As my journey enters the "second half" moving from learning and earning to living and giving - I'm convinced it's all about relationships, creating lasting memories, community and social networking.
A catchy tune started up on Youtube TV during a commercial (which I rarely see or hear since I fast forward through all commercials). It was 60 seconds which is also rare - all song and no copy or product indication until the very end - "What if you could feel a little better each day? RYSE and shine. Mushroom Coffee - "One Small Change"
With 20.228 views May 21, 2025, 597 likes, and 257 comments it has touched many people including me. I was also interested in the lyrics which are difficult to completely discern. I even took the time to load the source with comments into NotebookLM to see if the podcasters could shed some light on the source.
This commercial will stick in my memory for some time to come. It makes you ponder what commercial zingles are the most memorable. I could only remember a handful of tunes:
1. Alka-Seltzer (1960s) - No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)
2. Chevy (1990s) - Like a Rock
3. Coca Cola (1970s) - I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
4. Sun Maid Raisins (1980s) - I heard it through the Grapevine
Interesting I could remember by decade but lacked the 2002's - A quick AI search yielded - Subway " Five... Five Dollar .... Five Dollar Footlong!"
I thought 2020 was a year worth forgetting but eight months into 2021 this year has created the most emotional volatility. On the upside - the birth of my first Grandson (Teddy Lee), Ellen's graduation and employment with Fidelity Investments and now the introduction of two new kittens - Yoda and Yoshi. Sadly this year, Rambo and Rocky died (presumably of old age ailments and disease). With Ellen's new kitten Cleo we have saved three kittens from their abandonment.
Watching Teddy develop alongside kittens is an interesting contrast. Yet the rapid speed shows the exponential power of growth (size, capabilities etc.). Amid the COVID-19 deaths (now over 644K in USA) the perpetual machine of new life overpowers the sorrow of death. This spiritual mystery (for some) just doesn't provide enough hope to overshadow the temptational cries of armegedon (e.g. Climate Crisis, Pandemic Fear, Economic Meltdown, Poverty and Starvation, Water Shortage, and yes.... even asteroid collision. All worries related to time.
Drilled into my head constantly was my Mother's mantra of the power of positive thinking - the hopeful outlook of human improvement (time on this earth) and spiritual eternity (time outside this earth).
Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke University states "Time is a human perception. We feel the passing of time so there is a clock time that brings everyone together on this planet and then there is a mind time which is personal." Mind time is like clicks of the eye - or frames in a movie reflecting change. "Time is the name for the perception of change." The time (clock time) from morning to night is fixed, yet the number of clicks (infant or adult) of mind time is variable by individual. As we get older the number of clicks decreases (computer clicks too 😁).
There are 72 waking non working hours (clock time) available (assuming 40 hour work week and 8 hours of sleep) equally to each of us. How are each of us mindful about these clock time hours? How are each of us mindful about the click time available within that clock time?
Mind what you look at and how you look at it. Nevermind the time - change your perceptions.
A. S. who has put up with my constant emails and has been my outlet for my statistical skepticism sent me an interesting story on how the CDC came to study the Provincetown Mass. COVID cluster infection of the fully vaccinated. In fact Michael Donnelly launched his own COVIDoutlook.info website.
Now I don't feel so bad about the time I daily spend updating my own COVID Data Model Spreadsheet and blogging about the misinformation or spin doctoring statistics. I just finished reading the book "Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer" by Steven Johnson (also a CET documentary). In 1866 the Citizen Data Scientist -William Farr discovers the Cholera outbreak in London is due to one infected water source and proves the transmission method. His charts are worthy of framing.
When the government, institutions, media and mob attempt to discredit the individual voices skeptics as crazy misinformation pundits we discourage the very citizenship voice of discovery needed to improve the science.
The CDC Chief did say... "This is BECOMING thePandemic of the Unvaccinated" but what about the 97% statistic about hospitalizations?????
Naturally I searched the body of this article for hyperlinks to the data. only to discover it was taken froma young recent graduate of the University of Maryland who reported in the Baltimore Sun: "Of the nearly 100 people who died of COVID-19 in Maryland last month, all were not vaccinated against the disease, state health officials say. In addition, 95% of newly infected people in Maryland and 93% of those requiring hospitalization were unvaccinated, according to a tweet from Mike Ricci, spokesman fro Gov. Larry Hogan."
So where is the 97%????? And is this where we get acurate data .... according to a tweet????
Now the Surgeon General is worried about the mis-information with a 22 page report casting doubt upon the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. But what about the reverse - the unsubstantiated statistics about death and hospitalizations in context of the vaccine virallly reported through various news organizations on-line publishing.
I have searched the CDC traking database for any statistics regarding cases, hospitalizations and deaths for Covid suvivors, unvacinnated individuals, those with antibodies, and vaccinnated (by vaccine type). I can find nothing beyond early studies of healthcare workers.
I could find no where that the CDC Chief actually said 97% of US Hospitalizations didn't get COVID-19 shots. And..... a young journalist decides to report a tweeted statistic of 95% with no further research. And.... what precise reporting "nearly 100 people who died" - was it 100 or not? Was it 99 or 98 let's not round the numbers. And then another journalist uses the Baltimore Sun article and changes the statistic to 97%.
What we have here is "Grapevine" tweet based reporting with editorial license in rounding.
Addendum 1:59pm: I have found a case of accurate and decent reporting around the statistic 97%. Published in the Seattle Times - June 5th 2021 "The 'two societies': 97% of new COVID cases are among people who haven't gotten the shots" reported by Danny Westneat. They actually crossreferenced cases with vaccination databases. However there is a slight flaw in analysis since "fully vaccinated (14 days after second shot) could be a stringent criteria and it wasn't until May 15th the vaccine was available for anyone under 16 (consequently the data was not recast for the correct population age demographic).
Addendum #2 2:44pm Also remember - thie Seattle Times article is positive COVID-19 cases - not hospitalizations or deaths. Nor would it (or could it) apply to asymptomatic cases. Also could vaccinated population do more masking, social distancing, generally be more healthy (socially economically priviledged ) , and health conscious?
Addendum #3 2:56pm Look carefully at the prior blog and UK data. Of the 53K "linked" positive Delta Variant Cases - 4,087 were vaccinated "fully" which is 7.69% of the positive cases (or 92.3% of new cases were not "fully vaccinated"). Yet.... there were 20 vaccinated of the 73 total deaths --- 35.6% of the deaths were vaccinated individuals. Hmmm........ Which statistic do you think they are reporting.
Addendum #4 6:15pn Just read a Newsweek/MSN report stating: " On Sunday, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that nearly all of COVID-19 deaths - or 99.5 percent - are happening among unvaccinated people." Where is the data for that statistic? Once again a quote from the Surgeon General with no checking - no supporting data. Where is the investigating journalism in that?
The BIG surprise for Ellen ended up being only a partial one today. For years Ellen has wanted me to purchase a BIG TV and every trip to Sams Club we would look and look and I would tease her saying "Some day soon I would replace our TV. The old Sony KDS 50A2000 SDRX (Vintage 2006) would just not bite the dust and it's HD 1080i backlit projection was "good enough" (and ahead of it's time).
But the power of suggestion (by A.S.) and the building boredom of shelter in place lit the fuse and rekindled the fire of High Definition Desire. The bomb dropped on August 1 at midnight with the super August 1 sale - call it the COVID-19 purchase bomb.
For a month prior to this sale I had been in analysis/paralysis mode over features and cost. Should I go BIG (80+ inches)? Should I go high tech (OLED)? Was 60hz or 120 hz refresh rate required? The feature list was endless. Again paradox of choice sets in (which is great for the frugal gene.
In the end, it was the sale price and gift card incentive that trumped the variables - final price $9.12 per inch. Yes, I settled for the LG 75" Class 4K UltraHD w/AI ThinQ - 75UN7370). But... alas the low cost was absorbed with all the add-ons - wall mount, sound system, and who knows what else will follow.
So it was the wall mount that ruined the BIG surprise for Ellen since it arrived at home today while she was at home. So I had to spill the beans early. However the excitement builds as we both await the TV and sound system next week. That gives me plenty of time to ponder the math of proper viewing height, distance and viewing "footprint". The old Sony 50 inch had 1068 sq inches (16:9) of viewing pleasure and the 75 inch LG weighs in at 2042 sq inches - a 91% Improvement!
This purchase demonstrates the challenge of desire over need in our consumerism obsession. As Susan rightly indicated - "We don't NEED a new TV". But the desire dangerously developed as depression dived deeper daily :)
COVID-19 is changing behaviors exponentially in addition to its spread - attitudes about home life, entertainment, travel, work, technology, relationships, health and yes ....... even age and mortality.
My first BIG HD TV screen size was justified based on age. After all I had turned 51 - I DESERVED a 50 inch TV. Now at 65, I guess I DESIRED something larger than my age.
Thursday June 25th was the 20th Boston Legal almost 7 years to the day when we first decided to create the tradition - https://garenwisner.blogspot.com/2013/06/cincinnati-legal.html. K.C. hosted the during the original idea and so it was fitting we sat poolside for the 20th meeting talking about world affairs, philosophy, books, movies, and family.
An interesting topic came to the surface about family heirlooms - the stuff that carries generational memories. It caused me to document the history of a cosmetic costume jewelry ring that my Grandmother wanted her descendants to have. It was a nugget ruby glass ring in a bezel setting with a yellow gold ornamental filigree setting.
It was given to my Grandmother by Vingie E. Roe (a cousin of my Grandfather). Vingie E. Roe was the granddaughter of Cyrenus Frank Castanien and considered an accomplished American novelist and screenwriter (for B&W silent movies). She wrote more than 30 novels, mostly Westerns "with a feminist twist". I suspect Vingie (19 years older than Grandmother) was looked on as the "rich and famous" and connected to Hollywood. When my Grandparents took a vacation and drove from Oklahoma to California (in the 40's) they stopped by to see Vingie Roe. Vingie gave the ring to Grandmother out of kindness and as a trip memory.
Susan like the design of the ring and I decided to have a copy made for her to wear. Coincidentally the copied ring was given to Susan - Christmas 2001 which was the opening of the movie "The Fellowship of the Ring.
There are actually 4 more copies so that each granddaughter (should they like it also) could have a ring just like the original. Hence the family heirloom might pass through yet another generation.
Great ideas and discussions come from the fellowship of the Boston Legal trio. This incented me to find the rings - document the story and research the history of the movement of the ring.
How interesting it would be if Rings could Sing their story.
Thursday evening May 14, 2020 was my 56th official day at home (Shelter in Place). I have literally not left the house more than 4 times in my car (Ellen & Susan have been my concierge for food and sundries). I have physically seen only twelve people for these 56 days. Since Ohio was opening up it was time for a socially physical distancing time - Boston Legal. #19.
Once the spouses heard about this they decided to have their Boston Illegal on the front patio. The need for physical social interaction is clearly a mandatory emotional need. The movie Castaway with Tom Hanks remains one of my favorite movies as it shows the willingness to risk death for relationship connectiveness.
It does not surprise me that the USA is opening up and emotions are riding high between the extroverts and introverts. Suddenly a new education about natural rights and freedoms become the day to day discussions about the shelter-in-place orders and pending orders about masks and gloves.
J.P. had sent me a link to Randy Barnett's discussion about Individual Liberty in a Pandemic. Little did I understand the overriding weight of my freedom as defined by the Ohio Constitution (vs the Federal Constitution). I have never read the Ohio Constitution!
No movie for this Boston Legal - however I decided to post facto watch one as the suggested homework - Charlton Heston in "The Omega Man" (1971). Little did I realize this was just a COVID-19 movie showing all the people that decided to ignore shelter in place and stay out late at night :)
Professor Michael Worobey speculates (with very persuasive data) that we can blame the Spanish Flu on a Canadian Horse! Even more interesting is the history of influenza and what age group may have the best immunity to different strains.
I was most intrigued at Professor Michael Worobey's answer to the question about this slide stating a "Lab Escape" of H1N1:
"In 1957 the Spanish Flu went extinct when H2N2 emerged in 1963. H3N2 kicked out H2N2 but in 1977 there was a kind of mini pandemic and H1N1 re-emerged and bottom line if you look at the molecular clock it [H1N1] was frozen in time not even since 1957 but it was a 1950 N1 strain and it is virtually certain it was an accidental mistake probably from an experimental strain from China or Russia. And so - yes - the first pathogen in human history was accidentally re-released and not to many people know about it until you guys."
The strange spike in 2017-2018 in deaths from influenza is put in context in this interview with Worobey in Feb. 2018:
Even Worobey's research on HIV-1 is fascinating discovering strains of this circulating in the 1970's before the outbreak in the US was recognized - see article "Findings of how AIDs spread across North America"
Bottom-line - when you were born and what your first battle with influenza was may determine your success in the fight with COVID-19.
To reopen or not to reopen - that is the media question of the day.
Already doubt is setting into the minds of those taking swift lockdown measures. It's like "Coronavirus lockdown remorse" - as cabin fever sets in and economic malaise appears on retirement savings statements. The DNA of the USA is our risk taking entrepreneurs and they (like me) have the temptation to measure the costs and benefits of this crisis. Then using the utilitarian philosophical model of the greatest good as measured in total utility we can make the logical Spock like decision. But how does this apply in human life.
Spock in his final exchange with Captain Kirk gasps "The needs of the many......" and Kirk finishes for him "outweigh the needs of the few".
How appropriate that J.P. and I on Saturday re-watched Michael Sandel's first four lectures from his book "Justice - What's the Right Thing to Do?"
You can add to this philosophical debate the attempt to allocate money to those in pain and you can see why Congress can't agree on a stimulus package. Re-read the quote as you reflect on OPEC's fight about production of oil allocated among the Saudis and Russians. Measuring utility will always create disagreements.
How appropriate that my Bible devotional today was Matthew 16:26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?"
What happens when you reverse the quote - "The needs of the few, outweigh the needs of the many" - suddenly you enter the world of human rights - the very soul that God created. There is no measurement of human life or the soul - it is infinite. Nothing finite can be given for something of infinite value.
When worldly crisis and suffering tests our resolve - it is the mathematics of the many weighed against the few that will measure our humanity - and determine the return for our soul.
Last night Susan and I attended the performance of Screwtape Letters by the Fellowship for Performing Arts. Theatre from a Christian worldview that engages a diverse audience was worthy of consideration for gifting. It was about 6 years ago that we attended the Great Divorce by the same group and we both hope to see C.S. Lewis on stage: The Most Reluctant Convert when it comes to Cincinnati.
Most enjoyable was hearing from Max McClean the actor and founder of the Fellowship for Performing Arts. His question and answer postlude was enlightening. When asked about the humor in the performance his quote (which I will butcher) was that "the laughter of people allows the truth to enter their open mouths".
The number of performances that FPA does at college campuses creates ministry of Christian nudges for a broad audience of students and particularly for those aspiring to enter the field of theatre. What a wonderful way to seed the very souls of individuals that may never have been exposed to the great religious philosophers.
I think the plays are more meaningful for those who have read the C.S. Lewis books. It was surprising the number of people who raised their hands when asked who had not read Screwtape Letters.
C.S. Lewis said "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once". Watching Screwtape Letters will cause me to read it for the third time.
It was my 13th Spotlight for Vistage (10/17/2019) and I decided the theme would be "Rules of Life". Inspired by my original thought to have a mathematical equation depicting each rule, instead I performed an audible and had each Vistage member provide their own "Rule of Life". Stay tuned for a blog about each of those rules once I have interviewed them and got the story behind their rule.
Not willing to give up on my original idea, I did present one equation (a rule of life) that I hope I have passed on to my girls.
I have already blogged about this magical equation - the power of compounding principle. The Urban Myths that Einstein said this principle was the eighth wonder of the world, or the most powerful force in the universe is worth spreading. I've already blogged about this with graphs included:
J.D. quipped - "Just like you Garen to make a Rule of Life totally financial". "No" I replied. Delivering an act of kindness or one of your character principles to influence someone else can also compound. Just change the variables:
P= What principles are you delivering to influence people in your life?
r = What ROL (Return on Life) are you using to grow those principles in others (e.g. what % of the people that you touch receive your gift)
n = How often are you being deliberate about your influence - yearly, quarterly, monthly, daily or continuously
t= Over what time period are you doing this and how much time do you have left?
In a providential way, I happened upon the book "Make your Bed" by Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired) and discovered it's origin from his May 17, 2014 University of Texas Commencement Speech. He said what I've always felt about the power of giving to others and changing one individual at a time - in less than 300 words:
"The University's slogan is 'What starts here changes the world". I have to admit, I kind of like it. "What starts here changes the world!" Tonight there are almost eight thousand students graduating from the University of Texas. That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.com, says that the average American will meet ten thousand people in their lifetime. That's a lot of folks. But, if every one of you changed the lives of just ten people, and each one of those folks changed the lives of another ten people - just ten - then in five generations - 125 years - the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people. EIGHT HUNDRED MILLION people. Think of it: over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world, eight billion people. If you think it's hard to change the lives of ten people, change their lives forever, you're wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the ten soldiers in his squad are saved from a close-in-ambush. In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Tam senses something isn't right and directs the infantry platoon away from a five-hundred-pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers. But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. And their children's children were saved. Generations were saved by one decision, by one person. But changing the world can happen anywhere, and anyone can do it. So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is: What will the world look like after you change it?
There's a spiritual message embedded deep inside this mysterious principle of compounding. Maybe Einstein really did think this was the most powerful force in the universe. What is behind this mysterious powerful principle - who created it and for what purpose? It is worth spreading - Belief in our Creator, his infinite love, and his gift of salvation.
Last night I hosted the Boston Legal tradition #17. A tradition that started the summer of 2013 of three guys just enjoying company, conversation and good dining. I imposed on the guys the showing of two simultaneous movies - "Inherit the Wind" produced in Black and White in 1960 with one of the three (yes three '65, '88, and '99) remakes - the MGM 1999 version. What an all star cast - Spencer Tracy, Fredric March and Gene Kelly ('60) and Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott and Beau Bridges ('99).
While the 1999 television version stayed true to the script, there were some scenes changed that I would characterize as stronger feminism statements. After reading the Wikipedia "facts" about the Scopes "Monkey" Trial, I think the fictionalized movie did an adequate job of depicting the 1925 trial - even the "deliberately staged reason" for the small town of Hillsboro (really Dayton Tennessee). However there were some radical inconsistencies with the actual facts - but that's what movies and revisionist history is all about.
I got "wind" of this movie during the Sunday sermon at ACUMC on belief and faith. Also my breakfast book club with P.N. and R.M. on Ancient Faith and Modern Physics and my recent read of "Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind" has spurred my thinking about apologetic arguments for Christianity.
The Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy about the inconsistency of evolution and religion continues to this day. I haven't been to the Creation Museum (right here in Cincinnati) but have been to the Ark Encounter several times (Ky - but a short drive from Cincinnati). It becomes a tension (like the courtroom) of education and ideas. Is the Bible the inerrant word of God? the inspired word of God? or just another set of ancient texts to be read as mythological stories by unenlightened ancestors?
I prefer how C.S. Lewis would have answered the question above if he had been in the courtroom:
“We must not be ashamed of the mythical radiance
resting on our theology. We must not be nervous about "parallels" and
"pagan Christs": they ought to be there-it would be a stumbling block
if they weren't. We must not, in false spirituality, withhold our imaginative
welcome. If God chooses to be mythopoeic-and is not the sky itself a myth-shall
we refuse to be mythopathic? For this is the marriage of heaven and earth:
perfect myth and perfect fact: claiming not only our love and our obedience,
but also our wonder and delight, addressed to the savage, the child, and the
poet in each one of us no less than to the moralist, the scholar, and the
philosopher.”
The yearning for knowledge points us to some ultimate source. The tension of arguing about that ultimate source allows each individual to explore their faith and beliefs. What better way to draw closer to God?
Drummond: Isn't there something... What touches you? Warms you? Everyman has a dream. What do you dream about? What do you need? You don't need anything do you? LOVE, and IDEA … maybe to just hold on to.
Drummond: You're alone and when you go to the grave there will be nobody to pull the grass up over you. Nobody to mourn you. Nobody to give one damn. You'll be what you've always been. ALONE
Hornbeck: You're wrong Henry. You'll be there. You're the type. Who else would defend my right to be lonely?
Paying attention to phone (cellular and wireline); internet, TV services has become a yearly exercise. My run in with Time Warner (now Spectrum) years ago (well documented in ripoff reports and other internet sites) was reinforced when I had to intervene to correct the billing situation for Dad with Cox Communications. I would have cancelled Cox (like I did Time Warner) in a heart beat if it had been my personal account.
In all cases, it takes persistence, negotiation capabilities, and in some cases threats of ending service to get the best deal possible. For my personal situation using Cincinnati Bell, the end of year call resulted in a lower bill by $35/mth and increased internet speed from 50 Mbps to 500 Mbps. But the promotional price I was given is only promised for one year which will require another year end call around 2019 to get the best deal.
Luckily Cincinnati Bell doesn't realize that my threats of discontinuing service would never happen as I promised to never ..... ever become a customer of Time Warner again.
My first task today was to determine if I was actually receiving the 500 Mbps negotiated speed. That is tough since most speed test applications are 50 Mbps. I found a site the record speeds up to 1Gbps www.openspeedtest.com . My speed is only showing 96Mbps. That will require a follow-up phone call with Cincinnati Bell.
When I asked my Tennis buddies what speed they are getting - the common answer "Don't know, Don't Care, its good enough for what I need". I'm just not satisfied with that!
As Tom Cruise said in Top Gun.....
Maverick - "I feel the need"
Goose - "The need for speed"
Last night was Boston Legal #15 - hosted by K.C. outside in 80 degree weather instead of a crisp fall evening. Great discussion about current events, and memories of how each of us have changed over the 25 years.
Continuing in the DeNiro and Duvall tradition movie choices - the pick was "The Good Shepherd". Rated 6.7 out of 10 on IMDB it was in the middle of the pack of 90 Spy and Cold War movies under consideration for the evening.
My favorite quote occurred early in the movie as a Poetry Professor at Yale said "Fine Poetry is the music of mathematics. Numbers singing. You have to look behind the words to understand their meaning."
It was a complicated CIA movie about loyalty, betrayal, duty, temptation, decency and truth. Full of mystery with Skull and Bones club, Mafia, KGB and others, the movie show how power can corrupt at every level.
Funny how that was part of the cigar and bourbon discussion prior to the viewing.
Thursday evening (8/9/18) was yet another session of "solving world problems" with Boston Legal #14 hosted at my house. Fresh off my research on Decision Making and wanting to hear the options of J.P. and K.C., I asked them what their advice would be to their grandchildren about making life decisions.
It was unanimous that we agreed that values (staying true to one's principles) should be the constant filter for all choices in life. Having a "war chest" of "mad money" can add additional courage in your convictions and choices that have economic consequences.
The evening continued with watching "Saving Private Ryan". How appropriate to decision making with the lens of duty, honor and courage. Decisions in war, test the very core of human actions in the struggle of who knows God's truth. I was reminded of the Columbia 1989 PBS series "Under Orders - Under Fire - Part 1" and the very personal conflicting ethics faced with split second decisions in War - all of which were reinforced in various scenes of Saving Private Ryan.
Even the comment of "Which God is True" set the stage for some interesting philosophical discussions on relativism and self authorship. My emerging view draws closer to providential pathways to my maker - the God I faithfully hold as Truth.
It's not my choice - it is in obedience to his choice.
It was Boston Legal #13 hosted by J.P. on Thursday evening and the theme was "What's on your Bucket List". My suggestion to watch the movie was outvoted but at least I forced a viewing of my favorite scene (See Blog Joy in Life 3/1/2012). YouTube prevents it from being copied and viewed so I guess you just have to get the DVD - it is the scene called Two Questions about 58 minutes into the movie.
There was much discussion about categories, outputs, and outcomes. Outcomes were associated with joy, health and life fulfillment. Outputs were the activities that might measure the outcome from an external viewpoint. I actually did some internet research (naturally) to get some ideas. Stumbled upon a person who creatively used the entire Bucket List format to publish a book and website: 1000 ideas for you Bucket List.
So - I did a deep dive and came up with 20 items - here is just a sampling:
(1) Fly in a Glider
(3) Crawl Inside a Pyramid
(7) Mission Trip
(12) Curling
(14) See a Whale
(19) Visit Stonehenge
The reality is that I have been blessed to experience most of what I have wanted in the last 63 years and it was actually a tough exercise to come up with "important" and meaningful outputs. I too am focused more on the outcomes and let the activities be more defined by the outcomes.
Just proves again that it is the experience of the journey that counts not the destinations or the time.
PS - We were stuck watching Blade Runner 2049 that had a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 87. At 2hrs and 44 minutes it was tough remembering the original Blade Runner and its plot and following the sequel. Thank goodness for Wikipedia summaries.
I just finished reading Michelle Wolf's caustic comedy routine at the White House correspondents' dinner. Absolutely disgusting! I wonder what made me feel this way?
I personally have a style of teasing, cutting humor, satire, sarcastic commentary, spiced with a jab, a razz, and sometimes a taunt to those I have closest relationships with. I think this came from my east coast teenage years of junior high and high school. Of course someone who delivers this style must also be thick skinned enough to take it back (which I think I do). Most of my good friends enjoy jabbing at me also. It is a way to laugh at oneself and each other. Also it can be a fun battle of wits.
Yet reading this comedy routine shows how sarcasm can be abused and especially when the sexual innuendos cascade to filth. For years, I have watched and enjoyed the White House correspondent's dinner. My favorite was George W's playful interaction with his impersonator Steve Bridges in 2006.
What a great example of self deprecating humor, soft teasing, and "clean and wholesome humor.
It is shameful to see where the White House correspondents' dinner has evolved. No wonder the President didn't show up this year.
It was an "Mighty" Evening with the M5 - Mighty Methodist Men's Movie Ministry. A last minute organization by leader T.C. resulted in 15 of us watching 15:17 to Paris. My favorite line (for obvious reasons) - "My GOD is bigger than your statistics".
Naturally, I agree with this statement by the Mom refusing to jump to drugs as any solution to parenting. The Teacher jumped to the conclusion that the son had Attention Deficit Disorder and suggested medication. A "fix it" with medicine problem solving mentality. While I understand (especially with my own back pain at times) the real need for drugs and medication, I also believe we are an overdrugged culture and jump to that solution as the easiest way out.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that more than one quarter of all American children and teens now take prescription drugs on a regular basis, too -- and this percentage is on the rise as well. Many of these children are taking dangerous psychiatric medications like Ritalin and Risperdal for so-called behavioral problems like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Could it be that the early history of drug acceptance for all ailments (and especially to our children) was the seed of our hard drug problems today?
Now the big news (although it is old news) is about the Opioid and epidemic overdose crisis that is infecting the USA (over 130 deaths per day). Check out this interactive map from 2009 to 2014 to see it's spread and geographical dispersion at A Deadly Crisis.
One of the SVP Cincinnati Fastpitch finalists is Drug Free Club of America and is trying to change the landscape of this picture by proactively incenting youth to say no to drugs.
Can Government help with these statistics? How long has the war on drugs been publically proclaimed? Nixon used those words in 1971. Looks like Government is losing the war.
Today is Day 14 for my good friend M.I. who is fighting like a warrior after a serious bicycle accident and reconstructive surgery from C-3 to C-7 - still at U.C. Medical Center. Only now do I really begin to know what those letters and numbers stand for. There are other people in my life that have coped with accidents (falling from ladders, roofs) or have undergone back surgery, but none have shocked me quite like this one.
My own coping mechanism for shock is to search for information, statistics, numbers - in a Spock like logical fashion - and dampen any emotional surge. Try to avoid the infinite loop of "WHY" that attempts to let the emotional valley of despair be visible.
I saw M.I. and D.I on Saturday - Day 7 and everything from the neck up was normal. Just like the 17 years of gathering together discussing life, the future, and ..... well some of the insignificant current events (when compared to this event). My conversation that Saturday afternoon was primarily just that - just insignificant stuff - in an attempt to avoid any emotional rollercoaster intimacy that grief or uncertainty might uncover around some fear of a future dark corner of relationship unknowns. Avoid asking about the accident; avoid probing into their emotional privacy; avoid the obvious yearning to tell them both my own feelings of sympathy and compassion. My thoughts - just be there for them - that should be enough.
Yes - I've reached out to my network asking for information, advice and prayer. I've researched foundations, medical facilities, checked out medical books on SCI (Spinal Cord Injury) Rehabilitation, re-read the Diving Bell and the Butterfly, watched the movie, the list goes on and on. Each day I read the CaringBridge blog that D.I. so bravely posts and I compose encouraging words of support. Even prayer dominates my day - specifically for the M.I, D.I. and family.
When you don't understand ..... with no amount of data available to explain ....only three words remain - Faith, Hope and Love (1 Corinthians 13:13).
No one got my point when I said the departing Board members for SVP Cincinnati reminded me of the final scene of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. They wanted me to explain - my response (like the intrigue of interpreting the book) was - "watch the movie and decide for yourself". It is a very complicated book. The movie, with Jack Nicholson, is a 1975 classic, and does a good job of delivering the complexity of the book.
The interesting philosophy I remember most about the book and the movie is trying to determine who is crazy and who is sane? What is "prison" and what is "freedom"? Who is in control and who isn't?
In the final scene the Chief (pretending to be deaf and dumb) leaves the Mental Ward and it's up to you to decide, based on the outcomes of all the characters, who is better off.
So what was my point as the three departing Board members left me with yet another term?
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