With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good.
Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.
I enjoy paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.
August 15, 2003 - 10:06 a.m.
I guess I have to talk about the blackout. Not much to tell really. I was online when it happened (What a shock!). I put on my walkman and found out that not only was NYC affected but large parts of the Eastern seaboard, including Canada and as far west as Detroit.
The next thing I did was connect phones that would work without electricity. That was good because my sister got worried and called.
For the rest of the day the biggest problems were no AC and no TV. I could listen to the radio but WFUV was off the air. To keep cool I wore my neck buddy and took a few cold showers. For entertainment I read by candlelight and my tent light. I put batteries in my portable CD player from the year one and listened to some of the new CDs I haven’t heard yet. I can’t believe I didn’t know that my favorite song 1952 Vincent Black Lightning was covered on the latest Mammals CD, Evolver.
For dinner I walked to the Pizza place and brought home a pie. That wasn’t bad.
I had planned on going out to see Luther Wright and the Wrongs but of course I didn’t. I hope the We’re About 9/Deirdre Flint show tonight isn’t cancelled.
The two things that bothered me the most were really only indirectly connected to the blackout. The first was when I went to the basement to get candles I couldn’t find the candelabra I made in 7th grade that I always have used when the lights when out. I asked my mother where it is and she said she threw it out. It is the only thing I ever really made with my hands and she just threw it out without asking me. She thought I had no right to be upset. I just pointed out how stupid it was throwing it out as we needed it now.
I also got very lonely. I remember in the last blackout spending my time on the phone. Yesterday I really didn’t have anyone to talk to.
As a veteran of three major blackouts I think I’ll tell what I remember of the first two.
In 1965 I was eight years old and in fourth grade. It was in the fall so AC wasn’t an issue. If I remember right the lights went out in the later afternoon, just like this time. I found it exciting. We got to light candles and sit around the living room listening to the radio. I also didn’t have to do my homework, always a plus. The City handled that blackout very well. People seemed to take it in stride. There was no looting or civil unrest.
The next one hit in 1977. I was taking a summer night course in differential equations. My professor wasn’t the best, we suspected that he might be senile. When the lights went out he kept talking for a bit before he seemed to realize it. Nobody had a radio but by looking out the windows we could see that electricity was out all around us. He reluctantly let us go. I was carpooling with a friend and drove him home. My sister was supposed to be flying somewhere that night and the flight was cancelled. I once again had a fun time listening to the radio and talking on the phone. AC was an issue but I don’t remember sweltering till the next day. That blackout lasted 25 hours and the next day was really hot. When the other side of the expressway got electricity first I walked up to the stores and just walked around in the AC for a while.
1977 was not a good time for the city. It was going through a fiscal crisis and the Son of Sam was in the midst of his murder spree. Where I lived was fine. I was so happy to find that ordinary citizens took it upon themselves to direct traffic at the major intersections. It made my ride home much easier. The rest of the city wasn’t as fortunate. Quite a bit of looting went on.
This time the city reacted like it did in 1965. Things went relatively smoothly. Lots of people enjoyed the stars and the moonlight and talked to neighbors they didn’t know before.
Bush managed to get me angry as he said how much better prepared we are than we were two and half years ago. Did he mean two years ago since 9/11/01? Or did he really mean two and a half years ago when he took office. If so I’d love to hear the details of what changes he put in as soon as he took office. I certainly never heard of them. I do know that changes were made in 1965 to prevent another regional blackout. I want to know why they didn’t work.
One more thought. There was a spike in the birthrate 9 months after the 1965 blackout. I wonder if there will be one nine months from now.
The International Jewish Banking Conspiracy - October 07, 2008
On the Road to Westchester County - October 06, 2008
Inside the Madison Square Studio - October 05, 2008
I'm a Bosniac and I'm debating like I've never debated before - October 03, 2008
Islands in the Stream of Consciousness - October 02, 2008
Email me: GordonLew at gmail
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Horvendile August 15, 2003
