Head for Rent

The other night over coffee, a close friend of mine was relating a recent set of circumstances that really pissed her off (her choice of words, not mine). The circumstances themselves were not very interesting to me, but she is cute and I had nothing else to do, so I sat listening and sipping my decaf mocha java, when she said something extraordinary: “I don’t know why I let people rent space in my head… for free!”

I was thunderstruck and I’m sure my face showed it, for it was one of those ah-ha moments where a host of disparate thoughts that had been percolating unbeknownst to me suddenly gelled in a concatenation of events. The connection(s) between worldview, feeling, reality, and the act of creation suddenly crystallized for me. I too have been guilty of letting others create my reality for me, one that is not in my best interests.

We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them.
~ Epictetus

So how does one go about wresting control of the creative process back from all that exists outside one’s self – that’s the real rub of it. The short answer would seem to lie in the power of choice; however, it is often the case that the mechanism through which that choice is attenuated has been idled for so long or adjusted so infrequently that it has corroded almost to the point of dysfunction – almost. A second factor that further confounds matters is that this choice, or transformation thereof, is made instantly and incessantly, moment by moment, throughout one’s existence, on a subconscious level. Changes of this type, those involving deeply ingrained habituation, can best be effected by practicing the alternative habits until a new, more desirable state of habituation evolves. But it takes a great deal of practice, and is difficult for those, like myself, who crave immediate gratification, to sustain. I have to keep reframing it in terms of a struggle for my soul; it would seem like real work, but perhaps this is not the case.

There is a parable I have heard at various times, perhaps many of you have as well, and that I think is apropos in this context, I will therefore risk being repetitive and relate it here. It is one purportedly from Native American culture in which a young boy is sitting with his grandfather, learning the ways of the shaman. The grandfather explains to the boy that inside the boy there are two wolves battling for control of his soul. One of the wolves is good and noble, pure and kind, joyful and peaceful. The other wolf is evil and dishonest, selfish and cruel, angry and restless. “But grandfather,” the boy asks, “which wolf wins?”
And to this the old man replies, “the one you feed.”

I am feeding the wrong lobo when I hang the rental sign on the helmsman’s chair of my emotions, and the price paid is profound. Especially upon consideration of the fact that simply opting to purchase a different brand of wolf-chow is no additional work – a bag is coming home from Petco and a wolf is getting fed either way – why should brand loyalty run one’s life?

There was a fuller, more three-dimensional feel to the epiphany; the understanding that I gained was somehow more substantial and more integrated than words can adequately express. Before it blurred and faded like a good dream, I endeavored to preserve what I could for future reflection, by furiously typing text into my cellphone as we flirted and watched biscotti crumbs clinging desperately to the sides of our mugs, as if to avoid succumbing to the warmth and drowning. Capturing revelations of this sort is a difficult and imprecise affair, but one that is utterly worthwhile. And while I suspect that this recounting of one such instance fails miserably to accurately relate the enormity of the experience, by trying I am telling the big bad wolf that there is no vacancy here.

The Blind Leading the Stupid

Now this one is truly mind boggling, and I owe much thanks to Obi for pointing it out to me – sorry it took me so long to deal with it, I have just been in denial I guess. Being confronted with such incredibly heinous stupidity just causes my mind to vapor-lock sometimes. I should probably tell the rest of you what I am speaking of, but before I do that…

If you’ve ever listened to Alice’s Restaurant (I wore my copy out) you may recall the part where, after dumping the garbage from the church and getting arrested for it, Arlo and friends are in court waiting for the judge to look at the 27 8x10 color glossy pictures (with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one…), and the judge walks in with a seeing-eye dog. He describes it as a typical case of American blind justice. Lest we forget, the judiciary is only one of the three branches of our governmental system, and this story concerns the second of those three.

I suppose you could file this under “only in Texas” but you would hope even they would have more sense. As you may or may not be aware, hunting in Texas is enormously popular. Why even our Vice President has been known to go out and shoot (with) a few friends. But wait, there’s more. There is a new bill in the Texas legislature specifically for improving the sporting lives of blind hunters in Texas.

I should just stop right there – BLIND HUNTERS – it says it all. These are two words that should never be next to each other in the same sentence let alone in the same piece of legislation… but they are. In the realm of truly bad ideas this ranks right up there with blind Indy car racers or blind mohels or blind bomb disposal technicians.

Anyway, you can read the article for yourself at the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6173535.stm

This bill would allow blind hunters to use laser-sighted rifles to hunt animals in Texas. The article appeared in the BBC news some weeks back, so once again the good old US of A is the laughing stock of the entire civilized world, confirming their opinion of us as a bunch of violence-loving barbarians.

Monkeyshines ‘till Nine

This week’s visit got off to another rather bumpy start. Both little ones reportedly got up at 3:30 in the morning and were ready for their afternoon snack by the time they arrived at the Sensory Gym at 10am. Zach had a short session, as he became sick and barfed in the waiting area shortly before the session was due to end. He did get some therapy done, however, and felt better almost immediately upon tossing up all of the junk that he ate prior to the session.

countBy the time we got to Daddy’s house, he was out for the. This was Zach’s first nap in his bed at Daddy’s house (of course I took pictures to capture the event). Miranda had taken a brief nap while Zach was doing his thing, so she was ready to play. After tucking Zachy in, we took our toys into the living room and play we did!

You might recall from a previous entry that our little guy had some shiny new Matchbox cars waiting for him leftover from his Dental visit, so equity demanded something for our little lady. Miranda found two beautiful necklaces for her to play dress-up with (of the cool, funky painted wooden, stretchy variety) and two giant superballs with little dinosaurs inside – the kind that she likes. She immediately held one up and said, “this is Zachy’s ball” and went and quietly laid it next to him while he was sleeping. What a good little sister!

We played with dolls for quite some time, had a tea party, banged on our tambourine, and had our lunch and a lollipop too. Zachy slept until 5:20 and woke up feeling fine, but no sooner had he gotten up, than Miranda fell asleep (she slept on the couch this time because Zach tends to play in the bedroom) and remained asleep until Mommy came back at 9pm.

Zach and I did our usual things, had a bath, watched our Chicka-chickas, and had a nice dinner (I didn’t overcook the steaks this time and the boy ate ravenously).

Mommy came and collected the monkeys at 9pm. Poor little Miranda was not happy about being woken up and bundled up – she cried and let it be known that it is better to let sleeping pandas lie. We hugged and kissed and said goodbye – this coming Saturday will see the first Overnight Monkeyshines and promises to be a momentous occasion. Stay tuned!

Be Afraid

I was reading yet another article today, among the never-ending stream of thousands produced by the fear-mongering machine that is our contemporary mainstream media. In today’s article, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a high-level panel on terrorism at the World Economic Forum that the century will only get more dangerous as technology improves, and that global leaders must make some hard decisions now if they want to avert catastrophe. Chertoff said that the world is facing a critical test as it seeks to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists, and that there will be no way "to put that genie back in the bottle" if it fails.

My first thought was “damn, I hate tests, and I didn’t even know there was going to be a quiz or anything. I wish I had more time to study.” OK, so that’s really three thoughts, but the point I was coming to lies in the forth thought that I had, “Oh, it’s terrorists again today, not illegal immigrants or evolution touting hippies or gay marriage.” Chertoff was beating the familiar but effective drum that the media so love, whose beat goes something like this: “Be afraid. Be afraid enough to give up your rights and freedoms. Be afraid enough to compromise you beliefs. Be afraid enough to let us take control, so that we can protect you – even from yourself. Be afraid, but continue to consume.”

To be fair, I suppose that the alternative media are also guilty of fear mongering, they simply beat a different drum, telling us that the mainstream outlets are wrong about what we should be afraid of and that we should be afraid of the mainstream sources for this very reason. Not only should we be afraid of the mainstream for getting the truth wrong, we should also be afraid of all the things that the alternative media has identified for us as the real bogeymen. These include global-warming, dangers to our food supply, industrial pollutants, evangelical Christians, etc.

Of course, upon reading the article, I quickly checked our conveniently color-coded alert status to see how afraid I was supposed to be. I found it to be holding steady at “salmon”, not the more comforting “chartreuse” that I was hoping for, but at least it was not the truly alarming “vermilion,” which would have caused me to rush out shopping for duct tape and plastic sheeting. So I did what any good citizen would do – nothing. What else is there to do, really? Have a DHS sanctioned prescription for anti-anxiety medication filled (as long as it is not one of those dangerous Canadian-made generics)? Should I just sit there and frown, or frown and tremble at the same time? Generally, I prefer to sit and stew, and when I engage in this activity, absurd things happen.

“The Terrorists” – it is so goofy that it almost sounds like something from James Bond (Spectre) or from the Saturday morning cartoons of my youth, like the “Legion of Doom.” Where the hell are the Superfriends when we need them? We need the Wondertwins (what was up with the monkey?) to turn into some cockamamie shit and save the day. We need Aquaman talking to some fish or a squid or something. We need Batman and his little bitch Robin to throw some serious kung fu at the problem. We need a savior! What we really need is Jesusman to come back and take another crucifixion for the cause! Jesusman - I just made that up - I rather like it, but I digress - I’ll run with that later.

I suspect that the real strategy of “The Terrorists” is far simpler and far more devious than we can imagine. Just ask yourself, “what would Lex Luther (a.k.a. Osama Bin Laden) do?” His best strategy is to just hang out in his energy-independent cave, eating his organically raised and free-range Yak burgers, stoking up his fire with another renewable Yak turd or two, drinking pure glacial-melt water, simply waiting for our entire civilization to collapse, then standing up and proclaiming that Allah’s will has been done. The sad reality is that anyone wanting to destroy our way of life has to get in line – behind us.

If Hurricane Katrina (brought to you by those wonderful folks who gave you the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004) taught us nothing else, it taught us that we are only a few days away from anarchy when faced by even a relatively predictable and normal natural event. When only two seemingly insignificant transmission lines came down somewhere in deepest darkest Ohio it caused the great blackout of 2003 in the Northeast U.S., which left tens of millions without the basic necessity of life for days. Our water supply, transit, energy distribution and food distribution infrastructures are all incredibly complex, incredibly old (Jurassic really) and incredibly fragile. What is worse, is that they are all interdependent, thus a failure in any one area will, more likely than not, lead to cascading failures in the others.

The real Legion of Doom knows this far better than do we Americans. They do not want to come here and take over, if they did they would already be here, driving our cabs, managing our convenience stores, buying our apartment blocks, cheating on their taxes and vacationing at Disney. They do not want what we have, they only want us to stop forcing our way of life and our problems on them. This is their cause, and the most effective way to defeat a cause is to take away the reason for the cause in the first place. Thus, the best strategy for homeland security is a benign and non-interfering foreign policy, or better yet, no policy at all. After all, by making a policy isn’t one addressing a situation that doesn’t yet exist, or answering a question that has not yet been asked? It is laziness and foolishness, and has resulted in our present culture of fear. Be afraid only of this, be very afraid.

Worldometers

OK, so I know this endless tweaking is annoying, but I'm trying to create something that is not only archival, but also enjoyable and useful as well. To that end, I have decided to add one last link (at least for now) to the links sidebar. This site can be found at http://www.worldometers.info/ and gives real-time world statistical data that are regularly recalibrated. It provides some good food for thought and I feel that it is in keeping with most of the recurring themes of these pages. Enjoy! I promise to actually write something for my next entry and several ideas/issues are marinating - thanks again for all the support.

The Mix is in the Message

I've decided to add a new link to the sidebar here. It is a news site that I visit often and find to be very helpful. Hopefully, some or all of you will check it out - it does not buy into all that liberal vs. conservative bullshit and actually presents "news", what a concept. Here is a brief description of AlterNet:

AlterNet is an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of dozens of other independent media sources. AlterNet's aim is to inspire citizen action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, and health care issues. Its editorial mix underscores a commitment to fairness, equity and global stewardship, and making connections across generational, ethnic and issue lines. AlterNet serves as a reliable filter, keeping hundreds of thousands of people well-informed and engaged, helping them cope with a culture of information overload and resist the constant commercial media onslaught. AlterNet's aim is to stimulate, motivate, and engage.

To check it out visit: http://www.alternet.org/

Is It Safe?

Yesterday we took Zach to his first dental appointment with Dr. Lim the dentist, who has an office at 505 East 70th Street in Manhattan. Dr. Lim has experience treating kids with ASD, has a good approach to it and had some good recommendations for us regarding dental care for the kids.

At this first appointment, Zach sat on Daddy’s lap in the chair (just sitting in the chair was traumatic for Daddy) while Dr. Lim merely looked at Zachy’s teeth. He only used the little mirror thing that dentists love to use (not that awful pick thing), was careful to let Zach hold it first and didn’t force it into his mouth. Daddy and Zach made monster roars/noises so that Dr. Lim could see inside.

Zachy’s teeth are apparently in very good shape – coming in straight, evenly spaced, and with no visible signs of decay. This was good news considering all the Tonka trucks, cars and bicycle handlebars that our guy has gnawed through over the past couple of years. The only big change is that Zach is going have to stop having is bedtime rice milk (we were told that it is loaded with sugar) unless we are able to get him to brush afterwards.

Dr. Lim wants to see him once a month to get him used to having his mouth looked at, gradually increasing the invasiveness each session, until he can do a real cleaning, etc. Good plan, huh? The only negative about the whole visit was the major meltdown that Miranda had because she had to wait outside with Grandma – Grandma had to capitulate and brought her into the examining room gasping and shaking because she was so upset – she can really work herself up into a state sometimes.

Daddy had stopped at Riteaid and bought some Matchbox cars, which were to be used to console Zach or reward him for being so brave, but they were not needed. I guess we will get to play with some new toys this Saturday, when the gang comes over for Monkeyshines time.

Maps of War

Here is a website with some really interesting flash animations. The following link will play one of several available on the site. The animation lasts about 45 seconds (no sound) and has a sliding time line below it to show the approximate year. As you watch it, notice the number of times that Israel and Iraq are conquered and reconquered - especially at the end of the animation when it replays the entire sequence at high speed. It kind of puts the prospects for peace in the middle east in a new perspective - not a very optimistic one. Enjoy!

http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/EMPIRE17.swf

Overtime-Monkeyshines

This week’s episode of Monkeyshines got off to a bumpy start – literally. The gang was about ten minutes late to the Sensory Gym because of an accident – apparently, Zach was playing chase with his Step-Grandfather and ran into the futon. He sustained a 1cm (I measured) vertical cut through his left eyebrow and the pediatrician had to be called, to see if he needed stitches – she said that they don’t stitch eyebrows. I felt bad for the little scar-faced guy, but was grateful that it did not happen on my watch. He seemed to be in good spirits by the time they arrived and had a good (if rather short) session with his therapist Luz.

This was a week of “firsts” and the first “first” occurred right after we got back to the House of Miller. Zach wanted to get started playing and seemed to think that Mommy needed to go, in order to enable this. He picked up her coat and handed it to her, inviting her to leave so that he could get started. When she did not go immediately, he shoved it at her twice more until she did go, then set about business.

Another “first” was that Miss Miranda earned her first time-out from Daddy, which she did not like one little bit. Zachy was playing nicely in the bedroom while Miranda had been eating her lunch. Upon finishing her meal, she marched in and tried to insert herself in his game by grabbing. Normally Zach just walks away when this kind of thing happens and lets her have her way (mostly to keep her from crying which he hates), but this time his game involved his cars and his marbles (precious objects) and he “said” no to her and would not let her play. Miranda got pissed off and began hurling toys (and some other things) around to demonstrate her ire. This infraction (throwing things in anger) is what earned her a time-out (we do this because this form of discipline works so well in Hockey). Afterwards, she sobbed on Daddy’s shoulder for a few minutes until she recovered enough to return the goofy faces that Daddy was making at her. It was obvious to Daddy that this little one was overdo for a nap and she retired to the couch with her Reggie-blanket and a bottle of milk for a two-hour nap (1:30 – 3:30) after which she was her usual jolly self.

The final "first" for this week was the dreaded dual-poop, which occurred during music time. Both children went strangely silent and appeared to be concentrating fiercely on my guitar playing, which was very gratifying until I realized (smelled actually) the real reason for it. No one was hurt, diapers were changed and windows were briefly opened to ventilate the room.

Daddy and Zach had some special time while Miranda napped, coloring at the easel - we worked on our shapes (exploring polygons) and colors. We also had a fine time playing Blues Clues and Ride the Daddy. Of course the amazing marble machine was running continuously throughout the entire eight-hour visit (stock tip: invest in Duracell).

I won’t bore you with the lunch and dinner menus – they were fairly typical, but I added raisins, tossed salad and everything-free chocolate chip cookies to the “staples list”. Although I overcooked the steaks for dinner (we ate mostly French-fries and ketchup – it’s a vegetable right?) and they were kind of tough, suffice it to say that nobody went hungry and everybody got two balanced meals and a whole bunch of healthy snacks – thank God they love fruit!

After bath-time (the marbles even took a bath with us) we settled down (all three of us) in Daddy’s thinking chair to watch our Chicka-chicka Boom-boom videos and have some nice quiet time. It was a very sweet and loving evening. Mommy came back just before eight and we said a fond farewell at 8:15, until our next adventurous Monkeyshines time.

AQ Test

Take The AQ Test:

(from Wired Magazine)

Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger's report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives.

Click on the following link to take the test:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

By the way, I scored a 31.

Off-Balance

As I was explaining to my good friend Obi this morning, I have been feeling completely off-balance this week. I have been tired, forgetting things, clumsy (to the point of mayhem), hiding from the world and just generally screwing things up. Fortunately, no one has gotten hurt - myself included.

It’s kind of hard to figure – the week started out with a Holiday, though the day off was consumed with a pediatrician visit (Miranda got a rubella shot and Zach got pronounced pink-eye free) and a visit to a lawyer. The latter was a consultation that Mia and I went to, to discuss what the steps were to sue the Board of Education for private school tuition for Zach, should they not be able to provide him with an appropriate educational setting (something that they are almost certainly not going to be able to do). It was kind of weird sitting there together as a team, having spent so much time meeting with lawyers in our difficulties with each other – at least it was weird for me.

So I guess the week was off to an unusual start. This was compounded by our adventure to the Ideal School of Manhattan on Wednesday, where Zach had his first interview for a kindergarten slot. Zach did fabulously – he counted to twenty, said his abc’s, did his shapes and colors and even did some drawing for them. He also did a great job of holding Mommy and Daddy’s hands and was ultra cute and very sweet with everybody. Unfortunately, I suspect that the school will not be a fit for him, as the class sizes are too big (15 kids per class) and they will probably not be able to provide enough speech therapy (only twice per week). Zach had a fine time however, and even sat in on a music class and looked at some pollywogs in an aquarium. We rode the train all the way back to Brooklyn and parted at Flagg Court.

Thursday (yesterday) I absentmindedly forgot to wear a nicotine patch - again. I realized this just as I was getting out of the train in Harlem and was about to start a twelve hour day – ugggh! I made it through without smoking, but I was pretty miserable and woozy all day. I had to keep asking everybody if I was being too cranky and apologizing for just plain old being useless. I put one on as soon as I got home and today I seem to be fully recovered and back on balance.

That should bring you all up to date with what’s been going on in Miller’s world – I’ve got a meeting tonight at 8pm and then 8 hours of Monkeyshines tomorrow Peace.

Quality Time Monkeyshines

This week's Monkeyshines visit featured another milestone (the first two meal visit) and lasted until well after 7pm. Our favorite little folks stormed into the House of Miller and played their little hearts out all afternoon long.

Before I go any further, I should note that I updated the images on a couple of earlier entries (New Years Monkeyshines and Walden) and have several more Christmas images to add to the Christmas Monkeyshines post - please check them out and enjoy.

I'll try to keep this brief- lunch was the usual fair, however, this week the kids stayed for dinner, which consisted of steaks, corn on the cob, french fries, and peas and carrots for Miranda. It was nice to see two little ones with such good appetites eating healthy food. Most all of the food and a lot of grapes, bananas, melon and assorted other fruit were all eaten by the end of the evening (but virtually no potato chips or other junk food!).

This week Daddy did a better job of planning and we not only had art-time, but also music-time, nap-time, story-time, tumble-time, bath-time, dinner-time, and movie-time. In another week or two, when the Monkeys start spending the night, we'll add quiet-time and bedtime to the list.

Daddy is learning quickly that a little pre-planning really makes the day that much more enjoyable for all. I don't get much time with the kids so I really have to make what little bit of time I get count.

Nothing of great note happened during this visit - just a lot of love. I'll try to do a better job of getting these entries back on a Monday post-time schedule. Until the next time, stay tuned for Monkeyshines.

Technical Difficulties

Many apologies to all of you loyal readers - There is not really anything "technical" about the difficulties that I'm experiencing, I'm just way short on time and way busy today. Monkeyshines did happen this past weekend as usual, and a full update (with new photos - at last!) will be available once we return to our regularly scheduled broadcast. Please stand by.

OOPS!

I was just sitting in a meeting at work, hating what was going on - I mean HATING IT! Then I realized that I had forgotten to put on one of the nicotine patches this morning that I have been using to break the smoking habit. I am going home now to remedy this problem, before I bite somebody. Today will be day 10 without tobacco, by the way.

Tech-No

It occurs to me that many people, upon reading my thoughts or discussing this issue with me, might assume that I am against technology (I have even been so accused). This is of course absurd – one could no more be against technology than be against air or against plate tectonics. Technology simply is. In any event, I feel that some clarification and exploration of my thoughts, feelings and beliefs on the subject would be helpful for all concerned.

Let us begin with some definitions. “Technology” is a word with origins in the Greek word “technologia” which combines the words for “craft” and “saying.” It is a broad term dealing with the use and knowledge of humanity's tools and crafts. It is difficult to obtain a precise definition of technology and there are many kinds of technologies. Generally, the following distinctions can be made: Science is the formal process of investigating natural phenomena. It produces information and knowledge about the world. Engineering is the goal-oriented process of designing and building tools and systems, within the constraints of natural laws, to exploit natural phenomena for a practical human means. Technology is the consequence of these two processes and societal requests.

For scientists and engineers, technologies are conceptual tools, such as methods, methodologies, and techniques; instruments, such as machines, apparatus, and software programs; as well as, different artificial materials, which they normally use. Most commonly, the term technology is used as the name of all engineering products, but it is easy to forget that almost everything we use was once engineered. Rope, for example, is a piece of technology. A stick and a rock are not by themselves technology, however, when they are used together as lever and fulcrum, they constitute a technology, in fact they become the very same technology that was used to build the great pyramids. The clock is a marvelous piece of technology that has led to the development of countless other technologies. The canoe is a staggering piece of technology, which enabled the worldwide settlement of humanity. A piece of paper is a technology that today is created using a vast array of other technologies. It is these “simple” technologies such as the wheel, lever, incline plane, the pulley, rope, controllable fire, etc., that are the true technologies upon which our civilization is actually built, and that took humans, who were every bit as smart as we are, tens of thousands of years to develop.

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. - Albert Einstein

Until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent studies show that other primates (such as chimpanzees), and certain dolphin communities, have developed simple tools and learned to pass this knowledge to other generations. This constitutes a form of non-human technological development.

Gaining an understanding of what technology really is also requires a look at what some may, at first, consider being incidental effects of technology. For example, whether purposely or not, every manufactured object is a means of transmitting the knowledge that is inscribed on it, a third kind of memory in addition to genetic memory and individual nervous system memory. Thus an archaeologist can learn, from the discovery of a primitive tool, about the life of the person whose gesture is inscribed in the flint from which it is fashioned. As Bernard Stiegler puts it, "humans die but their histories remain." According to Stiegler this interrupts the ordinary processes of natural selection, and it is therefore no more true to say that humans invented technology than it is to say that technology invented humanity.

I hope that this serves to make clear that I, who thoroughly enjoy being human, have absolutely no “beef” with technology. It is the use, over-use and abuse of technology that gets my knickers all in a knot. Technology, like everything in life, involves a tradeoff, and there is an opportunity cost associated any production or consumption decision, as well as many unintended consequences. Let’s examine the decision to manufacture and purchase a single laptop (to avoid the discussion of cathode ray tubes) computer, which, based on an informal survey I conducted here at the office, is the first thing that comes to most peoples’ minds when asked about technology.

A computer consists primarily of plastic and metal parts. Plastics are produced from petroleum, using a wide variety of industrial chemicals in their formulation, thus the environmental impact of both of these industries figure into the environmental footprint of our laptop. The various metals (steel, copper, zinc, aluminum, cadmium, mercury, lead, silver, etc.) that are used must be first mined (a notoriously polluting industry), then smelted, purified and formed. Many of these metals are quite toxic. The semiconductors require the extraction (usually mining) of the silicon, germanium, etc., that are the raw materials, their purification and then these materials must be put through the wafer fabrication process. The component parts of the computer are manufactured at various highly specialized plants throughout the world (usually places with cheap labor and lenient environmental regulations), then shipped to and assembled at yet another location. Each plant and each transportation leg use enormous quantities of energy, and have their own significant environmental footprints, a portion of which becomes part of the computer’s overall footprint. Finally, further plastics (and other computers) are used to make the software CD’s that ship with the computer, as well as the user’s manuals and packaging, which require the harvesting and processing of trees through the whole logging, pulp and paper manufacturing cycle. The computer, once at its end user, will be obsolete three to six months after purchase and will be discarded (to a landfill that is inappropriate for all the toxins in most cases) within 5 years.

The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people. - Karl Marx

Another thing to consider is that a computer, unlike the computerized toothbrushes or razors I lambasted in my previous entry, is meant to be non-disposable. Consider how many pieces of disposable technology are consumed, discarded and dumped each year. Computers and the like are useful, but each increase in the use of technology has a corresponding increase in sedentary behavior/lifestyles of it users.

Technology presumes there's just one right way to do things and there never is. - Robert M. Pirsig

Once a technology has been established, it can often assume a sacrosanct status that makes it very difficult to part with or change. Consider the gasoline fueled internal combustion engine, which has been obsolete for the better part of a century and is the chief author of our global-warming woes. We are unable to let go of it or embrace more appropriate technologies/solutions even though they are readily available, due in part to our comfort with it and our collective fear of change.

In closing, I am not against technology (just as I am not against gravity) I am simply convinced that a little goes a very long way. I am equally convinced that most people do not understand or consider the cascade of consequences that result from the construction, consumption and use of technology. I suspect that this arises primarily from ignorance, though I sometimes wonder whether this ignorance is chosen, accidental or contrived. I am deeply concerned as to where our dependence on inappropriate technologies will leave us as a species, and am increasingly certain that I will live to find out. The gods once dwelt in nature; they are gone now, replaced by our worship of technology and the seductive power that it offers. I am simply and understandably concerned.

We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces. - Carl Sagan

Composed on a pad of Paper v1.0

I was watching television last night (I know what you’re thinking: “Sheesh, no good can come of that!”) and I happened to see an advertisement extolling the virtues of a new toothbrush, courtesy of our good friends at Oral-B. It seems that I have not been getting the full oral hygiene experience, and that it now requires and on-board computer to assist my fellow sapiens in the difficult and highly technical task of brushing their teeth. Let us all hope that it comes with a wifi link to MapQuest, so that anyone stupid enough to think that they need one of these contraptions can at least find directions to an orifice to stick it in. After purchasing one, I plan to keep mine next to my touch-screen-activated toilet paper.

Lest you worry about our hero, I was able to control my wrath and got a pretty good night’s sleep, in spite of the wild dreams that come with wearing a nicotine patch. I got up this morning and felt just ducky until I tuned into NPR (while showering) and discovered what some of my fellow humans (probably the same ones with the computerized toothbrushes) were drinking this fine morning for breakfast – you’re gonna love this:

An 8-ounce cup of Kopi Luwak coffee sells for $10 at Jim Cone's "Coffee and Tea Limited" store in Minneapolis. One-pound bags go for $420. Oh my, but this gets even better. Kopi Luwak comes from Indonesia and is also called Civet coffee because the beans are first eaten by Civet cats. The cats apparently love red coffee beans, especially the skin, so they eat them. After they have “processed” them in their bodies and discharged them, people actually pick them up and clean them. The collected partially digested beans are exported all over the world. I’m not lying here, check the story out at the following link:

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_008062023.html

So let me see if I have this surrounded…after being so imbecilic as to think that they require electronic assistance to clean their pearly-whites, folks are actually going out and not only drinking cat-shit coffee, but are paying $10 a cup for the privilege. I think that I speak for all of us when I say, “Hmmmmmn!?!”

This is hardly unprecedented, however, and there are even words we can summon up in order to converse with other enlightened minds (at least those not drinking ten-dollar mugs of steaming TidyCat) and that describe what happens when ingenuity goes awry. “Chindogu” is the Japanese word coined for the art of the useless idea. The art of Chindogu was born in the late 1980's when amateur inventor Kenji Kawakami discovered that a not-quite-usable idea for a new gadget or product could nonetheless be enjoyable if one were to create a prototype and take delight in the way it misses its mark. The term “chindogu” entered the English vocabulary in 1991 when then senior society member Dan Papia published an article on the subject in Japan's leading English-language magazine, the Tokyo Journal.

Some examples of early chindogu include the Alarm Fork (US patent number 5,421,089 / issued 1995) which beeps to tell you when you might have consumed too many calories. There was also the Butter Pen (pictured) for those who do not own or don’t care to use silverware. If you like that, you’ll certainly not want to miss out on a Solar Powered Night-Light (no explanation needed there). For the fitness enthusiast, there is the Downhill Stairmaster and Low-calorie PowerBars. If you are too lazy to extend your arm (literally), perhaps a remote control for your Video iPod is in order. United States patents have been issued for candy bars with stannous fluoride added to prevent the tooth decay that they cause, for battery powered battery chargers, for reduced calorie (and low-carb) water, and for AC adapters for solar calculators. You can even buy a camcorder with Braille-encoded buttons. My absolute favorite bad idea, however, has to be Survivor, the Videogame.

Miller’s Law #21 (see my entry of 11/8/06): Just because a thing can be done, does not necessarily mean that it should be done.

I remember the first LED digital watch that I ever saw as a lad, it was a Seiko that sold for well over $300 in 1978 dollars. Several years later, manufacturers were able to produce small LCD digital clocks for mere pennies. Of course, they soon started to appear on the dashboards of cars, on coffee makers, on flashlights, in cereal boxes, etc. They became so ubiquitous that you could find them anywhere. The thinking seemed to be that any product, say a loaf of bread, could be made much better by adding a digital clock to it, so that one would know exactly what time it was when, or for how long, one was using the product. It is classic “if some is good, more must be better” thinking. It became ridiculous, and the same is true today. Do I really need ten blades on my disposable razor? Do I need for it to be battery operated (check your local pharmacy, they are for sale) thus eliminating dreaded shaving-fatigue. Do I need a GPS system built into my Nikes in order to navigate my neighborhood, or can I just check a map, which has been lovingly printed on good old-fashioned paper, version 1.0?

New Years Monkeyshines

Although I did get to see the monkeys for a couple of hours on New Years day, It was not until this past Saturday that we got to spend some quality time together. We did the usual Sensory Gym session first, then headed home. Since it had been two weeks since our favorite little monkeys had any time at Daddy’s Play Palace, they set right about making up for lost time. Of course they found everything right where they had left it. It was also a bizarrely warm January day (around 70 degrees) so we had all the windows open – kind of a preview for some springtime monkeyshines.

Just a cute aside: each week, the kids run up the steps to the building and when we get to my apartment door, the kids crowd the door like runners on a starting line, rattling the knob to hurry me up with the keys. I find that I very much like the fact that they can’t wait to get in – it makes me happy that I have created a joyful environment for them.

Once the door was open (a little before noon), they both ran straight to the marble machine, which lives in the living room on visit days, so as to minimize the number of places that wayward marbles can roll under (I’ve been finding them everywhere). The machine stayed on for the entire visit (6:30pm) even though Daddy turned it off a couple of times when it seemed to not be in use.+6

This week, Daddy had thought ahead and bought some really cool hand polished and hand stained marbles at the local toy store, this way there were enough marbles for Zach to play with his marble machine and for Miranda to horde as many as she could handle. She invented a game where the marbles came to visit her dolls in the dollhouse. Zach also enjoyed integrating the marbles into his play with his fleet of cars and trucks.

It is nice to know in this day and age of battery operated everything that simple, old-fashioned toys such as marbles can still bring joy to a child. Miranda was still clutching a half dozen marbles as we said goodbye. For some reason, Miranda kept referring to the marbles as dominoes, and I finally pulled out the dominoes and labeled both the marbles and the dominoes for here. I know she understood just fine, but she gave me a look that seemed to say, “I know what they are, I just like saying ‘domino’.”

Lunch was pretty typical this week – the usual assortment of fruits, with some lima beans for Miranda (Zach ignores vegetables, even though I always put some on his plate). Instead of the everything-free rice spaghetti, I made the brown rice penne pasta that Grandma Fredi had brought when they visited. I can tell you first hand that it was pretty good, as I always eat the leftovers for my dinner on Sundays.

We also embarked on an art project this week, using our new art supplies that we got for Christmas. Sunday was Mommy’s birthday, so we made special birthday cards for her, using construction paper, markers, crayons, glue (Daddy did the work with the scissors), some sparkly balloon confetti, and our new glitter glue pens. Zach went kind of heavy on the sparkly stuff – at school they call him “glitter guy” during art class.

Zach also identified all of his shapes and colors by name – his pronunciations are getting clearer, and it is obvious that he is working very hard with his speech therapists. He also spelled (respelled actually) his name with the foam letters in the bathtub during bath-time. Bath-time eliminates any need for Daddy to ever mop his bathroom floor, because of the clean up from all the splashing and assorted hootenanny that goes on. One other new thing this week was the guitar that Daddy brought back from his trip to Boston, and both little monkeys enjoyed that hugely - especially Zach, who kept dragging it over to the couch, strumming it then covering his ears and smiling.

Parting is always such sweet sorrow, but Daddy walked with our crew (Miranda was kind of passed out by this time) the 14 blocks down to the corner where Mommy lives, where he got enough hugs and kisses to hold him over until our next installment of Monkeyshines.

Bivalence

We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them.
- Epictetus

Logic is the study of patterns found in reasoning. The task of the logician is to set down rules for distinguishing between valid and fallacious inference, between rational and flawed arguments. Classical logic traces its roots to India in the 6th century BC, to China in the 5th century BC, and to Greece between the 4th century BC and the 1st century BC. These logics are all "bivalent" or "two-valued"; that is, they are most naturally understood as dividing propositions into either those that are true or those that are false.

It was not until the early 20th century Jan Łukasiewicz, a Polish mathematician, investigated the extension of the traditional or classical true/false values of logic to include a third value, "possible", so inventing ternary or trivalent logic, the first multi-valued logic. Systems of logic that reject bivalence are known as non-classical logics. Logics such as fuzzy logic have since been devised with an infinite number of "degrees of truth", represented by a real number between 0 and 1. Bayesian probability can be interpreted as a system of logic where probability is the subjective truth-value.

So what does this have to do with Epictetus? Our culture is an obsessively two-valued culture, and bivalence is the lens through which we view events and ideas, and thus we are disturbed. This is not only evidenced in the black and white thinking that is so prevalent today; it permeates our entire way of life. For example, we have all sorts of two-sided games, such as chess, checkers, tennis, boxing, pool, etc., and all sorts of two-sided team games, such as bridge, football, baseball, soccer, basketball, etc. Of course we also have all sorts of any-sided games, such as poker, baccarat, track events, skiing events, etc. But we have exactly no three-sided games of any kind. You will never see three teams take any court or field anywhere. Hmmnnn.

Our justice system is intrinsically two-valued. There must be prosecution and defense, plaintiff and respondent, a verdict of guilty or not guilty, one winner and one loser, always. Everyone hates a hung jury, which is either seen as a failure of the system or results in a some form of retrial or appeal anyway – a sort of legal “do-over” if you will.

Most everyone takes it for granted that there are exactly two sides to every argument. When it comes to abortion, for example, there is the pro-choice side and the pro-life side, and people who haven't chosen one of these two sides do not represent a third side, they just do not represent any side at all. The same is true of issues like animal rights, capital punishment, and drug legalization.

The media play an important role in shaping our reality into two-sided events. Very often two-sidedness is not clearly evident in developing situations. The fundamental newsgathering process helps to clarify (or manufacture) that desired two-sidedness. If one expert says that X is wonderful, the reporter is expected to find another expert who will say that X is terrible, or that Y is much more wonderful than X. This is, to a large extent, what makes the story “news”.

When it comes to "the environment," it was not so easy to polarize the community. Where do you send a reporter to get a quote against clean water? Or against clean air? Obviously everybody wants clean water and clean air. The issue had to be recast into one that does not put everyone on the same side - and so it was. After a lot of pushing and pulling, a lot of tweaking, a way was found to represent the interests of the environment as being opposed to the interests of business and thus of employment - of people. This is kind of mind-boggling but that is how it has shaken out. You can't be for business/prosperity and for the environment - you've got to "choose sides." This is an interesting example of taking a thing that originally presented only one side and manipulating it so as to create two sides, thereby putting any real solution completely out of reach.

I would love to see a verdict of “sort of guilty.” I would be entranced watching three football teams slug it out on a triangular field, with temporary and shifting alliances and betrayals. But what I would most dearly love to see is some sort of “fuzzy-media” movement to start breaking down the black and white thinking that creates the gridlock that is ultimately wrecking our planet. I don’t really expect this to happen, however, after walking around in shorts this past Saturday (January 6th) I felt compelled to comment.

Hot Time In The Old City

Excerpts from CNN and NY1 (editorials mine):
Crocuses are pushing out of the ground in New Jersey. Ice fishing tournaments in Minnesota are being canceled for lack of ice. And golfers are hitting the links in Chicago in January.

Much of the Midwest and the East Coast are experiencing remarkably (dangerous and abnormally) warm winter, with temperatures running 10 and 20 degrees higher than normal in many places.

Call it global warming, Mother Nature or plain old luck (Is this really “luck”? Will we feel “lucky” when it is 120 out in July?) – New York City’s unusually warm weather made a lot of people wonder yesterday just what on earth is going on (a damn good question).

Temperatures have hovered around 60 degrees this week and could soar to a record high of 70 on Saturday.

The national weather service says normal highs this time of year are in the 30s.

At the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, officials say some cherry trees are already in full bloom, but weather experts say there is no reason for concern. They say temperatures are consistent with global weather patterns (yeah right! – maybe they’re consistent with current weather patterns, but everything is consistent with itself).

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, meanwhile, says people should enjoy the warm weather while they can (he later went to Bloomingdales to purchase asbestos underwear). And he joked the lack of snow is making things easier for sanitation workers.

"The Sanitation Department has done their usual spectacular job,” said Bloomberg. “I defy anyone to find a snow covered street this year; the Sanitation Department is right there in the middle of the night, when you don't see them.” (For those who may not be aware of this, in New York City the trash guys and gals put plows on the fronts of the trash trucks and use them to plow the streets – is snow really a waste management issue?)

The weather service says it is the first time New York has had a snow-less November and December since 1877, when record keeping began (do I hear January?).

More Changes

Change, and ruminations thereof, seems to be a recurring theme here, but it is a topic that is worthy of further and continuing exegesis, and one that is of considerable salience for me. My examination and dissection of it is an effort not only to understand its mechanisms, but to use any percipience gained of its workings to enable further metamorphoses. Right. Fundamentally, “change” is the word that we use to denote the transformation that occurs when something goes from being the same to being different. A survey of the existing thought on the subject to date begins with the earliest written philosophical texts and winds its way through the alchemy of the middle ages, early and modern physics, psychology and New Age metaphysics.

Heraclitus held that an explanation of change was foundational to any theory of nature. On the other hand, this view was strongly opposed by Parmenides, who said that reality was permanent and unchanging. Supposedly, Parmenides asked, "How can a thing change into something else? How can it be and not be?" According to Parmenides, change is merely an illusion. Medieval thought discouraged change or marginalized its importance through its focus on respect for authority. In the renaissance, change became the province of mathematicians. Newton and Leibniz created mathematical models of change such as calculus to understand flux and variation. In modern physics the concept of “delta” or change is associated with energy or motion.

Depending on one’s culture or world view, change can be seen as 1) completely deterministic, as directed by the divine; 2) random, lacking any determinism or teleology; 3) cyclical, recurring at certain intervals or under certain circumstances; and 4) evolutionary, as a response or adaptation to environmental factors. No doubt there are certainly as many other ways of viewing change as there are people and cultures, but let us assume these comprise the majority of those views. It is not difficult to imagine a system where all four of these conceptualizations of change can coexist and be observed simultaneously. The strong nuclear force that holds the nuclei in a chunk of uranium together and the weak nuclear force that causes it to decay are fundamental forces of nature that came into being at the instant of creation. They have been determined or ordained by some higher power. The electrons orbiting each of the nuclei do so under the principles described by Werner Heisenberg, they move randomly within fields or shells of probability. If we imagine a breeding population of cockroaches in a box with our uranium, we can see that its rates of growth and reproduction (change) are cyclical. If we further imagine the effects that the radiation will have on our colony, we can see change as an adaptation to an environment. But what of behavioral change?

Consideration of behavioral change, which is the aspect of change that I am pondering today, requires a brief survey of some of the fundamentals of behavioral psychology. Behavioral change takes place through the process we call learning. Learning Theory consists of a variety of theories that include, but are not limited to instincts, social facilitation, observation, formal instruction, memory, mimicry, insight, and classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning, sometimes referred to as Pavlovian conditioning, is used to form an association between two stimuli, such as smoking and driving. Operant conditioning forms an association between a behavior and a consequence, such as smoking and coughing. The consequence can be either positive, adding something to increase or decrease a behavior, or negative, removing something to increase or decrease a behavior. For the present, a decrease in several behaviors and an increase in one or two is what I am after.

I am in the process therefore, of trying to change some of my behaviors and I am wondering if it is possible to harness some of my many character flaws to drive that change. Chief among these are my selfishness, self-seeking and fear. I think of these as components of my ego which, until relatively recently in my life, was somewhat rabid. My instincts tell me that using these defects to create and power positive change is possible, if only I can discover the mechanics of how to make it work – i.e. the Jedi mind trick. There is a prayer that I have been using to enable this process and I will close this entry with it for your consideration and my own:
My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character, which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.

Back to the Grindstone

I am back at work today after a very full Christmas/New Year holiday week. I took yesterday off from work, as I was pretty exhausted from traveling and not getting enough sleep while in Boston. I got to see the kids Monday night after they arrived home from points West of New York, and it was very nice to see them again. I went to a meeting afterwards then spent some considerable time talking to someone that I have been helping with the program, until about 10:30 pm. After getting home and making (and consuming) dinner, it was pretty late, hence the day of rest yesterday.

After sleeping in, I did laundry and made myself do all the little chores that I don’t like doing (sweeping, mopping and cleaning the stove and bathroom). I did some errands, took a walk and watched a bunch of Star Trek reruns – it was a good relaxing day. So here I am – at work for the first time this year and my thoughts understandably turn towards the future: what does 2007 hold in store for me?

I find that I am very optimistic, though I suspect that January will be somewhat bumpy, as I am trying to break two bad habits and start one good one. These are breaking my tobacco and Diet Coke habits, and getting some regular exercise back into my life. I find that these things have been weighing on my mind and I would like to remedy this, although I am already finding it extremely difficult just to get started. I need some of those Jedi mind tricks to boost my willpower. I’ll keep you all posted on how this goes.

January will also see more school and medical visits for Zach (will it never end?) and some experimentation on my part with a possible career change, although I will not elaborate on this until I see if it is realistic. In any event, 2007 will definitely see a change of some kind in my employment situation and I am excited and happy about this – it is time to leave HANAC. This has been a great place for me to learn and grow, but I must move on if I wish this learning and growing to continue (making some more money might not be too bad either).

The final big thing in store for me in 2007 is that I am also fairly certain that the divorce in which I am involved will be settled, one way or another, within the next twelve months. This will allow me to finally move on with my life (and hopefully spend a lot more time with the kids). I am anxious to close this dark and dysfunctional chapter of my life and start a new one based on what I have learned over the last 19 months, patience has never been one of my long-suits and the endless waiting has been difficult. It will also be nice to be able to be less guarded about what I say and write, but that will be just a minor bonus.

While the above hardly qualifies as a “State of the Mark” address, it will have to do for now. Life is good and promises to get better and better – happy New Year to all!