Sunday, June 26, 2005
Show Me the Common Sense!
At last -- we're going to get this whole mess about about psychiatry, psychology, neurology straightened out by Tom Cruise, noted cute box office star. After all, Tom has read the history of psychiatry as well as the medical research -- he may not be glib, but he does know what he's talking about. He makes a living -- a very good living -- appearing in fantasies where he fights creatures from outer space. And, as a cult member, he must possess extensive personal experience in the realm of the bizarre.
At least now we can guess why he split up with Nicole -- she probably donated his back issues of Acta Paediatrica to a hospital library, and he got pissed off.
Now here's the latest rumor -- just remember that you heard it here first. Next week, Good Morning America is going to have Dolly Parton and Roseann Barr as guests -- and together they're going to reveal their cure for cancer.
I guess they read about it somewhere -- in the medical research. Who needs these doctors anyway -- hell, we've got actors!
At least now we can guess why he split up with Nicole -- she probably donated his back issues of Acta Paediatrica to a hospital library, and he got pissed off.
Now here's the latest rumor -- just remember that you heard it here first. Next week, Good Morning America is going to have Dolly Parton and Roseann Barr as guests -- and together they're going to reveal their cure for cancer.
I guess they read about it somewhere -- in the medical research. Who needs these doctors anyway -- hell, we've got actors!
Friday, June 24, 2005
Sandcastle Contests -- And the Moral of the Story Is
A couple of weeks ago, Tim B. and I won first place in the Sandcastle contest at our company's annual Summer outing. We also finished dead last.
The victory was extremely instructive -- we won by being the only entrants, and it occurred to me that solitude of endeavor is probably the best way to ensure victory. Not, perhaps, the most sporting but, let's face it -- if our unicellular ancestors had stopped to consider the concept of "sporting" before embarking on the natural selection process, we wouldn't even be here. Worst of all, this blog wouldn't even exist. (Or it would be composed by the descendents of more ruthless unicellular organisms who, perhaps residing in New York and driving SUV's, would not have been quite as selfless in their approach.)
As a Boomer, I've competed with lots of people all of my life -- and where has it gotten me? Spending my Friday nights staring at a cathode ray tube, writing about sandcastles. Last week there was an article in the Boston Globe about becoming a hermit. I could do that -- but the problem is that I'd have to be the best hermit around. And, when you're a hermit, you're automatically the best -- and the worst.
So here's the question. If good people go to heaven, and bad people go to hell, and you're a hermit -- doesn't that make you the best and the worst person around? Don't you go to both?
The victory was extremely instructive -- we won by being the only entrants, and it occurred to me that solitude of endeavor is probably the best way to ensure victory. Not, perhaps, the most sporting but, let's face it -- if our unicellular ancestors had stopped to consider the concept of "sporting" before embarking on the natural selection process, we wouldn't even be here. Worst of all, this blog wouldn't even exist. (Or it would be composed by the descendents of more ruthless unicellular organisms who, perhaps residing in New York and driving SUV's, would not have been quite as selfless in their approach.)
As a Boomer, I've competed with lots of people all of my life -- and where has it gotten me? Spending my Friday nights staring at a cathode ray tube, writing about sandcastles. Last week there was an article in the Boston Globe about becoming a hermit. I could do that -- but the problem is that I'd have to be the best hermit around. And, when you're a hermit, you're automatically the best -- and the worst.
So here's the question. If good people go to heaven, and bad people go to hell, and you're a hermit -- doesn't that make you the best and the worst person around? Don't you go to both?
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Festivities
Well, Saturday was a big day -- I attended the Gay Pride parade in Boston and the Flag Day festivities in Quincy. Kind of a yin and yang, sublime and ridiculous kind of thing. But this blog is about paradoxes, contrasts, etc. -- so this is an appropriate posting.
In thinking about it, though, I'm not sure that the two events are incongruous. I'm sure that gay men and women have served this country -- I mean, somebody had to design those dress uniforms. And all those guys in the Continental Congress with the wigs and the pantyhose -- don't they look like they're about to break out in a rousing chorus of "YMCA"? (Well, maybe not John Adams.) Maybe that's why the army didn't desert en masse at Valley Forge -- they were too into the relationships.
I think there's another book for David McCollough to write.
In thinking about it, though, I'm not sure that the two events are incongruous. I'm sure that gay men and women have served this country -- I mean, somebody had to design those dress uniforms. And all those guys in the Continental Congress with the wigs and the pantyhose -- don't they look like they're about to break out in a rousing chorus of "YMCA"? (Well, maybe not John Adams.) Maybe that's why the army didn't desert en masse at Valley Forge -- they were too into the relationships.
I think there's another book for David McCollough to write.
