Draw Conclusions On The Wall

dd March 30th, 2007

Looking2Live very kindly touted my blog as one that made her think and then assigned me the task of coming up with my own list of blogs that stir up the brain. So, here are a few I think fit the bill:

1. Soubriquet’s “Grit in the Gears”.
I can’t recall how soubie came to my blog and left a comment. It was probably the “dilemma dilemna” post that did it. Of course like a good Brit, he was intrigued by that one. Soubie’s blog is unique - a fantastic eclectic collection of multi-media - videos and music along with thought provoking posts and poetry. A very smart fellow and I highly recommend it.

2. Ulysses. Looking2Live cited this one too. He’s a new kid on the block, but again a very different kind of blog. It’s actually a place where Ulysses posts his fascinating multilayered “short” (well compared to a novel) stories. Will take a couple of reads of each post to try to get into the author’s mind. But, well worth the effort.

3. The Gold Poppy. This blog has a very unique perspective along with wonderful photos and now also branching out into videos. Lot of posts relating nature and natural things to her life in a very interesting way. Extremely well written and thought provoking.

4. Writing Down the Words. This beautifully crafted blog is full of nature and poetry and wisdom!! Please check it out.

5. Red Dirt Girl. Used to have 2 blogs but now just concentrating on wonderful poetry - her own and others. A very smart and interesting blogger with a lot going on in her life to provide grist for the mill.

6. Dying in the Dust. This is an incredible blog by a young man who grew up in Eastern Chad near the Darfur border. He now lives in the U.S., goes to a university in N.C. and writes about Darfur and what we can do to help. I met him recently at a genocide prevention workshop at the U.S. Holocaust museum in D.C.

7. Looking2Live - of course I can’t leave this one out as the originator of this meme challenge. But, it’s a very interesting blog with a wide variety of topics. And, she is way more diligent than many of us - don’t think she’s missed a day of blogging for 2 years!!

So, back to you, Looking. There are several other blogs I could have mentioned too like Steve’s and MOI’s. Just ran out of space. But, check them out too. And, any of the bloggers I’ve mentioned feel free to keep this useful and informative meme going by providing your own “thinking blog” choices.

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dd March 27th, 2007

The other day I was not in my usual upbeat mood. I complained about being stretched too thin - I think part of that was I have not been feeling 100% the last couple weeks. Neck/shoulder pain (breaking in a new bike) and allergies I think contributed to a real “head fog”.

Today, I’m trying to look at things from a different perspective. I still woke up in a bit of a fog, and probably shouldn’t have gone for a bike ride after lunch, but I did. These days, I usually ride on the Capital Crescent Trail, which is wonderful especially when there are so few people using it. And, I really enjoyed myself. I love to be able to do things like this in the middle of the day when the bike paths are almost empty of the usual weekend hordes. When I got home, I took a walk around our yard and enjoyed the beginning beauty of our property in Spring. The forsythias and chad are already in nice bloom and the other little guys are getting ready. And, of course, I had to throw Jake’s kong for him.

Now, I still have a ton of stuff to do tonight, but it sure was a nice afternoon.

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dd March 26th, 2007

I’ve been semi-retired for about 3 years. I say “semi” because I now do quite a bit of web design work, some in a volunteer capacity, some for pay.

But, lately, I’ve been feeling a bit stressed with all the obligations I seem to have acquired. In addition to 3 web projects - 2 for pay, these include becoming more involved in activities to try to end the genocide in Darfur, mentoring one of our Temple’s 12 year olds in web work, singing in the choir (we just had a 10 choir choral festival this afternoon), my taxes - more complicated this year because if the business angle, my daughter’s taxes, helping Barbara with her retirement forms, planning the Seder which takes place on April 2, helping my mother deal with transitioning to assisted living, my daily therapeutic exercises for back and knee. And, of course, I’m leaving out other stuff, but you get the picture. Oh, and I forgot about trying to squeeze in some fun things like bike riding, blogging and reading blogs, a slide show for Barbara’s retirement party, and reading this month’s book club book.

All of these activities are really worthwhile, and many are things I want to do (some are of course mandatory like the taxes). But, either I have to do a whole lot better job of time management or learn to say “no” once in a while. I’ve always had a hard time doing that. But, I’m (semi) retired for goodness sake. Being overwhelmed is not supposed to be part of this picture, is it?

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dd March 23rd, 2007

Dylan resting after his 2 day ordeal

Our 2 dogs wandered off yesterday around 7 A.M. The whole story can be found in this post and this one by Barbara. Ironically, I had just posted a video of Jake, our speaking hybrid retriever a couple of days ago. In fact, Barbara in a moment of distraughtness (i know it’s not a word but it should be) suggested that maybe someone saw the video and then kidnapped our dogs. I told her that was pretty far fetched.

And, now we can totally dispel that notion. Jake came wandering home by himself yesterday afternoon. It was the first time that he had abandoned our old black lab Dylan (they have wandered off before whenever Jake has successfully “picked” the lock of our gate - in the event we screwed up and didn’t double bolt it). So, we were really worried about Dylan out there alone, old, nearly deaf and blind.

I spent a good deal of today following up with all the animal shelters and talking to new ones. I called the Police and a couple of Vet clinics. No one knew anything about Dylan.

But, around 5:30 P.M. this afternoon, I got a phone call:

Caller: Did you lose a dog? This is Fairfax County Animal Control.
Me: Yes, both of our dogs wandered off yesterday morning, but one came back.
Caller: What’s the name of the missing dog?
Me: Dylan.
Caller: Describe him
Me: He’s a 13 year old black lab. Nearly blind and deaf.
Caller: I’ve got him! I’ll deliver him in a few minutes. Oh, by the way, do you have proof of a current Rabies vaccine? And, what about his county license?
Me: I’ll look for them as soon as I hang up. Thanks so much for bringing him back to us.

Well, I found proof of the rabies vaccine easily enough, but no county license. Guess we never got around to that. But, the young female police officer was kind enough to tell me how this works. Turns out that if I go the the County Animal Shelter, pay $5 for a license and get her a copy, I won’t have to appear in court or pay the $100 fine.

So, all’s well that ends well. Our family is reunited. Our children (one in Boston and one in Berkeley) have been really worried about Dylan and are so relieved. We don’t know how much longer Dylan has, but at least he won’t die of cold and starvation alone out in the woods.

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dd March 20th, 2007

Our crazy hybrid (half golden, half lab) dog Jake is a retriever’s retriever. He will do anything to get you to throw him something. And, he’ll keep retrieving until he can no longer move. In fact, when he’s inside with a kong in his mouth (he’s very oral like his father), he beseeches anyone in sight with a unique supplication that can’t be described in words. So, here’s Jake, the begging retriever, in his very first starring cinematic role. I think it’s an Oscar worthy performance:

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dd March 19th, 2007

If you happened to read this story in the Sunday NY Times, you must have started thinking about the question I’m going to pose. To recap the story for those who have not seen it: A 23 year old woman has known since her teen years that her grandfather died an awful death due to Huntington’s disease (HD), a fairly rare but genetic brain disorder which ravages the mind and body. (Probably the most famous person to have contracted HD is Woody Guthrie). Her mother has refused to get genetically tested to determine if she also inherited the HD gene - a 50% probability. Her daughter, Katherine, however, decided she had to know. And, at 23 when she learned of a testing procedure that she could finally afford — at Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan — she went for it. She did this despite warnings of the consequences if she tested positive. She wanted to be able to change the way she lived her life based on the certainty of either dying from HD or not. The test can also determine how long she would have a “normal” life before the onset of increasingly more debilitating symptoms.

The test came back positive. She did indeed inherit the HD gene. She subsequently found out that she will most likely start experiencing symptoms at the age of 37. She is now 25. She has only an expected 12 years more of normal living.

So, my question is what would you do if one of your parents or a grandparent has/had Huntington’s disease? Would you get tested knowing there is a 50% chance of being free forever from fear but knowing also there is a 50% chance of getting your death sentence? It’s a tough call. In my case, I think I would not take the test.

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dd March 16th, 2007

I’m sure everyone reading this blog is familiar with the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Hundreds of thousands killed and raped. 2 million people displaced from their homes. This genocide is lead and sponsored by the Sudanese government and mainly carried out by their proxy - the Arab militia called the Janjaweed. Dark skinned black farmers and their families are the victims.

I have been tangentially involved in trying to fight this atrocity against humanity by being part of the Darfur Interfaith Network and helping to organize a monthly vigil in front of the Sudanese embassy. On Sunday, a friend and I went to hear Nicholas Kristof, NY Times columnist, who has written more about Darfur than anyone in the print media. He was a very effective speaker but told a very grim story. It’s hard to imagine, but things are getting worse. He discussed a few measures that could be helpful in at least making things better if not ending this conflict. Things like more pressure on the Sudanese government; pressure on China, a Sudanese protector; organizing a joint U.S/European summit on Darfur; having President Bush deliver a prime-time speech on Darfur; imposing stiffer economic sanctions on Sudan, etc.

So, what can we do? Bottom line: we need to get this on the radar screens of this administration and congress. Same thing in Europe for any European readers. The leadership to fight this genocide, especially in today’s political climate, unfortunately won’t come from our elected leaders, that’s for sure. Moral outrage - yeah, right. They’re too busy defending their own misconduct or worrying about how to position themselves for the next election.

But, they do pay attention to a public outcry. And, the good news is that it wouldn’t require a whole lot of effort on our parts. For example,

• What if everyone in the U.S. wrote to the White House and congress demanding more action against this genocide?
• What if everyone wrote a letter or sent an email message to all the European embassies and those of the Arab countries that have been deafeningly silent?
• What if we all contacted print and broadcast media demanding more coverage of Darfur?
• What if there was a vigil in front of the Sudanese embassy that was well attended every hour of every day of every month?

But, we’re also bloggers. What if we all wrote just one post about this genocide? That would help spread the word in the blogosphere, an increasingly important outlet today.

So, please “get off your tushies”, everyone. Take a few minutes of your day - do something. There’s an old adage in the Jewish Talmud that to save one life is to save the entire world. We can do this. DC folks - why not start by joining me at noon for 1 hour on the 4th Thursday of each month in front of the Sudanese embassy? I hope to see you there.

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dd March 11th, 2007

My “singing career” began as a 13 year old when I became a Bar Mitzvah. I took piano at the time (a career cut mercifully short after 2 years of little practice and many missed lessons due to “illness” aka “I can’t go - I haven’t practiced”). So, I could play the trope (the musical notation which corresponds to the Torah readings) on the piano and taught myself my part that way. I was a bit of an innovator — at least in my class in 1960 — as I was the only one to ask our instructor, the assistant cantor, to please write out the music for me so I could play it at home. (Today, kids use cd’s or iPods to learn their part). I was amazed when he just took a piece of paper and wrote out the piano music on the spot.

Anyway, I studied diligently and practiced like crazy, in stark contrast to my short lived piano experience. Fear is a great motivator and the thought of screwing up before my entire family, friends and the congregation put a good deal of trepidation into little David. The big day came and it went flawlessly. Once, I started singing, I don’t recall being even a bit nervous. Afterwards, the cantor strongly suggested to my father that I should join the youth choir since I had a terrific voice. I beamed inside.

But, soon after that, my voice changed. I didn’t know how to deal with it. I did not understand what octave made sense. So, I just assumed I could not really sing anymore - my recently discovered singing talent had suddenly vaporized. And, crazy as this sounds, this mindset stuck with me for the next 40 some years. Although, my wife occasionally would tell me that I had a nice singing voice, I wasn’t even sure I could carry a tune.

Then, fate and a little arm-twisting intervened. Our Temple choir was having an open house and my wife, a choir member, cajoled me into attending, despite my protests that I couldn’t sing anymore. The choir seemed pretty low key and our choir director is a great guy and a great musician, so after the open house, I agreed to come to a rehearsal.

“What are you - a tenor or a bass?”, he asked. I hadn’t the slightest idea, but then blurted out. “I’m not really sure. Tenor I guess”, probably thinking back to my Bar Mitzvah days. So, I became a tenor for the next year, struggling to learn the high parts but still enjoying the experience. But, never did I volunteer for a solo - heaven forbid. Finally, the realization came upon me that it was much easier for me to sing the bass range and switched to the bass section. What a relief - this is where I finally belonged. For so long, in my own mind, I was still the 13 year old singer. Now, I discover I’m a bass. Choir was so much more pleasant and a lot easier.

Then, 2 years ago, in recognition of my volunteer web-master service, I was asked to sing the Kiddush prayer at the High Holy Day of Rosh Hashanah. My first reaction was, “I’m not sure I can do this - especially in front of 1200 people”. But, I hesitatingly agreed. Well, reminiscent of my Bar Mitzvah days, I studied that piece like crazy. I knew it backwards and forwards. When the time came - unfortunately at the very end of the 2 hour service - I was a bit nervous as I walked up to the front. But, once I began singing, it was deja vu. Not nervous at all, despite unexpected microphone problems. And, I nailed it.

Since then, I now volunteer when our choir occasionally doles out Yism’chu solos during a Bar Mitzvah service. And, recently I volunteered to be one of the chanters for our Purim service. I love these experiences. And, I love the fact that I have rediscovered my voice that had laid dormant for 42 years. Who knew?

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dd March 7th, 2007

FAIR WARNING: I’m going to talk about the notion of God in this post. I’m familiar with the “old” adage not to broach politics and religion in the blogosphere, but I’m giving you a heads-up if you want to stop reading now.

This is my main question today:

Would humans have ‘discovered’ (note I did not say invent, which is quite different) God if we were immortal?

Is fear of death and a void after death the main impetus to our connectedness to God?

I think the answer is probably “No” - we may not have discovered God if we did not die. I think the lead story in Sunday’s NY Times magazine provides some substantiation to this postulate:

Fear of death is an undercurrent of belief. The spirits of dead ancestors, ghosts, immortal deities, heaven and hell, the everlasting soul: the notion of spiritual existence after death is at the heart of almost every religion. According to some adaptationists, this is part of religion’s role, to help humans deal with the grim certainty of death. Believing in God and the afterlife, they say, is how we make sense of the brevity of our time on earth, how we give meaning to this brutish and short existence….

Whether or not it is adaptive, belief in the afterlife gains power in two ways: from the intensity with which people wish it to be true and from the confirmation it seems to get from the real world. This brings us back to folkpsychology. We try to make sense of other people partly by imagining what it is like to be them, an adaptive trait that allowed our ancestors to outwit potential enemies. But when we think about being dead, we run into a cognitive wall. How can we possibly think about not thinking? “Try to fill your consciousness with the representation of no-consciousness, and you will see the impossibility of it,” the Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno wrote in “Tragic Sense of Life.” “The effort to comprehend it causes the most tormenting dizziness. We cannot conceive of ourselves as not existing.”

SIDEBAR

Recently, our rabbi lamented that (at least among Reform Jews in American), “We do not feel an intimacy with God. Faith is a question for us.”…”We need to rediscover how to connect to God.”

I think that one of the main reasons for this disconnect (of ‘recent’ origin in W. Europe and in the U.S.) is Judaism (at least the Reform branch) has distanced itself and almost ignored the question of death and what happens after death. The Times piece argues that humans are “hard wired” to discover/believe in something we call God. And, one of the main impetuses for that is humans need an answer to death and find it very hard to deal with the possibility of nothing after death.

As I understand it, Judaism for the last 2000 years has had a lot to say about death, afterlife, soul, (even resurrection). But, in the last couple centuries, this discussion was de-emphasized especially in Reform/Conservative movements - not rational enough, maybe?

So, I postulate that until we start re-emphasizing and discussing this incredibly important question (soul, after-life etc.), it’s going to be hard to reconnect with God. I think any other ideas about how to do it are avoiding the essence of the problem.

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dd March 3rd, 2007

I really screwed up today. Readers may recall that at last spring’s auction at our Temple, we bid and won an item which allowed us to provide 4 words that our rabbi would incorporate into a sermon. After many email exchanges a couple of months ago, we settled on today for the sermon delivery. But, guess who totally forgot about it? Yes, me - Mr. Diligent - who always puts things in his Mac calendar and syncs it to his Palm Pilot. And, usually that system works brilliantly. Only slight problem with it is you have to enter the damn event in your calendar!@!

But, as you’ll soon see, the morning was salvaged. Services start at 10:15 and B and I had decided to play hooky today (of course both forgetting that this was a Shabbat service that we were a featured player in). B had made plans to meet her good friend for an outing. Me - just planned a casual morning. Phone rings at 10:28.

“Hi, David. This is David A.”
“Oh, hi. How are you?”
“Fine. Did you forget this was sermon day?”

Sermon day, I’m thinking. What the hell is he talking about? But, after a second or two, it dawns on me.

“Crap - I totally forgot!”
“Well, the service just started. I think you can still make it.”
“Maybe - I’ll try. Thanks.”

This was the state I was in at 10:28: in the middle of my morning exercises, unshowered, no breakfast. I would have to leave in 15 minutes in order to have any chance to arrive in time for the sermon. My first inclination was “Hell with it.” But, B said “Why not bring a banana in the car?” I decided to go for it because I really wanted to hear what Rabbi M. came up with and also, truthfully, because it would be ridiculous for the auction winner to not show.

I grabbed a super fast (for me) shower, dressed, grabbed 2 bananas and raced out the door. I “slightly” exceeded the speed limits and made it to Temple in 20 minutes, door to door. I scampered up the stairs, went inside, grabbed a book, and sheepishly entered the sanctuary. Lo and behold, I got there in time - she had not started the sermon. Actually had 5 minutes to spare!

The sermon was amazing! Not only did our Rabbi incorporate all 8 words (our 4 and 4 from our auction co-winner), but she did it by including them in an epic poem she wrote which proceeded to retell the whole Torah - Exodus to Deuteronomy (well, a Cliff’s notes version anyway). Anyone ever see the theater group “Reduced Shakespeare Company” that performs the complete Shakespeare, the complete Bible, the complete history of Western civilization, etc.? Think of that, but set to verse. Since Purim starts tonight, she also showed off her juggling talents. Who knew?

Afterwards, our music director, cantor, and the rabbi were talking to me. The cantor says, “We thought by 10:25, it was strange you guys were not here. You’re always so punctual.” Rabbi says, “Someone came over and whispered, ‘the ______’s are not here. Should someone give them a call?’” “It’s been taken care of”, she told them. And our music director said he taped the whole service just in case we did not arrive so that we could hear it!

Quite a morning. Guess all is well that ends well.

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