gifts were used as political weapons, to forge alliances, or to indicate dominance over another. it allowed nobles to circulate their riches; to strut their stuff as it were. there were numerous opportunities for granting gifts; royalty arriving, agreements signed, basic social interactions. they carried special meanings and spoke to ones aesthetic being
gifts reaffirm cultural, familial, and social bonds. its also quite a kick to figure out what another would like and delightful to receive. it makes everyone feel good and thats pretty cool.


yet to simplify things, when a friend gives a gift that shows that they have actually thought about me, who am i and what gives me pleasure; that they have taken the time and made the effort, is a gift in itself and for that i am appreciative and truly touched.

another interpretation; gift-'a talent, endowment, aptitude, or bent' and some people have a gift for giving....

how could i forget?

my favorite tshirt from ragbrai, 'idaho? no you da ho' and of course, drafting...

play ethic

..versus the work ethic. much has been made of the proletarian lifestyle, the worker bee, their piousness. as commendable as that is, or as a friend of mine used to say- 'be that as it may'....may i present to you for your viewing pleasure the formerly subversive or submersive play ethic. not intending to overthrow or disable the work ethic but a peaceful coexistence is all that is desired. in the entomological world we never see play . bees playing volleyball? hardly. ants biking? never- although i did see one swimming this morning but that was forced upon him/her as i myself intiated the plunge. however mammals were meant to engage thusly, or else why would the dogs be playing poker? play enhances your entire being. which brings me back to my original thought, head on, full contact with the world. play hard, play well, play often. fight the fear- use everything. as frankie didnt say, 'relax, do it' or as einstein said,'example is not the main thing in influencing others. it is the only thing'....... the influence of delight...

ragbrai musings

pre ragrai bus ride across iowa to get to our start point at le mars, iowa. aviator, radio, quadman, egg beaters, our magnificent tent, fireworks at night.

1st day-waking at 5am , dressing in the dark,start at 6am, on the road, us the french foreign legion, tandems, recumbents, reverse recumbent-whats with that? team colors, outfits, cotumes, two falls- unclip you moron, butts, quads, the heat, met marion (john wayne)from peachtree city the seinfeld aficionado, dutch town of orange city-popachas, nice people, nice towns, RUMBLES, the heat exhaustion, saved by the kum and go, arrival at sheldon, tried to convince everyone not to shower for the week, "it would be so much more interesting", the infamous beverage tent, jacuzzi without jets? a little too warm-must be the kiddie pool, getting ants, massage in the park with the all iowa massage people, fresh iowan sweet corn, "of course prostitution is good thing, theyre professionals, when youre sick you want a professional and you go to a doctor and when you have certain other needs to be taken care of you want a professional too and thats what they are there for" that night stormbrai-80mph winds, our loyal tent being held down with testosterone, unfortunate death of a rider by tree

2nd day-5am, steves rustling around until they wake alarm, warzone of rained out tents in the am, rainy ride of 85 miles, felt like hail against our bodies, finding flushies anywhere even the nursing homes, CAR UP, roadside signs, kryptonite, teams and mottos, team gourmet, its all about the food, team buff-big ugly fat fellows, team boozehound, team bitch, team piggy, team fart- friends and relatives, team air force, team goat (check out them butts!), its all about the pie, its all about the kybos, its all about the ride, "if you lick it they will come", mr pork chop, reaching the snowflakes of esterville, knee pain, neck pain, sleeping in the gym, spooning, the sleepwalker in his underwear

3rd day-5am, "git-r-done", leaving esterville and the snowflake stepford children singing christmas carols and playing with fake snowballs on the front lawn-eerie! riding with jonas, windy ride, intro to farm boy burritos, walking tacos, bison sticks, pie, skelaxin, chondroitin, ibuprofen, tylenol and diet coke, the iowa massage people, many thanks to ashley, chad and josef, twinkie on a stick the most disgusting thing in the world and i have eaten bugs, algona pow museum, "iowa, can you smell it?"

4th day-did i mention 5am? blink and you miss oak lake, titonka where pam finds a free shampoo, lost jonas on purpose, finding my email in the hair salon of course, third and last fall at crystal lake where i stayed on the ground for spite and thanks to the 6 air force guys who picked me up, met sean from upper east side, 1st day of decent weather, interesting showers that you can see into from the waterslide, hmmm, kettle corn, riders for the flag band who have played for the white house and arlington and us!, super good, sung us to sleep, quote of the day- "i broke my dick"-nuff said

5th day-5am,yeah still, riders for the flag stopping en masse to relieve themselves along the cornfields of iowa, "watch out for those corn snakes!", iowa fields and farm lands and no its not all flat, toilet paper rolls all set up by the side of the road, "bike naked", derek with his ipod playing queen helping me thru the hills, "i had to downshift on a downhill" mayor of riceville hands me an icepop which i drop, larry in saratoga wearing his peta shirt-people for eating tasty animals, getting a bike tatoo, amish ice cream, jail house showers, fresh strawberry shortcake, the awesome evening show of dean frazen- the mathematican/juggler/ragbrai biker, butt chafe, not pretty

6th day- 5am whatever, easiest day, only 60 miles, 1st stop in protivin where adeline a elderly lady gets knocked unconscious from a tandem going too fast downhill into town, lying in the street with blood on the street, initial few seconds no breathing, at the least a cracked skull, tandem people not to be found, what the hell? there are no absolutes, im so naive, day 3 of the bald guy carrying the 7 foot cross and the coleman cooler, whats the point?, wwjd, roadside proselytizing re abortion, hills and more hills, "im on your tail steve" mail order brides, teaching others to give a damm, siblings, go figure, body glide, the six 3 stooges, BEEKMANS!

7th day- yeah early start, hills, hills, and more of them there hills,people dropping by the roadside, power onward pam, st. olaf, UFF-DA, norwegian for oh fuck!or oh damm! last beekmans, last kybo, downhill to guttenberg, drive to dubuque, showers! rafters,
steve, pam, and jonas you rock!!! love you guys, same time next year......
and thanks to brett (you think youre on my hill, youre not on my hill) who will never read this.