Slice Of Life (Mine)

Hey Bobby. Why make a Facebook post that you won't notice? I'll just text you. I'm really worn out today, of course, because I have to pay for everything I do but the price is small compared to the benefits. I'm still feeling really happy and steady. Being with people makes life so much more endurable. Not to mention I had a really great time with all the discussions we had -- some really interesting stuff came through. Katy is really interesting I like her.

Glad you brought her. Yesterday was specially great because James stopped by and spent time with us.

You said I should let you know if any interesting anime came by here are a few, none of them deep and serious but I do find them fun. They're all on Netflix.

NeoyokioStrange look at a future? alternate? world. In spite of its seemingly silly storyline it is really a social commentary and it can be quite biting here and there. If you like it you'll love it, if you don't, you will find it really weird.

SaikiK. This one's fun but it's also a little odd. It's subtitled and everyone in it talks so fast sometimes I have to rewind in order to read the subtitles. But I enjoy it. What if you had superpowers, hated that fact, just wanted to be a reclusive loner but the world seems to keep conspiring to out you and force you to be involved with people?

Agretsuko. I told you about this one, not fluff but not serious either. I just find it a lot of fun.  Slice of life for a red panda salary slave.

Violet Evergarden.  This one is really good. The storyline gets serious here and there but it's a much more interesting as a view of an alternative world with some deep emotional context.

Children of the Whales. Interesting story with interesting characters. Creates a strange alternate world. Awfully violent. But still I found the story intriguing.

Fate Zero. Very popular and with good reason. No depth, no great meaning, but an interesting storyline. Any exposition would be a real spoiler. However, for what it's worth, extremely popular. But then again so are Dragon Ball Z and  One Piece and  a lot of  other animes I simply cannot stand.

Saw an interesting show on Ayn Rand. I know you remember her. Who could forget the mighty rallying cry of her adoring cult members , "Eine volk!  Eine reich! Ayn Rand!"

I enjoyed this video from C-SPAN:  

https://www.c-span.org/video/?461916-1/mean-girl

And here's a quote from one website that I found very telling:

>She allowed him to run the Nathaniel Branden Institute, a small society dedicated to promoting Objectivism through lectures, therapy sessions, and social activities. The courses, he later wrote, began with the premises that “Ayn Rand is the greatest human being who has ever lived” and “Atlas Shrugged is the greatest human achievement in the history of the world.”  <

How very individualistic. How very non-collective. I mean how very mind controlling and cult of the personality.

I'm really worn out I think I'm going to go back to sleep. I slept really well last night but I'm still tired. I'll probably post this on my blog because it's got some interesting points. I do so little posting these days it won't hurt.  

I'm glad you're my friend and I appreciate your being here for me in this very difficult time.

Idle Thoughts -- Multiple Identities

Another slice off the top of my head.

Can one have both a national and an ethnic identity?  Strange question in my opinion.  From my point of view, this is like asking can a person own a bicycle and a car? They're both modes of transportation, but they are not mutually exclusive.  

Let's make up an imaginary case. Well, partly imaginary. This individual is based on a dear friend who died some years ago. Was he American? You better believe it! I wonder if I need say any more than, he carried a badge. If there's any group that has a strong tendency to be firmly and devotedly patriotic, it's men in uniform, and this is even more true of those who carry a badge.

After all, these individuals are entrusted with the police power of the state.  They are charged with representing the government in a one-to-one contact with a sometimes hostile public. If they don't regard themselves as thoroughly American, it's a surprise. In a very real and practical sense they are the government for most Americans.

Congress and the president are far away. We don't end up in court very often. And we only deal taxman once year, unless we've been naughty or careless.  But unless we are stuck in the house all day, we are very likely to at least see one policeman drive by on a daily basis, which usually causes us to quickly buckle our seatbelt or get off the cell phone. Maybe both.

So there was no doubt that he was a loyal and patriotic American, which did not stop him from being a wild-hearted Irishman.  Irish poetry or Irish whiskey, pretty much Irish anything, was part of his definition of himself. If you wore a kiss me I'm Irish button on St. Patrick's Day, he laughed and said, "Nah, you're not Irish.  But I'll allow it, just for today."

He made it clear that he was very tolerant but that there was no race that could equal the Irish race. If you tried to call him on racial profiling he would only say, "Of course we're a separate race!  Isn't that obvious?"

I don't think I have ever known anyone more American, and I'm absolutely sure I've never known anyone more Irish. Conflict? I never saw any.

Books and people I like

Some of my favorite literature:

Gulliver's travels - Jonathan Swift
Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
Night Watch  - Terry Pratchett
The essays of Steven J Gould 
Walden Henry - David Thoreau
Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
Lear - William Shakespeare 
Maus - Art Spiegelman 
Vanity Fair - Thackery
Tristram Shandy - Lawrence Stern
The Gospel according to Matthew 
Ecclesiastes
The Origin of Species and the Descent of Man - Charles Darwin
The Winds of War and War and Remembrance - Herman Wouk
The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

Some of those I respect:

Juan Carlos of Spain 
Martin Luther King Junior
Benjamin Franklin
Henry David Thoreau
St. Francis of Assisi
Abraham Lincoln
Charles Darwin
Harriet Tubman