Getting Started
Ok, not new to writing my opinions and ideas, but kinda new to this.....so, it's cherry-busting time. At my age, who'd have thought I'd have any of those left?
About me: I am 59 years old ( feels like : 90 ). Born in Nebraska. Grew up in Iowa. Live now in California. Wish I didn't. Can't afford to go anywhere else. Not sure there is anywhere else worth going anyway.
Certainly there are places I'd like to go. Australia, the Bahamas, England, Wales ( family roots ), Sweden, Switzerland. Back to Iowa and Nebraska. All just to visit....most are too cold for my tastes. I prefer a climate where it never gets below 60-70 degrees F. One will never hear me complain about hot weather, as the alternative is beyond my ability to tolerate.
I have many interests: I know a little about a lot of things, but not a whole lot about any one thing. I have a cynical and pessimistic viewpoint which is often countered by some strange humorous optimism that sneaks in when I least expect it. I have tried to isolate it and destroy it, but it is a wily little demon and refuses to be defeated even by the most powerful of spells.
I seem to be on a constant quest to understand myself, believing that understanding oneself is prerequisite to understanding others. I continue to be largely unsuccessful in that quest; just when I think I am on the verge of a discovery, I change me. Frustrating, to persistently and seemingly deliberately elude oneself.
I do, however, have things I like to write about. Also, I prefer writing it; when I try to speak it, I too often forget what I am saying, or forget what I was going to say next. At least when writing, I can stop, then begin again when my brain catches up. :--) I have noticed one of the byproducts of aging with me is that my mind takes frequent and unannounced short vacations; sometimes I know where it is and what it is doing, but more often than not, I don't find this out until it returns.
Here, if you are reading this, you may see comments on anything from music to dreams to politics to entertainment ( I love being entertained; I doubt there are many of us in the human race who do not. It is only the form of what entertains us that differs ) to just rants about things that tee me off.
There are a lot of the latter.
There are, though, a lot of the former as well......something I value above all else is the ability to laugh, to find humor in almost anything. Sometimes it is difficult, but if we look, it is always there. Always, too, when we take ourselves too seriously. We all do at some point. Some more than others, and more often. Those, I find, are just begging to be the objects of humor, made even moreso by the fact that they cannot accept that fact. I am included in that group; we all are, at some stage.
Sometimes I will not be able to resist just praising something I love. To the point of nausea, I imagine.
Mainly, though, I hope to just unburden myself. A form of therapy, as it were. Call it anger management, perhaps, as I have always had a terrible temper. Fortunately, in recent years, I have been able to bring it under control. More out of necessity than any ability I possess; bad temper can lead to bodily injury, and I am no longer physically able to back up my temper with action. Most days I ache like I have been in a losing fight; I have no desire to add the fact to the sensation. :--)
Along the way, though, I hope to bring a smile, a laugh or two, and perhaps even cause someone to think about a viewpoint and see another side. One thing I have always been cursed with -- some might call it a blessing, but remember, I am cynical and pessimistic -- is a odd ability to see more than one side to a issue. This often leads to my playing the role of Devil's Advocate, sometimes arguing a viewpoint I do not necessarily believe in. Maddeningly, however, it also makes it difficult for me to just blindly have faith or believe in or decide on one single course of action. It makes me a terrible follower, and a lousy leader.
I will end today with this: there is a adage that I hear more and more that absolutely makes me see red. It goes like this: 'Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way'. As a philosophy, this demonstrates one of the biggest failings of the human race, in my eyes. So, I have adopted my own counter-philosophy, as follows: ' I will not lead, nor will I follow, and if you want to come through here, you have 3 choices: ask me politely to step aside, go around, or bring a lunch -- you will be here a while'.
About me: I am 59 years old ( feels like : 90 ). Born in Nebraska. Grew up in Iowa. Live now in California. Wish I didn't. Can't afford to go anywhere else. Not sure there is anywhere else worth going anyway.
Certainly there are places I'd like to go. Australia, the Bahamas, England, Wales ( family roots ), Sweden, Switzerland. Back to Iowa and Nebraska. All just to visit....most are too cold for my tastes. I prefer a climate where it never gets below 60-70 degrees F. One will never hear me complain about hot weather, as the alternative is beyond my ability to tolerate.
I have many interests: I know a little about a lot of things, but not a whole lot about any one thing. I have a cynical and pessimistic viewpoint which is often countered by some strange humorous optimism that sneaks in when I least expect it. I have tried to isolate it and destroy it, but it is a wily little demon and refuses to be defeated even by the most powerful of spells.
I seem to be on a constant quest to understand myself, believing that understanding oneself is prerequisite to understanding others. I continue to be largely unsuccessful in that quest; just when I think I am on the verge of a discovery, I change me. Frustrating, to persistently and seemingly deliberately elude oneself.
I do, however, have things I like to write about. Also, I prefer writing it; when I try to speak it, I too often forget what I am saying, or forget what I was going to say next. At least when writing, I can stop, then begin again when my brain catches up. :--) I have noticed one of the byproducts of aging with me is that my mind takes frequent and unannounced short vacations; sometimes I know where it is and what it is doing, but more often than not, I don't find this out until it returns.
Here, if you are reading this, you may see comments on anything from music to dreams to politics to entertainment ( I love being entertained; I doubt there are many of us in the human race who do not. It is only the form of what entertains us that differs ) to just rants about things that tee me off.
There are a lot of the latter.
There are, though, a lot of the former as well......something I value above all else is the ability to laugh, to find humor in almost anything. Sometimes it is difficult, but if we look, it is always there. Always, too, when we take ourselves too seriously. We all do at some point. Some more than others, and more often. Those, I find, are just begging to be the objects of humor, made even moreso by the fact that they cannot accept that fact. I am included in that group; we all are, at some stage.
Sometimes I will not be able to resist just praising something I love. To the point of nausea, I imagine.
Mainly, though, I hope to just unburden myself. A form of therapy, as it were. Call it anger management, perhaps, as I have always had a terrible temper. Fortunately, in recent years, I have been able to bring it under control. More out of necessity than any ability I possess; bad temper can lead to bodily injury, and I am no longer physically able to back up my temper with action. Most days I ache like I have been in a losing fight; I have no desire to add the fact to the sensation. :--)
Along the way, though, I hope to bring a smile, a laugh or two, and perhaps even cause someone to think about a viewpoint and see another side. One thing I have always been cursed with -- some might call it a blessing, but remember, I am cynical and pessimistic -- is a odd ability to see more than one side to a issue. This often leads to my playing the role of Devil's Advocate, sometimes arguing a viewpoint I do not necessarily believe in. Maddeningly, however, it also makes it difficult for me to just blindly have faith or believe in or decide on one single course of action. It makes me a terrible follower, and a lousy leader.
I will end today with this: there is a adage that I hear more and more that absolutely makes me see red. It goes like this: 'Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way'. As a philosophy, this demonstrates one of the biggest failings of the human race, in my eyes. So, I have adopted my own counter-philosophy, as follows: ' I will not lead, nor will I follow, and if you want to come through here, you have 3 choices: ask me politely to step aside, go around, or bring a lunch -- you will be here a while'.
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