"Political Correctness"

Apparently the more "politically correct" we talk, the less we say what we actually mean, often not getting to the point at all. I was just working in the unit adjacent to mine, in the next room. The group of mostly women working in there apparently had a discussion on recent movies going pretty strong. Somehow someone mentioned Brokeback Mountain. On hearing the name, one of the women said, "Oh yes, that movie... isn't it about ...uh... about ...umm, well... men?"

So close.

Money, money, money

I have read the book before, but suddenly, unbidden, unconnected with anything, this line hit me today:

"Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five."

-W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage.

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Made me think. Don't you need the other five serving as strong auxiliary tools to the powerhouse, in order to make money in the first place? Or, at least, for one to get hold of the first installment of the "sixth sense", someone else had to use his other five. Right?

So what is cause, and what is effect? Or does it depend on the type of individual you are? On the type of work you do? Or the type of people you interact with?

Somehow this is raising even more questions right now, since I'm in the middle of a real-life situation, trying to understand for myself the nature of the transaction between talent and money, and the wo/men who can exercise their power over one, with their reserve of the other.

Roses in Bloom

Alright, now that all the entities (i.e., Mom and Dad) involved in this little surprise know about the existence of this decorative piece, I thought I'd put it up online too. Enlivens my blog, brings to it some color and style. And, of course, a picture speaks a thousand words. "Old-fashioned" clay art is still around, and I like to remind myself once in a while that I'm as much an artist as I am a scientist, so this was the product of an arduous seven hours of work and a little bit of creativity.


My favorite question to people who have seen this "in the flesh" is: Which is your favorite color? And, more importantly, which is your favorite rose in terms of technical skill? I know what you can see isn't a patch on what I see here in front of me, but you're welcome to leaving your opinion!

Pop! goes the Bubble...

This evening, when I walked out from my bedroom, about to head out to the gym, I found my littlest roommate busy in the kitchen. In her hand was a pair of blunt scissors, and she was cutting a large plastic sheet that, in my hurry to leave, I didn't pay much attention to at the time. When I greeted her she looked up, smiled half-conspiratorially and half-sheepishly, and handed me a piece of the sheet saying, here's yours. I got it home from work today, and I've cut it into pieces so we can all pop.

Intrigued, I finally glanced at the sheet. It was bubble-wrap!

Apparently she's one of the bubblewrap fans too... like I am. Like Piggie is. Like Frisco. People who absolutely cannot have bubblewrap in their surroundings without feeling the uncontrollable urge to pop the bubbles. I don't know how large this fan base really is, but if you take a glance at the people I tend to want to hang out with, a pretty large percentage of us are that way. (But then, the only people I tend to want to hang out with are at least a little bit loony, one way or another.) I remember having half-hour conversations with Frisco about popping bubblewrap... and first passes, and second passes and third, through the sheet. Incidentally, this time I'm using my sheet sparingly, I'm saving a large part of it for the "monsoons" (Isolated "rainy days" don't happen to me anymore.) when I'll need stress-poppers more than right now.

For right now, I know I'm really happy, but I'm not sure if I'm happier because I have a new sheet to pop, or because I've just discovered I have a flatmate as loony as I am!

Re-definitions

Oh My!!! Ananymous sent me this on email today, if you haven't seen it before, read ...and ponder.

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Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.

- Ellen Goodman