Last weekend was the 50th anniversary reunion of GPGC. The last time I saw these friends of mine, we were all about 14 years old. That was in 1967, forty years ago!.
I wasn't sure what to expect: would anybody I knew be there? Would anyone even  remember me? In fact, they welcomed me with open arms.

This was a wonderful encounter. As someone said, "At other reunions it's 'Who's got the Porsche? The big job? Still looks the best? Here, nobody cares about all that." I felt that here, too. I think we all knew the pain of being outsiders. We were the nerds with glasses everywhere else, but in GPGC we were among like-minded kids and adults, and it was a slice of heaven (and it was another slice this past weekend!).

 Saturday was the graduation ceremony for this year's crop of gifties, with performances by the gifties classical orchestra and the chorus. They were stellar, and at the end all the alumni and retired faculty were called onstage to sing one of Dr Middleton's favorites, "The Impossible Dream". Ordinarily I would ignore any music that lacks electric guitars, but this was downright touching!



Some of the Class of 1967, L to R:
Me, Robert, Nancy, Dan, "Junior", Ross, Zart, David, Susan

Found a coffee mug in my late mother-in-law's attic. It belonged to my late brother-in-law and is a "Burma Shave" mug.
What a find! I took it home, ran it through the dish washer, poured myself a cup of coffee....ecchh! Tastes like soap!
So I washed it three more times in the washer. That did the trick. Now it's one of my favorite coffee cups.
Remember the Burma-Shave signs? Humorous rhyming verses on a series of little red signs you could all read aloud together as the car sped along on vacation. They stopped putting those up in 1963. Here's a link where you can get a Burma-Shave rhyme daily in your email.

Here are some pictures of something I grew in my bathroom. If you want to try your hand at this, I suggest a growth medium composted of dead skin cells and Irish Spring soap. Sprinkle with water daily in a dark place and wait...Great on salads! Doesn't do anything if you eat it, though...


(click to enlarge)

Experimental research points to psilocybin, the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms", as a promoter of spiritual experiences.

My own research decades ago found the same result, and the same warnings...

The charts are telling, but even more so are the descriptive comments. Here is the link.

...where I was blogging for a while as "Church of Some Other Way" until technical problems kept me from accessing my own page. You can visit it, but I can't add anything to it anymore. Now I'm blogging as "Jahweh" there, trying to stay in character...

People frequently call me "Ma'am" on the phone, so often I don't even blink anymore. It's not even uncommon for them to say it while conversing in the same room. My voice must sound female outside my head. I do know that my verbal inflections are like my Mom's.

There's more to it than this. Men open doors for me, sometimes looking a bit startled or mildly puzzled as I walk through. This despite me having thinned hair on top and a mustache! Maybe my walk and my "energy" are feminine. I do not know. Heaven knows what they think when they see my sunflower tattoo in the men's locker room at the gym. Hoo-hah!

Anyway, my sexual experience is definitely male, as is my love of cars, gadgets, and metal music. Yet in some ways I'm more comfortable with the company of women than men. I have decided that I am androgynous.

From Merriam-Webster:
 an·drog·y·nous 

Pronunciation:

\an-ˈdrä-jə-nəs\

Function:

adjective

Etymology:

Latin androgynus hermaphrodite, from Greek androgynos, from andr- + gynē woman

Have you heard about the community of African Jews who are apparently one of the lost tribes of Israel? I understand there is Jewish DNA among them, and that their practices, held in their isolation over thousands of years, are still obviously Hebrew.

Well here's an unrelated (except by faith) community of Black Jews in Chicago.

I have feelings about this that are not comfortable, a little like having bees living in your head (but there they are).   I hope they run the Chinese out.
I realize that probably won't happen. There was never any reality to the Chinese rationale for invading Tibet and stealing the country from its' rightful tenants.

Now that I think about it, I'm angry that the Chinese have tormented these gentle people into striking back. Now they have begun to lose not just their home, but also their identity as a peaceful people. More so than Zen Buddhists, Tibetan Buddhists have extensive bodies of teachings about harmlessness, and equanimity in adversity. Had this been Japan instead of Tibet, I suspect the backlash would not have taken decades. I picture monks in black with katanas, mindfully carving-up Chinese soldiers, in respectful awareness that these enemies are human beings.

Here's the Dalai Lama's response:

"Hellooo...We're glad you made it! Welcome to....the Future!!"   -Artie Choke and the Whispering Squash.

I used to wonder and make guesses about the future, what it would be like in the year 2000. That was in the 1960s, and the three-plus decades ahead made "the Future" seem like a mysterious and far-off land. What would the cars be like? Would we all be driving sleek levitating vehicles with atomic engines? There wouild surely be abundant energy and wealth for all in the advanced civilization ahead.

Now I know the answer to these and other similar questions, and the answer is: "No."

...is like getting a gynecological exam: it's all speculative.

This ACLU article appears to say the system is not yet fully up and running, but that it will when completed, allow the government to monitor normal daily activities of anyone in the country. Already the banks use software to analyze your every transaction for unusual activity, which is how Eliot Spitzer's use of a call girl service was found out. You may say you have nothing to hide, but that's not my point.

The point is, this system will enable the president and his ruling cadre to monitor you for purposes of learning about your personal political views and activities, and to bring retribution if those do not meet his or her approval.

That is against the constitution, and Congress has forbidden the building of this kind of system. NSA is putting it together anyway...

Here's an item from PBS about the same topic.

Bobby Jindal and then-governor Foster acted to prevent Louisiana from getting a share of the settlement from the tobacco companies, which was to have reimbursed money already spent by the state for treating people suffering from smoking-related illnesses. This is not the way a state officer of healthcare policy should act.

I love this lady's answer to yet another insult from a total stranger. I can't tell you how many times people wounded my late wife to the core with their comments, whether "helpful" or overtly abusive...

A useful phrase for many situations is "Didn' useta" as in: "Jean-Luc didn' useta pee anywhere but his litterbox." Some of his creative venues have been: on the bathroom scales ...on the magazine I put down halfway through an article (now it's kinda tedious reading, having to peel the pages apart).
...on the dirty clothes I left in the corner.
Where have your pets gotten creative? I'll bet they didn' useta do that. We never go barefoot here.

Also: "Garden Clubber". What does that phrase mean to you? I picture something violent...

...and this little gem of a phrase, which is perfect at the bottom of a membership application to the Deaf Romance Club: "Please Sign and Date".

I like some things about Cajun culture, but I hate accordion music.

Remember the Beverly Hillbillies talking about eating "crawdads"? Like it was something they liked to eat? Well, here in South Louisiana we don't have those, and we don't have any crayfish either. Talk about those things here, and all you'll get is a smirk or a stare. We eat crawfish here, by the steaming shoeboxfull!
A typical family gathering will have all the adults (both genders) drinking beer, stripping tails, and sucking heads...

Here's a video interview with Bill Aiken, vice secretary general of Sokka Gakkai of America, a strand of Nichiren Buddhist lineage to which Tina Turner belongs.

Eliot Spitzer, New York attorney general, writes the details. Don't expect to see a rebuttal...