Happy Independence Day

 

Three cheers for the red, white and blue.

Michael Jackson tops the charts

Dead at 50. It's always sad when a young person dies, and he was too young to die for this day and age. But, having said that, this was the absolutely smartest career move he could have made. His videos and recordings are flying off the shelves, and the television news is all MJ, all the time.

Observant Jews seek kinky sex

I kind of thought that was a no-no.

On sites like Craigslist and AshleyMadison.com (which carries the motto “Life is short. Have an affair.”) people who self-proclaim as “religious” can be found seeking out others of their faith tradition to be unfaithful with.

I've never actually had an affair, but if I did I can't imagine discussing religious matters with my adulterous lover. I have a husband for that kind of thing.

It reminds me of something I read long ago: Remember Amy Fisher, who shot her inamorata's wife? Sure you do; she was the Long Island Lolita! Well, when she went to prison she requested kosher food. Adultery, yes, trying to kill another human being, okay; but treyfe food, no!

Oy vey!

Time passes by

 

My daughter sent her father an album she had put together lovingly with pictures of all our immediate family. A picture of her on her tricycle was on the cover. All the pictures were enjoyable but this was our favorite.

It all seems so long ago--when the children were small and we were poor and lived out in the country in Upstate New York amid the snowflakes. There was a stream running through the property, and one day I woke up to a strange new sound. It was the sound of the creek, which had been frozen and was now rushing over the rocks--spring freshets!

When spring finally came, we were mad with joy!

Unfair!

[T]he race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Ecclesiastes, 9:11

Everyone has seen evidence of this unfairness. My own brother (the genius, 1600 SATs) has proved conclusively that just being brainy does not earn you much bread. He's probably smarter than Bill Gates, but Gates is undoubtedly more fortunate. And so it goes.

Barack Obama is better than smart--he's lucky. He gained the presidency by a series of fortuitous circumstances, the most important of which was the crash of the economy.

So far he has done nothing that is not either wrong or totally pointless. But his luck has come to his aid. Having been totally ineffectual in dealing with the Iranians, he has been rescued by a lucky chance: the fact that the Iranian people are totally fed up. And brave.

I hope his good fortune is transferable to us. But his luck may run out when it comes to health care; and wouldn't that be lucky for us?

Endangered species?

Dustbury considers the comeback of a butterfly.

The solution? Restore some grasslands to conditions more suitable for that ant, and after a couple of generations, import a handful of butterflies from surviving Scandinavian stock. The Large Blue, once listed as Vulnerable, is now considered “Near Threatened,” a substantial step back.

The cynical side of me wants to grumble that nobody would go to that much trouble for a creature considered less attractive than a butterfly. I dunno. Snail darters aren’t all that cute.

I've often wondered what would happen if the cockroach were endangered. Would we have Congressional hearings? Would the EPA go into overdrive?

Has anyone bemoaned the deliberate campaign against the anopheles mosquito?

Just asking.

A tale of two hats, 75 years apart

 

 

My daughter and bubbe, my grandmother.

Obama likes to give speeches

but not everyone wants to listen to the gifted orator.

I thought we were the only people turning the channel when narcissistic man-child makes his daily proclamation! How often is it necessary to show his incompetence, corruption, negligence and absolute stupidity?

I am so relieved to know that there are others who cringe when O speaks. Apparently many people don't like to listen to our beloved leader. I have tried to analyze my own reaction. Why don't I like to listen to him?

He has a very pleasant speaking voice. It's the delivery that bothers me. Like The Little Engine That Could, he pushes his speech up a hill laboriously, then slides down the slope and comes to the bottom, all tuckered out. Listen to his speech pattern: up, up, up, UP, then he sputters to a stop--his voice goes down. That's how you know he has finished speaking, at least temporarily. The blessed silence never lasts long. It's annoying. So are the inappropriate "uh and "huh" he resorts to when the teleprompter lets him down.

And, oh yes, the utter rot of what he is saying.

Your tax dollars at work

What an eminent domain funfest this would be!

Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.

The US government is looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature Photo: GETTY

The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature.

Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.

Ht to Instapundit.

I am not surprised that some local tinpot politician with delusions of grandeur would think of this idea, but the government is toying with the idea and providing money for him to realize his dream! What brilliant ideas come out of Harvard, to be sure. Are we chessmen, to be moved around the board by our betters at will, for our own good?

Imagine one Kelo in every neighborhood--just one--throwing a monkey wrench into the scheme because for some inexplicable reason she doesn't feel like being forced to move. Imagine moving dozens or hundreds of angry residents out of their homes at once. Neighborhood groups holding protest meetings, picketing City Hall.

I remember when Montclair State University wanted to put a microwave dish on a hill in a little town in New Jersey. The locals were up in arms. Letters flew to editors; meetings were held protesting the plan. And that was just a few people.

Of course, no idea is too hare-brained for the current management.

Big thunderstorm

Last night, when I was in bed sleeping, I heard loud noises which sounded like an artillery barrage. I seriously wondered whether the North Koreans had landed and were driving their tanks down Naamans Rd. Of course, I was pretty sure that wasn't happening. It was as unlikely as, well, driving an airplane, or even two of them, into a tall building. That would never happen, would it?

After 9/11, I felt that my sense of invulnerability was shattered. I always felt secure, almost smugly so, before that dreadful day. And then it was all over. I truly expected more terror attacks on tall buildings, bridges, nuclear power plants, or national monuments. An invasion from Canada or Mexico would not have surprised me. I felt an uneasy sense that this was not over. Everyone else felt the same way at the time.

Others forgot to be afraid. I never could. Even though nothing else happened to us, I always knew they were poised to strike us again whenever we let our guard down. Even the seven years of Bush's stewardship didn't make the fear go away.

Now again we are being disrespected by our enemies in North Korea and Iran. Obama seems intent on kissing up to the bad guys. I believe he's running for president of the senior class; the endless vapid speechmaking goes on and on. What a hollow man he is!

I attended a concert yesterday

of the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was excellent. Of course I didn't have time to read the program, I was busy listening to the music, which was lively, lots of brass.

When I got home I consulted the program, and what do you know, the theme of the concert was dies irae. It's from the Mass for the Dead, as sung by some monks somewhere, and refers to the last trump, end of the world, or judgment day. It means wrath of God, literally.

Of course, one number was totentanz by Liszt, which should have clued me in. I did a bit of research, and found that this is a common musical theme. It is found in Verdi's Requiem and a whole bunch of other places. But all the pieces played sounded downright cheerful.

There's a rock band using the name, too. I give them props for knowing Latin.

Oh yes, and you can download ringtones.

Spam is now in French

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This one I can read. May I state categorically that I am not a membre de MyCasinoLuck. My gambling experience is limited to having once fed $20 in quarters, which I immediately lost, into a slot machine at one of the casinos in Atlantic City. Being $20 poorer than I was before I walked in, I decided I was not a lucky person and prudently invested my money into a 401(k). We know how that came out.

New head of UNESCO

Just about what you would expect of the UN:

Farouk Hosni is Egyptian minister of culture. ...
Unfortunately for Egypt - and the rest of the world - Farouk Hosni is a notorious crony of the country’s authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak. He has served as culture minister for 21 years and is now 71. He is deeply complicit in and responsible for the stifling atmosphere, censorship and imprisonment of dissidents and bloggers....

Hosni’s idea of culture is a nice flaming pyre of books by Amos Oz, AB Yehoshua and Etgar Keret. Last year Hosni personally offered to burn any Hebrew-language books if they were found in the new library in Alexandria. He said: “If there are any there I will myself burn themselves in front of you.” Hosni banned ‘The Band’s Visit’ an Israeli film about a poor Egyptian band that is marooned in an Israeli backwater.

Some of his best friends are Jews, I bet.

Now I get spam in German!

From my inbox:

Lieb xxx@verizon.net,

Der Frühling ist eine Zeit, in der Ihr Organismus wird durch Viren angegriffen.
Sind Sie krank oder fühlen Sie sich schlecht? Oder Sie möchten Ihre Immunität und verhindern, dass Krankheiten?

Auf jeden Fall können Sie die benötigten Lösungen mit Rabatten und mit der Lieferung!
Unsere Website macht den Prozess der Einkauf einfacher und weniger teuer.

1. Lungenerkrankungen, Erkrankungen des Magen-, Anti-Asthma-, Herz-Krankheiten behandeln: Sie sparen 40% im Durchschnitt!
2. Anti-Angst: 50% oder mehr gespeichert werden können!

Zögern Sie nicht, in dieser Woche können Sie noch viel mehr auf erstaunliche Saison-Preis fällt!

I think I get the word "orgasm." Also "anti-asthma." "Herzkrankheiten" must be heart trouble.

Wouldn't it be easier to address me in English, which I speak like a native?

A log cabin moment

A more cringeworthy expression than "wise Latina" would be hard to find.

Unless it were "richness of experience."

I didn't find Senora Sotomayor's life story inspiring. I call that a "log cabin" story, as in Abe Lincoln's famous reminiscences of his humble beginnings. I'm sick and tired of hearing about these Harvard grads' virtual log cabins, up to and including our present president--he of the single mom on food stamps, raised by gramps and granny, etc., ad nauseam.

How come no-one found Clarence Thomas' life story moving and inspiring? How about Thomas Sowell, who also had a single mom? Don't conservatives have a right to humble beginnings?

Anyway, I wish they would all stow it for the time being. I am beginning to appreciate the value of a stiff upper lip. Stop trying to warm my heart, I haven't got one.

Monuments neglected

This is deplorable!

As president of the Delaware Medal of Honor Historical Association, I received a call from a member of the Buffalo Soldiers informing me of the deteriorating and unsafe condition of the African American Medal of Honor Memorial at 18th Street and Baynard Boulevard. One of its 40-pound bronze panels is missing its two top anchor screws, and is in danger of falling off, which would damage it, or worse, hurt some unlucky soul passing by.

[snip]



If any powers that be reading this letter can help in this matter, make the needed repairs to the African American Medal of Honor Memorial in Wilmington now; waiting until later may cost the city much more....

Memorial Day

 

Happy Memorial Day

 

This was taken at Fort Ticonderoga, a long time ago.

I know this guy!

He's the middle guy in the front row.




Well, not exactly--but I did exchange e-mails from him when I was writing a biographical article about him for my book.

This was a long time ago. 2000 or 2001, to be not quite exact. He was one of the astronauts assigned to me, and I couldn't find out much information about him, except the potted NASA biography. Then someone who knew someone who knew his mother gave me her phone number, and I called her. She was very gracious and proud of her son, and I found her a gold mine of information.

She gave me Bolden's e-mail address and I e-mailed him. He responded shortly thereafter, and gave me lots of information about his boyhood and early life, real human interest stuff. He was actually one of my favorite subjects, because he revealed so much about himself that I felt I knew him personally. And he was a general!

Lots of the astronauts and aviators we wrote about were still living. They were mostly very approachable. Bolden has had an exciting career, which I am sure will be all over the New York Times, so I'm not going to go into it. He seems like a competent guy and a good pick to head NASA.

Read my book to find out what he did as a kid.

American cemetery in Normandy

Remembering those who died for freedom.

Roses at Goodstay

 

On the University of Delaware campus.

Today at Longwood Gardens

 

 

 

 

A fountain in the middle of the city

 

How much does it cost a British politician to change a light bulb?

Apparently it is 135 pounds.

Our president is better than smart...

he's lucky.

If three people were walking beneath a tall skyscraper: man A, Obama, man B, and someone dropped a brick from the roof, it would hit either A or B, and Obama wouldn't even know something had happened.

Look at his record: Won the Dem primary by disqualifying his opponent; won the election by threatening a juicy scandal about the Republican candidate, intimidating him into withdrawing from the race; then beat Alan Keyes, who is clearly insane and doesn't even come from Illinois. He's never actually won an election before the Big One.

He might not have won that one if the economy hadn't crashed and burned just before the election, causing the electorate to blame Republicans for the mess.

He promised to withdraw from Iraq, but before he could keep his disastrous promise, Gen Petraeus won the damn thing, getting him off the hook. Lucky!

I hope some of his luck rubs off on the country. If we come out of his administration relatively unscathed, it won't be his fault. He believes that in order to fix the economy, we have to mess up health care. That's like a doctor telling you that he can't cure your bleeding ulcer until he cures your acne.

Some photos of Gibraltar

 

 

 

Something called Free to the First State took place today. Delaware residents could visit any number of historic sites free. These were taken at Gibraltar, a garden on Pennsylvania Ave in Wilmington. I was glad to make its acquaintance. I've often driven by and wondered what it was.

It was a beautiful day, despite the sun that fitfully emerged from the clouds.

Squalid family story

Mother, in an attempt to get my brother and me to clean up after ourselves, used to ask: "What would happen if nobody cleaned up?" We never found out, because mother had what my aunt called a "girl," to avoid the pejorative "maid," which for some reason was a low class way of speaking (Considering that my aunt called her friends--grandmothers all--"the girls," I guess girl was a better term. Well, you had to live through it, all women under the age of 90 were called girls, not women.) Anyway, we had a cleaning woman--a former client who had done time for shooting her husband--and the house was clean, if cluttered.

However, mother's theoretical was tested by a close relative, who I'll call Alvin. Alvin and his wife didn't like to clean, and didn't. Nor did they employ a cleaning person, girl, woman, or man. So we got to know what would happen if nobody cleaned up. It was pretty grotty.

Alvin and his wife, Alice, left piles of books, newspapers and junk mail on every available surface, and when that surface was covered they just piled it higher. Theirs was the only household I've ever visited where the toilets were covered with dust. And I have visited some very humble households, namely those of most of mother's clientele. Some lived in the country and had outhouses that were not as filthy as that of these two college graduates.

Add three children to the mix, and let them do whatever they want in the house, such as play ball indoors and scatter their possessions everywhere. A baby grand piano, shoved up against the wall where no-one could access the keyboard, made a cultural statement. A mattress and bedding in the middle of the living room floor attested to the fact that Alvin snored and Alice didn't like it.

To make matters worse, Alice was an awful cook, who served up whatever she could find in the refrigerator. So Shabbat dinner could include, but not be limited to, one baked potato, a few string beans, and a challah that had seen better days.

They were awfully nice people and very glad to see you, so once in a while you could not avoid Shabbat dinner. They were trying to be hospitable, the poor things. I guess they had long ago stopped seeing the dirt and disorder and thought it was normal.

But what about public health? What about germs? Had our ancestors left the poverty and oppression of Eastern Europe so their progeny could end up like this?

Another former friend

A friend of mine was having a play put on in New York, and a bunch of local citizens was chartering a bus so they could attend en masse.

I invited Linda to join me on a theater trip to the big city. This one would be great for both of us, because the question of who would drive would not arise. Because Linda wouldn't drive in New York. Her car was too new. It would be acceptable if my old Taurus were completely demolished by rabid New York drivers, but her Lincoln was too valuable.

Anyway she agreed to go, and I agreed to order and pay for the tickets. The price was something like $40, $50, or $60 per ticket, I don't remember.

So we went, and a good time was had by all. As I drove her home from the bus stop, I asked her to reimburse me. She said she didn't have the cash on her. I said I would take a check. She didn't have her checkbook either.

What could I do? The amount was more than I wanted to lose, but small enough so I would feel like I was hassling her if I kept reminding her that she owed me. Pestering people for small sums put the onus on me. Don't you feel defensive when you remind people of trivial amounts of money they owe you? You feel like the guilty party, somehow.

All this went through my mind as I approached her house, a big old Victorian which had been restored and refurbished within an inch of its life and was now worth millions. I knew that if I didn't do something, that money was going to slip out of my life for good.

So I told her I would go into the house with her and wait while she wrote a check.
In her dining room, which sported a priceless Oriental rug and a lovingly restored dining room table, she retrieved her checkbook and managed to write out a check in a most annoyed, "why are you so petty?" manner.

The next I heard of her, she sent me an invitation to her daughter's wedding shower. Since I knew neither the daughter nor her fiance--and was not invited to the wedding anyway--I decided I couldn't afford a friendship with Linda. She was too expensive a date.

Does Obama really believe that fixing the economy depends on health care reform?

Byron York:

Meanwhile, the president is taking every opportunity to argue that real recovery won’t be possible unless we spend hundreds of billions of dollars to enact his so-far-unspecified health care reform plan. “I’ve said repeatedly that getting health care costs under control is essential to reducing budget deficits, restoring fiscal discipline, and putting our economy on a path towards sustainable growth and shared prosperity,” Obama said at the White House on Monday.

Jeff at Protein Wisdom:

Unlike York, I don’t have sources inside the beltway, but nevertheless I’m going to disagree with him and say that it is unlikely Obama is betting an economic recovery on the passage of universal health care. Instead, I’m guessing that Obama — always one to take advantage of historic symbolism — simply wants to be the one who brings about the total overhaul of the US economic system, to be the man responsible for pushing (or forcing, depending on your point of view) anti-capitalist progressive policy into the political mainstream, where it will become difficult to roll back.

The president's logic--if logic is involved--confounds me. it's like building a house with the roof constructed first, then the actual structure under that, and last, the foundation. Very innovative--but it doesn't make sense.

Big wind in Delaware

 

The wind apparently blew part of this tree down.

Two toned tree

 

My neighbor's tree looks like it grows flowers in two different colors.

From Delaware, for Mother's Day

They are Brandywine Bluebells.

Happy Mother's Day!

Construction dust

When I went to Arizona back in early April, I was naive enough to believe the construction on my new bathroom might--just might-- be complete or nearly complete when I got home. This is equivalent to believing that the stars are God's daisy chain or that the Easter bunny lays colored eggs.

Brian the Boy Contractor seemed so eager to complete the job! He had nothing else to do--nothing! It would be his A-1 priority!

Well, Brian and his silent helper have managed to spend about eight hours a week on this job. The bathroom is the usual jumble of tools, wallpaper fragments, pieces of lath, sawdust and crumbly stuff. The entrance hall is completely covered with contractor footprints against a backdrop of mud. Bits of board adorn the front walk. The garage, which is usually full of junk, now contains a toilet, sink, and medicine cabinet in addition to the usual dreck. The dining room holds a large carton containing the stuff that was in the old bathroom. A fine layer of dust lies over every available surface.

And so it goes.

Any hope of actually keeping this mess presentable would be futile. I did sweep up the fragments that were in the kitchen so I could have an occasional meal there. I also mopped the kitchen floor and the entrance hall. Then it rained for nine consecutive days.

At this point all I do is cringe when I walk into the house and leave urgent messages on Brian's voice mail. Is this some sort of contractor's tradition to make the biggest mess possible for the longest possible time?

My brother's birthday

 

is today. This is what he looked like as a boy. Now he has a long white beard and looks like God.

Wilmington Institute sells prints by N C Wyeth

Bad news.

The Wilmington Library plans to pay for a new roof, heating and air conditioning system and other repairs for its Rodney Square building by selling 14 illustrations N.C. Wyeth painted for the 1920 publication of "Robinson Crusoe."

The remarkably large collection of Wyeth originals is expected to bring about $5 million when it's auctioned piece by piece at Christie's in New York on Dec. 2.

"The paintings are among Wyeth's most famous book illustrations and their sale is significant in the world of collectors," said Eric Widing, an American painting specialist at Christie's.

It's rare that so many illustrations from one book -- there were 16 in all for "Robinson Crusoe" -- go to auction together, Widing said. That's likely to be seen by buyers as a momentous event, he said.

Also heading to the auction block in October is a rare, complete 20-volume set of Edward S. Curtis' books and photographs of the native peoples of North America and Alaska. It's expected to raise $700,000 to $900,000.

These items, particularly the Wyeth prints, belong here, not in some millionaire's collection in Saudi Arabia. No doubt it was the intent of the donor to assure them a safe home in the library--not to repair the roof!

I'm a librarian. I know what leaky roofs do in libraries. Air conditioning and heating problems are also quite familiar to me. But I wouldn't sell irreplaceable paintings to fix the roof. What will happen when the new roof needs a new roof, as it inevitably will? Will they sell the circulation desk?

A very similar incident took place in Paterson, NJ, a few years ago. The library had in its possession several priceless works by painters of the Hudson River School. These painters were very much in vogue at the time. They were sold, and some citizens brought a lawsuit, claiming that these paintings were a gift to the city of Paterson and were not really the property of the library. The suit was successful, the buyers returned the paintings, and the library had to re-pay the auction house for their lost commissions.

I'm not a lawyer, but I wonder whether the donor of the Wyeth illustrations intended the library to sell them for lunch money.

Cranky, and other, observations

I haven't figured out Verizon yet, and I don't think I ever will. But I think Verizon is going to get their comeuppance, just the same. Every few days, at least once a week, I get an offer from Verizon for phone+internet+tv for $99. These wonderful offers are for new customers.

Why are new customers gold and old customers garbage? If you can earn a profit selling service to some people for $99.00 a month, why not me?

I predict that someone somewhere is inventing a technology which will put Verizon out of business, and I can't say I'm sorry. Magicjack is already here, for $19.95 a year. Unfortunately, this does not work for me, but someday something will.

I can't feel sorry for the CIA either. They had a shiv stuck deep in Bush's back, the bloody traitors. I bet they all voted for Obama. Now let them take their lumps.

Nor can I work up much sympathy for the car manufacturers. The last time I had my car --a Mercury Sable--repaired at a dealer's it cost $400 and I had to sit around all day. What goes around comes around.

Senator Specter, the newest member of the Democratic Party, has had his seniority taken away. I'm crying bitter tears. I hope Norm Coleman takes his disputed election result all the way to the World Court. We don't recognize the World Court? Wait a while, we will.

I was out shopping last night in the dusk--you know, the brief period when all the light has gone away but darkness has not yet completely descended? It was raining and there was an air of mystery. Has anyone captured that light, or absence of light, in a painting?

Speaking of light, the stars shine more brightly in Sedona than they do here. The night sky is astounding.

Homecoming float

 

A picture of a homecoming float from a long time ago. These girls are all grandmothers now.

Would you believe I know the names of two of them? That's why you label your photos.

Depression

When I am worried about something I lose my appetite and therefore lose weight. It's easy. I just don't feel like eating. When I feel better, though, I gain it all back. Now that's depressing!

Small tree

 

This tree--actually a twig--was a table decoration at a Hadassah dinner a year ago, and I won it. It is a redbud tree, or will be when it grows up. I watered it daily last summer, and it made it through the winter. They say it blossoms in seven years. Well, that's one down and six to go.

It's about 10 inches tall right now.

Flowering trees, April 2009, Delaware

 

 

 

Misc

A collection of uninteresting observations:

I'm not having much fun now. Mr Charm is still in rehab and not feeling well today. I'm not afraid of being alone, scared of burglars, or noises in the night. I miss him, though. What does it all mean? Life seems absolutely senseless: "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Someone has suggested that I actually got the better of Verizon by posting my screed against them. Not so. I've actually spent over $600 in the first third of this year on totally unoutstanding--it would be a stretch to call it mediocre--service. So who's ahead? Who's laughing now?

Every time I have a question about a bill or technical support from anyone, I set aside about an hour to get out of voice mail jail and actually talk to someone. Sometimes that's not enough time.

The people of Wilmington DE are very polite and friendly. Even the panhandlers say please and thank you. Good show, Wilmington!

More than one black person has wished me "a blessed day." It doesn't improve my situation, but it makes me feel better. Good show, black people of Wilmington and environs! That's a nice thing to do.

A letter to Macy's

Dear Macy's:

I am writing to inquire why I must have two Macy’s accounts, one of which does not send me a monthly statement. I pay my Macy’s bill in full every month, yet these other charges do not appear on the bill. But even though they don’t send me a bill, I am supposed to pay the bill they don’t send me.

How am I supposed to know what the charges are, if you don’t send me a statement?

If you people are not smart enough to send me one simple statement for this account, how do you expect to run a business? No wonder the economy is in trouble.

Now I am paying off this Visa account in full, and I want this account closed permanently. I would still like to have a Macy’s account, but if I have to close both of these accounts to have peace of mind, I will be regretfully forced to do so.

I’ve enjoyed getting discounts at Macy’s, but they’re not worth being driven nuts.

Sincerely,

Miriam

The life the environmentals want us to have

"Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of Warre, where every man is Enemy to every man; the same is consequent to the time, wherein men live without other security, than what their own strength, and their own invention shall furnish them withall. In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short."

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

Mandatory cringe-worthy environmental post

This one by Neil Kramer --a blogger I actually like--will do.

As for me, I hate the environment. Environmentalists posture because they think they have a self-evidently superior cause. Few of us want to be sen as defenders of pollution, deforestation, global warming, and a host of other bogus concocted evils.

The only environment I care about is my own. So I turn out my electric lights when I am finished using them, because I don't want my environment cluttered with electric bills. I want cheap energy from nuclear power, if that's what works. I want to live a lavish American lifestyle, using plenty of cheap energy to meet my most whimsical desires, not some thirdworldy existence communing with nature, playing with sticks, and using the outdoors as a toilet.

Give me my cell phone, my incandescent light bulbs, my washer and dryer and dishwasher and all the rest of the gadgets which make my life pleasant and convenient. Big gas-guzzlers which burn lots of cheap gasoline! Building projects which use lots of lumber and spread suburban sprawl all over the countryside! Miles and miles of highways covering the countryside! I love them all.

A poem by Robert Burns

O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie
That’s sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry:

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve
And fare thee weel, awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.

I have to admit that I avoided Burns's poetry for a long time, because I loathe dialect and loathe even more poets that are celebrated by cults--like Bobbie Burns. But this one is so pretty.

I believe that all of Burns's loves (or luves, if you prefer) were like a red, red rose--every last one of them. And there were many.

Another favorite poem

DOWN BY THE SALLEY GARDENS

by: W.B. Yeats

DOWN by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.

In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

One of my favorite poems

"Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

When I saw a huge spread of daffodils on a hillside in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, I thought of, and appreciated, this poem. My heart actually did leap up with joy, at least for the moment, as prescribed by the poet.

I must admit that they do not flash upon my inward eye in solitude. I am always deflected by thoughts of what's for dinner, or the need to pay some bills.

Still, it's a very suitable poem for National Poetry Day, this April.

Don't blame me!

President Obama is quite clear that he is not responsible for the current mess. It's all Bush's fault.

When do we get to blame Obama for everything? How about, erm, some Tuesday in November?

Tree, shadow, boy

 

National poetry month

Truly I am not myself, if I let National Poetry Month slip by. So here's a poem, and it's an April sort of poem, too, by Robert Frost:

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Vexed in Delaware, California, and Arizona

It's been that kind of week.

It had been cold in Delaware, so I was looking forward to a little California sunshine. Wouldn't you know it, it was colder still in California, with an ominous wind that I'm convinced was just laid on to inconvenience me. It's always warmer in California! Isn't it?

Everything in my suitcase was suddenly unsuitable. I spent four days in my son-in-law's hoodie, and slept in an old robe. The only time I got warm was in the shower. I also lost my cellphone---the one with everybody's number programmed into it. That's like losing your entire social history.

So California was a bit of a washout, weatherwise. (Besides my losing one of my favorite earrings in the hellhole my daughter calls a guestroom.) But we were going to Arizona. Surely it's warm, even uncomfortably hot, in Arizona? Well, it wasn't. Sedona was freezing, and furthermore it has no bookstores, which always makes me suspicious of a place. They didn't even have those books they always have in convenience stores--you know, books with black covers about aliens and vampires, or romance novels. No magazines either, unless you consider publications about trucks magazines.

Sedona was spectacular, but so what? What can you do with scenery, once you've taken its picture? There are also many, many psychics, tarot readers and other various nutcases who must have moved there from California, no doubt seeking a warmer climate.

So we moved on to Scottsdale, obviously a real place--realer than Sedona, at any rate. Scottsdale is either part of Phoenix or not, I couldn't decide. Anyway, one runs into the other, as towns do in New Jersey. It happened to be very cold in Phoenix, or Scottsdale if you prefer. The natives found it refreshing to have a cold spell in a season which is usually hot. Not me. Places should have the proper weather suitable to the season.

All of those places had unsuitable weather, due no doubt to global warmening.

Just got back from Arizona

 

Complaint re: Verizon

Sent to the Delaware Public Service commission:

Every month, Verizon sends me another bill for over $200. there are always extra charges on the bill for movies and services I have not ordered, such as service in Filipino. I am constantly on the phone with them, correcting their billing. The next month there is another extra charge for television programs and movies I have not ordered.

Every month I attempt to pay their bill, by phone or by credit card. They never credit my account with payment and are constantly sending me disconnection notices. About a week ago I paid their bill over the phone, plus a $3.50 charge for this service. Now I get another disconnection notice!

I would pay this bill over the phone yet again, using another credit card, even though I already paid it, but they seem totally unable to post my payments to my account. So why bother?

I recently called them and enrolled in a bundled program, where I am to receive phone, television, and internet service for $109 a month. This has not been put into operation, even though they agreed to set up the account this way.

These Verizon charges are making my life a living hell.

Can you please, please PLEASE ask them to straighten this out?