This morning I am processing the discussion of last night, an exchange of ideas within our amateur philosophers group about the work of Paul Feyerabend. Feyerabend was Austrian. He taught philosophy at the University of California at Berkley for three decades. He passed in 1994. Attracted by Feyerabend’s anarchistic view of the methods of…
Another day East of Eden. There are times, when for a moment I think this is paradise, or better that it could be. Those are the times when my body and mind registers beauty or meaning. Almost always I am taken by surprise. If I am lucky, I have a pad and pen at…
This statue entitled Self-Made Man by sculptor Bobbie Carlyle is installed in front of Bar Evolution here in Batavia. I have occasion to walk by the statue often. The work prompts the sardonic thought that there is nothing that is self-made in this world. Homo Sapiens, humans are among the most complex and fragile…
I finished the essay by Maxwell Hyett of Western University. The essay is entitled Amateur Mortality. It was forwarded to me by a friend. Hyett treats Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi’s three short meditations on the meanings, the possible outcomes of the covid pandemic, the quarantine, the masking up in public places, the social isolation which…
It is a great feeling to return home. A “get-a-way” is a luxury, and I have memories that I will cherish for quite some time. When visiting the shore of Lake Michigan I am aware that my presence is limited. I fantasize about making time stand still. A fantasy. Time, a feature of the…
A gray day with a fine mist falling. I do not mind the mist. In fact I attempted opening this computer screen outside on the patio table. I did not mind the infrequent mosquito. I peered at this glowing screen, feeling the keyboard surface at my finger tips moistened by the palpable mist. The…
The dreamworld, the visions of the subconscious in the early morning hours are said to come from the id, the primal dimension of the psyche which is concealed from the ego, the conscious self. No matter how blessed, how felicitous circumstances may be, there are always monsters just outside the gates. I had such…
It is difficult to impossible to avoid thinking about money directly, or indirectly. Money, the economy, the future cost of housing, of health care, — the enormity of the sum certainly to be required for the basics of retirement will be “front of mind” for anyone in their middle years. Naturally underemployment, or unemployment…
Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure? Whether you go up the ladder or down it, your position is shaky. When you stand with your two feet on the ground you will always keep your balance. What does…
It is the center hole, the emptiness inside, the inner space…that holds me. These phrases from verse eleven of the Tao Te Ching in my mind serve as an anchor chain this morning. I awakened with a high blood sugar reading, which perhaps is not unusual for anyone diabetic. The condition nevertheless is unacceptable,…
