What Do You See?

This image was taken in far western New Mexico just off of U.S. Highway 60 back in 2010.  I noticed what looked to be a cave off to the south and stopped to get a photograph only to discover that it wasn't a cave, but an arch.  When I looked at the image this morning, I saw something completely different.  I saw R2D2.

I'm not sure what he is dragging along behind him, but that's definitely R2D2 on the left.  For the two of you out there who might not know, R2D2 is a robot from the Star Wars series.  He speaks in high-pitched beeps and whistles and is in charge of navigation on Luke's fighter -- along with many other duties such as carrying stolen Death Star plans and crucial maps of the Universe.  He has even been known to produce other items out of a hidden compartment, such as Luke's light-saber, at critical moments.

I am definitely a Star Wars fan, but my wife is a fanatic.  I suspect she can quote the script of every character in every one of the movies -- not only quote them, but her timing on them is impeccable.  I may know the gist of what is coming, but she speaks the words as they are spoken in the scene as it plays out in front of you.

There are many who do not care for Science Fiction, but it is my favorite genre of fiction.  It is where we can delve into societal issues in an imaginative world of the future.  Sometimes the creative vision of the author plays out and at other times it doesn't -- I'm thinking Jules Verne.  Science Fiction has been around for a long time.

What are your favorite Science Fiction books?  Your comments would be appreciated.  My favorite is probably "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein.  I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but it is one that will definitely get you to thinking.  I look forward to your lists!

Thankful for Books

On this third day of self-imposed challenge to be mindful of thankfulness, I am thankful for the written word -- for books.  The photo is of a small section of the "Great Works" series as chosen and published by Britannica many years ago.  We acquired this set long before we could afford to do so because we strongly believe an understanding of such works is important to a complete education.

The written word is a storehouse of knowledge that is ever evolving as we collectively learn more and more about the world around us.  As I view those in the photo, the works of Ptolemy stand out to me.  He wrote three primary works, "Almagest," "Geography" and "Tetrabiblos."  The first, "Almagest" is important in that it is the oldest surviving comprehensive treatise on astronomy.  It is geo-centric in that it places the earth at the center of the universe, but it describes the universe as a set of shells revolving about the earth (this implies the earth as a ball).  He included only the area of the sky visible to him due to limitations to travel during his lifetime.  His mathematical models enabled one to accurately predict the positions of many celestial bodies such as major star constellations, the sun and the moon, based on the time of the year.  They provided a foundation for navigation.

In Ptolemy's work, "Geography," he published locations of the "known world" of the ancient Greeks based on a coordinate system similar to that used today.  His calculations, utilizing degrees of arc, established relative positions of various places according to their positional relationship to the equator and the polar circle as well as to each other (again implying the earth is a ball).  The coordinate system was also an important foundation to navigation.

We must use wisdom when reading what others have written.  It is clear that much of what we "believe" to be factual at a particular point in time is later proven to be incorrect, or incomplete.  With written records of our thoughts we can build on what others before us have recorded of their own thinking and by doing so, we are able to advance our own understanding.  Without the written word, we would have to rely on oral tradition which evolves quickly due to imperfect memory.  Many of us have played the game in which a "secret" is whispered in the ear of the next person in a circle.  After several iterations of passing the "secret" along it becomes almost unrecognizable.

Reading and writing are the most important skill sets we can teach our children.  If you can read, you can learn almost anything.  Yes, some things require hands-on aptitude as well, but a basic understanding can be gained from books which makes acquiring the manual skills easier.

I am thankful that my parents read to me as a child and through them I gained a love of books and learning that I have passed on to my children and they, in turn, will pass on to theirs.  One of my greatest pleasures is to read to my grandchildren and to see their joy in hearing the oft-repeated stories.  There is nothing better than a bunch of kids sitting on the lap or, the arm of the chair, or standing to the side, or behind as you read to them.  Yes, I am thankful for books and how they connect us through the generations.

"Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." -- John 21:25

Reading, Experience and Reality

One of the things that frustrates me most about aging is that I can't read for very long at a time because my eyes get to bothering me.  I suspect it is at least partially because I spend too many hours looking at a computer screen -- either large or hand-held -- and they are already strained.

It is growing clear to me that I will never be able to read all the books I want to read before I am gone from this earth.  I hope one of the things available in heaven is a library of all the world's literature and that we will be able to read in the original language.  I guess that really won't be necessary since our knowledge will be perfected and much of what we think we know will likely be completely incorrect.

That's another thing that is somewhat frustrating.  As I age, I realize there are many things I thought I knew about which my thinking was incorrect.  The longer I live and am exposed to different experiences, the more I realize that my limited experience limited my understanding.  What were once certainties are now often surrounded by doubt.

Part of that changed understanding is from reading the books I mentioned.  More of it is a result of meeting and talking to people who have had different experiences than have I.  It is amazing to me how we each see things differently and react differently to the things that happen in our life.  Is reality actually a function of perception?  I ask that because reality to each of us is different and it is based in our perceptions.

I sometimes wonder if we are living in some artificially induced reality that we perceive as existence when instead, the universe is something totally different and we are being manipulated in our beliefs and perceptions by some unseen force that has us plugged into a mind-manipulating apparatus -- much like in the movie "The Matrix."  Doesn't it sometimes seem like what is happening around is completely unreal at times?  How do you explain deja vu?  How is it that we sometimes feel connections to people who are hundreds of miles away and are thinking about them  just before they call?

It's no wonder I doubt what I think I know -- it is easier to think clearly without clutter.  Maybe I shouldn't read so much??

Oversleeping, Writing and Books

This morning I overslept.  For some reason, my internal alarm clock decided the arbitrary, self-imposed time that I always arise was irrelevant.  It isn't the time change.  I was adjusted to it before it even occurred.  It's just that now, when I wake up it is time to get up rather than an hour before the clock says it's time.

The thing about oversleeping is that it usually leaves me in a bit of a fog.  For some reason, my mind isn't as clear and it is more difficult to write so, once again I turn to the book of "300 Writing Prompts" for ideas.  The one this morning is easy.  Perhaps too easy, because the answer is simple and will require very few words.  The question is:  "You have been given $100 on the condition that you must spend it all on yourself.  What will you do with your money?"

I will buy books.

Books are my indulgence.

I have books everywhere.  Few are unread.  There are at least ten that have a bookmark in them where I am in the midst of reading them.  Most of the time I pick up a book and read it to the end before starting another, but occasionally, there is a book that I begin and then for some reason find myself needing to read something different for awhile.  I almost always go back to the book and read more in it until I eventually finish it, but sometimes it may take me a year or, more.

If I didn't enjoy the book on some level, I would either trash it, or give it away or put it on the shelf to gather dust.  I have done both -- trash one or give it away -- maybe a couple of times within memory.  Even books with which I disagree, or which include elements I find distasteful, I will read to completion.  I want to understand the strangeness of some minds just as I want to understand my own.

Some of the "classics" take me a long time to read.  I take them in small doses rather than trying to consume them all at once.  Sometimes I wonder why they are considered classics.  Others considered "classics" have stronger appeal to me and I read them as I would a modern military thriller such as a Tom Clancy novel.  Somewhat strangely, I enjoy Russian authors such as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.  That's depressing.  Most Russian writing is ponderous and depressing.

Well, so much for what I would do with the money.  If it wasn't for the requirement that I must spend it on myself, I would probably do many other things with it.  Most likely I would just tuck it in my billfold and slowly use it over the course of time on small items here and there.  I still prefer the old way of paying cash for small purchases rather than using plastic.  Partly, that is because I pay the credit card bill.  We save every receipt and I check them off against the statement when we get it.  I hate seeing charges for $2 or $3 on there.

I do think this post has helped me to decide what I want to do today.  Maybe a trip into Dallas to a bookstore....

Turn Off the Television

Most people like to watch t.v.
As they sit in their easy chair.
Me, I prefer to read a book
Rather than sit and stare
At the mindless chatter
On some flat screen
Across the living room
Where we see an interpretation
Of someone else's thoughts
In a somewhat voyeuristic manner
Instead of allowing our own
Imagination to create the images.

A book stimulates your mind
To think of that contained
In the written word you hold
Yet gives freedom to build
From that which is seen
In the deep recesses
Of the gray matter
Between your ears
Whereas the flat screen
Across the room allows
Little space for linking
Thoughts as you merely
Record the scenes before you.

Let my thoughts wander;
Set them free;
Give rein to imagination;
Turn off the television;
Pick up a book
And travel to distant places
Where rest and solitude
Are filled with adventure
And the cares of the world
Fade away.

Books and Baristas

As we rolled into the small town in the middle of the Texas Coastal Plain we decided to explore a bit.  We were in the heart of the cradle of Texas Liberty, the original Austin Colony surrounded us, if only in the historic land deed records.  We had covered many miles of rain-soaked Blackland prairies with open cotton bolls stringing their white fiber into the mud.  Harvest should be in full swing, but instead, the tall plants, sporting green and redish leaves were still growing and the cotton was rotting.
Some of the towns scattered through this fertile belt had roots that preceded the Texas revolution.  Their downtown areas of red brick storefronts were often empty and abandoned, but in places where pride still prevailed, many were restored to a semblance of their original glory.  It was the kind of downtown for which we were searching on our trek across the area.

We were on a schedule, so we didn't have much time to explore, but as we left the town square of this particular town we spied a sign that drew us like a magnet.  It read, "Books, 25 cents!"  Fortunately there was a parking spot right in front of the door.

You might think parking would be a simple task in a small town in the middle of nowhere, but that isn't always the case.  This particular establishment also offered coffee in various flavors and sizes in the knock-off of yuppiedom that has become familiar throughout the country.

Before entering the ancient wood and glass door we quickly perused the offerings on the wheeled book shelves framing the entry.  The choices were few, but a couple found their way into my hand and wouldn't let go as I made my way into a tastefully appointed combination coffee house and used book store with ample reading areas and young people scattered with open laptops, sipping their exotic brews and surfing the Internet.

Just inside the door was a second shelf with additional offerings at the advertised price of which I chose an additional work of fiction before sauntering to the shelves which lined one side of the building.  The enticement of the low-priced offerings quickly turned to disappointment as the well-picked shelves held little else that drew me or my bride of 36 years.

As we browsed the selections, we noticed the line to order coffee steadily grew as did the wait time.  Our early arrival on this fine Saturday morning apparently preceded the local rush for caffeine and we reluctantly joined the que with our selections in hand.

The one clerk/barista busily bounced between flavorings and machines which ground the roasted beans and then added water or other ingredients that were whipped into a froth while emitting pleasant odors which filled the air.  Having had sufficient stimulant for the day, neither of us were interested in ordering, but continued to wait patiently for our turn at the checkout counter with my three selections.

As I stood there, a young lady joined the quickly growing line and it was obvious that she was somewhat impatient to reach the counter.  I offered to let her precede me, but after viewing the numbers ahead she laughed and declined saying, "I'll just go through the McDonald's drive through.  This place has the best coffee in town, but I don't have time to wait."

Eventually, the counter was reached and I paid my $0.75 plus tax and placed the remaining change from my dollar in a Styrofoam cup for the use of the next person who might be short a few cents.

Was it worth the wait?  Absolutely!  Who can pass up 25 cent books!

Why Do We Read What We Read?

Last night we talked about books.
When the subject was favorites,
The answers were all fiction.

When the subject was "most important,"
The answers were less conclusive
But, generally stated in categories.

The discussion is revealing because
It points to the desire, no, need,
For escape into that which stimulates

The imagination and offers vicarious
Existence in realms beyond
That in which we are now, or ever expect to be.

Though influences which shape us
Into what we are endure throughout
Our brief and flickering lives,

We hunger for something more, for
Something which transports us into
That for which we subconsciously sense we are made.

In the words of an old gospel song,
"This world is not my own, I'm just a passing through....

Tennessee Traveler

Nashville, Tennessee, for the night.  I barely made it out of Amarillo before the snow moved in.  They had to de-ice the plane before we could depart.

I read about 150 pages in the book "Same Kind of Different as Me" on the way out here.  It is written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.  It is a MUST read for anyone and everyone.  The best way that I know to give you a clue as to what the book is about is to quote from the back cover:

"A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking

cotton in virtual slavery.

An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world

of Armani and Chanel.

A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream.

A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it."

It is the story of a friendship between a wealthy, white art dealer and a black man who grew up in rural Louisiana as the orphaned son of a sharecropper.  It is an amazing story.

Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together

Tomorrow, the Mid-South Stocker Conference near Burns, Tennessee.

Life is good.

More Random Items

I updated my profile a bit. The only reason I did so is because of the new blogger tool where you can click on the highlighted items and find other bloggers who listed the same things. I'm always looking for new and interesting blogs to read.

My first article was published in the local newspaper today. It was gratifying to see that only the title was changed. However, in the tradition of MSM, the article was posted under a "column" heading that was totally erroneous and misleading. I am taking a chance that the publisher may see this posted (no offence intended) but I was upset about it. I e-mailed her and the editor about my concerns. I think I was reasonably nice in how I expressed my uh, umm, displeasure.

I am reading a book by W.E.B. Griffin called "In Danger's Path; A Novel of the Corps." I am enjoying it immensely. It revolves around the role of the Marine Corps and the OSS during WWII in the Pacific theatre. I'm only about 1/4 of the way into it but it is great so far. I don't recall reading anything by Griffin before but I will certainly read more of his work.

We have been very busy at work which is a good thing. The trouble with busy is that you often don't have time for planning and thinking or for building. Busy is usually a result of responding to someone else's needs. It is reactive, not proactive. Busy happens. But it is often not the most productive time. Productivity is creative. Busy is sometimes just busy.

It looks like my travel schedule is going to become more hectic. This is the season of the year when there are many shows and conferences that I need to attend. It seems like this season is getting longer and longer. It is almost year-round anymore. I get tired of the travel but I enjoy seeing the customers and meeting new prospects. I love trade shows and enjoy working them. It is always interesting to me to find ways to engage potential customers.

School starts next week. My son is enjoying his last few days before the new year begins. I think he is looking forward to it. He is an excellent student -- if he could just get over being a teenager...

Antique Sailor

I want to promote a fellow blogger. Antique Sailor just wrote a book about her (a grandmother) voyages sailing around the oceans of this beautiful planet. She has posted a few excerpts on her blog. Let's all encourage her.

Reading

I like to read. I enjoy many different kinds of books. My "library" includes a lot of biographies, history -- particularly U.S. history -- fiction, science fiction, classics, Christian apologetics and inspirational, business, and numerous unclassifiable books.

At times I will pick one book and stay with it until I have read it entirely. At other times, I may have as many as 6 or 7 books going concurrently. Usually if I have multiple books going at a time, they are of a wide variety. If I am working through one of the heavier tomes, such as William James' Introduction to Psychology, I will have something lighter going as well -- perhaps a Clive Cussler novel.

I was taught at a very early age that if you can read, you can do just about anything. Reading is the key that unlocks knowledge in every field of endeavor. Whether you are learning to cook, operate a computer, repair an engine, or raise livestock, reading can help you to get there.

Some years ago I read a book by Louis L'Amour which was somewhat autobiographical in which he stated that he kept a journal of the books that he read. I began keeping a list (to call it a journal would be to exaggerate) of books that I compete. My list is now several hundred entries long with very few repeats. It is interesting to look back and see the wide variety of books on the list. It is also easy to pick out my favorite authors because their names are frequently repeated. Some of the favorites would be Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, Robert Utley, Tony Hillerman, and Jean LeCarre. All but Robert Utley in that list are fiction writers. However, when you look at the number of books in various categories on my list, fiction accounts for less than one-half of the entries.

I'm happy that my children are readers as well. I believe it is one of the reasons that they have excelled in school. I also believe it is a critical foundation upon which they can build for the future.