Nalvany

My wife is in a book club and I usually read the club's choice aloud to her.  This time it's "Patriot", the story of Alexei Nalvany, a political opponent of Putin.  We are about 75% thru the book.  I am surprised by the similarities between Russian politics and ours.  I hope we aren't using poisons and assassins but things are not so different here.

My father

When I was about ten years old, my mother said my father wasn't going to live with us anymore.  She didn't use the word "divorce" but I knew it was going to be different without him.  At first, he took my sister and I to dinner and a movie every Thursday.  She and I could pick any movie theater in the city and there were around 50 of them.  That might have been for a couple of years but over time, one or both of us had other things that called us.  Meanwhile, my father met another woman, they married and had a son.  Meanwhile, my mother advertised for boarders and one of them became my stepfather.

Now being much older, I realize I could have been better to both of my parents than I was.  I could have found out much more detail about my parents' lives before I was born, learned more about their ideas and leanings.

Goodwill stores from Numlock News

I thought this item from Numlock News was interesting.  In this household and others, getting too much stuff often gets focus and thought these days.

Goodwill

One retailer that is doing just fine despite some feeling pinched wallets is Goodwill Industries, the largest thrift store chain in the world. It beat $7 billion in revenue in 2024 across its 3,400 stores, a seven percent increase year over year. Part of the appeal is the lower prices one gets from a secondhand shop; the other is the treasure hunt style of shopping in a store that can literally contain anything, given the six billion pounds of goods Goodwill receives as intake every year. The entire secondhand business is doing swell overall: Savers Value Village, a competitor with 300 stores, saw net sales grow 16 percent in its most recent quarter, while ThredUp reported revenue was up 34 percent last quarter.

Kim Bhasin and Sophia June, The New York Times

Are you a doctor?

A person can be a doctor of many things.  Being a physician is only one of them.  The title "doctor" comes from old Christian monestaries and was conveyed when a scholar had seemed to reach exceptional levels of knowledge.

From the Wikipedia:

"Dr." redirects here. For other uses, see DR (disambiguation).

Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning.[1] The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre [dɔˈkeːrɛ] 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, when the first doctorates were awarded at the University of Bologna and the University of Paris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_(title)

Breath as a meditation focus point

You may know that the traditional advice in meditation is to "follow your breath."  This is usually meant as "concentrate on your breath".  The mind needs something to concentrate on and your breath is something that moves and changes but that is reliably present.  You can attend to your breath with your eyes open or closed so it is an available place to put your attention regardless of your state of energy or fatigue.  Advanced meditators tend to prefer to simply watch the passing contents of the mind but doing so is difficult because it is very easy to get hooked on a subject or an episode.  You see that you are thinking of the exchange between your sister and your mom and in no time, you are thinking yet again about how that girl has never had the discipline you faced and how unfair it all is.

The breath is the rare important body function that is convertible, available to both the conscious thinking system and the unconscious one.  You can take a deep breath when you want (conscious control) and you manage to breathe all night while sleeping (unconscious control).  Many traditional paths to meditation using breath as an attention focus recommend observing the breath.  I have found that difficult.  It has been much easier to breathe deliberately and concentrate on taking each breath.  I am getting a little more skilled at noting my breathing while altering it less.  Just putting my attention on my breath tends to modify it a little.  I don't have any strong reason to try to observe it without changing it, other than that sort of delicate looking without touching is what I want to be able to do with my thoughts, watch them from a little distance.

We humans are slow-burning fires, always mixing oxygen with our fuels chemically.  It is fun to realize that when waiting for the light to change, for the operator to get back to us, on a walk, on a swim, all the time, in and out, in and out, we keep ourselves going. As important as breathing is to us, you don't hear people emphasize that they remember a really good breath they took last week.  It is the same with steps they took or individual swallows of food or liquid: too many to remember individually but very important. 

Previous post from five years ago

t.ly/0qklQ

One third of winter

Let's say that winter began on Dec. 21.  Now, since it is past Jan. 21 and winter is three months long, one-third of winter is past.  It is true that right now, we are having some weather that is quite cold.  Our various apps never agree exactly but from three sources, I have current readings of -1, -6 and -4 and that is not counting wind and other factors.  I bet you don't need me to advise you to stay warm.  If you live in a place that is warm and nice, you may be smarter than I am.  Keep it up.

Electrical charging to 60%-80%

I have read in more than one place that charging chargeable devices only up to 60%-80% of their capacity makes their batteries last longer. I wanted to know how much longer.  Would such a practice matter?  I found one estimate that limited charging would double the life of the battery.  That is enough for me.

I thought I would find it easy to do and I did find that some devices can be set to a limited charge.  One electronics salesman said that a limit would have to be set by an app or section of the device itself and advised me not to bother asking about the availability of an external charger that could be set to go only to a limited portion of the charge.  

Maybe making the battery function longer would not be good for some businesses.  I have been trying to limit the charges on my devices.

National days

I discovered that today, January 22, is National Polka Dot day.  Don't be embarrassed if you didn't know that or if you don't actually care.  There are a number of websites that try to keep track of national this day or that day.  I was interested to find that January 16 is declared by some to be "National Nothing Day" but evidently it is meant as a day on which people DO nothing, not that it is reserved to be dedicated to nothing at all.

According to nationaldaycalendar.com, tomorrow is National Security Technician Day, so bake a pie.

No blog post today

Too many repairs and interruptions of service.

"The Innovators" by Walter Isaacson

I am reading Isaacson's "The Innovators" about the creation of the internet and the World Wide Web.  I use their inventions every day and that is a great pleasure and a continuous occupation.  I borrowed the book through the Libby app and the Wisconsin library system.  If you don't know "Libby", the book-borrowing app, you should get to know it. 

Equality is not easy

When I find that they look different, speak differently, worship differently, once other differences appear, I find that my ways are better.  Too bad they don't do things the way I and my people do.  I am willing to help them learn the ways of my group but they don't want to. I don't feel their ways are as good as mine and ours.

Stop it!

One thing I don't like about aging is losing friends.  Longtime friends keel over, slide on ice, nod off behind the wheel, succumb to one medical failure or another.  If you are going to be my friend, hang around, please. Don't be like those who drop out after 10 or 20 years.

Our younger daughter

Today is the anniversary of the birth of our younger daughter, Jill.  She died in 2008 after 20 years of mental illness.  She was an artist.  She made this painting:

My wife wrote this webpage about her:

https://sites.google.com/view/kirbyvariety1/jill-kirby-1963-2008

Clouds

Something made Joni Mitchell's "Clouds" song come to mind.  I like that song and I like her voice.  It is actually called "Both sides now".   I am confident you can find her singing this song on the internet. She has an angelic voice.

Both Sides Now

by Joni Mitchell

Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

The "Numlock News" app

I look at "Numlock News" regularly.  It is written by Walt Hickey and features short items about numbers of this and that.  The name is meant to suggest numbers, which can indeed suggest important events and forces in our lives.  This morning I read of a Canadian study comparing actual dates with the number of years since that date for the effects of suggesting age.  Mentioning a previous year such as 2016 elicited less of a feeling of age.  Stating the number of years in the age of something elicited more feeling of age.  Like this: 

I was born in 1939.  

I have lived for 86 years.

The first statement doesn't make me seem as old, on quick notice.  The second one makes you see how ancient I am more instantly.

Motivating movie

We watched "Hope Springs" with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones.  Rarely has a movie gripped me so strongly.   It happens that I am simultaneously reading "Psychoanalysis: An Impossible Profession" by Janet Malcolm.  I haven't gotten very far in the book but, like the movie, it discusses mental problems, their recognition and detection and attempts to help an afflicted mind. Our second child showed much promise but was bothered by brain disease and died at age 45 after 20 years of instability and debilitating hallucinations.

"Breakfast" and being helpful

My first grade classroom was right next to the principal's office.  Our school did not have a public speaking system installed then so when the office needed to get a message to a given classroom teacher, a secretary would duck her head into the first grade next door.  That was a signal to me to stop what I was doing, go to the principal's office and deliver a note, sometimes up a floor to a classroom.  I was honored to be the reliable messenger and I usually understood the lesson I was temporarily leaving.  

However, one day the teacher had just said that the word "breakfast" was interesting when a secretary's head appeared.  I got up and did a delivery but for years, I wondered what the teacher had said about the word "breakfast".   Later, I figured that she said when I eat 'break-fast', I am breaking the fast of the nighttime.

Good performance!

I know the day of the week and the full date!  It may be hard to believe but it is true.  Well, that is according to the Gregorian calendar and all.  What's more, I know where I can check to see if I am right.  It isn't easy when the days are similar but the date keeps changing AND the day of the week keeps changing.

Making pottery

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9FXuVnUA2aH34mu46

Link to Lynn working in her pottery area.

Saturday breakfast

On Saturdays, especially if we are not away, we sometimes have pastries for breakfast.  We usually have a glass of milk, a banana and coffee, too.  But it is the pastries that stand out: the taste, the consistency, and of course, the high sugar content.  We have several sources: bakeries, convenience stores but we started with Dunkin' Donuts and they are still quite good.  Lynn said she didn't want too much squishy filling and only one and a half pieces.  I looked up to see what was open before 7 AM and found there is a store closer than my usual one.  The drive there and back was magical.  A soft, lovely snowfall.  Chocolate-filled Bismarks and a half of a chocolate iced doughnut.  No dunking from either of us.

Pain perdu and look-up-itis

Who started carrying a handkerchief?

Who first made French toast?

These and other pressing questions were investigated with search engines and artificial intelligence at our house this morning.

There is some danger that we will have endless questions and starve from physical neglect, all because of electricity, the internet and current possibilities.  Maybe you should wear a mask to try to avoid look-up-itis.

Books on relations with animals

I think Lynn read "The Soul of an Octopus" before any of these others.  I read Sy Montgomery's book on hummingbirds aloud.  Amazon told me about Spencer Quinn's books about a smart fictitious dog that works with a private detective.  My all-male book club suggested "Fox and I" by Catherine Raven and I have almost finished it aloud.

I don't feel that I have had a close relation with any animal ever.  We did have a couple of dogs over time in my growing up years and a couple of cats.  We have had a couple of dogs in our married life and some cats.  None of them did much to me or for me.

“No events today"

The message "No events today" popped up on a calendar of events that came on my computer.  Of course, whether there are or are not events depends in part on what counts as an event.  It helped me to read Walter Isaacson's biography "Steve Jobs" to understand Apple, Microsoft and other participants in today's digital business.  I have read many times that starting and maintaining a business, like many other activities, is difficult.  There is competition, business laws and laws governing being an employer.  Isaacson wrote that Jobs wanted to control the process of designing, manufacturing, selling and relations with customers as they used Apple products, from beginning to end.  

When I see "No events today", it appears on the calendar that comes with Windows.  I prefer the Google apps in many cases since it is fairly easy for me to see the same content I create in Google apps on several different devices - my Apple phone, my Windows operating system on this computer, my Apple iPad.  It is fairly easy for my wife and I to cooperate with calendar events that affect us both with Google apps. I find that it helps to stay aware of where programs and apps come from.  I actually find that zero days have literally "no events", given my habits, my family and my country.

The rules

Ladies:  Be nice

Men:     Be tall

Walking pens

I sometimes make notes in our living room.  I like to use ballpoint pens since the writing lasts long. Pencil lasts, too and I never find that it has smeared too much.  Still, I like pens.  I am surprised at how easily and unconsciously I can not only carry a note over to our office but how I can manage to bring the pen I used along with it, too.  Then, later, I want to make another note but no pen!  I had a pen but it managed to walk down the hall into the office. Durn pen!

"The Female Brain" movie

I am a fan of the book by Dr. Louann Brizendine MD called "The Female Brain".  It was the first of her three books I read.  Her others are "The Male Brain" and "The Upgrade".  I am fascinated by the human division into male and female and the fact that we all came out of a female body.  The female brain book discusses the development of a fertile female human and the steady recurring chance to have a baby.  I was surprised to find that a movie had been made based on the book.

We watched the movie on Amazon Prime streaming last night.  It is a fiction story of a researcher finding female traits and the effects they have on all of us.

Freedom to choose

I remember when a counselor was working with me and other sophomores on our plans for the junior and senior years of teachers college.  I had been planning to get certified as a junior high teacher but when I looked at the sheet, I said I had been hoping for a few more open choices instead of all prescribed courses.  The counselor said if I aimed for elementary certification, I would have more chances to select a course of my choosing.  I did and I enjoyed selecting a few courses.  I am confident that having a little freedom to choose made me feel good but now 67 years later, I don't know what I chose.

That other group, that other tribe

Strangers!  Foreigners!  They are different!  Might be dangerous!  Be on guard.  Be cautious. But don't let your caution show.  Smile in every direction.  Be smiley.  Not too smiley.  You don't want deep friendships.  Maybe later.  When you know they are ok.

Computer when possible

In my opinion, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides make a nice package for computing and communication.  When I was in graduate school in the late 1960's, we had computer assignments using the computer language Fortran.  It was clear that we didn't have any easy, fast way of getting what we wanted done.  Later, when "personal computers" became available at prices we could reach, I did not want to go through anything like the trouble we had in graduate school.  When I learned about the software package called "Appleworks" with a word processor (for writing), a spreadsheet (for arithmetic) and a simple database for records, I wanted a copy of that package for myself. An ad I saw convinced me to get an Apple IIe computer.  We have had access to our own computer since then.  

Today, I looked up how many people use only a smartphone to work on the internet.  I read 60 to 70 % of users use only a phone.  I use the word "interface" to mean what a user sees on a given web page or computer package.  The interface is carefully designed and tested but the physical size of the device limits what can be made available.  I recommend you compare what is available to use on a computer with what is available on a phone.  The difference may surprise you.