His Small Paws Shiver

His small paws shiver

In swift pursuit of dream things

While I watch and smile.

The Old Man in the Know

At a local restaurant over breakfast this morning, an old cretin sitting behind me was telling a man at another table the details about several Iraqi cells that were planning or had been thwarted in bombing attacks in central Illinois.

This to be said of a country where we killed several hundred thousand innocent people in an invasion based entirely on Bush and Cheney’s lies.

Funny how profound American guilt so often expresses itself in viciousness.

Still Some Sun

That old clock may tick, 

But remember, you shall bask

In the sun again.

A Sign of the Times

Cold, high winds sent us

A cardboard sign that said "Free."

A fine reminder.

Emerson on the Purpose of Life

Among Ralph Waldo Emerson’s primary perceptions about living were these:

• There’s no other world; this one is it.

• All important truths must finally be self-evident.

• The purpose of life is individual development, self-expression and fulfillment.

• Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm, and your work should be in praise of what you love.

• The days are gods.

“On a day no different than the one now breaking, Shakespeare sat down to begin Hamlet,” explained Emerson’s biographer Robert D. Richardson Jr. “Each of us has all the time there is; each accepts those invitations he can discern. By the same token, each evening brings a reckoning of infinite regret for the paths refused, openings not seen, and actions not taken.”

“There is nothing in this list that Emerson had not learned firsthand. These are not abstractions but practical rules for everyday life. The public consequences of such convictions for Emerson were a politics of social liberalism, abolitionism, women’s suffrage, American Indian rights, opposition to the Mexican War and civil disobedience when government was wrong. The personal consequence of such perceptions was an almost intolerable awareness that every morning began with infinite promise.”

In Control of Consciousness

“Despite its great powers, attention cannot step beyond (its) limits,” observed Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.  “It cannot notice or hold in focus more information than can be processed simultaneously. Retrieving information from memory storage and bringing it into the focus of awareness, comparing information, evaluating, deciding — all make demands on the mind’s limited processing capacity. For example, the driver who notices the swerving car will have to stop talking on his cellular phone if he wants to avoid an accident.

“Some people learn to use this priceless resource efficiently, while others waste it. The mark of a person who is in control of consciousness is the ability to focus attention at will, to be oblivious to distractions, to concentrate for as long as it takes to achieve a goal, and not longer. And the person who can do this usually enjoys the normal course of everyday life.”

Now consider what digital media has done to shorten the human attention span in the decades since this was written. What does that imply about the ability “to enjoy the normal course of everyday life?”

In Tepid Blood

Although it was masterfully done, Feud Season Two left me feeling that I didn’t really care what happened to Truman Capote or his Swans.

Truman destroyed a great talent with booze and pills, and practiced treachery to boot. And the Swans were Sondheim’s Ladies Who Lunch, permanently pickled in their own frustrations.

People who have every imaginable resource handed to them and nevertheless manage to remain unhappy tend to drain the well of sympathy.

Impoverished by Wealth

Americans seem to assume that the alternative to materialism is poverty. Ironic, because it’s clear to me that the result of materialism is emotional and mental impoverishment. 

The alternative to materialism is an indifference to wealth that provides a relative immunity to greed.

The Tiffany Trick

“During World War II, a man of middle age entertained a Marine one Saturday night. The man enjoyed himself so much in the Marine’s muscular embrace that he felt he should buy him something to show his gratitude, but since it was Sunday when they woke up, and the stores were closed, the best he could offer was breakfast.

“’Where would you like to go?’ he asked. ‘Pick the fanciest, most expensive place in town?’

“The Marine, who was not a native, had heard of only one fancy and expensive place in New York, and he said, ‘Let’s have breakfast at Tiffany’s.’”

— Capote, Gerald Clarke

And that anecdote gave Truman Capote a title.

The Gent Takes Off

The Gentleman Analyst exits his Observatory of All Things. And I observe that AI art is a hoot.

When the Rain Dances

Luxury listens

to the intimate tap dance

of rain on your roof.

How the Mind Can Manage Pain

“The largest-ever brain scan study of the placebo effect has revealed that it seems to act on systems in the brain that process the emotional aspect of pain, which could explain why sugar pills can ease discomfort,” wrote Moheb Costandi in New Scientist magazine.

“Expectation, suggestion and social cues can all influence the placebo effect, where a person’s symptoms lessen after taking dummy medicine that they believe to be an effective treatment.”

And this research points to a mechanism by which mindfulness can be used to manage emotions and thereby alleviate the perception of pain.

“The placebo effect is a way for your brain to tell the body what it needs to feel better,” explained Harvard Prof. Ted Kaptchuk.

Maigret's Prose

“The memories reached him in waves, because this was another year when spring was early, and that morning he had left home without his overcoat. He felt as light as the sparkling air. The colors of the shops, the food stalls, the women’s dresses were all bright and cheerful.

“He was not thinking of anything in particular, just a few disconnected little thoughts.”

— Georges Simenon, Maigret’s Pickpocket

I always enjoy the quotidian aspects of the Maigret novels — the specificity of weather, the satisfaction of meals, the small vivid impressions — as much as I do the crime stories. He’s one of those characters who wanders around in your mind, knocking out his pipe, after the story ends.

The Secret of Nostalgia

The simple secret to nostalgia for the past is that we know how things turn out, a comfort that the present reality — the only reality — never gives us. 

It's like a favorite movie we can watch again and again.

Meteorological Theatricality

Torrents, floods, flashes, booms. 

A simple spring rain can be 

quite the drama queen.

Fountains and Feathers

Starlings splash wildly,

improvising a fountain,

washing off winter.

A Reassuring Glow

The soft yellow cones

of the streetlights in the haze

welcome weary eyes.