December 20, 2010 Entry #59
Did you see Sixty Minutes last night? There is more information on the web about the story. They had a group of people, average in most ways, that could remember everything they did from an early age. No tricks. What happened on 12/3/68? "It was a Tuesday, I had coffee with my friend Betty." Everything that could be checked was correct. Ball games, notable events, and the like.
They also had some form or tendency to obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), a personality disorder which is characterized by a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness. The other common faction was two areas of their brains were much larger than the average brain.
One lady had maybe a hundred or more pairs of shoes. The shoes were on shelves with the right toe out and the left toe in so she could see both ends when trying to pick out a pair of shoes. She could tell when and where she bought each pair and when she first wore them.
I am reminded of how little I remember and how much my memories differ from others experiencing the same event. I remember clearly a grade school friend I only knew for a short while, maybe a summer. Through Shaun, the guy emailed me recently. I answered, reminiscing over some of our favorite activities. (Prying up bricks in the sidewalk and burying a can to keep treasures in, then putting the brick back.) I thought this was especially cool because we didn't have brick sidewalks at 422 West second. He said he didn't remember it and to tell him more details. I did, but he never wrote back.
I remember grandmother asking Liz one evening, "Don't you think Nick is really handsome?" and Liz giving some feeble excuse not to answer. They were probably talking about Shaun, but I remember they were talking about me.
December 17, 2010 Entry #58
I HAVE a rendezvous with breakfast.
At some disputed spot,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air—
I have a rendezvous with breakfast
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
It may be that Georgia takes my hand
And leads me to Twin Rivers.
And I close my eyes and quench my thirst—
A cup of coffee but water first.
I have a rendezvous with breakfast
On some scarred slope of river's edge,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.
Entry just stuck in here.
Where Have All the Flowers Gone by Pete Seeger
"I Have a Rendezvous with Death"
by Allen Seeger
I HAVE a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air—
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath—
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.
God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous
I watched "In the Line of Fire" today and it was the second time I have heard the line "I have a rendezvous with death." recently. "I Have a Rendezvous with Death" was one of JFK's favorite poems. His wife Jacqueline often recited it for him. The youth in me still finds this a great poem. Allen Seeger joined the French Foreign Legion during WWI and was killed in battle. The poem was published posthumously. The more mature side of me favors "Where Have all the Flowers Gone." The version here is by Pete Seeger, Allen Seeger's nephew.
December 6, 2010 Entry # 57 I was just thinking about my brother's comment about the "load time" of the e-Madrigal. I wonder if this becomes more important as a person gets older. Less time left to sit and wait for something to load - still lots of things on the bucket list.
In fact I think the bucket list is like science or education in one way. The more you learn the more questions there are. The more items you mark off your bucket list the more you add and the list of incomplete items grows longer.
Most of the items on my bucket list are selfish, but this time of year I think of the TV show "Earl". His bucket list, which is very long, is trying to right all the wrongs he has committed in his life. I would like to work on this list but it is too hard for me. I don’t have the courage to change those things I can correct or the wisdom to recognize those things I can’t change.
Footnote:
Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas
I always planned to "not go gentle into that dark night," but the rage is almost gone.
Did you see Sixty Minutes last night? There is more information on the web about the story. They had a group of people, average in most ways, that could remember everything they did from an early age. No tricks. What happened on 12/3/68? "It was a Tuesday, I had coffee with my friend Betty." Everything that could be checked was correct. Ball games, notable events, and the like.
They also had some form or tendency to obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), a personality disorder which is characterized by a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness. The other common faction was two areas of their brains were much larger than the average brain.
One lady had maybe a hundred or more pairs of shoes. The shoes were on shelves with the right toe out and the left toe in so she could see both ends when trying to pick out a pair of shoes. She could tell when and where she bought each pair and when she first wore them.
I am reminded of how little I remember and how much my memories differ from others experiencing the same event. I remember clearly a grade school friend I only knew for a short while, maybe a summer. Through Shaun, the guy emailed me recently. I answered, reminiscing over some of our favorite activities. (Prying up bricks in the sidewalk and burying a can to keep treasures in, then putting the brick back.) I thought this was especially cool because we didn't have brick sidewalks at 422 West second. He said he didn't remember it and to tell him more details. I did, but he never wrote back.
I remember grandmother asking Liz one evening, "Don't you think Nick is really handsome?" and Liz giving some feeble excuse not to answer. They were probably talking about Shaun, but I remember they were talking about me.
December 17, 2010 Entry #58
I HAVE a rendezvous with breakfast.
At some disputed spot,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air—
I have a rendezvous with breakfast
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
It may be that Georgia takes my hand
And leads me to Twin Rivers.
And I close my eyes and quench my thirst—
A cup of coffee but water first.
I have a rendezvous with breakfast
On some scarred slope of river's edge,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.
Entry just stuck in here.
Where Have All the Flowers Gone by Pete Seeger
"I Have a Rendezvous with Death"
by Allen Seeger
I HAVE a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air—
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath—
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.
God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous
I watched "In the Line of Fire" today and it was the second time I have heard the line "I have a rendezvous with death." recently. "I Have a Rendezvous with Death" was one of JFK's favorite poems. His wife Jacqueline often recited it for him. The youth in me still finds this a great poem. Allen Seeger joined the French Foreign Legion during WWI and was killed in battle. The poem was published posthumously. The more mature side of me favors "Where Have all the Flowers Gone." The version here is by Pete Seeger, Allen Seeger's nephew.
December 6, 2010 Entry # 57 I was just thinking about my brother's comment about the "load time" of the e-Madrigal. I wonder if this becomes more important as a person gets older. Less time left to sit and wait for something to load - still lots of things on the bucket list.
In fact I think the bucket list is like science or education in one way. The more you learn the more questions there are. The more items you mark off your bucket list the more you add and the list of incomplete items grows longer.
Most of the items on my bucket list are selfish, but this time of year I think of the TV show "Earl". His bucket list, which is very long, is trying to right all the wrongs he has committed in his life. I would like to work on this list but it is too hard for me. I don’t have the courage to change those things I can correct or the wisdom to recognize those things I can’t change.
Footnote:
Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas
I always planned to "not go gentle into that dark night," but the rage is almost gone.