A Day in the Life of Chaos

There are moments when society colludes to make you feel old.   It happens in an amalgamation of statements, occurrences and overt acts.   Those that commit the injustice really don’t even know that they are doing it, it just happens.   I am sure when I was younger I did the same.   The Atlantic magazine recently published a story about a couple attempting to live without WiFi, internet and cellular telephones.  They permitted the use of a land line.   The New York Times published an article about the anomaly of a quiet zone in West Virginia where because of proximity to a radio telescope, there is no cellular service and the consequential impact this has on life. I seem to recall some TV show where people had to live as they did in the 1800s.  Honestly I don’t understand this concept, if they wanted that they should have just gone and filmed the Amish.  Incidentally I don’t think the show lasted that long.  I suppose it was just not that exciting. The point is that from the perspec

As you grow older it seems like events increasingly mark age.   They are like a highlighter illuminating a moment of our existence.   Today I opened an article that explained to me that on this day in 1967 the Beatles released Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.   I would have been 20 days old.   If you tried to explain this album to young people today it would be as mythical as the Iliad and the Odyssey.   Hell even people of my generation are often disconnected, post Beatle remnants.   Technology is the most vulnerable to rapid change and a lack of understanding from one generation to the next.  Often words can become meaningless or non-sensical in just twenty years time.  I often make a joke when I hear a phone ringing that increasingly no one understands.  The ring sounds and I yell “I’ll get it.”  In the era of cellular telephones attached to everyone of this who understands.  When I was young we had a single telephone in the house we all shared.  When a phone call came in some

My son Noah and his girlfriend Momay I am still adjusting to having my son visit me.  No, it’s not like you think, I mean sometimes I just want him to stay.  Being a visitor still seems odd and when he leaves I still feel his presence only to realize he is gone.  Life is scary that way.  Each time he visits I know that the circumstances of life will pull us further apart.  Girlfriends, studies and future plans.  The process is entirely natural but it is still hard.  I wonder if animals ever miss their young or are humans the only ones.  I know my dog seems to miss me when I am gone.  Perhaps the apes join us in our despondency, I have a feeling they might.  Still their youth never leave for college and seldom strike out to new continents where they will make their way.   My life is a blessing and a social curse.  A blessing in that it has taken me to different ends of the earth and allowed me to live there.  To constantly feel different stimulation and to expand my life in ne

Galileo In the south they always say "blessed."  Have a blessed day or I am truly blessed.  Bless your heart they will tell you and then subsequently kick you in the ass.  Most of the time it is used as a kind of farewell wish or sense of self affirmation.  I am not sure who is doing the blessing, I am sure in their mind it is the Lord Jesus Christ.   I have always had trouble with this concept.  If there is a Lord Jesus Christ I have always assumed my life would be quite insignificant in the greater context.  Still self importance has always been the essence of Christianity.  Prior to Galileo the Sun revolved around the Earth.  Of course poor Galileo was made to recant his own teaching and discovery and forced by the inquisition to remain essentially under house arrest for the later years of his life.  Christians are allowed to speak directly to God and God will hear them.  He will bless them like a priest splashing holy water and make all their dreams come true.  Or

"I need a change."  It is an expression I have often uttered in my life as I have never been a person that can stay settled too long.  I think there is something about the hidden synapses of my brain that craves variance and at times unpredictability.  When I look back on my life from my perch of 46 years there has been a lot of change and some constants as well.  One constant was my own childhood.  I am thankful to have been able to grow up with the same set of friends living in the same town.  At one point my parents simply moved across town and I was devastated.  This despite the fact I actually remained in the same school.  I swore when I moved to my current location I would afford my child the same opportunity.  I don't know if it is as equally important to him yet I have never tested the idea.  As he enters his Junior year in high school my promise is nearly complete.  He has lived his memorable youth in one house and grown up with the same boys living around him.