My childhood goals for my life.

Todays topic forces me to enter the wayback machine and transport myself to Pueblo, Colorado in the mid-to-late 1950s. Back when Tommy Samberson, Kenny Lockard and Dave Perkins were my best buddies.

Tommy & Kenny were neighborhood pals - Dave was a schoolyard pal but we were forever linked in the minds of parents and teachers by his older brother and my namesake uncle Chuck.  I never got all of the details but my uncle did admit that their shenanigans (good word for those times) left Dave's brother deceased and Chuck headed to the Marines as the better of 2 judicial options offered.  The goal therefore became to keep Dave and I apart lest we emulate the example previously given.  Now you know what happened - Dave and I did everything we could to be pals and "hang out" together.  We competed in everything - even having 4th grade crushes on one Susan Taylor - but Dave had an advantage as he lived closer and I was impossibly shy. Dave and I were closely matched in schoolwork - about 50/50 as to who got done first/got the best grade, etc.  We were dead even re Susan too - she moved to California and broke both our hearts but more on her later.  I often wonder what happened to Dave - I know he became a star quarterback in HS but that's about all I know.  Kenny is a small businessman in Spirit Lake, Iowa and Tommy was killed in a car accident.  Goals? To beat each other and be good at whatever we did.  Simple stuff - we were after all just kids. Cards in the bike spokes, football and baseball junkies all. I moved to California in 1959. Goal accomplished.

Slip the wayback ahead to the 1960's and high school. More serious times as I grew older.  I hooked up with a group of guys on my first visit to Southgate School when my mom was registering me. I stood up to the neighborhood bully - Jimmy Kirk (he smacked me a good shot and I just smiled at him - he then left with his chest puffed out like a real badass while I just laughed) - but I became pals with a couple of guys I am still close to - Dave & Brian. In that 5th grade class I met another Dave. In 6th grade 3 of us were transfered to a different school where we met Rick. We're all friends to this day and of the group one of us never obtained the career focus of the other 4 - never set serious goals like the other 4.  Dave H is a successful architect, Dave W flies for US Air/ American, Brian is a successful dentist, Rick is retired from the Forest Service and a fairly well renowned kumuhulu (he has his own Polynesian dance troupe). And then there's me.  You guessed it.  No-goal chuck never got passionate about anything.  Things came way too easy - no real challenges (beyond getting the nerve to talk to girls - if you are a fan of the Big Bang Theory think Raj - the Indian character) as I thought having the friends I had made me a successful guy.  Oh - I was still painfully shy.  Turns out Susan Taylor was pals with a girl that transferred into our HS late in her junior year - a factoid discovered in a hangout session at our group pal Anne's house.  Charyn - the transfer student - checked with Susan and told me Susan fairly well described me so thats kinda scary - the same at 16 as at 9? LOL Goals? I really wanted to play baseball - unfortunately I was built like a lineman so I kept playing football with the goal of playing in JC and getting a scholarship to a 4-year school. I discovered in those 2 years of JC ball that I was not passionate about football - I was good enough to play on but lacked the requisite passion to make the commitment to move up the ladder to a division I school.  Goal change time. The new goal became simply to graduate from college. Mission accomplished after I discovered I was passionate about Political Science and got my BA in International Relations.  Also got married so goals changed. 

Dreams? Truth is I always only wanted to love and be loved.  Have real friends that matter. I'm a simple guy. I'd have to say those were fulfilled -

Since this topic specified childhood goals the wayback stops here. Sure there's more to tell  Maybe another day. Just not this one.

Now how did the rest iof the gang do?  Check them out - Delirious, The Old Fossil, Grannymar, Padmum,
Ramana, Maria - the Silver Fox, Maxi, Gaelikka, Paul

Getting things wrong in a foreign language.....

Paul offers our weekly topic - getting things wrong in a foreign language  - 

I confess that - somewhat to my chagrin - I have not traveled anywhere that doesn't claim English as its primary language nor a destination that does not rely on American tourists' dollars for survival so the odds of my making a linguistic blunder are somewhat limited. Besides, I butcher English enough as it is.

My Spanish is sufficient  - mas cerveza por favor - y dos tacos
ditto my German - zwei Bieren bitte - once in a  galaxy far far away I was actually fluent in German and I can still tell you to perform a physically impossible feat to yourself.

So - lets take me out of the equation and speak in general terms.  Lets talk about translating the written word.  Translate a book from it's native language into another. How about translating a book written in Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek then another language.  Any new language. What are the chances something gets lost in the translation? Perhaps only a butterfly's flapping of its wings size loss but we've all heard what that can do. Languages are not static - they are incredibly nuanced.  Hoch Deutsch - as my teacher Fraulein Hartmann used to say - is very different from colloquial German. Hence translations vary. Translations bear the "bias" of the translator - and I do not mean that in a negative way at all nor am I tring to start a battle of words over the translation of the Bible - just citing it as an example of what happens when a document is translated. And who can deny the importance of the Bible as a document - whether you believe it literally, take it as a series of metaphors or somewhere in between those two.

The movie Das Boat is a great example of getting things wrong - at least if you've seen the English dubbed version. Nothing seems quite right, everything just feels odd.  But - watch it in German with subtitles and the film comes alive.  The fear of being in a metal tube underwater is palpable. Just thinking about being in a submarine during WWII frankly creeps me out thanks to Das Boat.  The translators simply did not get it right when coming up with the English version of the script.

Ever see some subtitles in a film/TV show that seem a bit off?  Same thing -  I like mysteries and there's an excellent Danish TV series - Ørnen: En krimi-odyssé (The Eagle: A Crime Odyssey) (2004) that I watched via Netflix.  They kept the native language but boy do some of the subtitles make me scratch my head - LOL.  English with a Danish mindset.  The mind boggles. And do Danes really need to see a psychiatrist that often?

Then there're regional dialects - I'm not sure how big a country has to be but I watch enough British TV to know that England has many.  Ditto here - as I discovered on a cross country drive when I wanted to pay for gas with my Diners Club card (and boy does that date me).  I asked the attendant in the West Virginia gas station if they accepted Diners Club and I got a muffled we take Donners Club. The blank stare I gave him in response was enough to irritate him sufficiently that he loudly repeated himself several times before he pointed to the door to the establishment.  The door had a series of those little decals of the cards accepted.  Yep - there it was - the Diners - ne Donners - club card was indeed accepted. Whew.  I settled the bill and quickly headed once again for civilization - aka the interstate. I'm sure the attendant was as unfairly judgmental as i was in thinking what an idiot the other was. 

So now the question is "What does it really mean?" "What did he/she really mean?"  

That's my take on getting things wrong in a foreign language.  Time to see how the other LBC folk interpreted Paul's topic.  Check out Delirious, Maxi, Maria/Gaelikaa, Maria SilverFox, Padmum, Ramana, The Old Fossil &  Will Knott.

Turn

Todays's LBC topic is Turn, brought to us courtesy of Will Knott.

It's by now no secret music is a big turn on for me so this Pete Seeger classic I think is a somewhat obvious choice.

But lets stray from the obvious a bit. Turn ons?  Honesty, good single-malt whiskey, a good song, a good book, conversation with friends, a pretty girl/woman, a good argument/debate on almost anything - the list is long. 

Turn offs?  Lies, helplessness, political correctness, unwarranted arrogance, lonliness.

Life is a series of turns. Nobody I know travels a straight road - they are all long and windy,  each twist and turn offering new experiences and new opportunities.  What we make of these opportunities on the journey becomes the fabric our life. Make a wrong turn, for whatever reason and there are consequences to pay.  Perhaps insignificant, perhaps life changing. Ditto for every right turn.  The trick is to keep moving forward regardless.  Take the next step.  Stuff happens as they say.  Things may not always turn out the way you want but that'd be boring and who wants a boring life. For all its problems, the world is full of adventure. Turn your self into an explorer, not a spectator.

What do others have to say on this subject?  Check out Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Padmum, Paul, Ramana, The Old Fossil and Will. Their links are over there on the right.

LBC Topic Touch

This week's topic is simply  Touch. It comes to us via Grannymar.

Touch is an amazing sense that takes many shapes and forms. Who doesn't love the touch of a baby or the tingling touch of a lover.  Touch lends itself to to the arts quite well I think - as the following examples show. 

Touch me,

it doesn't matter where

and it doesnt matter how

I need to know I'm still alive

so someone touch me now

Shake my hand and say hello
or pat me on the back

kiss me on the cheek

that I may feel this sense I lack

slap my face and pull my hair

make me bleed I just don't care

dig your nails into my skin

so I can feed this need within

I've been numb for such a time

that even pain would be sublime

so touch me, touch me now

I don't care where, I don't care how

By A. Thomas Hawkins

And finally this

  To see what the other LBC folk think, please check out Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Padmum, Paul, Ramana, The Old Fossil and Will

Happy Valentines Day

Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of Valentines Day - I'm a reactor.  If a significant other at that time of year was a fan I became one.  Of course the kids loved it for the chocolate - as did most significant others (and there were damned few of those - LOL) so anyway here's a short musical tribute to a made up holiday that can be as much fun as you let it be.....

For the one

For the one lost

And the one-night stand

Not chocolate but at our advanced age this is better for us - hope it made you smile.  

Nature vs nurture

Nature vs nurture. Why are we who we are? The sum of all of our parts and experiences? How much is predetermined at birth? What can we change or develop on our own? That's the question for today - admittedly more than can be completely discusseeed in a page or 2 when advanced degree dissertations are completed daily on this very same subject.   How will this gang of bloggers from a myriad of backgrounds respond?  Only one way to find out - read.

Nature: What role does our heredity play in or selves? What besides the obvious - hair color, hair presence at all, eye color, height, weight and the like are predetermined or at least enjoy preprogrammed tendencies? How about IQ? So-called free will? Is the family dynamic part of nature or nurture? How about homosexuality? Are rapists, serial killers and other criminal types the product of their genetic makeup or their environment? Both? To what degree does either component contribute? What happens when a child is uprooted at an early age and travels across several states to a new home. What if a basic identifier like name changes, Nothing nefarious intended - say a remarriage and the fact that the first group of kids he/she meets  call the child something different than he/she is used to.  What if Butchie/Charles becomes Chuck. Does it matter? What about free will? Is anything ever really free?

Nurture:  Life. What happens.  Peer pressure. The environment.  Where you live. What church you attend. Basic morality.

Cliff's notes time.  Gotta love those Cliff's note.

It seems clear to me that some behavior is predetermined by heredity.  Lynn's HD for example and her actions and ppersonality are closely linked.I - on the other hand am more a product of my environment. My friends had a great influence on me.  But was my selection of friends predetermined by my genetic makeup? Or rather was it something as basic as they were the first group of kids I met on the playground while my mom was inside enrolling  me in 5th grade? (it was in fact the latter).

Obviously religion plays a huge role in all of this. Western religion seems to say that we the people are incapable of leading a moral life without embracing the teachings of JC Superstar (no disrespect intended) - the most interesting, influential man to stroll on the third rock from the sun, and then there's Mohammed, Vishnu. Shiva, Zeus, Bagwan Shre Rajneesh, Thor, Ayn Rand, pick another - there are plenty about. Most western theologies tend to say the only path to everlasting life is their way.   I cannot legitimately speak to my eastern examples as I simply haven't the knowledge (and all you who say that never stopped me from opining before just hush!) It seems to me that even so-called atheists don't actually enjoy free will when they debunk religion. At least in this country they are products of a culture and society with roots in Judaism.  Clearly there are influences.

There's no such thing as a free lunch - as the old saw goes.  Ditto free will. Our free will is rooted in our genetic makeup and our life's experience. The choice we have is heavily influenced by our hereditary makeup and its interaction with our environment and life's experiences.  Wealth, education and social privilege  are not part of our genetic makeup but being born to wealthy parents is. A high IQ is not guaranteed at birth but it can be influenced  by wealth, education and social privilege. What one does with that IQ is up to the individual.  A relatively high IQ guarantees nothing perhaps but the ability to understand things.  For the record mine tests in the low 140s.  Clearly I am just a regular guy that possesses the ability to score well on goofy tests.  There are enough holes in my intellect to drive me through. 

I've rambled enough.  Nothing's been resolved but I will go on record as saying I believe homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice.  Until such time as the gay gene is ientified I'll stick with the notion that NOBODY in their RIGHT mind would choose a lifestyle so frought with challenges.  There simply aren't that many Don/Dame Quixotes out there.  Serial killers, rapists amd the like may not be born per se but I believe their tendencies are and here's hoping for some great life decisions that prevent the dominance of those tendencies. 

What do my cohorts (or consorts as Maxi says) have to say?  Dunno - you's better check  Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Padmum, Paul, Ramana, The Old Fossil and Will and see for yourself. 

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Glass half full - LBC topic

Ah yes - if it's Friday it must be LBC time. This week's topic comes from Padmum - our resident Dame Quixote.

The rhetorical question implied - it seems to me -  is am I an optimist or a pessimist.  In the best tradition of Bill Clinton I suppose that depends upon your definition of optimism and the situation at hand. I see myself as a rather practical realist.  Ultimately I am what is often termed rather negatively by the uber-religious as a secular humanist. Simply put, I do not believe some old guy in robes in some mythiocal heaven is pushing all of the buttons that make up my life. I act and react to circumstances and the decisions made  - good, bad or indifferent - are mine alone. I play the cards I am dealt and like most, I win a few and I lose a few hands.

What does this have to do with our topic?  Everything. On occasion my glass appears half full, on occasion it is half empty. Most often as long as there is still some single malt left in the bottle the condition of the glass is irrelevant as I can replenish it as I like. Likewise with the emptying of said glass.

I tend to tackle problems head on. In some ways I believe things usually work out if you give enough effort, but I recognize life throws unhittable fastballs ala Nolan Ryan on ocasion and you are going to strike out.  But to continue the baseball analogy - the game is 9 innings long, sometimes longer. We typically have more than one chance at most things. Hopefully reason prevails. Does that make me an optimist? Or maybe an opportunist? Or simply a realist.

As you know my wife of 41 years has HD.  I defy anyone who as any real knowledge of HD to put a positive spin on that one.  HD destroys people, lives and families. I know the ultimate outcome for her and there are many family ramifications yet to be dealt with.  So am I a pessimist? Or simply a realist taking things one day at a time.

There are optimists in this world that are like the Energizer Bunny on steroids.  My hat's off to them.  They do no harm I can ascertain and do help others.  To them I offer the ultimate optimist's anthem as sung by an 80+ year old member of the tribe:

  While it is the antithesis of pessimism (it seems to me) to have boundless energy , there is much to be said for a purely analytical approach to things. And the old saw - a pessimist can be pleasantly surprised but never disappointed does have a grain of truth to it. For- the pseeimist I offer this:

For me - I can only say this:

As to the question Glass half full - or am I an optimist or a pessimsit? I'll leave that to you to decide. It won't bother me one way or the other.  I am what I am.

What do the other LBCers have to say???  I'm curious myself so I will be going here: Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Padmum, Paul, Ramana, The Old Fossil and Will