Thursday, January 23, 2014

Open Thread

What's on your mind today?  Anything bothering you?  Post it in the comments section.

Isn't it time this blog did the obligatory debate about how sucky one tradition or another is?  Or let's mock the idea of manliness and teaching boys to be boys.  Or perhaps glow over some drivel written by an obscure east-coast columnist in a magazine no one has ever heard of?

We're falling behind the times here and frankly, this situation embarrasses Lem when he goes to those top-secret blog masters private gatherings in Davos.  The other blog owners point their fingers at him and say "Ha ha ha!  You have no post-deconstructionalism on your blog, you behind-the-times person."  And then they hide his appetizers.  You can only imagine how dejected Lem must feel.  It bothers him all the way back home, aboard the Lem's Levity Gulfstream G4 jet.

Lem has a jet?

Of course he does.  And proud of him we are, because Lem started out as a Little Lebowski Achiever.

121 comments:

bagoh20 said...

"The coat is amazing! Is the bottom in a more see through material, while the top is a regular coat wool? Brilliant. And that blue just makes the whole outfit mysterious. She looks like a spirit. If you looked twice she would vanish into the mist...."

bagoh20 said...

Dat bitch brings out the spooge stooge in me.

AllenS said...

Other than it being -16º when I awoke this morning, and that it's presently -17º, nothing is bothering me. Tomorrow there is a promise of +32º. Need to get everything done outside tomorrow, because we head back into the deep freeze after that for at least another week. I never seen weather this cold for this long.

Unknown said...

My tax accountant sent me an invitation:

2013 & 2014 Tax law Changes for You and Your Business

- New 3.8% Medicare Tax

- Changes to Capital Gains Tax Rates

- New Asset Capitalization Regulations

- State and Local Tax Update

- Decreased Deductions for Business Equipment

- Renewal and Phase-outs of Individual Deductions and credits

Sounds fun

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Funny you should say that, I was just reading this article about a movie I liked, until I saw how long it was.

Looking for something to lift was taking too long and of course, I have to leave soon.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

That is cold AllenS.

Michael Haz said...

Same here, Allen. The propane tank at the cabin is 40% full, and I am worried about getting a refill. Coldest winter in quite a few years.

bagoh20 said...

I have a pet peeve. I'm sick of people having to work for a living. We could all be having a great time cruising around the world right now. Viewing antiquities in the Mediterranean, stopping to have an afternoon of cocktails on the beach followed by a night of fire walking and drunken sex on some South Pacific isle. We could hike the Sierras, and catch a killer blues band somewhere in Arizona, check out the Anasazi ruins in New Mexico, and ride horseback in Argentina, hang glide in Chile, and go fishing the Amazon.

I have worked hard and taken huge risks to make it so that I don't really have to go to work anymore on a daily basis, yet I still do because everyone I would be out having fun with has a damned job! Nobody told me about this problem before I started the ground work. Anybody got Paris Hilton's number?

AllenS said...

Just checked my tank and I'm between 35 and 40% full. Had it filled 12/09/13. IIRC filled means 80%. 337.3 gallons @ $1.4790 = $498.87. 7/13/13 I locked in on the price and prepaid $1,183.20, so I've got a ways to go. Yes, read the St. Paul MN paper and there is talk about a shortage of propane around these parts. I've been running the corn burner a lot this year to help out the furnace.

bagoh20 said...

Palladian! That's the ticket!

Naaa, that bitch has standards, and would make fun of my backward hillbilly rubeness, but the dude knows food and drink, so that would be very helpful on the good ship Hedonia.

The Dude said...

Someone makes a moped called "Gulfstream G4"? That is brilliant marketing.

bagoh20 said...

Look Eskimos, Jump in car and ride southwest. It's hot out here. You could sleep outdoors naked right now.

deborah said...

Someone here called that kind of hot, dry summer in CA earthquake weather. Is there any truth to that?

bagoh20 said...

Scientifically no, but psychologically? Absolutely. And it will happen any day now. We also have an earthquake any time my mother visits. The first three times she visited me here we had substantial quakes.

I like earthquakes. They're cool to experience, and they rarely hurt anybody. One time I was standing in my bedroom getting undressed and just as my pants slid down and hit the floor, boom! - a rocking quake of about 5 second went through. Unfortunately, I was alone because that would have been awesome special effects under the right circumstances.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Every December I make a promise to myself to start pruning the trees in February and every January I'm reminded of why I've never kept that promise.

The Dude said...

Vote for Sam Andreas - it's not his fault!

Unknown said...

Synchronize our watches. We're all meeting at Bagoh's for the big world tour. Cruise leaves Long Beach at noon tomorrow.
Drunken sex on the beach with Paris Hilton--- optional.

The Dude said...

I've been in the Tokyo Hilton, but I will leave my cousin Paris to others.

There was a family of Bulgarian immigrants where I used to live. Their last name is Atanasof. Weather like we are having now makes me think that one of them should have been named Frozemy.

deborah said...

A lost opportunity, Bags :(

Sixty, that's offal.

chickelit said...

Deborah's question is akin to asking whether dehydration of the lithosphere can lead to fractures. Certainly the stress is already there, but I don't that water "holds" anything together. The phenomenon is known at microscopic level -- namely stress fractures in crystals caused by dehydration. I suggest we consult a geologist.

"I'm a chemist, not an earth doctor, Jim"

deborah said...

Bat, probably my fave gardening chore is pruning, but I never get around to it in the winter.

deborah said...

lol chick, my logic to support its unlikely truth is heat expanding the lithosphere, ever so slightly.

Michael Haz said...

I cannot believe that no one here is verklempt that The Captain and Tennile are divorcing after thirty-nine years of muskrat love.

Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam, splitting the assets and going on the lam.

Tragic.

deborah said...

That is the surface of the lithosphere.

And they whirled and they twirled and they wrangled...

sakredkow said...

He left her for the Beach Boys once before. It didn't take.

I love that Love Will Keep Us Together song.

The Dude said...

Did someone say Eskimos?

chickelit said...

deborah said...
lol chick, my logic to support its unlikely truth is heat expanding the lithosphere, ever so slightly.

Well, since California leads the way in burning fossil fuel, a heat-induced earthquake would be Gaea's justice, n'est-ce pas?

That's how they'd spin it anyways.

Icepick said...

Dude! I hadn't heard they're divorcing! That's terrible news! I mean, if they can't make it, who can?

Unknown said...

Did someone say Muskrat Love?

Don't click on the link. It's worse that a rickroll.

Icepick said...

Well, since California leads the way in burning fossil fuel, a heat-induced earthquake would be Gaea's justice, n'est-ce pas?

Personally I'm going with an earthquake being Mother Nature's way of saying, "Plate tectonics, bitchez!"

Yeah, in my mind Mother Nature talks just like Jesse from Braking Bad. Weirdly, this predates Breaking Bad.

chickelit said...

I cannot believe that no one here is verklempt that The Captain and Tennile are divorcing after thirty-nine years of muskrat love.

Is she looking for a younger pianist?

Is his organ worn out?

chickelit said...

OK, you all know that I hate to self-link but this talk of earthquakes got me to remember the first written account of Europeans exploring the Los Angeles basin. Earthquakes were a daily occurrence. Maybe they still are, but we can't feel them because of background noise.

deborah said...

Okay, that's enough, roll 'em back up.

Chick, never. The cognitive dissonance would be impossible to overcome.

The Dude said...

Chick - Pandora just played a piece by Bach entitled "Herz und mund und tat und leben".

Google translate provides a utilitarian definition, but what is the artful rendition of those words?

Or did Pandora simply hose up the title of that piece?

Valentine Smith said...

Not only is Jerry Springer not in jail, he's still got the same TV show. Shit man, that's just not right not right at all.

chickelit said...

@Sixty: Look no further than here: here

I suppose that "heart" symbolizes love; "mouth" means words -- spoken and written; "deeds" means actions; and "life" encompasses them all.

The Dude said...

Google translated "tat" as "did". Made no sense. Deeds works better.

Just lieben leben over here in the ever lieben tundra.

Hey Chickles, did you ever see the Hitchcock movie "Lifeboat"? Rettungsboot I guess?

Lots of German dialog in that one. Fascinating, if flawed, movie.

Revenant said...

Hot and dry weather is not correlated with earthquakes, except inasmuch as California gets plenty of both. :)

I think the whole "earthquake weather" thing just started out as a joke because the other two major natural disasters we get (fires and mudslides) ARE associated with weather.

chickelit said...

Google translated "tat" as "did".

According to my (unlinkable) "OED of English Etymology"

deed did that which is done OE.; legal instrument in writing XIV OE (Anglian)...

...It goes on to link the word to the German Tat

The Dude said...

Wait - is that link to German tats? Is this one of those NSFW things?

chickelit said...

@Sixty: "To do" & "done" are cognate with tun and getan in Greman. In English, "to do" and "to make" are sometimes interchanged and so it is with all Germanic languages. I'll never forget the time I heard a Swiss German say Feishter oofdoa! which in High German would be Fenster aufmache! (Open the window!)

Revenant said...

Not only is Jerry Springer not in jail, he's still got the same TV show. Shit man, that's just not right not right at all.

I dunno, he's been sentenced to a lifetime of being Jerry Springer on TV. That's harsh enough punishment.

The Dude said...

Open make the window? Uff da!

The key line in Lifeboat was spoken by Tallulah Bankhead - she says to the German on the boat "Herr Kapitain". Poor Willy is caught out.

deborah said...

An inside joke, I can see that, Rev :)

chickelit said...

@Sixty: I'll have to watch that movie.

Feishter, Fenster

I'm glad we didn't inherit those ugly words -- except in the pretentious "fenestration." Window has a wonderful embedded metaphor.

The Dude said...

Defenestration has to do with venetian blinds, if I am not mistaken.

I'll ask my doges.

chickelit said...

Sixty is channelling "venereality"

The Dude said...

It's a gift that keeps on giving, but it's nothing to clap about.

deborah said...

The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke.

chickelit said...

deborah said...
The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke.

I hope that story is more enlightening than the title is opaque.

deborah said...

We need a Venn diagram to find the sweet spot of Sixty's brain. For one, the set will include bad puns :)

chickelit said...

We need a Venn diagram to find the sweet spot of Sixty's brain.

Just get Sixty to talk about music...that he likes.

Michael Haz said...

I am in a car with someone who is narrating the trip by pointing out everything.

"Oh! Walgreens!" "Say, that's a McDonalds" "Kaaay Efff Ceee!"

I picked the wrong day to leave my gun at home.

chickelit said...

There is a huge "classical" music element missing here at Lem's. I'd be all ears.

deborah said...

Yes, it is. Clarke had a recurring character in his Tales of the White Hart (a London pub). Harry Purvis would come in and make claims that sounded ridiculous, and in the end, you could not pin him down, as the claim was based in word play, or it was not possible to disprove.

For example (memory fuzzy) he said that someone was killed by a death ray. The twist was that a husband had focused a strong light at his wife's car as she ascended a tortuous mountain road, and she ran off the cliff and died. Only it wasn't her, it was her lover, who had been coming up to talk to the scientist about taking away his wife. The scientist was so upset he'd killed the wrong person, he killed himself.

chickelit said...

For one, the set will include bad puns :)

The best punning I've ever seen was at the professional level -- on Twitter -- a couple years ago. It was me, Haz, Pete, others, and the incomparable Ruth Anne. The tweets were played out fast like euchre hands, each one trumping the previous.

Am I right Darcy?

The Dude said...

Well, by most metrics that title doesn't seem opaque.

bagoh20 said...

Chickie, I love that post at your blog. I really enjoy reading about the early exploration of places I know, and I know those places well. Thanks for that.

chickelit said...

Thanks, bago. Get the book. Mine is bilingual with the original Spanish and translation on facing pages. It starts in San Diego and goes all the way up to San Francisco (which they "discovered) and back again. You can learn a little 18th century Spanish that way. I think I linked other excerpts with a "Portola" link at that post.

deborah said...

Funny how some took to Twitter. I've never made an account.

deborah said...

Oh, shoot, I meant to say that was very interesting. Made me wonder what they'd think if they could see LA today.

Sixty, but when I was a teen, it was a new word to me.

Amartel said...

Post-Deconstructionalism is so 2013, so jejune. I cannot even be bothered to spell it correctly.

Lem has a jet?
Does it look like this?

Or does it look like this?

Let's discuss post-Deconstructionalismticwhatever

rcocean said...

Liked The Captain - not so fond of Tennile

Amartel said...

Aw, boo. I read that Tenille is divorcing the Captain for financial reasons. Love will keep them together.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Well, I'm a volunteer librarian at our local non profit library today. No connection or funding from government. We are too unimportant for them to waste tax dollars on the rubes out in the country. Our library is very very nice.

Speaking of earthquakes I'm reading, during the lulls in patrons about the geology of Northern California and the tectonic forces that made us what we are today. Very interesting.

In comes a couple of mentally challenged adults....very nice people who want to know if we have a program to help them learn to read. I don't know. I HOPE we do. They are reading at about a first grade level, so I take them back to the children's section and help them pick out some books at their level. I feel very sad that they want help and we may not have it for them. They are such up beat positive people who are happy to just be able to walk around in this beautiful and freakish weather that we are having. They can't drive and both need canes to walk. It makes me feel very fortunate in my life and sad at the same time.

I like working at the library. I get to see people I know. Meet new people, talk about books and help those who don't have computer skills get on the net.

Leland said...

Since open thread...

Does anyone know why CNN thinks this is news, when we already knew for 2 months this? Not just LIV, but LInews too?

rcommal said...

Chickelit, Ruthie got me with "tungsten cheek" almost a decade ago now. Incomparable, indeed! I still laugh when I think if some of the punning tears on which she's embarked.

deborah said...

Good question, Leland.

Trooper York said...

Dust Bunny Queen for all you tough girl exterior you are a good person.

Your compassion shines through.

Nothing is more rewarding than helping mentally challenged people learn. The joy they evidence when they "get it" will put a smile on your face for days.

deborah said...

DBQ is a doll. But we all know that.

The Dude said...

I was trying to link the name "Inch" with the metric system, but failed spectacularly.

I liked Mission Santa Clara.

No reason, just because.

I would like some jejune weather about now - jejanuary is killin' me.

Did walk the dogs about 3 miles today, so my previous statement about being killed was hyperbole.

Parabola I should think about other things...

Paddy O said...

I've thought of earthquake weather when it's hot and overcast. I don't know why. We did have a small earthquake hereabouts on the 15th. Well, in the Inland Empire at least which isn't here but isn't far from here. I felt it but I was already, for some reason awake in the middle of the night.

I got up for work the next day to see the mountainside on fire. Drove to work, and the flames were quite visible from the parking lot. Still smells like smoke. A number of friends and coworkers were evacuated.

Record high temps, and the odd record is the "longest streak of over 80 degree days" broken each day in Burbank.

Paddy O said...

I also like earthquakes. A big one is like the whole world suddenly turned into a rolling coaster underneath you. No warning, so no fretting. Just a huge thrill wondering when it's going to end. If you have time to think about it, it's a big one. Not The Big One, that's the mythical earthquake of unimaginable proportions that might strike at any moment since the 1970s.

deborah said...

Parabola.

Hey, who's the new guy?

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

Nothing is more rewarding than helping mentally challenged people learn."

That's why we're here, but it's a huge mystery as to who is helping who?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"I have a pet peeve. I'm sick of people having to work for a living. We could all be having a great time cruising around the world right now. Viewing antiquities in the Mediterranean, stopping to have an afternoon of cocktails on the beach followed by a night of fire walking and drunken sex on some South Pacific isle. We could hike the Sierras, and catch a killer blues band somewhere in Arizona, check out the Anasazi ruins in New Mexico, and ride horseback in Argentina, hang glide in Chile, and go fishing the Amazon."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7JlI959slY

ndspinelli said...

I'm in Palm Springs so I have no reason to step into Joe Pyne's Beef Box. I'm "In a warm clime in a cold winter."

bagoh20 said...

Thanks for the parable Ritmo. What both the college boy MBA and the fisherman miss is that the success of the fisherman's business would help thousands of other people, their families and the prosperity of their descendants. It seems lost on both of them.

Then again, that kind of prosperity only becomes necessary due to rampant fornicating and it's inevitable bounty of people needing something to do.

For me, I have higher goals than either my personal satisfaction or the good of others. Oh no, I pine for something greater, something truly cosmic. I want to see the boys and girls of Lem's place drunkenly staggering across a moonlit beach barefoot in the warm sand with hardly a memory of snow or ice. That's my "good life."

Michael Haz said...

I can now verify that ghost peppers are hotter that habanero peppers much like molten lava is hotter than a bar of lava soap.

Sweet mother of all things good, my mouth is about to burn through my head.

ow ow ow ow ow

Michael Haz said...

Chickelit, Ruthie got me with "tungsten cheek" almost a decade ago now. Incomparable, indeed! I still laugh when I think if some of the punning tears on which she's embarked.

We need to round up Ruth Anne, Pete Terranova, rcommal, and the rest of the regulars and have an oh-pun thread.

deborah said...

Er, uh, asymptote?

Enjoy, Nick :)

Unknown said...

I'm a new fan. His name? John Popper of Blues Traveler. Yeah - I like Blues Traveler, but now there's a new layer of respect.

Popper was on Larry Kudlow and they were discussing the IRS targeting of conservative groups.

I like what Mr. Popper said.
Please excuse what I'm now going to do now w/ the caps key
He said...
"THE IRS SHOULDN'T BE TARGETING ANYONE."

deborah said...

The only song I know by Blues Traveler has one of the best lines ever, 'I love you to the point you can no longer take.' lol great line. Still love that song.

Unknown said...

'Well all right okay
So be that way
I hope and pray
That there’s something left to say'

;)

deborah said...

:) Thanks, I really don't know the words, that's great.

Here, for those not inclined to search:

Run-Around

bagoh20 said...

I like Blues Traveler. Besides anyone who think the IRS sucks is my friend and lover, even big fat harp blowers.

Unknown said...

Yah.

chickelit said...

@r,l :)

rhhardin said...

By now we expect Obama to lie; lie for the sake of lying; misrepresent for the heck of it, even when the truth can safely be admitted in candor; to spit in the soup for no reason that even he can think of.

And nobody’s mad at Obama. For they know the truth. It isn’t Obama that is frightening since he’s just being himself. It is the circumstance that 50% of the electorate wanted him — and may want him still — that is absolutely terrifying.


Belmont club.

Aridog said...

rhhardin wins the thread. By a landslide.

PS: Is that a new puppy (of course it is) and what happened if anything to the older dog. I adored your older dog. I am jealous, then and now.

Email me the place you get your dogs, I will be shopping within a year I suspect. I can NOT live without a dog or dogs. After GSD's I adore most Dobbermans with natural ears. Period. It is equal actually and I will likely be buying in Wisconsin for either Dobe or GSD (at "Haus Miller"in Spring Hill). I am no longer going to require full protection, simple bite work and mostly obedience.

rhhardin said...

Vicki was lost to lymphoma.

Another dog, same breed, as soon as possible.

I just email breeders for pup tips and then people with pups for sale if none are on the horizon.

chickelit said...

That sucks, rh. Did it just happen?

rhhardin said...

End of November.

Michael Haz said...

Aw, man. Sorry rh. Been there several times, and know how much losing a good dog hurts.

rhhardin said...

Dogs don't live as long as people so you can count on going through a number of them.

chickelit said...

@rhhardin: Well, you're doing the right thing, finding another.

Good Luck!

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Dogs don't live as long as people so you can count on going through a number of them.

So very sorry to hear about your dog. Losing a beloved pet is as painful as losing a child.

My husband says that it is God's blessing and cruel joke on humanity to give us pets to love and cherish and who love us back, and then give them such short lives so that we will have to experience the loss and pain.

Every time we have to see a pet pass, we say....never again. But soon we either relent or we become adopted by a stray who worms his/her way into our hearts. Our lives would be empty without the little boneheaded darlings.

MamaM said...

Thank you, rhhardin, for sharing Vicki's life and your experiences with her as you have. Her very being brought me joy, through your eyes and the wonder of technology.

May another dog soon find their purpose, essence and identity revealed through your guidance, care, attention and direction.

Aridog said...

rhhardin ... I am so sorry about your loss of Vickie. I had become a loving fan of hers just through your photographs of her activities and dedication to you, which showed.

You are right about dogs' life expectancy, and that of horses is not that much better, about double on average. I have lost many loved ones in the dog and horse world, and it is never any easier. I am attracted to dogs of all kinds, with favorites of course, and I am sure each leaves with a piece of me when the time comes, as it did for "Ari" almost a year ago now. "Dera" has been let be the top dog for a while now and she seems to like it...she has finally even taken up "Ari's" habit of herding and looking after the cat "NitWit."

As I ,mentioned earlier here my plan in the future is to acquire a dog, or dogs, that needs a place to go, (which bagoh20 encouraged) rather than a puppy...ideally between 2 years and 5 years of age. The breeder (full tine professional, not hobbyist) I mentioned in Spring Hill is one of those who can guide me to what I want. There is another in Ohio, both working with European show lines and hard case working lines.

One alternative I know the better half here would like is a young Beagle...which I might consider if I can pair it with a young Shepherd or Doberman. Beagles will test the measure of you patience...the opposite of what I am used to...we'll see.

I'll miss the photos of Vickie and look forward top new ones of your puppy. Much rather see them that talk about Obama or Clinton of almost anyone in Washington anyway.

rcommal said...

Jaysus. You guys actually think you've got the whole thing tied up. And that your judgments of things are always right-on: so, no dissent.

Hmmmmmmm. This is why I say:

I was not born, nor raised, to put with that.

Herein, I am embracing my roots and that of a number of generations up.

rcommal said...

Not a single one of my grandparents went to college, btw. And only one got to attend anything even akin to what would be considered high school, these days.

As for me, I am grateful for them and also to them for the books passed down to me that, in some cases, 100 years ago, were collectively purchased by poor people, trying to fend for themselves, fiercely, in pursuit of education.

rcommal said...

TBC, purchased by members of great-grandparents generation, in some cases with help of the g-g-g's.

rcommal said...

You know what I find *hilarious"?

Folks so into charter and choice that they forget what was the point at the start.

This is why I shrug off most "for-political-reasons-supportive-of-homeschooling" people.

Because, mostly, they're full of shit, too.

Unlike my g's, gg's,and ggg's. And--hell, yeah!--even me.

rcommal said...

When you guys carelessly mock, disrespect and disregard classical learning as elitist, I just want to hit you. This is true now and it has been for years. If you think I haven't bitten my tongue for something like 30-35 years generally and for something like 10 years on-line, then you are both unthoughtful and unthinking and also crazy.

rcommal said...

I don't want to bite my tongue any more.

deborah said...

reader, you I don't want you to bite your tongue, either. No one is knocking a classical education, just saying you need more than just that in most cases, otherwise you may pay for an education and not have a job to show for it.

I thought the irony of the piece posted was when he said people who some young hired to write could not. It may swing full pendulum to where people who understand how to write well become somewhat rare.

Aridog said...

rcommal said...

... for me, I am grateful for them and also to them for the books passed down to me that, in some cases, 100 years ago, were collectively purchased by poor people, trying to fend for themselves, fiercely, in pursuit of education.

You just described my grandparents, and on the maternal side, all the books passed down, most of which I still have, all "classics" with the exception of a 2nd Edition Encyclopedia Britannica bound in leather and gold leaf. Grandfather had little education so he penny by penny bought it through books...such as the 1897 edition of the complete works of Rudyard Kipling that I still have in my living room, where bookshelves compete with furniture, as they do in the dining room and our bedrooms. I have more securely packed in the garage...which I must go through some day.

While I am a strong supporter of STEM curriculum and spent most of my life in skilled trades, military and otherwise, I also appreciate the value of classical education. It is where you get a feel for the ages, so to speak, and gain values you will find no where else.

Once upon a time an Engineering program included required humanities and language classics...the best were 5 year programs, requiring a minimum 180 full (18 week) semester credits to graduate...with a double major between an engineering field and a classic field, or a major and 2-3 minors in related field and classics...or "business" if you chose that route. That program existed at the University of Wisconsin in the early 1960's (So did University of Michigan and Wayne State University) but I was told the last time I attended an Engineering Extension course in Madison that the combination of requirements had been vastly diluted...by a class mate from my time there who was then teaching.

The purported "Liberal Arts" schools of today mostly do not require much, veering off in to the political, without much focus on philosophy from ancient time through today, let alone the Enlightenment. Those students who gain such degrees basically will get only as much as they personally are willing to dig out.

Those unique students will know instinctively that for them it is a beginning, not the end...and they will go on to expand that knowledge and wind up in STEM fields sooner or later, but with the background in history that permits open eyes.

That said, the very best person I have ever known and worked with to edit and compose in the English language was a Mechanical Engineering with a PE and nearly 40 years service in the military. Close to Hemingway in style, he could take anything you or I wrote in 5 paragraphs and reduce it to 5 sentences, saying exactly the same thing, more clearly. This skill is critically important when engineers are designing things that could kill you if they fail.

So, rcommel...you are correct, we need the arts, and we need them in conjunction with STEM.

chickelit said...

So, rcommel...you are correct, we need the arts, and we need them in conjunction with STEM.

The flower and the STEM as it were.

MamaM said...

The flower and the STEM

A whole brained, whole hearted approach is difficult to attain and sustain. When wholeness is valued, nurtured, encouraged, and lived, fruit and seed result, with potential realized and reproduced.

From a story recorded in the 2000 year old Book of Revelation, this picture of potency:

Then the angel showed me the river of water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne...On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

rcommal said...

Oddly enough, I suppose, is that what originally set me off was something that Bagoh wrote--but then I got distracted and went off on a tangent--which tangent I do not regret, at all, but still... .

deborah said...

You should post more often :)

rcommal said...

I thank you for that, Deborah, but you and I and a whole host of people, not to mention guests, know full well why I shouldn't and won't.

Face it (as already I did a few years ago): No place is there for the likes of that. Which includes me.

rcommal said...

On the upside, me and mine are entirely self-supporting now and also we are still plowing in the $ for the likes of... .

Oh forget that. I'd prefer not to support blatant racists, but what the hell. What can ya do? I can despise them, but given their age, I wouldn't yank their government subsidies from them, either. F*** that PC

---

Still want me to comment?

rcommal said...

Honestly, I think that the most of you are determined to screw over the likes of me.

Should you think I'm crazy, just ask Troop, for just one example.

rcommal said...

; /

rcommal said...

Stand up.

rcommal said...

http://youtu.be/3qdz-dqc7A4

rcommal said...

I just moved. And God knows it would be easier for me if I never voted again, never, ever. From what I gather, in general [ from you sorts of folks] is that it would be better if I did not.

****shrug****^

rcommal said...

http://youtu.be/KEXQkrllGbA

deborah said...

"I thank you for that, Deborah, but you and I and a whole host of people, not to mention guests, know full well why I shouldn't and won't.

Face it (as already I did a few years ago): No place is there for the likes of that. Which includes me."

Reader, sorry it slipped my mind to get back to this thread.

Screw 'em and jump in the fray, as I see you have today. And I really don't 'know full why' why you shouldn't.