I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
May 30, 2013 - 11:00 a.m.
Before I do anything I have to tell you the most important thing that happened on Monday. I was so excited I forgot to write about it. When I got to my therapist she gave me my Perry the Platypus water bottle that I forgot there the week before. I thought I had lost it on the subway and it was gone forever.
Of course when I lost him I said, "Where's Perry?" And when I got him back I said, "Oh there you are Perry." He is so clever when he puts on his hat he becomes Agent P, super spy. I bet Dr. Doofenshmirtz uses my shrink and he sat on her shelf to discover his secrets.
I had been puzzling why everyone doesn't have a Perry the Platypus water bottle. I mean why would anyone buy a bottle without Perry on it when you could buy one with him on it for $5? It made no sense. But when I went to replace it I found out that so many people did buy one that there was none left. I cried every time I took a drink of water from the Perryless bottle.
Yesterday I went to check my mail and while I was there I stopped by my office. I talked to Reggie the admin about the student that missed the final and wants to take the makeup but then missed it. He has to proctor it. I decided to give her till Monday to take it. He told me that he just saw her outside at Columbus Circle when she was supposed to be too sick to take the final. It was nice being there with him when school was closed. He's going to show me how to use the smart boards this summer. That will make my life easier. Of course first it will make it harder as I'll have to prepare slides of everything. I vamp so much that I might not use it that much but it will be great for some things. My usual notes look something like, "Derive the Quadratic Equation." I know how to derive it so I don't actually write it down. The only times I write a lot down is when it is difficult to make the problems work out nicely.
I ate at Steak 'n' Shake but the novelty has worn off. I still have not had a good therapy meal this week. Where can I get a really good sundae? Any suggestions in Brooklyn or Manhattan?
New York City has started a bike share program. I can't believe all the negative things people are saying about it. I don't ride a bike and I love it. But it's drawing so much flak. People who are so proud about being liberal are complaining about the bike stations taking up parking spots. That's a feature not a bug. The whole idea is to decrease traffic, It can take an hour to drive across Manhattan. You can walk it faster. You can ride a bike much faster.
It's $95 for the year but people are saying it's expensive. That's less than monthly metrocard costs. That's cheap.
People complain that it's sponsored by Citi-Bank. You know why people rob banks? Because that's where the money is. They are paying good money to get their names on the bikes. That is why they can get by charging only $95 for a year. Private bike rentals are $12 an hour. You may not like Citi, I am not fond of them but banks are necessary. I'm not sure they are any worse than the rest. And if putting their name on the bikes makes the program financially viable that's a small and only symbolic price to pay. You see the Koch's name plastered all over Lincoln Center and PBS shows. Now the Koch's are evil. But I'm still glad they spend some of their ill-gotten gains on things that help the rest of us. Think of them as modern day Medicis and Borges.
Yes this was all an excuse to show that clip.
And of course to point out a human foible that causes a lot of harm. I'm hearing these complaints not from conservatives but liberals that believe in climate change and the dangers of pollution,. They are the natural constituency for such a green project but instead they look for things to complain about. The perfect is the enemy of the good. This kind of squabbling holds back progress. Why should politicians take on vested interests when people are going to complain instead of rallying behind them. "The bikes say Citi on them!" "The wind turbines are noisy and kill birds!" "You're going to treat the sewage there?"
When my parents bought our house it was in a bucolic setting across the street from a beautiful green golf course. When I was young they closed the course and put up a housing development, a huge ugly high school directly across the street from us, and community college. Did they ever say, "don�t' do it!" No they knew we needed the school, it was the baby boom. In fact the school was not enough. We had to go to school in shifts, We couldn't all fit in the building at once. Things have costs and they aren't just money. Conservatives complain about putting up the money but liberals too often fight over the other costs and fight our own agenda. You have to weigh costs and benefits carefully, not follow your prejudices.
Not too bad, I have an hour and 15 minutes to post this, eat, and shower.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018
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Horvendile May 30, 2013
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