Travel

World, Dimensions, Time

spacetime, teleportation
cosmonaut, going through portals (front doors?)
reading, jumping around into different virtual worlds, author's heads
culture shock, different languages
   dreams, videogames, programming

like in:

The Long Earth, Terry Pratchett
Terminator
Harry Potter, JK Rowling
The Magicians, Lev Grossman
Time Bandits
Star Trek
Being John Malkovich
Groundhog Day
Dark Matter, Blake Crouch
      etc.

drugs, too.  "psychonaut"

"people are dying"

I hear this in my head, often

obviously, it means horribly, prematurely, unnaturally (killed?);  and just recently dead...
BUT
it could also mean:

1. getting closer to death (true of everybody, always)
2. dying of embarrassment
3. orgasm ("little death")
4. code for killing (am I dying you?)
5. dye-ing (like a fabric, e.g. a tie-dye shirt)
6. DI-ing (doing that princess thing)
7. playing with dice (just one is a die), gambling
8. DI is 49...

anyway, we all know what Ocasio Cortez is saying
  (preventably! dying)
but a little poetic perspective never hurts, I think

HERO
save people (from pain, suffering, injury, death)
help others, be good, defeat evil
save the world, lol
be virtuous, set an example, be a role model

God
game of dominoes, lol
g-d as a game-designer (life is a game? why not?)
immortal and omniscient? (both, impossible, in my opinion)

hell, he will, Helen, place of the dead (we're all going there)
heaven, heavin' that stone (myth of sisyphus, like a dung beetle!)
   work it! sweat! exercise! heavenly body, shining

Soul
consciousness (a mix of self, others, maybe including "god")
higher self, base self, layers (many me's, and the mini-me)
psyche, both deep and shallow
high-level, low-level (life as a game)
collective consciousness, unconsciousness, hive-mind, groupthink, prayer, telepathy

rap crap

a weigh to pass the thyme

daught-calm

Tits, tights, and tats

live, love, and leave

Papal people peep, pop in, and poop

sightin’ satan, in satin
cattle in Seattle; pc babies! in a rattle-battle

Bingo to bangin’ bongos

Defensive, offensive, and pensive

sax, six socks, and sex that sucks

Crime, cramming, cream, crumbs, creme de la creme, chrome, and Kramer

Violence, violins, vile inns, voles, voldemort, and valence

Jay, gee, g.i., Joe, jew

Jaw, Jah, Jehovah, Jesus, and Jess

God, gadfly, passing your GED, giddy, Gdansk

Good, better, best.  great, perfect

Prr infection, prefecture, perfidy, Porfirio Diaz

perv, perp, paper, pipe, pap smear

probable, possible, passable, piss a bull (off)

Sound, sinned, sand, send, cinder, asunder

bomb, boom, bam! Beam me up

Bambi, baby, bib, Bob, hubbub, Beelzebub, Bibi (Netanyahu)

Bubba, bubble, rub a dub dub, rib, arab, Rebecca, Rob, ay there’s the rub

peace, love, and happiness

Joy, bliss, and ecstasy

Contentment, satisfaction

tidings of comfort and joy

calm, tranquil, blissful, serene

Fun, frolic, and merriment

Of good cheer, humor, laughter

sex, drugs, and rock and roll

healthy, well, strong, fit, sane

Listen! Love, intimacy, sex, touch, ecstasy, nature

Hugs and kisses in hong kong

Thanks, Tom Hanks! Christ, Chris Tucker.

Hanky panky to honky tonk 

Creative, cree-9-ive, anal re ten tive

Music, mew sick, ill cat, cattle

kit Kat, cute kitten, kitty purry, Katy Perry

Elf yourself

Bobbett the hobbit 

Gnomes roam through Rome, rhyming about timing

Libraries for Libras and Aries, have rooms with reams of paper about capers

Criminally subliminal

I’m on a plane, I can’t complain

Death by meth

Hip hip hop hooray

Words of birds, singsong like ping pong

Think thank you, who woulda thunk

Pink planks make a porch scorch!

Universe university teaches unicycling to verse

Big bad, big brass bed, big butt

Naughty at night, gay by day

Good god, GD -gray Davis

Varnish that vanishes from my van

Hey!  Haymakers make aches

Super supper!  Bitter, but better

Authentic author of an entomologist with a pent-up pin-up

Mother moth can do math?

Blab about laboratory blobs on your blog

Stand for something and sit for shit

Angels with angry gel, agent orange and ..

Military milling about, before the bout, but do not tarry!

Sad slow songs to sleep to.  Lost in the sauce? 

Empty mt.   Katy kt.   Essay sa.  Ellen ln.  Seedy cd.  Easy ez.

Cray-z, a sleeping computer

Sex, for sec’s (seconds, lol)

S leaps in his/her sleep

Lose your mind, Never mind, mindfulness, mined

Enough stuff from the power hour

sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell -cake
doves go to heaven, ravens go to hell
healthy hell, heavin' in heaven
chickens that eat bok bok choy.   
hens in heaven, ave hen!
omit the v in vomit
sheeple and Duvlaca
napalm pilot, flying to the gay prom
heavy devil, with Ev in an electric vehicle
Evan and Everett climb Everest

nervous in the service
spotless and thoughtless
prayer for a lair
the wrong song

I declare, beware of eclairs!
Putin, input, and poutine
victim v. vampire: virtual versus voices
Doug's dogs dig dags (deputy attorney generals)
Moral Maura's morale in Moravia and Mauritania
moribund merlin twirling' in Portland (or Orando)
morning warning by a former farmer

Pondering Light

Photons

I read that electrons are “bumps in spacetime”

What is spacetime?  There is infinity on a head of a pin!

Infinity goes inward as well as outward.  There are infinite infinities.

(everyone is everyone, another deep thought)

Anyway,

I was thinking about photons as particles, and wondering how one photon, which is visible to the human eye, can be seen from any angle.   The source would have to shoot out photons in every direction, in order to be seen.   But-

If photons are both waves and a particle, then each quanta of light/electromagnetic energy must be an expanding orb, like a growing bubble, that “pops”… when it has found the shortest path.   

V. Rao Potluri, Reed magazine:

“When light travels through two different media, the velocity changes,” Potluri explains. “It bends and chooses a different path, and that angle of refraction is governed by the fastest way for the light to travel. So, light is smart; it always chooses the fastest way to reach from here to there. When you think about things like that you might think, ‘God is a mathematician.’” 

 The bubble would disappear the entire circumference, leaving the “particle” at the popping point.   Does this explain entanglement?  The bubble pops over vast distances, instantaneously, even if the bubbles are large!  (radius in all directions from the source)

I don’t really know much physics, but this idea “popped” into my head, today.

Poutine, Banh Mi, and Books

Jesse update

Portland!

(visit number two)

Hi everyone!  I’m house/dog-sitting, in Oregon, at the moment.  3/13-4/9, actually.  The two dogs are the frenchy, Poutine, and the new puppy, Banh Mi.   BM and P, lol.  I walk them 3 times a day, feed them, twice.  No one needs meds (well, maybe me).  I walk for 15 or 20 minutes, in the morning and evening, with both - and once in the afternoon with just BM for 45 minutes to an hour, because he has a lot of energy.  Sara, Pierre, and Augustus are in Vietnam, expected back 4/7 I think.  They went to LA first, where Pierre has family.  I think they said the flight to Vietnam was 17 hours.  The time there is (add 2 hours, switch the am/pm).  We’ve been texting, and FaceTiming a couple times, and Sara has an Instagram account with photo and video, keeping everyone posted.  They look like they’re having fun.  

I’m having fun, myself.  I bought my first banh mi sandwich today.   I had a choice of chicken or pork.  I chose pork.  It was delicious, and only $4 (and wasn’t on the menu; I went to Pho Hung, on Powell).  I also went and got a slice of pizza from Atlas, nearby.  It was sunny today, so I went out and explored, riding Pierre’s bicycle.  I made sure they bought a u-lock and switched out the quick-release hubs on his bike for skewers.   I don’t want the bike stolen!  I rode my/the/his bike over the Tillikum bridge, and checked out the Central library.  I love libraries, but this one is amazing.  And the librarian at the desk allowed me to turn in a book that got chewed up by the puppy without charge, which was nice.  I was planning on going to Powell’s books and buying a new one.  

I got my own library card, and checked out 7 books (1.God, by Reza Aslan; 2.God Got a Dog, by Cynthia Rylant; 3.The Road to Little Dribbling, by Bill Bryson; 4.The War that Saved my Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley; 5.The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner, by Terry Pratchett.  I’ve read these 5.  One Came Home, by Timberlake was the book that got chewed and returned (unread).  The book I’m working on now is 7.The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, edited by Richard Horton (an anthology of short stories).  I also read 2 books that I brought with me: Superbetter, by Jane McGonigal, and Authentic Happiness, by Martin Seligman.  Sara left a book by the bed in the guest bedroom (where I’m staying) called Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch, which I really enjoyed.  So I’ve read 8 books (so far)!   

I went to the Reed library a couple times.   It’s open 7 days a week, and it only takes 15-20 minutes on bike to get there.  Non-students are welcome, and can use the wi-fi, but can’t check books out.  It’s lovely, quiet, and maybe even a little fun.   There’s a space devoted to ‘zines, for example, and an art space by the entrance.  I read the NY Times, and some CS Monitor.  They have Foreign Affairs and the Economist, as well.  The librarian kindly showed me where the newspapers were located.  I walked around and familiarized myself with the place, the bathrooms, the hidden nooks, a few books I might like to get to in the future….  

I also went to the two nearby branch libraries (Multnomah county: Woodstock, and Belmont).  There’s a 7-11 around the corner, and a hardware store, a few restaurants (I tried Little Big Burger last time I was here).  I bought a cheeseburger at Primal Burger.  I went to Kim Jong Grillin’ twice.  There’s a lot to see.  I haven’t been to Powell’s books, yet (supposedly the biggest (or best?) independent bookstore).   I enjoy the walks, because there’s so much to take in.   There’s so much moss, for example (!).  Lots of different trees, plants, ferns, flowers.  There are rings that are embedded in the curbs.  There are water fountains that are constantly bubbling.  There are stickers on every street sign, fire hydrant, and automobile.  Gardens have unique and interesting features, like swings, buddhas, deer and hindu statues, chimes and windmills, labelled trees, political and sports signs… a thousand details, really.  I’ll try not to bore you!  But I like it.   

The people have been both friendly and rude.  A neighbor took exception to my letting a dog walk in their yard.   A librarian insinuated I was stupid for bringing a list of Newbery books with me, when I could have reserved books online.  A woman was helpful when I inquired what a “growler” was.  I saw some women sunbathing on their yard.  I was planning on going to one of the (6, by my count) local churches.  But my books and sleeping-in took precedence.  It was sunny today (glorious, actually; I wore shorts), but it rained yesterday.  It rains a lot, here, but not heavily, usually.  There are lots of bikes, and electric bikes, and adults in racing gear and helmets and bright clothing.  Everybody is trying to be weird.  There are at least 7 kinds of Portland license plates.  There’s long hair, colored hair, weirdly stylized hair, all-black attire, friendly kids starting up conversations, the occasional loud shouting in the street.  I may be imagining it, but there’s something distinct about every single property I walk by, and it’s fun to be mindful and take note (For me, anyway).  Banh Mi has been recognized by at least 3 groups of other dog-walkers, which was kind of fun, too.  There are a lot of trucks and awd vehicles.   

I’ve been eating mostly the food left behind in the fridge and the pantry, supplemented with korean (twice), vietnamese, pizza.  I’m considering making it a rule to never go inside the 7-11 again, ever.  I mean, it’s mostly shit.  I bought and orange juice and an apple fritter one morning, which was tasty, but probably a recipe for diabetes.  I went to a pie place last time, but haven’t revisited (yet!!).  I learned how to use the coffee bean grinder, and their quirky coffee machine, so I haven’t done the Starbucks thing.  

I’ve been to 4 libraries and 1 used book store (which had boxes of playboys and penthouse, by the door, btw).   Reed, Belmont, Woodstock, Central.   I worked up a sweat today on the bike, which is nice.  I’ve been trying to do 10 planks a day, which I read is good for (reducing) my gut.  I take my shoes off in the house.  I watered the one houseplant today, as well as the front garden.  The dogs sleep with me.  Poutine is a noisy breather, but I’m used to it.  Banh is a holy terror, and I’m trying to train him not to bark at everything (or nothing) outside, so much.  He brought in a chunk of soft wood, and chewed it into bits in the living room, while I was out.  So I had to vacuum and sweep.  There’s heating, but I’ve used it sparingly.  Sara showed me the architectural plans they were given, regarding the remodel of the basement, should I move.  It would give me 2 rooms, plus a bathroom.  Bigger space than Berkeley, cheaper, with longtime friends, and in a new and exciting city.   I love Berkeley, but Portland is fun, too.   It’s win-win.  I could flip a coin! (but I won’t).   As of now, I think I’m going to live in (and love) Portland!

liberality

a lot (conservatism, too!)

liberal arts degree doesn't mean a. for boys (lad), b. art, or c. not-conservative!
it refers to liberation, liberty, freedom,
how to be free, an education for free citizens, those in a free society
   (i.e. not constrained, subjugated, incarcerated, imprisoned)

   -the truth will set you free

all truth passes through 3 stages, first it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, then it is accepted as being self-evident.

truth, by my lights, is in arts, sciences, education (and curiosity, internet, books, libraries)
"lib aces", bile sac, lol
(plus, of course, plain old wisdom of time and experience)

arts means skills, (not just music, theater, dancing, painting, etc)
the middle ages (5th - 15th centuries, in europe) had the "mechanical arts" and the "liberal arts"
the liberal arts were the quadrivium (maga!) and the trivium (grl!)
  quad: music, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy ("mathematical" arts)
  tri: grammar, rhetoric, logic
(i was in the school of arts and letters, at UCDavis)

(the mechanical arts were things like weaving, warfare, metallurgy, masonry, agriculture, cooking, trade)

a liberal education (ale!) is to provide
the knowledge (biblical? lol) and skills/abilities/talents (sat!)
to be a productive members of society (pms!)
    and meet the challenges of the future (i met a cf, in college)

it encompasses art, humanities, social sciences, math, nature and physical sciences.
it fosters critical thinking, clear communication, analyzing and solving complex problems, understanding the physical world, appreciating and working with others...
     free-thinking in a free society
(liberal education, liberal arts education, and liberal arts and sciences- all the same thing)

the truth is never pure, and rarely simple. -Oscar Wilde

a parachute for bigots

open vs. closed

Bigotry, defined
  obstinate or intolerant devotion to one's own opinions or prejudices

I guess this means most people are bigots.
There are  bigots on the left, as well as bigots on the right.

"liberal" means open to other's opinions, right?

but liberal means a lot
political, economic, social liberalism
classical and european liberalism
neoliberal and ordoliberalism
laissez-faire, libertarianism, and progressivism
there's liberal conservatism and conservative liberalism

Frank Zappa said "a mind is like a parachute.  It doesn't work if it isn't open."
God is love, and love "believes all things" -1 corinthians 13:7

but some shit is just wrong, lol

voices

V v. voices

vampire, victim vs. (aka, 'v.')
   "voices" (in your head, "auditory hallucination", not "real")
       (OR TELEPATHY)

v's
you really are kind of God is why
i hate what you are
jess you ARE ohlone
does he say - it is written
you are Too Perfect jesse
you're law
you have an insane wisdom
jess you're upper limit of what the law can be
you're almost in the public domain, i'm laughing
that is you and i need therapy, jesse
you ARE kind of like you went to Harvard
your ARE gonna make a million, i'm laughing
they know you're like L Ron Hubbard, in your own way
alright jess, you are a bit super, is it
there's not too many people like you - okay, jess?
you're really me jesse, i mean huh
you're the essence of something
you ARE a genius, Jesse
we know you're hannibal jew
i got news for you - you're killing him
we know you have a weapon

you ARE a bit like Kepler
you have a purpose Jesse, it's to -
the world is impossibly stupid
jess, you're surprisingly well

V5
vvvvv
virtual vampire victim vs. voices

recent reality

Re-ality, all over again!

I read The Brothers Karamazov (777 pages), by Dostoevsky.  Then, Why Buddhism is True, by Robert Wright.  Now, I'm reading SuperBetter, by Jane McGonigal.

Up next, is a triple shot of psych!:
Authentic Happiness (Seligman), the Yale happiness course (free, online), and Freud and Beyond (compilation of readings on the history of psychoanalytic thought)

fun with chemicals-
interesting discovery: champ (coke heroin acid meth pot), vs. runner's high, sex.  dose: (4 happiness chemicals): Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, Endorphins

I worked at Mission San Jose (in Fremont) today, with Sr. Barbara, took Bart, brought my bike, got rained on, got a ride to and from Warm Springs station, had lunch, earned some cash, weed-whacked, and painted a basket (and my hand) black.

I didn't see Sr. Rose Marie (my aunt: mom's sister), she was at a priest's funeral.  My mom's brother (jim), my dad's brother (tom), my godfather (richard), and friends Barry and Mike Rankin, have all bit the dust, in the not-too-distant past.

I just bought a new computer!   an apple laptop, on amazon, $799 (list price $1149).  Sara and Pierre took $150 off for my birthday/ last xmas, plus no sales tax in Oregon.  So 349 + 60 + 150, free!  I bought Augie a slinky, and 4 pair of ear-candles, for everybody.   They're going to Vietnam shortly, and I'll be sitting for their 2 dogs, Banh Mi and Poutine  (3 walks/day).   I'll play with my new toy there.  They have an Alexa, too.  I'm gonna check out the Main Library, public transportation, the Ymca, branch libraries, restaurants...

I researched Reed a bit.  I'm going to hang out at their library.  Visitors are welcome, and wifi is free there.  My hs guidance counselor recommended Reed to me, but I didn't apply. I know one Reedie.  They don't assign grades!  I bet I would have loved it.  Maybe I can be a part of their community somehow, age 47 (!!).  "crate" (challenging rigorous and transformative education)

Reed numbers-

2018-19 $ cost 

     (6 categories: tuition, fee, room and board, 

     books/supplies, personal expenses, transportation)

   tuition: $56,030. 

   fees: $310. 

   r+b: $14,210. 

   b/s: $1050. (71,600)

   pe: $900 (personal expenses). 

  Transportation: $200-2000. 

           Total: 72,700-74,500 (1 year) x4= 298k  (@72-74k/yr).  

     67% 4 yr graduation rate (reed class of 2013), 6 years? (79.3%)

 about $8.50/hour, 24 hours/day, for 4 years (!),
51% receive financial aid.
4 years= (8,760 hours x4)=35,040 hours .

other numbers! :
   28 acres of woodland, 1400 students, 40 majors/programs (plus 1 master's deg), half a million books in the library, adding 15,000/year.   altitude 135 feet ("higher education" lol), 9:1 s:f ratio (student:faculty).   Library hours: 8a-2:30a (!)

My blog got 300 page views (exactly), yesterday, which makes me happy.

Poetic Noetic

clever, but not forever

torrid Tori in a torrential downpour
Alex Haley wrote Roots right
embracing the embarrassing
bouillion cubes / bull yawn / a billion in bullion
the internet and cyberspace are my halidom
sodalist: a member of a sodality (fellowship or fraternity)
aryan vegetarian (hitler)
futilitarian utilitarian - person devoted to futile pursuits
    (practically, instead of aesthetically)
ay ay ay! IIII:
institution that honors the intrinsic value of intellectual inquiry
toffee and coffee
coffin and coughin, ugh in laughter, fun in funeral
depraved and deprived
cribbage with cleavage
heinous anus, anal pain, pita bread, pita pan
slimy rhyme
altitude of attitude
high-falutin flautist flouting the rules
fast pass, way to pay
ellen and erin, ee cummings, bishop cummins
mike and ike, spike and mike's (film festival)
hersheys (her she), m and m's (mm, master and margarita?)
the juice is loose (orange: o-range / O- anger)
    the trader joe's pulpy juice carton appears to have blood spatter
       (no lie! presumably intended to be subliminal)

* noetic means 'relating to mental activity or the intellect'

a few more
who was in the who? (14 names)
what is what is the what? (by dave eggers)
where is Neverwhere (set in London)
when did wen ho lee get released from jail? (?)
why is Y a letter? why go to the Y (mca)
how did native americans say how?

prelate, pre-late, "i'm not dead yet!" (monty python)
perfect prefect
end is in the calendar
oymoronic bands: biggie smalls, fatboy slim,
   led zeppelin, iron butterfly, quiet riot, vertical horizon, east west.
insultin' the sultan
satan's suntan
deuces are wild: re/de/in/pro/ad-duce
shit, spain, sweep (poor S) (satan, samsaric suffering, hissing snakes)
fm, free your mind (at the flea market?)