Shifting into a paradigm, shifting out

I have heard a great number of people promote the great and wonderful attributes of reading and writing.  There is no doubt that the two have advanced the cause of knowledge accumulation in the world no matter what the language.  In fact, the two had become a currency among those trained in the two disciplines during the BCE epoch and among educated people since the Middle Ages.

But something happened after World War I with reading and writing.  They began to be confused with language development.  With the rise of the use of psychology as a profession and its ideas about intelligence (tested through the military), the two processes suddenly were tell-tale signs of language development.  After World War II, the application of psychology to intelligence testing continued to grow and was linked to the manifestation of language through reading and writing.

Education after World War II also changed.  Mandatory attendance was enacted, and suddenly, for the first time ever, nearly all children in the U.S. were exposed to a higher level of education than they had received in the country's almost two hundred year history.  But the lines were confused; reading and writing were no longer merely a currency of educated people.  They had slowly but surely become the tool of psychology to represent language development, and thus, an indicator of intelligence.  Ridiculous and crazy ideas resulted, such as the correlation between extensive vocabulary and high intelligence.  For the record, there is a positive correlation (and a higher positive correlation) between music ability and high intelligence, but the schools won't mandate all students to learn reading music.

Reading became a focus at that point, and by the 1970s, an entire new field had sprung up.  Much research began to be done only on reading ability and how it could, would, and should be developed for every child.  The schools became the vehicle to carry out the research, and subsequently, the schools were the vehicle to institute the results of that research.

But, those who are the language scientists had been left out of the loop.  Those scientists knew that language development and reading and writing were separate creatures, not the same, and that reading development didn't really represent language development nor did writing development represent a person's ability to organize and express complex thinking.

What has resulted is a public that thinks the ability to read and write well is the same as language development.  So parents push their children to read at an early age, even before school if at all possible.  And parents of school children get worried when their children let their speech habits interfere with the so-called clearer thinking process of writing.

Fortunately, technology will show the truth that language development is not bound up in reading and writing in about 10 more years.  It will lead the public from their fallacious thinking by permitting several other avenues to be equal vehicles for expressing thought that is clear, organized, and complex.  That will allow language development to turn back to what the genes bring to a person in the first place.  Then, parents can follow their children's development using criteria truly related to language, not related to the overlay of reading or writing runes in books as thought throughout the 1900s and the first decade of the 2000s.

Begging the question

The genes pack a lot of information, and for sure they pack information about when a person will begin speaking.  But, the genes don't know what country you are born in, so they really can't give you language.  It is curious that children all over the world begin speaking at about the same age no matter what language they are born into.  Yes, curious and amazing.

Sound production starts early, and meaningful speech starts between 9 and 14 months for single words and about 24 months for the two word utterance stage.  From there the development is not uniform for either vocabulary development or syntactic awareness.  The learning is rather ragged.

So, if learning is ragged but the stages happen at nearly the same time across the world, then it would appear that there is a genetic latitude in how a person learns language.  From 2 years old until the age of 6, children learn all the basics of the language they have been born into.  They have learned the basic sentence structure such as any order of the words, any changes to words manifested in tones, expressions that seem to have stock phrase status, and a vocabulary that represents everything utilitarian in their worlds.

That does beg the question of what formal education brings to the equation.

Formalizing or codifying language through reading and writing might be an obvious answer .  But, if that process is a function of language acquisition, then one would expect the same raggedness to continue.  If the process is, however, treated as a function of knowledge accumulation, then I suppose the expectation for the results changes.  Input and outcomes of the two processes, such as determining a foundation to build on in a step-by-step manner, measuring the outcomes, and adding steps one year at a time in a predetermined learning environment implies a rather uniform result, not the raggedness of the natural or genetically controlled language process.

I would definitely not be an advocate of formalizing a language process that genetics controls.  For one, genetically controlled personality controls the other contribuitng factors to language growth: interest, rapport with peers and adults, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

It would be an endeavor equivalent to harnessing the weather.

I would still bring the question of what formal education could possibly bring to the equation.

Born from conversation

A recent commercial for Acura ends its script by saying, "We welcome the comments of critics.  Innovation is born from conversation."

In designing cars this is true.  When the car industry began designing cars in the 1970s that carried the suggestions of women, certain innovations appeared: mirrors on the underside of visors, reading lights for passengers and for the backseat, cupholders between the seats, and steering wheels that adjusted downward for easier control by a generally shorter population than men.  When they listened to the voices of handicapped people, floor switches for brightening or dimming lights changed from the floor to the blinker handle and gear shift handles that wouldn't move from park unless the brake was depressed.

I don't know that "critics" is the best choice of words for this commercial, but the idea is right and results in better vehicles.  It is the same idea that works for humans.  The ancient Hebrews had a proverb, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person makes another sharper."  It is the same principle as for Acura that gives us change in our own lives.  When we listen to what is said, we know how to improve particular nuances of our lives.

And perhaps, the people we are closest to, those sharing our most personal moments, create more innovation in us than critics. We innovate our lives, renovate our thinking, sometimes our habits, because we talk and like what we hear and make adjustments, which makes us better people.  That's what compatibility produces in our lives.  We need those who see our facades and whims, our deepest values and genuine inclinations, to engage us in conversation.  We'll be better... and happier... and much more productive, enthusiastic, and vibrant... and loving.

Slice of Americana

History tells of the main and important events in a society.  But, it is left to biography to record what is happening with people.  Here is a snapshot  of modern America capsulized by a family of 4 sisters.

Sister A was born to her mother when her mom was 18 and her father was 21.  Over the next 21 years, the father would drink alcohol to his heart's content and come home each day angry at his wife and kids.  Sister A knew nothing else than a father's wrath during her childhood.  Her mother was very young to begin with and had no clue how to deal with alcoholism.  So, she became very hardened as an individual after 21 years of living in the crucible of rage from a husband's alcoholism.  Sister A, then, knew nothing else than a mother's strict, and many times unreasonable, set of rules which the mother instigated as a coping mechanism not to have her children step out of line and rock the boat with their father.  Immediately upon leaving home, she lived a life of bar hopping and finding love in all the wrong places.  She married a young man who burned her with cigarettes and abused her in other ways.  They divorced within a year.  A couple of years later she remarried and remained committed to that husband.

Sister B was born 5 years later than her sister.  She also grew up in a house of rage and rules.  Behavior outside the rules was dealt with by harsh razor strap whippings of the father and hair brushes across the face by the mother.  Immediately upon leaving home, she went to college, decided to marry someone she thought was stable, finished college, and began a job.  But, she couldn't stay away from men who offered her a good time, and had more short and long affairs than the number of years of her marriage regardless of the anniversary year of her marriage.  Much of her adult life was spent in alcoholism too.

Sister C was born 5 years later than Sister B, 10 years behind Sister A.  In that decade, the interaction of the parents deteriorated further.  The mother was so consumed with coping with her own sanity that much of the time Sister C was able to do things against the rules without being caught.  She grew resentful of the home life and rebelled in many secretive ways against what was happening on the order of sneaking out to meet with friends and boyfriends.   Upon leaving home, she immediately married.  That marriage ended in divorce inside of  a year and a half.  A second marriage followed in a few months, only to end in divorce about 3 years later.  A live-in boyfriend filled the next 9 months or so.  Finally, she married a third time, deciding to commit to this marriage.

Sister D was born three years after Sister C.  By this time, conditions had begun to stabilize, only because the mother had found Alanon, but they were still poor for the 4 girls and the mother.  None of the daughters could feel free to invite friends over.  Sister D felt very isolated and overlooked by her mother.  She noticed all the rules and rage and their effects on her 3 older sisters.  She became shy and extremely withdrawn.  The few friends she had were also withdrawn from their own family situations.  Upon  leaving home, she completed three years of college and married her junior year because she thought she was pregnant.  She remained married to her husband, but had a hard time keeping a job because she would go through a cycle of finding a job, working for a few months, becoming disenchanted with it, then quitting.  She went through about 10 jobs the same way.


All of the sisters have 3 common characteristics that are manifested from their upbringing.  In the realm of general communication, they have to consciously decide that they will communicate with friends, coworkers, and in particular, each other.  They will delay or ignore answering a call, text, email, or Facebook message until they are mentally ready to continue the communication.  The socialization process for communication had apparently been  disrupted.

A second characteristic is their way of dealing with matters of time, such as schedules and deadlines. Family holiday gatherings posed particular problems.  Sister A decided to walk in late to most events.  Sister B has to "psyche up" before attending events.  Sister B decided to limit the number of events she attends and mostly stays at home.  Sister D will only attend events on her own terms or in her own timing, frequently attending events only under certain conditions or by showing up an hour after it was scheduled to start.  She prefers to be wholly spontaneous in life.

And finally, depression touches each of the sisters.  The first deals with it by being around people nearly all the time.  The second will tell you that she has been depressed her entire adult life and has taken depression medicine for at least 30 years.  The third takes a plethora of drugs and tries both homeopathic remedies and prescribed drugs for her bouts with depression.  The fourth sister changes antidepressants ever so many years, has fought suicidal thoughts, and has undergone counseling for a number of years.

And what about the children of these sisters.  Each sister had a boy and girl, except Sister C who had two daughters and a son.  Sisters A and B lost their sons before adulthood, one to suicide, one to disease.  The daughters of all four sisters went through a period of heavy drinking during high school and shortly thereafter, and had multiple sexual relationships.  All the daughters are currently married except the daughter of Sister D who has sworn off marriage.  The two remaining sons, of Sister C and Sister D, are quite opposite.  One has married and divorced, the other has sworn off marriage like his sister.

There is another generation below these children.  It's a little early to tell how they will turn out.  But it will be interesting to see what the trickle down effect will be.  Yes, history records events, but it leaves out the pulse of the individuals involved in the events.  Seeing how people react to life is a kind of history in itself.  These sisters have exhibited a curious mix of the role of personality, environmental conditioning, and opportunity.  Following the children of the sisters will be equally interesting.  And their children?  Ah-h-h, fascinating indeed.

A nice switch

The aunt that always gave me the impetus to be free-minded and to seek answers from some rather unorthodox places came to town last Thursday.  I was able to visit with her for a number of hours on Saturday.  She's 90 and still very alert although her health is beginning to fail.  I told her I credited her with teaching me to seek fo higher levels than what appears on the surface.

We talked of many subjects.  Some of the conversation was about the family past, hers, mine, and ours.  She always had clarity about how life seemed to go for her.  I have loved the wisdom she has exuded over the years.

It was fitting that I should get to follow a day in paradise with a day to remind myself of where I started.  There has been a certain calmness in my soul this weekend... a real switch from the restlessness of late.

A drive into paradise

The drive is about 50 minutes from my house.  It's freeway all the way, however, so it is a pleasant drive.  The closer I get to my destination the more beautiful the scenery becomes.  About halfway there the hills start.  In fact, that part of the drive is named in Spanish for its colinas, its rolling hills.  Not much farther the trees thicken on the hills into sheer forests.  Oh it's beautiful.

And this day I was needing this drive as therapy in the worst way.  Some days I just need to talk.  My good linguist friend lives in apartments in a forest of trees on the grounds of the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics,  The paths, many of which are natural, wind in and around the trees with benches and picnic tables scattered along them.  This particular day was a perfect 72 degrees with no wind and smelled fresh from an afternoon downpour that lasted about 30 minutes.  He and I walked to one of the tables to spend the next two hours just talking.

Serene is only one attribute of the setting.  Rich is another.  The people that walked by the tables were all people who have committed a considerable  number of years to the study of languages around the world.  They all have a story to tell for they all have given up so much to live outside the U.S. to work in hostile environments or in 3rd world settings.  So sitting among a mixture of oaks and cedars and pines, I felt a certain reverence for the place.

We talked for 2 1/2 hours about a wide range of subjects, but mostly language related ones.  My friend and I have been friends since we met at a different campus years ago and had a class or two together.  Our personal paths in life are pretty similar, so the conversations we have are always comfortable, honest, and full of what we have encountered in our respective jobs.  For now, he is on furlough from Nigeria, so I got to hear stories from another continent.

The main thing is, I guess, that I needed 2 1/2 hours of therapeutic listening and talking in such a serene and rich setting that delivered peace to my inner soul, enhanced by the talk of Nigeria, conferences, other friends in their respective countries, and some of their stories.

It's a beautiful thing to drive home from such a pocket of time.  It was as if I had wined and dined with a king who lived in paradise.  The food and wine for the soul renewed a soiled spirit and harried heart.

Fill the cup

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is a really long and convoluted poem.  During the first three fourths of the 1900s, it was fashionable to read this work.  It was what sophisticates did.  Things in education have changed a whole lot so that now students don't even know the name of this once esteemed classic.  It really doesn't lend itself to being tested using current standards, and it is most certainly not good practice for what appears on a state exam.

But, it had a certain wisdom among its lines that wasn't obfuscated by words that people don't normally read.  In fact, if one were to read the lines for a recurring message, this is the message that would surface.

        Ah, fill the Cup:---what boots it to repeat

       How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:

       Unborn TO-MO.RROW, and dead YESTERDAY,

       Why fret about them if TO-DAY be sweet!  (Canto 38)

I invite people to read again the lines of the Rubaiyat's cantos.  It inspires one to live in the day, in each of its moments... to let loose, to live, to enjoy... to love deeply, to not waste time without the one you love.

        Ah Love! could thou and I with Fate conspire

          To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire,

          Would not we shatter it to bits---and then

          Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire!  (Canto 73)

It's time to conspire and shatter and remold  in order to live and enjoy and    love deeply!

About 1 in 4

I was around 3 groups of people today.  They were very different groups.  The first group, the early morning group, was a group of 4 women who didn't have to work although a couple of them worked part time to keep them occupied.  The second group was a mixed-sex college group.  They were all very interested in what was happening on computer monitors (for leisure, not for work or course assignments).  And the third was a group of two, one woman, one man, the woman twice the age of male.

All faced their own set of challenges.  All had obligations.  All had relatively stable lives for the moment although some had had some traumatic ripples in their pasts.  Everyone of them seemed determined to accomplish the goal that had brought their group together.  I know the percentages for accomplishment, however, for these groups is 25%.  That's sad in a way.  But, the numbers have been constant a long time.

I was thinking how sad that was when it dawned on me that my own success rate for accomplishment was around 1 in 4 also.  Well, there you go.  I'm no better and no worse than anyone else.  Call it the law of averages.  And just when I was counting blessings and feeling lucky.

Then again, I think I need to be satisfied and content with that number, 1 in 4.

And if someone is thinking that I am being rather pessimistic, then I refer that person to the life of Abraham Lincoln who had a 25% success rate for various offices he ran for and for tragedies in his own life.  It's just that the events that made up the 25% of his successful accomplishments happened to include the highest office of the nation.

Or I refer that person to the life of Nelson  Madela whose 25% only happened after 27 years of living on a small island off the coast of South Africa, sleeping in a 6 feet by 6 feet barred cell, disgraced.  Of course, now everyone knows his name.

Or to the life of Stephen King whose father left his family at a young age, whose mother provided very little money and opportunity for anything great to happen, who later became an English major but couldn't get a job immediately after graduation as an English teacher, and who had a severe alcohol problem for 10 years after college.  It so happened that his 25% accomplishment in life was knowing how to write a scary story.  Only his family remembers his really poverty-ridden childhood and his terrible, horrific alcoholic decade.  Very few know that he plagiarized stories from movies, sold his stories and had to return the money to customers when he was found out.  Well, now people remember his 25%.

Or to the life of William Shakespeare whose 25% didn't come from being part owner of the troubled, but storied Globe Theater and didn't come from acting in a number of acting troupes trying to find one that used his talent and that would pay him more than a pittance for acting and didn't come from a successful marriage and didn't come from impressing the Poet Laureate of England with his poetic abilities.  He just happened to cash in on Edward DeVere's status of being anathema to the queen of England, Elizabeth I.  Lucky him - to have the same name as the pseudonym for DeVere who wrote 37 world class plays (spelled differently, but the same name) and couldn't publish under his own name for fear of his life... Yes, lucky Billy Shakspere.

1 in 4, I'm thinking, is not bad.

Where the day takes you

A movie came out 20 years ago called where the day takes you.  It was a stream of consciousness movie about teenagers who had nothing really to live for.  They were merely drifting through life.  It showed them staying home from school most days of the week.  They would meet at one or the other's house to  smoke marijuana or to shoot heroine into their veins.  Several of them died.  The point of the movie was to show the absolute dejection that modern (ca. 1994) youth felt.

Today I was in my favorite Starbucks getting my usual hot chai tea latte.  I noticed a sign that was advertising some of their specialty coffees.  It read: Refreshing. Everywhere your day takes you.  My immediate thought was the association of the expression to the title of the movie that showed the utter listlessness of our youth.  But, then, I realized the sign was about me or whoever would be drinking this specialty coffee.  Whew, what a relief.  I knew I wasn't listless or dejected nor was anyone I knew.  The point of the sign was to convey that you could drink it now and later and any other time you needed a lift.  Help for your day was a sip away.  But, then, that's the same message as the movie, right?

Well, I could be depressed by drinking that specialty coffee.  Fortunately, I don't drink coffee, and my day takes me to work every day where I have a very definite purpose for being there.  I'm not drifting and dejected.  Life could be better, but it could be a whole lot worse for sure.  My nights rejuvenate me for the morning.  I wake refreshed, no matter where my day goes.  And it goes to a place I really like to work.  And it goes to my phone's MP3 app at night that plays Up on the Ridge, Come a Little Closer, Feel that Fire, Pretty Amazing Grace, Everything I Do, With or Without You, Run, Run, Run, I Hear the Sound of Your Voice, and many others selections that refresh me.  And, my day goes by the place of my dreams, too.  It goes there often.  And, it's refreshing every time I am taken there.

I'm going there now, as a matter of fact.  Refreshing. Every time I'm taken there.

Take me back.  Refreshing!!!

The discipline of success

The New England Patriots played this afternoon.  The score went back and forth throughout the game, so it was unclear near the end who was going to win.  Brady was his usual self - always poised, always positive, always disciplined, always working to effect a win.  The Patriots  happened to have the ball in the waning seconds of the game.  They needed a touchdown to win; a field goal wouldn't win the game.  They basically had to travel 80% of the length of the field to win.

So Brady - always poised, always positive, always disciplined, never quitting, had time to throw about 5 or six passes if they could make a couple of first downs .  He navigated downfield on 3 passes and then had only enough time for about four last passes.  The first one was exactly on target but dropped.  The second one was perfectly thrown to the receiver's hands, but he dropped the ball too.  A lot of quarterbacks would enter desperation mode at that point, but not Brady.  The third pass was completed for a first down and a few yards extra.  So, with only enough time for one pass and about 20% of the field in front of him, Brady dropped back to pass - poised, positive, disciplined, and working for the win.  The ball was exactly on target for the fourth time, right in the hands of the receiver in the corner of the end zone.  All the receiver had to do was to hold on to the ball and take two small steps in bounds before running out of the end zone for a Patriot win.

Oh yes, he did. Game over.  Patriots won.  Lovely, I couldn't help but let out a whoop.  

Brady epitomizes for me what it takes to be successful.  He has a fantastic work ethic, but there's more to it than that.  He knows that with proper execution the ball goes exactly where you throw it, and receivers catch it time after time.  Every practice is about execution.  Every play leads to the next well executed play, one after another, in order to have a lead,  and every touchdown leads to the next because they are executed the same way.  I hope that is the way I will be viewed after my record is complete - poised, positive, disciplined, and always working to effect success.

Even Brady loses now and then.  But no one really remembers those games since there are so many of the other kind.  I count on people looking at the big picture for me as well, seeing four qualities that saw me through lean times and characterized the many good times.

Just looking around

When it comes to capturing language in its natural form, you really have to be a fly on the wall in order to capture it.  I am reminded of the early work of William Labov when it comes to trying to find out what the language of the people really is.  He would go to department stores like Macy's and ask questions.  After the people he was asking left, he would record their answers.  By so doing, he captured some interesting results and made a name for himself.   Some recognize him as the father of sociolinguistics.

This last week I was eating at a restaurant I had eaten in only one other time.  I was eating alone, so I decided to notice who was at the 9 tables immediately around me.  One table had a group of 5 men having lunch.  They were all in their 70s, I would say.  Their conversation flowed rather well among the 5.  There were never any long pauses or awkward silences.  They talked of trips they had taken for the most part.  Next to their table was a couple of women.  One looked to be in her early 30s, the other in her 50s.  They also were engaged with each other for the whole time I was there.  They talked of their children and the schools they were going to.

Then, there was the young man in the corner.  He was in his mid to upper 20s,  He sat at his table alone, but he was using his phone to read material (news perhaps) and to communicate by texting.  Next to him was a table of 3 women, one of whom was deaf.  The entire time the language was in silent signing, but it went on without a break.  At the table next to mine were 3 men, one in his 40s probably, the other two were younger around 30 maybe.  They spoke of their work and the people they worked with the whole time.  There were some pauses for topic changes or extensions, but nothing awkward or lengthy.

Only one table had a mixed gender couple.  The two looked like they were husband and wife in that they seemed extremely comfortable with each other.  Silences were the order of the day for them.  It didn't seem to bother them too much.  Some of the literature on mixed gender conversations concludes that women do the conversational work in such situations.   But, at this table the woman  was equally as silent as the man.  Probably they conversed about 60 or 70% of the time.  But, they had some notable amounts of time without talking.

I wish I could sit around and observe 100 such restaurants.  Then I would write up the results.  I would bet there would be some surprises.  If I were to write my hypothesis after only one visit to the research den, however, I would say that men and women talk equally as much in same sex conversations.  The big trouble is with mixed sex talking.

I would love to see the transcript of the table conversations between men and women.  I would almost bet that the conversations derive from the personalities of the conversants and are not often guided by topics and interruptions like the literature on such conversations would have people believe.  I wish that would be true because then it would spur the psychology community to look more closely at personality and at its influence on mixed gender conversation.  I also wish that would be true because then compatibility could be more easily gauged between people and two people would have much more to say to each other.

Looking to be twice struck

I was eating supper at Wendy's.  At the table diagonal to me, a young man was speaking to a woman twice his age.  I couldn't tell if the woman was his mother, but the young man was at great ease with her.  The proximity of our tables was close, so I overheard every word the young man said.  He spoke about several subjects, and in typical male conversational style, he spoke of things that were not personal in nature, but of things that were interesting to him in his external world, such as the plot of a novel and the interesting parts of an episode of a TV show he was following.  The woman was kind enough to show interest.  Whether or not she truly was interested is a different story.  But, she at least was kind enough to indulge the young man.

I dwelt on a couple of thoughts while the young man was talking (and talking).  The first was that when the young man was talking about the novel he found interesting, I was listening to what he thought was of interest to him.  I am in the middle of writing a novel myself, so I am keenly aware that people have a variety of points of attraction.  I wanted to know if what I had written would be of interest to this young man.

I say I am "writing" a novel.  Well, my linguist friend often chides me because he says it is so ironic that I have been saying that writing and reading are disappearing, yet I continue using that mode of communication to entertain and inform.  Point taken - but this novel is different.  I am using 3 different modes in its construction.  We'll see how it goes when it is finished.

The second thought was that the older woman really listened well to the young man.  She didn't judge his comments, which she easily could have done because his comments were value driven.  She participated in the conversation with him, extending what he said with interesting comments of her own.

Wow, do I miss that.  Intermittently I have a conversation in which people participate with me or I with them.  It happens rarely, and I miss it.  I tire of the judgmental, many times accusatory, conversations that make up the conversations outside of work.

There was a time not that long ago when I anticipated with great enjoyment the conversations I would have outside of work, conversations with laughter, excitement, and energy.  I am always looking to the horizon for the storm that will bring the lightning that strikes twice in that same exact spot.  I've heard that lightning does that.

Enjoying a half hour

Oh yes, the rain arrived today.  And, it arrived at the time of day the forecaster said it would arrive.  I sat on my covered patio to soak in the sensory experience.  The occasional rumble enhanced the experience of hearing the rain come down hard on the grass, the fence, the roof, and the sides of the house.  The fringe of the patio on three sides became wet a little at a time, and I felt the mist when the rain gusted.  The refreshing aroma energized me and calmed me.  I enjoyed the half hour or so I was able to sit and take in the tranquility of these beautiful moments.  I had to leave my patio for work even though the rain continued falling without me.

And this literal half hour reminded so much of the figurative half hour of a time not so long ago that refreshed my life.  And while I know that I can't revisit that time, I know repetition can and often does happen.  In my literal world, next weekend is predicted to bring the same rainy experience.  Oh, for such a prediction in my figurative world... trusting it will.

The current forecast

Rain is coming.  At least so says the weather forecaster for the news.  He began saying three days ago that a front over the northeast part of the U.S. was headed our way, and that should it stay together, it could bring a little rain to the area.  At the time, the front was bringing an early snow to the states of Colorado and Wyoming.   The next day, the forecaster said Yellowstone had received almost a foot of snow, and the front would hold together for our area.  Yesterday, the forecaster then said that there was a 100% chance of rain for our area, maybe up to two inches.

Today, everyone is preparing for the rain event.  It is supposed to last about 12 hours and dump an inch to an inch and a half of rain.  This much advance notice allows for preparation so that nothing gets damaged..  But, it's interesting how a forecaster can now track rain 4 days away.

I know that no one can see around a corner, but sometimes the events in life are predictable. The origins for the events  come from the same place and head our way.  At least, I guess, we can prepare for them.  The issues that bring the rains of life our way, seem never to change.  We can predict the same behaviors, the same speeches, the same tirades, the same duration of time.  But, at least there is preparation time so that nothing gets damaged.

Incidentally, the forecaster today said that he saw some interesting weather developing in the Sea of Japan.  Resulting weather from that area is a week away.  And coincidentally, Thanksgiving is the next holiday.  Resulting weather from that holiday is something I am already preparing for in order to minimize the damage.  Rain is coming, for sure.

Keystone

The Romans were innovators in many areas of life.  But, one of the main areas was their architecture.  The arch in particular allowed them to save  materials and maintain strength for building above the arch.  The way the Romans would build the arch would be to build the arch from wood first, then surround the wood frame with brick.  The last stone to be put in place would be the stone in the middle of the top of the arch.  That stone was called the keystone.  When the keystone was put in place, the weight that would be built above it would be distributed evenly down the two sides of the arch.

Events happen to us all the time.  Somehow we distribute the weight of the event evenly throughout our way of thinking.  Accomplishments are great and we react with pride, but our experience tells us that there is a downside to every accomplishment.  So, the weight of the accomplishment is evenly distributed and we can appreciate the moment without thinking too highly of ourselves.  The opposite is true, too.  When devastation comes, we know that soon events will turn around.  We just have to ride out the storm.  So, the weight of the devastation is evenly distributed and we are not thrown into a spiral of depression.

And, what is the keystone in our lives that helps in distributing those events evenly?  The arch containing the keystone is usually a person who is in the center of our activity.  As we build life above us, this person bears the weight with us and puts it in proper perspective for us, letting us know how to respond, or what the downside is, or reminding us of the good times or benefits we will receive at a future time.  I am so proud to have had a person like this who made me a much better person.  When I have no keystone in my arch of events, I am not nearly as good or nearly as happy.  No one is there to even things out. I am keeping faith that I will return to being the best person I can be soon, that the keystone of my future arches won't be cracked or missing.

Moments of paradise

I was watching a Kenny Chesney special on GAC.  The man has an inspiring story.  He really never had anything given to him.  He earned it all.  Of course, people now remember him for being the entertainer of the decade in counrty music.

But, for 20 years he worked his heart out to be on top of his game.  He really never had the support of the established Nashville music community despite sell-out football stadium crowds and a string of number one radio hits.  He was too short, too bald, and had a terrible voice.  They never thought he would be good for the industry.  His bank account shows that established opinion was not well founded.

At the end of the special, as he talked about the last part of his career, he mentioned a particular music project he made for ESPN.  He made the program using his music as a background for showing how determination drives a person to the top.  He recruited coaches like Sean Payton and John Gruden and various football greats like Joe Namath and Brett Favre to make the appropriate sports applications.  Then he said that the project was his favorite moment in all of his career.

All of us have accomplishments and moments where determination won the day.  I certainly do.  But, after all is said and done, over a period of many years, I can look back on a particular year of my life and say, "It was my favorite year of all the years of my life."  I had a managerial job, but that was ancillary to the reason it was the best year of my life.  I actually had 4 jobs that year.  None of them really mattered.  I was able to break some of the fetters I had going on in my life, but that wasn't it either.  It was the following year, 2010, that I made more money than I had ever made in my life.  But the best year was the year before the money.

The favorite year of my whole life broadened my horizons, added spring to a tired step, gave meaning to a not-so-special existence, and trapped views, echoes, and marks on the walls of my heart's four-chambered caves... once-trapped attractions of beauty... oh, such beauty!... my favorite moments in all of life!

Moments I remember now as moments of paradise.

Yes I do

Oh my goodness.  The crowd knew all the words to his songs and sang them wildly.  All of them.  I was impressed, of course, but inspired as well.  It's so refreshing to see an entertainer woo and wow thousands of people through words that represent what they believe in.

I'm talking about the Dierks Bentley concert a week ago.  I carry his songs in my telephone and listen to them most nights before falling asleep - songs like Feel That Fire, Come a Little Closer, and Up on the Ridge.  Those particular songs recall a fantastic laugh, a cheerful voice, lots of smiles, and hope-filled eyes.  And tonight Dierks played a new song, I Hold On, from his recently released album. 

He set up the song by talking of people who suggested that he buy a new truck.  But, he had a truck from before his days of fame.  It had memories with his dad, who drove with him in it to Tennessee.  He would never forget that trip, and he in turn would not let go of the truck that represented that trip.  He next held up his guitar and explained that that particular guitar was the one that got him started on his road to prosperity.  It kept him centered and grounded.  It represented his roots, which he hoped he would never forget.

I understand totally the idea of that song... "I hold on to the things that keep me going strong."

I intend to keep forever three sacred belongings... a blue envelope with a card inside... a poster of three pictures with names of songs and books... and a collage of mountain pictures called A Place Within.  They keep me going strong.

I totally understand the idea of that song... "like the stripes to the flag, like a boy to his dad. I hold on"... "I hold on to the things I believe in."  And the exact memory I have of this song is one where the crowd sang wildly "I hold on" more times than the studio version of the song (because all of them knew the words, including me).  I'm thankful that night a week ago was recorded because it now plays and represents the night that brought to mind my feelings from stored symbols, my almost nightly thoughts just before drifting off...



... things I believe in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Personality Palette

Imagine an old artist's color palette.

The artist would rarely use a single color on the palette.  Instead, (s)he would dab the primary colors in the color well in an empty well on the palate and mix the colors for some other unique color from the primary colors mixed.

In the electronic age it's the same principle, but the colors are not manually mixed.  The digital number of one color is added to the digital number of a second color.  The result is the same - many unique colors - but the possibilities are more numerous.

The digital color palette is a great snapshot for what takes place in the DNA of each person.

A personality palette exists in genes and operates on a larger scale, but with a similar process as that of the selection of color of skin, type of skin, color of eyes, size of eyes, color of hair, texture of hair, and so forth.  Families could have certain dominances that surface, but wouldn't have to surface given the right conditions.  A personality palate would also explain the nuances of likenesses and differences in the same way a brother or sister might have similar eyes or brows, but different shaped lips and teeth.

Personalities show early in a person's life and continue to develop through life.  And, it seems that they are not so much changeable as they are malleable.  Charting the personality palette would be a marvelous study because it would show the nuances that mixtures of personalities bring and mixtures that differ.  An even more fascinating study would be the interaction of the personalities when they are in the same environment together.  Which influence is the stronger or weaker influence in the presence of particular personality opposites.  To use a color palette analogy, what happens when lime green and silver are in the same picture?  How do people viewing the two colors react?

At that point, perhaps we could begin formulating some laws of attraction and repulsion.  But, we all know how much better as a person we are when we are in the environment of harmony and what a drain it is to be in the environment of conflict.  Most of the time we are in an environment containing varying amounts of conflict and harmony.  Our physical actions and mental reactions undergo constant adjustment.  But, how enjoyable life is when the influences from a significant person around us contain the perfect matches for us of tension and ease.  Compatibility happens.  Yes, days of Camelot!

Blue Marble

Every time I see a new picture from the Mars rover Curiosity, I sit in awe of a planet that used to look like Earth.  It would have been fun to have been on Mars and to have watched the Earth during one of its pre-human stages, maybe the solid ice stage.  Our blue marble would have looked entirely white.  Or maybe the greenhouse stage when there was absolutely no ice covering the poles.  Or maybe it could have been after the eruption of Mount Toba 75,000 years ago.  A black cloud encircled the entire Earth and wiped out 75% of all life.  Human life was down to around 10,000 living souls.  Or maybe it could have been the original cooling of the planet before it had water and a spin.

But, I can't, of course.  My time is for the blue marble stage.  It's beautiful enough, but I think I have missed out on something magnificent.  I find myself in that position sometimes.

Manifested sentience

Sentience doesn't surface as sentience.  It manifests itself in various forms.  Much of science is about proving what one can find evidence for.  Manifestations in various forms don't really qualify as solid, replicable evidence.  Psychology is called a soft science since it mainly deals with sentience.  I usually don't give psychology a break, but in this context I do.  How does a person describe, define, and measure something that manifests itself differently?   It's not the same as discovering something about physics that evidences itself following laws.

One of the great opportunities still available in the field of psychology is the study of personality.  People seem to be alike in so many ways, yet different in at least as many ways.  Like the genetics of a family, similar traits surface, but the nuances of difference are at least as many as the nuances of likeness are.  Yet these traits drive us to feel certain ways in reaction to our environments and the behaviors of others in that environment.  We react minute-by-minute to the events and people surrounding us.

I think of the word compatibility in connection with personality since, to me, it is the greatest manifestation of sentience.  Some people have personalities that are toxic to certain other personalities.  And, the opposite is true.  Some people have personalities that are in harmony with certain other personalities.  Of course, there are all shades of personality matches between the ends of this spectrum.  And I freely admit that the strongest manifestation of my sentience is when I have been with and around the person whose personality was the most complementary, supplementary, supportive, and propulsive to my own.  I have no science to back it up.  Maybe in a 100 more years, but not now. For the moment, I just know.  And, I relish the moments of sentience when two perfectly complementary and supplementary personalities share the same intersection of time!!!

Supremacy of numbers

Widespread use of computers has existed for 20-25 years now.  At first, they were a miracle  for lessening the workload of people.  A number of stages have ensued.  They removed the need for paper, but using paper was a habit hard for people to make since paper had been used abundantly in every facet of life for 200 years.  Finally, after 25 years, people learned to store information and files electronically in large volumes.  Computers also made communication instantaneous.  That too has taken 25 years for people to adjust to.  The fax machine should have disappeared at least a decade ago, but they were a habit hard to break.  Now, people finally have adjusted to receiving files through various means such as email, common forums like Google Docs, and attachments for in-person meetings such as with GoToMeeting.  Even legal documents can now have electronic signatures, so the world has been able to change some of its major habits.  But, change didn't come easy.

Computers have also opened the way to another foundation for communication. After years of working with programs like EXCEL, people are now ready for a new change that will likely take another 20 years or so because people are so entrenched in habits involving printed materials and words.  Algorithms are headed our way - not in just an area of life here and there.  That has already been happening.  Stock predictions are made based on algorithms.  Predicting events has been reduced to numbers in an algorithm.  Networks of people for marketing purposes is used regularly in an algorithm by Google to show you what you want to see.  Even words in reading and writing have been reduced to numbers in an algorithm for identifying the complexity level of conversations and writing.  And, words in testimony can be packaged in an algorithm for areas of deception in the "story" a person tells. Because of this groundwork, now people are ready to make much, much more available to algorithmic communication - numbers communication.

Apps are designed through numbers, software is a conglomeration of numbers organized to achieve particular goals, like EXCEL, even digital photography is composed and transmitted through the combination of pixel, location, and shades assigned a number.  Numbers are used in controlling the currency of a nation through statistics organized into algorithms.  Companies plan based on projections and inventory and sales - combined in an algorithm in order to accumulate wealth.  Yeah, changing to the importance of learning numbers and their organization over the importance of learning words and their organization will take a little while longer.  The footwork has taken place already.  The dinosaurs have identified themselves.  They will certainly fall and fall hard.  Algorithms will have a long life of their own because they will usher in the next age that will begin with holography and take us into space and other planetary contact.  Let me say adios... and good riddance... to those who want to strap us into the past and retard the development of the agile environment of organized  number communication that will take us to a world beyond our own.

De facto English

There is a particular piece of writing advice that I hear fairly often.  I don't know exactly when the idea was started.  I don't remember hearing it as a youth in school, but I have heard it often since the 1990s.  The movement started in Texas, called the New Jersey Writing Project in Texas, perpetuated it over a 20 year period, so it affected a great many teachers and their students.  The advice?  Limit or eliminate the use of the verb "to be" by writing more active verbs.  And the corollary is to write active verbs not passive ones.

When I first heard the advice, I thought it might have some wisdom behind it, so I tried following it.  But, fortunately, I was able to learn more and more about language in its various aspects, and began noticing that there was no wisdom to the advice.  Speech, which requires generating words using split second reasoning, uses stock phrases and redundancy of phrasing.  Thus, identifying and describing nouns after they are introduced (predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives) is a common strategy in conversation.  In writing, the immediacy of needing to develop thought disappears.  However, the need to identify and describe (or modify) doesn't disappear.  So, why would someone think limiting the use of "to be" would be a good idea?

After more contemplation and experience with those who teach writing, I think the notion began by teachers not fully understanding the use of the passive voice in English.  It is a very useful technique in a language's arsenal of expressions.  English is only one of many languages, modern and ancient, that have used the passive.  So, ignoring the use of the passive defies the logic of many peoples across the time continuum.  But, English teachers without training in grammar theory explain passive only as an alternative to the active.  The passive wording is a little lengthier than the active wording, so to a teacher who emphasizes economy of words in writing, it would seem more logical to use the shorter version of the idea.  Also, teachers like emphasizing the underlying structure of English to be SVO (subject-verb-object), which favors the use of an active verb.

So, it is the case of Pope's aphorism beginning with "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing..." that has characterized the reason for rampant misinformation.  There are three underlying structures to English logic, not one - SVO, SV, SVA,  (Subject-Verb-Agent, the sentence structure for passive voice).  And while SVO might dominate, albeit under 50% of most people's writing, and well under 50% of most people's speech, plenty of important ideas are expressed with the other two alternatives.

And, it is the Pope aphorism that explains why people need to rely on some extremely arbitrary notion.  Because passive voice is not understood as a bigger part of the language, it is targeted for elimination or restriction.  And, because the passive voice is very often confused for a nonpassive predicate adjective sentence construction, eliminating and restricting the use of forms of "to be" (because it is the common denominator of the two types) save teachers' faces, keeping their lack of understanding from showing.

It reminds me of the poem, For Want of a Nail.  Fortunately, language is larger than English class and very few people pay attention to elaborations of grammar.  While people may remember a teacher saying something about not writing forms of the verb "to be," they won't remember the rationale, so they continue to use the predicate nominative, predicate adjective, and passive voice constructions.

Power to the people who have ignored advice that merely saves face for a group of people who don't want to fully understand what they are teaching.  The people's way is the de facto English.  I love it when that happens.

It's such a lovely game

The movie Jobs is well worth seeing.  I love watching movies that show people's genius.  Among the characters in the movie is a man who joined with and sponsored Jobs when he first started.  He remained with Jobs as Apple grew into a multi-million dollar company.  He was one of Jobs' trusted friends.

But life has a few twists in it.  The scene in which the board of directors decides to rid Apple of Jobs' leadership is a very good one.  The friend that had so long been Jobs' most supportive partner was required to vote on whether to keep Jobs as Apple's leader or not.  The night before the vote, Jobs had asked his friend point blank, "Do I have your support?"  His friend said that he unequivocally had his support.  But, when asked the question in the board room amongst all the other members, Jobs' trusted friend raised his hand to vote in opposition to allowing Jobs to stay as president.  It was a moment of total betrayal.

Betrayal is the one issue that drives me over the edge.  It is the ultimate wound.  My favorite book, Aspen, has the exact same theme and a circumstance eerily similar to the one in Jobs.   But, Jobs has the twist I love, and it is this twist that separates it from Aspen.  Several years later Jobs is invited by a different board for Apple to return as president and CEO of the company.  This time, however, Jobs won't take the position unless the board supports him carte blanche.   So, Jobs goes to three of 5 board members and offers them a deal they can't refuse - a golden parachute so that they will not stand in his way ever again.  In the scene in which the third golden parachute is issued, Jobs does a beautiful thing... he hands the offer to his "friend" who several years back voted no for him to remain as president.  The circle becomes fully completed.  I wanted to cheer at that moment.  The rest of Jobs' story is one of revolutionizing America's way to get information and hear music... made possible by no one standing in his way.

I have a personal application of this issue in my own life.  And I love doing it in the legal arena.  Yes, the lovely game of showing deceptive language in testimony that has been sworn as truth.  Yes... full circle when people's lies come to light... and they nearly always act so surprised. Ha!