Warm Legs

Sometimes, I could just sit at my computer for hours,
searching this little rabbit trail,
and that little hare-brained idea,
until the warmth on my legs from my computer overheating gently cooks me back to reality,
and I have to get up and switch the laundry,
which was my real priority for the day anyway...

Keep an Open Mind

Never, ever, ever judge a book by its cover.

Made some fabulous new friends last night.

Shameless Plug for my Piano Studio

Have you ever used your fingers, all of them at once, to independently do different things on a horizontal plane, pressing them hard or soft to control the volume, while reading symbols placed on lines and spaces that direct you vertically, simultaneously using a foot to connect or disconnect the sounds you are making?

If so, then you have played the piano, just like my piano students did for our Spring Recital tonight.
My students are amazing, and I'm not a bit biased!

On Being Creative and/or Intellectual: Must We Choose?

Recent studies suggest that the intelligence level of the political discussion has sunk to a junior high level of discourse. Well, duh!  According to the studies, where once Shakespeare was quoted to make a point, we now hear speakers with the equivalent of an average eighth grade education. There are exceptions, of course, but our source says Barack Obama isn't one of them. His latest State of the Union Address was apparently rated at the same junior high level. All of them have been in fact.While I'm not absolutely sure I agree (mostly because I've listened recently to Cspan coverage of the house and the senate), it is clear that the average mudslinging political ad sounds like something from the locker room, and that most serious and tide-changing ideological pandering happens onscreen nowadays.

Therefore, to be a movie maker, is to reach the pinnacle of influence over the American public. That is why it feels like politics are so commercial. They have to be to compete with the storytelling largesse of epic blockbusters such as Harry Potter, and all the other superhero sagas. How could mere mortals ever capture the national attention in such a climate? When given a choice between a Newt Gingrich who can turn an idea over convincingly, and an Incredible Hulk who can lift or destroy the empire state building, if needed, can the modern mind truly vacillate for long?  It is the age of power, not reason, which also explains Harry's enduring charm.

The blurring of lines between the truth of history and entertaining narrative is one of the challenges of our time. Why can we not have both? So much of what sells is idea ensconced in magic. We love a good story, and will pay almost anything to get it. No matter if it isn't true. Truth only hurts, and we don't like pain. We have plenty of medicinal and recreational stores against pain, although it is pain which teaches and matures us the most consistently.

We may get what we want, after all. Leaders who provide medication, a government with super hero powers and locker room quality jokes. We will pay for all of this with a gutted national mindset. It may turn out to be quite a page turner after all. The sequel is for our grandchildren to write. Hopefully they will be creative and intellectual.

Up and Running

Mobile blogging leaves me no excuse for not blogging! Even when getting ready to tuck in. Thanks, Google, I think...?

Avengers Avenges My Dislike of Superheroes

So I was wrong. I do like superheroes.
After successfully dodging The Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, I got snagged last weekend. (I think I saw Iron Man but frankly don't remember much.)
From the first five minutes, I was in, hook, line and sinker.
Perhaps it was the use of the word 'tesseract', which I associated with Madeliene LEngle's A Wrinkle in Time, my favorite book as a child.
Perhaps it was because I grew up in post second world war and post cold war America, and the references to both scratched me where I didn't even know I itched.
Perhaps it was because last month at an art function I sat next to the father of Modesto's own Jeremy Renner, who played "Hawkeye" masterfully.
Perhaps it was the witty and egotistical sarcasm of Robert Downey, Jr.
Or that I had just dyed my hair red like Scarlett Johannson.
Even the myopic black man who twisted the truth, ever so slightly, to serve his own ends struck a chord.
I found myself remembering the first time I saw Star Wars in the theater.
This ranked right up there next to that experience.
If you haven't seen it yet, you'd better.
It's practically your American duty.

The Real Oldest Profession

I suppose it's customary on Mother's Day to wax eloquent about motherhood in general and one's mother specifically. While I could do that, instead I'd like to speak as a mother about the privilege of being a mother.

Guys, I know you may not be able to imagine how carrying and birthing a live specimen of humanity with all the ensuing inconvenience and excruciating pain could be a privilege, but it is. For many reasons.

The first of these is simply that we are forced to ignore the dark hole of self-absorption, into which we all fall sometimes. Being responsible for someone else takes us out of ourselves. This may seem like another inconvenience, but then, have you spent a few minutes, hours, or even days in self-absorption? How fun was it, really? I do have sympathy for those who have not had the job joy of parenting!

Another reason motherhood is a privilege is that it gives us an opportunity to truly appreciate our own mothers. It takes a bit of maturity to do that. Often I've felt  that God gives us children not just to raise them, but to help us grow up. 

The the third reason I consider motherhood a privilege is that it enters us into the eternal cycle of life and  gives us the chance to be a living part of history, especially when you contemplate the possibility of grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and great, great, great...well, you see what I mean.

I have had the great heritage of having a mother who I love, admire and respect almost beyond imagination. I know not everyone does. Still, the role of mother is one that most women revere and strive for.  I contend that it is truly the oldest and most respectable profession. Without pay, but certainly not without rewards.