They are stronger than I am. They are me.

“Heroic helplessness.” “Incorrigibility.” This is a brilliant paragraph. I’ve recently read about aging, middle age into old age. I’ve read about it in other blogs, and I’ve just finished “State Of Wonder,” by Ann Patchett, a novel which has a lot to say about the human condition and the inescapable consequences of aging. — John

Live & Learn's avatarLive & Learn

woman-portrait-hair

Age is truly a time of heroic helplessness. One is confronted by one’s own incorrigibility. I am always saying to myself, “Look at you, and after a lifetime of trying.” I still have the vices that I have known and struggled with— well it seems like since birth. Many of them are modified , but not much. I can neither order nor command the hubbub of my mind. Or is it my nervous sensibility? This is not the effect of age; age only defines one’s boundaries. Life has changed me greatly, it has improved me greatly, but it has also left me practically the same. I cannot spell, I am over critical, egocentric and vulnerable. I cannot be simple. In my effort to be clear I become complicated. I know my faults so well that I pay them small heed. They are stronger than I am. They are me.

~ Florida…

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Worldwide Blog Readership

It’s fascinating to know that a WordPress blog can be viewed by people all over this wide world. My blog is in fact visited by people from many faraway places. Maybe they should call it WorldPress. I wonder if that URL is available?

Most days, my readers are mostly from the U.S. and Canada, followed by a few in the U.K. and/or Australia. Oddly, most days the blog gets a view or three from the Cayman Islands. Why do you suppose my poor blog is on the radar in the Caymans?

Yesterday and today have not been ordinary days. Fewer than half my visitors have been in the U.S. The most popular post on my blog these past two days has been “Russian Toilets,” and readers are visiting from many different countries, especially in Europe. My only explanation is that the impending Winter Olympics in Sochi are generating a feeding frenzy for anything and everything about Russia and Sochi.

If you’re not a WordPress blogger, you may wonder how I know the location of my readers. On my blog’s stats dashboard, WordPress provides an array of information about the source of readers, including a world map noting the number of visitors from each country. If you’re concerned about privacy, be assured that the map doesn’t identify readers by name, only by country. If you’re interested in totals, then I must honestly say the numbers are modest. Some blogs register traffic in the thousands regularly. My blog rarely breaks into triple digits in a single day, but does hit triple digits every week.

For those with a greater interest in readership gossip, yesterday I had visitors from the U.S. and Canada, plus visitors from nearly every small country in Europe, plus the U.K., Germany and Poland. But none from France or Spain. I can only guess that people in France and Spain prefer to read blogs in their own language, while most others throughout Europe know English and use it when they wish.

Also yesterday, something unusual — seven visits from Trinidad and Tobago! But not one from the Caymans. And oddly, not a single visit from any continent other than North America and Europe.

Today, the interest in Russian Toilets, or whatever, expanded to include five visitors from Ukraine, plus two each from Russia, Australia, and the Caymans. And one visitor from Hong Kong! Still not a single visitor yesterday or today from South America or Africa, though I have had a few from those continents in the past.

Blog readers of the world: Unburden yourselves! Please comment at will. What would you like to read about? I take requests.

— John Hayden

Freshly Pressed AND Mauled By A Polar Bear On The Same Day

Has anything in the blogosphere ever created as much angst and envy as “Freshly Pressed?”

Folks, we’ve got to stop obsessing about Freshly Pressed. Consider the following from WordPress.com News:

WordPress.com bloggers published 39,705,625 posts in January . . . “and we featured 190 of them on Freshly Pressed.”

Think of it. McDonald’s hamburgers, billions sold! Blog posts, millions and millions! Freshly Pressed, 190 in January. Continue reading

Winter Weather Fatigue

Talked to my 85-year-old uncle in Rhode Island on Sunday:

“This is the worst winter I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of winters.”

He didn’t even mention the word “snow.” The snow in New England hasn’t been unusual. He talked about the cold. Continue reading

Selfie Culture vs. Reality

Quote

“Here’s the irony: Selfie culture doesn’t enhance the self but degrades it. When we turn the lens of life on ourselves, we create the illusion that we should focus only on what’s best for us.”

— That quote from Rev. Galen Guengerich, All Souls Unitarian Church, NYC. And this:

“The image of a self-made, self-reliant and self-centered individual is a lie, and a pernicious one at that. We are utterly dependent upon the people and the world around us.”

— Also Rev. Guengerich. Both quotes from an essay in todays Washington Post, page B2.

Just something to think about.  — John

Winter Storms Put A Curse On Tuesdays

Someone has put a curse on Tuesdays.

This week, we had Winter Storm Leon attacking the South on Tuesday. Last week, it was Winter Storm Janus on Tuesday, attacking the MidAtlantic and Northeast. Both storms included extreme cold temps, snow and wind, a concoction of conditions that combine to create weather ranging from miserable to dangerous. Continue reading

“Puppy Love” Super Bowl Commercial Going Viral

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4

I have a feeling Monday’s going to be a busy day at the animal shelters.  — John

Future of San Francisco Bay Area

In the long run, we’ll all be dead. I suppose nothing is sustainable in the long run. Even so, it doesn’t seem right for us to destroy the environment, or allow a handful of people to hoard all wealth.  — John

A Dose Of Dystopia In Atlanta

The scene in Atlanta last night and today is worth talking about.

Thousands of children stranded overnight in schools. Or worse, stranded for hours on schoolbuses!

Thousands of adults (and children too) stranded for hours, or all night, in traffic that’s frozen in place on icy highways. No food, no restrooms. When the car runs out of gas, no heat. Thousands sleeping in any big-box store or impromptu shelter that will open the doors.

It’s chaos. Now, imagine such conditions continue for a few days. A few weeks? I suppose that’s what the early days of Dystopia will look like.

The temperature will rise in Atlanta in a day or two, and the ice will melt. The chaos will be short-lived, not much harm done, hopefully. A  week from now, Atlantans will look back on it as a great adventure. A generation from now, it will be legendary. Grandparents will tell grandchildren about it. The grandchildren will think the old folks are exaggerating.

Atlanta last night and today is a wakeup call, a teachable moment.

Millions of people are always skating on the edge of chaos in our complex, interconnected metropolitan areas. We depend on responsible governments and private organizations to maintain function and order. All it takes is one or two wrong decisions (no need to salt the streets. no need to close the schools), one technical breakdown, one storm, one neglectful agency or public official, and  . . . chaos.

How many weeks of chaos would it take before . . . Dystopia?

John Hayden

Russian Toilets

Now we know why Communism failed. — John

Clarissa's avatarClarissa's Blog

Everybody is shocked by the pictures of shared toilets for the Olympics in Sochi that are making the rounds. Putin’s government has reacted to the international outrage by issuing really funny disclaimers.

However, these toilets are well in keeping with an old Soviet tradition of not using separate stalls in toilets. This is a toilet in one of the Russian cities that is also used by athletes at the local gym:

russian toilets

 

And this is from an opera theater in Vladivostok:

russ toilets

 

People should be grateful that there are actual commodes and not just a hole in the ground, which is what we were using at my high school (and all other schools).

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