Author: cdwan

People have seemed odd lately. Down. Low energy. I think that the death and pollen in the air are getting to us.

Therefore, I shall indulge in a rare repeat posting:

Thanks, sejabop.

I now possess a new telephone. It cost me $6 to upgrade from my old and busted RAZR to my new and unbelievably hot KRAZR. Thank you, Verizon. I don’t know yet about the many ways in which this will screw up my account … so I’m still thrilled.

I’m shuffling around the house, calling it “my precious” right now. “Oh, the prettiest new phone … so much less ugly than the old phone.” It’s pretty damn weird, but I feel happy.

In mental health news, I have decided that it is unnecessary to move my mom’s cell phone number into the contact list of the new phone.

justkidding_nr and I were discussing the internet this weekend. The fact that, sometimes, there’s a funny story out there, and there’s no dignified way to admit how it was that you found yourself looking at a particular website. I mean, damn, that website might be funny … but how exactly did you find your way there? Hmmmm?

in this spirit, and without a whit of apology, I present The Bean.

It’s an inflatable beanbag chair. You, apparently, sit on it and flail your arms. One of the FAQ items is “what if I don’t have access to a television?”

Yes, even if you’re as fat as a jeep automobile, the bean will still endure your massive bulk.

The Bean. It’s what’s for dinner.

Excellent weekend with the fam, down in VA. redmed and I got the hell out of DC just before a series of traffic accidents closed the roads that we used, like, literally just behind us. At least, that’s what the radio said. I was pleased. We got out to the country and had a grand old time with justkidding_nr and thx4asking. We walked in the woods, chopped firewood, burned the chiminea, and generally talked about life.

Now, we’re back in Baltimore, waiting for an airplane to take us to Providence.

Wheeeeeee.

Exciting day at work today. The real high point was an officemate declaring that he was only there because he was “out of sick days,” but that he was still “real sick,” and had been “sneezing up blood,” earlier in the day. He then seated himself and turned on a fan that blew air out over his diseased body and into the center of the room.

Having no sick days of my own to donate, I was out of there in seconds. I shit you not.

More exciting day on the Metro.

I was headed into DC to meet redmed and see some museums. The metro car I was riding was host to a bit of drama. Big guy (BG) and small woman (SW) were both in my car. They clearly know each other. They clearly are not on the best terms. BG starts pawing at SW. She protests. He persists. I make eye contact with the man sitting across from me. SW gets up and retreats to the end of the car. BG follows and continues pawing. Finally, he slaps her and gets her into a headlock. The guy with whom I had made eye contact and I, get up and walk to the end of the car. He wedges BG off of SW, and the two of us blockade the two of them apart on opposite ends of the car. BG feints toward us a couple of times, but isn’t willing to commit … and we’re not willing to move. At the next stop, she’s yelling at BG (over my shoulder) as he gets off the train.

I’m actually happier about this “not a fight” than I would have been about a real fight. We managed to stop the objectionable behavior without anyone getting hurt. Much, much better than a real throw down.

Then, redmed and I managed to find Russia House in Dupont circle, and consumed a vodka sampler. Wow. Imperia and Snow Queen are certainly on the “gotta find it” list now.

Okay, I’m irritated. Doesn’t help that I’m in DC, still working at 7:20 in the evening, having caught the 7:55am flight down here. I’m irritated at Apple.

serious geekage

Went to yoga church this morning and was surprised to see that the inspirational quote of the day was from the bible:

The kingdom of heaven is within you (Luke, 17-21)

The teacher (Tom, who owns the place) started class by saying “I get a lot of evangelical materials shared with me through the mail slot in the door. I’m fairly certain that they have only a dim idea of what goes on in here, but I could be mistaken.”

Class was really good. I had a number of decent insights, which I’m still processing. Tom has a wry sense of humor that lines up well with mine. He had us focus our awareness on various points on our bodies … just to be aware of the sensation and continual change. We started with “a small triangle just under your nose, just right above the lip.” There turns out to be all sorts of interesting sensation right there … of which I’m very rarely aware. Check for yourself. You might find, as Tom put it, “a whole universe, right there under your nose.”

Afterwards, we had the traditional “yoga breakfast” from the Whole Foods brunch bar, and then came home. I proceeded to break down another two truckloads of rubbish from the piles out back of the garage. All this stuff needs to be gone by the time we close out of this house … and I think that we’re within a couple of truckloads of that point. Of course, I thought that last time as well … and the time before that. Guess it’s a good thing that I like using a sledgehammer.

If you really want to change someone’s mind, to truly communicate with them, you need to understand their point of view. Simply bludgeoning a person with logic or volume will never do anything beyond forcing them to fall silent when you’re around. This is not a long term victory.

This makes communicating across the deep issues and divides of our society supremely difficult. For me to understand the point of view of a committed anti-abortionist, a gung-ho Republican, or an anti-immigration racist … I need to get inside of their heads. I have to get their ideas all over my brain in order to see the underlying logic in a compelling way. This requires an honest openness to having my own opinions changed … and it’s not easy at all.

The payoff is big: I think that it’s something like what amnesiadust has told me about aikido. Once you’re comfortable on either side of a debate, once you’re as facile with the other guy’s logic as your own … you have a significant chance of not only winning that particular argument … but you have a nonzero chance of gaining a real convert as well.

On the other hand, it’s uncomfortable to realize how much of my own position is knee jerk.