Homo Sum:
humani nil a me alienum puto

There are things I miss, but not enough to pay the price for having them.
“The Old Man Dreams”
Oh for one hour of youthful joy!
Give back my twentieth spring!
I’d rather laugh, a bright-haired boy,
Than reign, a gray-beard king.
Off with the spoils of wrinkled age!
Away with Learning’s crown!
Tear out life’s Wisdom-written page,
And dash its trophies down!
One [...]

And now, a few observations about things completely unrelated to either North American election:

That Wisdom book showed up today. Totally worth the money. It’s been a long time since I bought a “coffee table book”, but if I had a coffee table I’d be proud to leave this out on it.
You know where I’m find [...]

“I always thought that inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” That’s one of many, many tidbits to be found at the site for Andrew Zuckerman’s new book, Wisdom. Go there. Watch the clip. Then see if you can resist the urge to buy the book.

Nothing on this year’s Beloit College Mindset List hit me quite as hard as this one:
Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
Damn.

As I seem to be saying a lot this month, I’ve been using the Internet for a long time. I remember when Gopher was more useful than HTTP. I remember when with a little dedication you could surf a significant portion of the entire web. I mean, I’m not Berners-Lee or anything, but I started [...]

You are about 20 years old

The teen repellent will no longer foil you, but you can still hear some pretty high tones.
The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 16.7kHz

Find out which ultrasonic ringtones you can hear!

It’s not superhuman, but not bad for a 35-year old.
I guess getting those ear plugs at [...]

You all saw the message the universe sent me today, right?
Your positive omens don’t get more explicit than that.

There is some conventional wisdom that experience brings a certain necessary cynicism. That having seen it all before removes the shine from life. That there are always some disappointments, and they accrete over time into a dull patina between us and our experience of the world.
Me, I think that’s certainly understandable, but not necessary.
And today, [...]

I am learning much about growing old. Thirty-five years ago I was lately married, childless, very happy, and beginning to taste the joys of success. Family appeared to me as an external power hampering to freedom: the world, to me, was a world of individual adventure. I wanted to think my own thoughts, find my [...]

I have now been 35 for 9 minutes.
So far, it feels the same as 34.

Due to important fund-raising activities and all-you-can-drink craft beer, there will be no blogging today.
(Actually, I’m sick and driving, so there won’t be that much drinking, but I will still put in an appearance, raise the flag, and put some money towards a good cause.)

When I turned 20, I was one of the youngest of my group of friends. I had watched them all make a big deal out of it, and I laughed. 20 was no problem.
When i turned 30, I was one of the youngest of my group of friends., although I had made a number of [...]

A couple of weeks back when Trish had her birthday, Sarah and I spent an afternoon making her a birthday cake. From scratch. That’s right–no mixes for us. If you’ve ever baked with a 3-year old, you will know that this can be terribly fun, if a bit messy.
The cake that we made was pretty [...]

I have always known
That at last I would
Take this road, but yesterday
I did not know that it would be today.
Ariwara no Narihira (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)

A strange old man
Stops me,
Looking out of my deep mirror.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)

The mists rise over
The still pools at Asuka.
Memory does not
Pass away so easily.
Yamabe no [...]

This post is primarily targeted to my pal “Iron” Doug Hern, who is having his 127th1 birthday today.

This is a recording of Leonard Cohen doing a reading/performance at the 92nd Street YM-YWHA (yes, that’s the “The Young Men’s-Young Women’s Hebrew Association”) Hotel in New York City, New York on 14 February 1966. It includes Cohen [...]