The Blue Mountain

Arrived on my pile

2017-03-06T22:53:00.001-05:00

Anthony Everit: Cicero: The Life and Times of Rom's Greatest Politician (2001). Looks to be an interesting biography about Cicero, about whom I know rather little. I recall reading parts of De Oratore at university, and finding it interesting.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Lucia Graves tr.: The Shadow of the Wind (2001). Set in Barcelona just after World War II, and is proving to be an engrossing mystery. I had not heard of Zafon before, but have enjoyed what I've read so far.

Investing quotes

2015-08-29T12:12:00.004-04:00

Oft quoted, the thoughts of Munger, Graham, and Buffett are worth rereading from time to time.

Quotewise has proven a quick and useful website for such an exercise, having an archive of several hundred quotations from all three, not to mention an index of many other prominent figures in business and investing. Do give them a look.

What I've been reading...

2015-08-20T20:10:00.000-04:00

I found a small library where I was staying overseas, and had some time to explore it. Below are some good titles I found and enjoyed:

1.) Maarten Prak, The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century (2005), trans. Diane Webb: Highly readable translation of a thorough and well-organized history of the Dutch "Golden Age." Interesting throughout, and worth the read.

2.) Nick Middleton, Rivers: A Very Brief Introduction (2012): Concise overview of the geography of rivers, and the role they've played in human civilization. I liked this book for its wide view and eye for interesting details.

3.) Mike Dash, Tulipmania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused (2001): An engrossing history of one of the modern world's great speculative bubbles: the great Dutch tulip mania of 1636-1637. Dash's examination is rich with detail, and highly relevant to experience modern asset speculators in stocks, commodities, futures, etc.. Also of interest is the brief history toward the end of the book of the Ottoman Empire's own tulip bubble. Tulipmania is certainly one of the best books I've read this year.

For more on the boom and bust of tulips in the Netherlands, see here.

What I've been watching...

I watched two really enjoyable Japanese films on the plane-ride home, and recommend both. They include:

"Midnight Diner," (2014), directed by: Joji Masuoka

"The Furthest End Awaits," (2014), directed by: Chiang Hsiu-chiung

Arrived on my pile:

Fred Kaplan, The Singular Mark Twain, (2003).

John W. Dowen, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (1999).

Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (2001)

We're back...

2015-08-19T17:59:00.003-04:00

Had a nice trip, though I'm glad to be back in many ways. Travel can be a very broadening experience, and so it proved this time around. It also provides a nice contrast to the usual routines of home, and perhaps helps us examine old questions in new ways.

Anyway, we're back now. Hope you've all been well :)

Taking a trip

2015-07-24T11:29:00.002-04:00

I'm heading overseas for a little trip this week, and hope to have some interesting stories to tell upon my return.

It's a lovely day over here, as I sit near the window, preparing to leave. A cool wind blows through the trees, while birds sing and cicadas rattle away up in the trees. The air is fresh and laden with the scent of flowers and grass freshly-cut.

The summer foliage in these parts is lush and full of life. I find choke-cherries strewn across my route to work, while crab-apples waxing red upon the branch. Our garden is prospering at this juncture, having yielded a great number of strawberries and blueberries, with green peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and string-beans still to come. The flowerbeds are colorful and bright, and a delight to the eye. Meanwhile, the forest down the hill is lush and green; the stream alive with all manner of insects, fish, turtles, and water-fowl. I feel very fortunate to have watched the season grow into itself, seeing the promise of spring so grandly fulfilled.

Perhaps now we'll get to see what a corner of the wider world looks like.

Take care, and happy Friday, friends :)

Memories of Silk and Straw: A self-portrait of small-town Japan

2015-07-24T11:25:00.003-04:00

I really liked this book, a sparkling collection of about fifty stories told by residents of rural Japan in the early 20th century. Compiled by Dr. Junichi Saga, they tell of a rich world that has mostly disappeared; of tidal lakes teeming with fish and eel, clean air, and a lazy river lined with sakura trees. There were dark sides as well; extreme poverty, infectious diseases, and mass abortions when times were lean, to name but a few. For all of that, there were plenty of happy times, too.

I came away from this book with many impressions, the idea that "progress" is a complicated term not the least of them.

Do give this excellent collection a read if Japanese history and culture interests you.

I'm hoping at some point to find Dr. Saga's other collection, "Memories of Wind and Waves".

What I've been reading...

2015-07-08T20:30:00.000-04:00

Marius B. Jansen, "The Making of Modern Japan" (2000): I really liked this one, despite it feeling dense at times. Jensen's narrative has a nice flow that shows both continuities and sharp breaks in Japan's government, policy, society, and the climate of opinion from Sekigahara to the turn of the new millennium. It as a good read, albeit increasingly out of date--David Pilling's "Bending Adversity" is perhaps a good supplement to Jensen's work.

Jenny Uglow, "In These Times: Living in Britain Through the Napoleonic Wars, 1793--1815" (2014): A rich social history, brimming with fascinating insights gleaned from diaries, letters, and print-material of the era. This is a very good book of a transformative period in British history.

Alan Booth, "The Roads to Sata: A 2,000-mile Walk Through Japan" (1985): Great travel-writing, detailing a four-month walking trip along (or near) the western coast of Japan's three largest islands. Booth's anecdotes drift between humor and absurdity, and his journey brings him into contact with all manner of people--rich, poor, kind, rude. Despite the hardships he describes, reading this book has put me in the mood to take a long walking trip.

Daniel Kahneman, "Thinking Fast and Slow" (2011): An astonishing book on the science of human decision-making, and how it can and does lead to poor outcomes. I noted a few quotes while reading:

"A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth. Authoritarian institutions and marketers have always known this fact."

“This is the essence of intuitive heuristics: when faced with a difficult question, we often answer an easier one instead, usually without noticing the substitution.”

“Because we tend to be nice to other people when they please us and nasty when they do not, we are statistically punished for being nice and rewarded for being nasty."

“The experiencing self does not have a voice. The remembering self is sometimes wrong, but it is the one that keeps score and governs what we learn from living, and it is the one that makes decisions. What we learn from the past is to maximize the qualities of our future memories, not necessarily of our future experience. This is the tyranny of the remembering self.”

“The world makes much less sense than you think. The coherence comes mostly from the way your mind works.”

“Confidence is a feeling, which reflects the coherence of the information and the cognitive ease of processing it. It is wise to take admissions of uncertainty seriously, but declarations of high confidence mainly tell you that an individual has constructed a coherent story in his mind, not necessarily that the story is true.”

“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it.”

Would certainly recommend.

Arrived on my pile:

Dr. Junichi Saga, "Memories of Silk and Straw: A Self-Portrait of Small-town Japan" (1990).

Jonah Lehrer, "Imagine: How Creativity Works" (2012).

Congratulations USWNT: 2015 World Cup Champions

2015-07-05T21:32:00.001-04:00

The FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 is now in the books, with the United States defeating Japan 5-2 in the final. Congratulations to the US for their victory.

To all who took part, thank you for doing your best and for making this tournament a memorable one.

Source

A Memorial to Dallett Hemphill

2015-07-04T21:29:00.000-04:00

I am saddened beyond words to hear of the passing of Dr. Dallett Hemphill, professor of American History at Ursinus College. I never knew her age, but whatever it was, it was too young. The world has lost a fine teacher, and a human being finer still.

She will be missed.

My direct acquaintance with Dr. Hemphill began with two courses she taught--a history of the American Civil War, and a similar course on the American Revolution. Her classes were rigorous but full of interest; her style of teaching a mix of lecture and cultivated discussion. She proved a hearty conversationalist, both within the classroom and without, as well as a proponent of experiencing history beyond books. Though her driving left me car-sick on more than one occasion (accelerating to stop-signs was among her numerous specialties), I nevertheless enjoyed travelling with her and classmates to Valley Forge, Trenton, Princeton, and Old City Philadelphia to hear her digress on topics as wide ranging as battlefield medicine, Federal-style architecture, and the lengths to which many reenactors go to make their costumes authentic.

She had a passion for history, teaching, and the welfare of her students. Her office and manner were equally welcoming and always open.

This openness extended beyond graduation, as on the few occasions I found myself on campus I almost invariably ended up sitting across from her on the third floor of Olin, discussing life and where it had taken us. Our final meeting came as something of a surprise, as I had ended up on campus late one Tuesday evening last fall, and thought to check the third floor's "Free Book" table for any interesting selections. Dr. Hemphill was staying late that night, and was as surprised so see me as I to see her. We spoke for a while, like old times, she remarking on my drawings and latest employer, and I congratulating her on her appearance in a documentary. It was a good chat, and I am glad that our paths managed to cross once more.

To me at least, Dr. Hemphill--much like Ursinus College--changed lives for the better. She pushed and nurtured; demanded and welcomed. I learned much and more from her teaching and example, and I miss her now more than I ever thought I would. She touched my life, as doubtless she had touched the lives of others across years.

Many of us have lost a dear friend today. To those who share my grief, I can only offer my condolences and best wishes. To the memory of Dallett Hemphill, I can say only this:

Thank you for making my life richer, and for exemplifying so many admirable qualities in your life and work. Farewell, farewell...farewell, my friend. You are truly missed.

"Keep your face toward the sunshine--and shadows will always fall behind you."
-Walt Whitman

Welcome to the N.H.K., N・H・Kにようこそ!

2015-07-03T14:27:00.001-04:00

*Possible spoilers*

I'm referring here to the anime (24-episodes), not the novel or manga, neither of which I've read, and have heard are rather different from one another. That said, I recently watched the full series and came away with a very favorable opinion of it.

The story covers a year in the life of a reclusive 22 year old hikikomori named Tatsuhiro Sato, who through the help of some friends--Nakahara Misaki and Kaoru Yamazaki--goes through some pretty strange adventures, but in many ways begins to overcome some of the features of his past that led to his becoming a recluse.

The artwork is dazzling in its attention to detail but down-to-earth in feel, and mostly confines itself to a few locations that grow familiar to the viewer with time: the local park ("BEWARE OF MOLESTERS, Call 110 if you spot suspicious activities"), the train crossing, and the interior of Sato and Yamazaki's apartments. The scenes where Sato's furniture come to life and whisper about conspiracies are a little strange, but that's to be expected, perhaps, given the character's mental state, and is, to the show's credit, not overdone.

Dialogue is a strength of the show, I think, and rarely if ever goes over the top. In fact, on several occasions the story feels like a series of events with little dramatic connection, comparable, perhaps to "The Catcher in the Rye." Yamazaki brings this point home in episode 21 after Sato compares their lives to a drama. Yamazaki says, "A drama has a logical progression, outbursts of emotion and a resolution. Our everyday lives are just filled with nebulous and vague anxieties forever and ever." It's an interesting statement, suggestive of the notion that life--as we think about it, anyway--imitates art, rather than the other way around.

Another strength of the series involve Sato's encounters with unusual sides of modern Japanese society, in particular the anime-obsessed otaku culture, internet suicide pacts, video-game culture, and the destructive power of pyramid-schemes. Being emotionally vulnerable (some might say "gullible") and obsessive to a fault, Sato finds himself embroiled in situations that better sense and some self-esteem might have spared him, yet with the help of Misaki and Yamazaki is ultimately able to resolve.

While the ending felt a little flat, "Welcome to the N.H.K." proved very enjoyable, and was unlike anything I'd seen before. Would certainly recommend.

**Perhaps my favorite scene of the series takes place here (watch from 13:45-19:50). It's full of passion and absurdity, juxtaposed in an interesting manner that captures some of the show's humanity.

Excerpt to ponder

2015-06-28T19:42:00.002-04:00

"Despite the comparative sobriety of its architecture, Zen often seems to inspire in its adherents a supercilious attitude to the rest of mankind; an attitude that delights in one-upmanship, in riddles, puzzles, and the power of extraordinary experience. But Dogen maintained that in order to grasp the meaning of existence it was not necessary for a person to be unusually clever or to spend his life doing remarkable things. Simply by 'sitting still and doing nothing' a man could discover what there was to be learned about life. Prayer and ritual were important to Dogen, but not much more so than cooking or sweeping the yard. All functions of the body, including the most basic, became, in the temple he founded, limbs of Zen... It was Dogen's intention to make Zen not an abstract philosophy but a practice. The advice he gave his meditating disciples was blunt, straightforward, and mind-wrenchingly practical:

Think of not thinking.

How do you think of not thinking?

By not thinking."

From Alan Booth's, "The Roads to Sata" (1985), pp. 161-162

Solstice Day

2015-06-21T12:33:00.002-04:00

Happy Summer (or Winter, as it were), friends, and happy Father's Day, too :).

Hope you're all having a lovely day.

Humorous Excerpt

2015-06-20T21:20:00.005-04:00

"The badger is a magical animal in Japan, able to take on human form. So is the fox, but the fox is malevolent whereas the badger is simply mischievous. He is known for his phenomenal sake consumption, for the equally phenomenal size of his scrotum, for the nighttime drumming he performs on his belly, and for his skill in tricking innocents out of their cash."

-Alan Booth, "The Roads to Sata" (1985), p. 33

10 things about the author

2015-06-17T22:54:00.000-04:00

I don't enjoy writing about myself, but this post comes requested, so here goes:

1.) I suspect anyone who acts too much their own age or gender is missing something, but that's just my opinion.

2.) In college I majored in history, with a particular interest in ideologies. The stories people use to explain the world to themselves is an interesting topic for me, approachable from many directions, and touching on a number of disciplines and experiences. Probably everyone has something to contribute to its description. Reading and listening are two ways (of many) of getting in touch with this stream of experience.

3.) I don't run much anymore, but I still enjoy watching it, and coaching those who wish to compete or use it for some other end (health, meditation, recreation, etc.). Walking and riding the bike are my preferred physical activities these days, though on occasion I'll take off for a while down a trail and enjoy the challenge offered by the uneven terrain. At some point, I would also like another crack at the Marine Corps Marathon, where in 2012 I sustained an injury at mile 21 and could not continue. That might be a worthwhile challenge.

4.) I suspect most people are mostly decent.

5.) I'm fairly skeptical of just about everything I think I know, and I'm not even sure about that.

6.) When I was younger, I believe I experienced something akin to "true love." Whatever it was, it was pretty grand.

7.) I've also had some really wonderful friendships, and in tough times I've leaned on them hard. Find a best friend if you don't have one already; they might just save your life one day.

8.) I don't drive much, and find the experience rather stressful whenever going somewhere new. That said, whenever I do drive, I always greet the vehicle by saying "hello car," when I enter, and "well done, car," if and when I've reached my destination. I also do this when boarding and leaving airplanes.

9.) The best coach I ever had was probably my swimming coach in college, Mark Feinberg. He pushed me in ways other coaches never did, and brought out my best in the moments it mattered most (the consolation final in the 200yd-fly at conferences in 2008 was one of the pinnacles of my athletic life to date). To paraphrase Arthur Lydiard, when you can bring your athlete to the peak of their abilities at the right time, that's when you know something about coaching. I think Mark knew something. He's a good guy as well, and had my shoulders not developed problems, I might have stuck with the sport a while longer under his tutelage.

10.) Sometimes I find it difficult to be patient, but patience can be a very useful skill. As the saying goes, "Don't just do something, stand there!"

Humorous excerpt

2015-06-06T09:58:00.000-04:00

"In the 1770s Edo culture developed a select circle of writers who produced a playful and satirical gensaku genre that encoded some of the changing styles and values of their day... The pen names these samurai writers used were often full of self-mockery that revealed their frustrations; "Troubles with curfew," "Drunken indiscretion," and for one daimyo son, "Monkey with rusty bottom."

That is from Marius B. Jansen's, "The Making of Modern Japan" (2000), p. 229. I'm enjoying this book, and will probably have more to say about it later.

Happy Saturday :)

A Hair's Breath

2015-06-01T22:41:00.002-04:00

*Note: The following story draws heavily from accounts of the famous duel of 13 April, 1612, between Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamoto Musashi. What follows is a work of fiction, and despite similarities in terms and setting, should not be considered historical in any way. You can read about the actual duel between Musashi and Kojiro here.

__________

A stiff wind blew in from the sea, and the setting sun glared painfully in their eyes. Kenta Miyama squinted through the glare, appraising the sandy shore of the island on which he had spent most of the day. The challenger was three hours late, and Kenta’s master was not happy. He will split Kimura in two, Kenta mused of the armored, imposing figure down by the water: Sojiro Aoshi, known widely as, “The demon of the Western Provinces.” Red-faced and wrathful, Sojiro certainly looked the part of a demon.

“There will be blood,” whispered Genji, another of lord Sojiro’s disciples. “Such insolence cannot be tolerated.” The other disciples grunted or nodded in agreement. None spoke too loudly, for fear of bringing their master’s long-sword upon their head. It was called, “the Drying Pole” for the length of its blade—almost three feet—and in the hands of Sojiro Aoshi had once brought down a bird in mid-flight. For this reason, and because the downward strike, followed by a swift, upward pull resembled the flight of a swallow, it became known as the “swallow’s cut.” Between the reach of his sword and precision of technique, there was not a fighter in the realm who could defend against it.

So why Kimura’s challenge? Kenta wondered. He turned to the others and asked, “Who is this Ren Kimura from Rizen?”

“An upstart, nothing more,” spat Toya Hashimi. He was past forty with a squint face, and kept his hair tied back in a queue.

“Why would an upstart challenge lord Sojiro?” whispered a new disciple who Kenta did not know.

“Desperate for fame, of course,” Toya retorted.

Aria Saito chuckled and shook his head. He was the same age as Kenta—twenty-three—and could almost perform the swallow’s cut as well as their master. His face was hard-set for a young man, yet it wore an arrogant look that seemed to find everything about the world amusing. “Ren Kimura does not lack for fame as Toya does for wits. It’s said he defeated the Shinta school of Tenika, a revered style for over a century, and brought down the whole Minotaro Gang in a single day. Gross exaggerations, to be sure, but where are the Shinta brothers today? And Minotaro and his cronies? They did not go quietly into the ground. Someone put them there, and that someone is Ren Kimura of Rizen.”

Toya fumed, as red-faced as Sojiro. Be careful, Toya. “If this Kimura child is mighty in skill,” Toya began, “then why is he not here? The appointed time is long past, and now what appetite for mercy Lord Sojiro might have had is surely exhausted. Not too smart of the little bird from Rizen, neh? Nay, the smart thing now would be to disappear into the mountains, and pray that Sojiro or one of us doesn’t find him.”

Saito merely smiled. “I’m sure Kimura would do much and more to avoid your company,” he said, at which the others nervously laughed. Toya fumed, and had a hand on the hilt of his sword before withdrawing it, slowly. “That is the wisest thing you’ve done all day,” Saito said, gravely and without a smile. He then laughed, as though dispelling any serious feeling he might have had. “Our master has been in armor for hours on a hot day, with a temper as short as his sword is long. By now his legs are surely tight, and his arms as heavy as lead. How quick do you suppose his famous swallow’s cut will be now? If anything, this Kimura fellow has decided that making lord Sojiro wait is more advantageous to his cause than punctuality.”

He’s not wrong, Kenta thought, looking down the beach at his master, pacing furiously in the sand with sword in hand—still sheathed—and perspiration flowing down his face. Even the demon of the Western Provinces gets tired.

“A boat!” cried someone, and Kenta turned toward the sea. There was indeed a boat approaching the island from the north, a small skiff with a single man aboard, rowing with his back turned toward the shore. Soon enough, the small craft ground up softly on the wet sand, and the man in the boat turned and bowed with a smile to Sojiro and his retinue.

Something’s wrong, Kenta realized, seeing the man’s flimsy, grey beard and tanned, wrinkled skin. This man must be sixty or more. There’s no way he’s Ren Kimura of Rizen.

By this point Sojiro was halfway down the beach. He drew his “drying pole” from its sheath and tossed the latter into the surf. “Prepare to die, Kimura!” he bellowed toward the smiling man, his hasty pace causing him to struggle in the sand. “Such affronts deserve nothing less!”

“You’ve already lost, Sojiro,” said a voice, though it did not sound like that of an old man. Suddenly a figure rose from the bottom of the boat, coming gradually to full height. He was slight of build, and lightly dressed in a plain blue kimono with a white obi about the waist and thatched sandals upon his feet. His hair was long and black as jet, which he kept tied back except for a few bangs in the front. He wore no swords, but held an oversized bokken in his right hand. The weapon had a rough look to it, as if it had been carved from an oar not long before. “Only a defeated man tosses his sheath into the sea.”

Kimura stepped into the knee-deep surf, then turned and with great care tied a band about his head. The band was plain and white, and did nothing to keep the bangs from its owner’s eyes. He bowed to the man in the boat, saying something that made the made smile. When he turned, Kenta could find nothing tense about the man from Rizen. He could be preparing ink for a painting, Kenta thought, finding that his own hand had moved to the sword at his side. There was something unnerving afoot, though what it was Kenta could not say.

“Enough of this!” Sojiro cried, ripping the helmet from his head and tossing it to the ground. “We’ve wasted enough time. Now we fight.”

Kimura said nothing, but leered softly in the direction of Sojiro. Veins pulsing, the demon of the Western Provinces raised his mighty sword and charged with a ferocity only he could muster.

“Here it comes!” came the voice of Toya, “The swallow’s cut! The unbeatable attack!”

Yes, Kenta thought, there’s no mistaking the swallow’s cut. He looked sideways at Saito, who had his arms crossed and seemed to be watching Kimura with great interest. Everyone else is watching Sojiro, but not Saito. He knows how our master fights. Now he wants to see how Ren Kimura of Rizen responds.

The motion was quick, but not too quick for Kenta’s trained eyes. As though in slow-motion, he watched Kimura raise the bokken above his head, and with a surging lunge bring it down right upon Sojiro’s skull.

The last few inches of the weapon snapped upon impact, and the sand at the challenger’s feet was now peppered with splinters. These were joined shortly by the headband, now fluttering toward the earth. A thin cut appeared on Kimura’s forehead, just between his eyes. Not deep, it wept a trickle of blood that ran down his nose and cheek.

Sojiro Aoshi lay motionless in the sand, face-down in a growing pool of blood. Before anyone could react, Kimura bowed to them all, and leaving the shattered bokken in the sand, beat a hasty retreat to the skiff and on the tide made a swift exit before anyone could react.

The silence that followed was stunned and heavy, broken only when Toya finally rushed forward and cradled the head of their master in his lap. “He’s dead!” Toya cried, and wept with grief.

Composed yet unsmiling, Saito ignored their master’s corpse, stepping forward and reaching for the bokken. He held it at arm’s length for a time, and seemed deep in thought. “So that is how you defeat the swallow’s cut,” Saito said, almost at a whisper.

“Saito?” Kenta said.

Ignoring the wailing of Toya and the others, Saito pulled their master’s sword from the sand and held it up to the bokken. They were of nearly the same length. “Except the bokken’s tip is now in pieces upon the sand,” Kenta said.

“Just so,” said Saito, deep in thought. “A longer blade would serve to outreach the Drying Pole, but be too slow to hit the mark before the wielder’s throat was slit. Kimura is fast, that is plain, but no faster than our master, even when fatigued. A few inches difference would be all he could afford, yet still any mistake or hesitation would mean certain death.” Saito paused then, dropping the Drying Pole and gathering up the tattered remains of Kimura’s headband. “Sojiro lost by a margin of inches,” he said, and it seemed to Kenta that Saito’s hands began to shake. “Our master never guessed it, but Kimura knew all along what he had to do: disorient his opponent, then design a proper tool for the job. He made this bokken just long enough to bring him to within a hair’s breadth of death. To strike ahead of the swallow’s cut was his only chance of victory, and he took it.”

“He was not afraid to die,” Kenta said, more to himself than anyone. “He did not hesitate to die the warrior’s death.”

Saito sneered, but paused, and softened as he spoke. “Death is death, Kenta. A warrior’s purpose is to win, not die. Call it strategy if you wish, or luck, but Kimura lives and Sojiro does not. Such is the delicate line between life and death—a hair’s breadth, in moments such as these.”

Feeling tears in his eyes, Kenta turned from Sojiro and looked out across the water toward the skiff, now a shrinking dot in the distance. A hair’s breadth, he thought as the sun dropped below the horizon, and night fell.

**Image from above retrieved from here.

A life update, and some personal thoughts

2015-05-31T11:42:00.000-04:00

The final day of May this year is proving a hot and humid one, which probably describes more days in the last thirty-one than not. A thunderstorm is in the forecast for later, of which we've had a few this month. That said, a lack of rain has left the streams low, and the soil in most places dry and hard-packed. The wave of oak-pollen that annually sends my nose into distress seems to have peaked, so that four days have now gone by without the need of allergy medication, or of a fresh tissue near at hand. The relief is welcome, and makes long walks in the evening more enjoyable.

Some further observations. The foliage in the forest has waxed in all its spring-time glory, shedding most of the flowers that dominate the early part of the season, instead taking up the dense foliage and lush greens of summer. From dawn to dusk, bird-song fills the air, and while the cherry blossoms have come and gone, now our garden is alive with roses red and pink, and strawberry plants heavy with fruit.

First strawberries of the season.

Landscapers, plumbers, painters, pavers, tree-trimmers, general-contractors, and others fill the neighborhood going about their work, spreading mulch, installing upgraded water-heaters, and laying cement to a new stretch of sidewalk.

Swim-clubs are now open on the weekends, and the Spring season for most high schools sports is at an end. Soon we'll see "congrats grad!" banners in windows and written across the back windshield of cars, and see articles in the paper on the best ways to pay for college. At night, the smell of smoke from fire-pits will likely be on the air, as well as the sound of popular music filtering over from some nearby pool party. On a quieter night, one can listen to the crickets and bull-frogs pandering their songs to the stars.

Venus and the Moon.

From a personal point of view, May has been a strange month in a number of ways. I won't discuss them in a specific way here, but mention them in passing because of the broader ideas they elicit. Foremost, I believe that mental health is a feature of experience that I, at least, too often neglect. The landscape of thoughts and images in the mind seems to be a central feature of how one appraises and experiences the world. To a considerable extent, it seems to dictate what we notice, how we feel, and what weight we give to certain things that happen to us. I've heard it said that thoughts define our reality, and while I'm not certain of that statement's truth, my conscience at least doesn't rebel at its claim.

Of late, I have often thought of that line in Hamlet that reads, "...for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Of my own situation, I've preferred to take a neutral point of view--that what has happened these last few months is intrinsically neither good nor bad, but will be defined and contextualized with the passage of time. This is what seems to happen with historical events more broadly defined: their significance is determined not by how it felt in the moment, but by how it shaped the years and decades and centuries that followed. Our present selves may deem what happened today as having extreme significance--that after today, "everything is different." On the other hand, our future selves will have lived through the day after, and the-day-after-the-day-after, and day after that.

For better or worse, I think those future selves will be in a better position to determine how good or bad some decision or moment turned out to be than I am today. Significance, perhaps, requires context, and context requires distance to see a thing in a broader sense. To paraphrase Machiavelli, seeing the mountain requires going to the plains, and seeing the plains requires going to the mountain. In that sense, I prefer at present to suspend judgment.

What the future holds I cannot say, but the month of May at least has proven interesting. Pretty soon we'll have blueberries to pick out back, and mosquitoes to dodge on our evening walks. Likely there will be plenty of work to do, friends to visit, and projects to take up. Lately I've taken an interest in computer science, and am curious to see where that takes me. I'm also looking forward to a little travel later in the summer, and perhaps performing a bit on the bassoon. We'll see how all of that goes.

For now, I think I'll go and make some lunch.

Happy Sunday :)

Huzzah for the National Spelling Bee 2015

2015-05-29T19:29:00.002-04:00

Eighth-graders Gokul Venkatachalam of Chesterfield, Missouri, and Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, were co-winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday.

Congratulations to the both of them, and to everyone who participated in or supported this year's National Spelling Bee. I always enjoy watching the final rounds on ESPN, and this year was no different. Thanks to all for your efforts :).

A full press release can be read here.

Arrived on my pile...

2015-05-26T22:20:00.003-04:00

I went to the library earlier, and came back with a few interesting titles:

"The Warrior King and the Invasion of France" (1988), Desmond Seward--This one looked interesting, and should serve as a good preface to Dan Jones' excellent book on the wars of the roses, which I recently finished (see review here).

"The Making of Modern Japan" (2000), Marius B. Jansen--A comprehensive history, to look at it. The writing is a bit dense in the early going, but we'll see how it turns out.

"In These Times: Living in Britain Through the Napoleonic Wars, 1793--1815" (2014), Jenny Uglow-- sounds like a neat book about life in England during the age of Napoleon. I'm looking forward to starting this one.

"A Random Walk Down Wall Street, 10th ed." (2011)*, Burton G. Malkiel--A classic and highly-recommended work in the world of investing, about which I've heard a lot and yet have not read. Feels very readable in the early going, and will probably be the book I read over breakfast each morning.

*Looks like there's an 11th edition now available.

"Very Good Lives" (2008), J.K. Rowling--A published version of the commencement address the author gave at Harvard in 2008. I've actually seen that address (so can you, here), but it might be worth perusing in printed form again.

An interesting thought

2015-05-26T21:53:00.001-04:00

"Love doesn’t drive people mad, it drives them sane. Desire, in its different forms, can drive people to do anything. Love never drives people to kill or steal or cheat or worry.

"Love reveals itself when you release your need to have the object of your affection, and see that there’s no reason to make it yours. That it exists at all is enough. To love something is to disappear in its favor — to die to your own interests so that it can be what it is."

That is by David Cain of Raptitude, from an essay you can read here. Very insightful, and full of ideas worth pondering further.

THE WARS OF THE ROSES: THE FALL OF THE PLANTAGENETS AND THE RISE OF THE TUDORS (2014)

2015-05-17T16:13:00.002-04:00

That's the title of an excellent book I've just finished reading by Dan Jones. I found it enjoyable, and an interesting narrative of English dynastic struggles during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, and how image-management, a series of assertive rulers, and the death of basically anyone with a claim to the throne not named "Tudor," served to bring the Wars of the Roses to and end, and secure the Tudor position as kings of England.

At base, the central argument of the book centers on the fragile nature of English kingship in that period, and how the risks associated with this particular institutional arrangement showed up in a major way following the death of the Henry V and during the reign of Henry VI. An excerpt makes this very point:

...the Wars of the Roses and the destruction of the house of Plantagenet did not really come about because two factions divided by blood were destined to atone through war for the sin of deposing Richard II. All the evil of the fifteenth century was not embodied in a villainous Richard III, and more than the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York provided instant salvation. Rather, this was a vicious and at times barely comprehensible period of deep political instability, which stemmed ultimately from the collapse of royal authority and English rule in France under Henry VI. In a system in which law, order, justice and peace flowed so heavily from the person of the king and the office of the Crown, Henry VI's reign (and his afterlife between deposition in 1461 and his death ten years later) was a disaster. The English system of government was robust in the 1420s and 1430s--robust enough to deal with a minority of nearly two decades. But it was not robust enough to deal with an adult king who simply would not perform his role (p. 339).

The book is interesting throughout, and I would recommend it.

Cheesy quote of the day

2015-05-07T22:40:00.004-04:00

"Always be thankful for what you have no matter how much or how little." ~EternalOptimist

Linked book

2015-05-04T23:21:00.002-04:00

"The Magic of Thinking Big" (1959)
By: Dr. David Schwartz

A bit old, but fun and quirky in its own way. Would recommend.

For the sake of play

2015-04-27T22:00:00.003-04:00

That is the subject of Stephen T. Asma's essay today in the NY-Times. Personally, I find my life more enjoyable when I can drop all pretense of productivity and do things for their own sake. Below is an excerpt:

"The stakes for play are higher than we think. Play is a way of beingthat resists the instrumental, expedient mode of existence. In play, we do not measure ourselves in terms of tangible productivity (extrinsic value), but instead, our physical and mental lives have intrinsic value of their own. It provides the source from which other extrinsic goods flow and eventually return.

When we see an activity like music as merely a “key to success,” we shortchange it and ourselves. Playing a musical instrument is both the pursuit of fulfillment and the very thing itself (the actualizing of potential). Playing, or even listening, in this case, is a kind of unique, embodied contemplation that can feed both the mind and the body."

The full piece can be read here.

a thought

2015-04-23T18:45:00.000-04:00

Some days just don't go well.

And sometimes those days go on for a while--for weeks, or months, or more.

It is a natural part of life.

So let's be real, and accept how things are.

Let's be optimistic, and focus on what can be done.

Step by step, we'll make it through.

The Blue Mountain

Arrived on my pile

Investing quotes

What I've been reading...

We're back...

Taking a trip

*Memories of Silk and Straw: A self-portrait of small-town Japan*

What I've been reading...

Congratulations USWNT: 2015 World Cup Champions

A Memorial to Dallett Hemphill

*Welcome to the N.H.K., N・H・Kにようこそ!*

Excerpt to ponder

Solstice Day

Humorous Excerpt

10 things about the author

Humorous excerpt

A Hair's Breath

A life update, and some personal thoughts

Huzzah for the National Spelling Bee 2015

Arrived on my pile...

An interesting thought

*THE WARS OF THE ROSES: THE FALL OF THE PLANTAGENETS AND THE RISE OF THE TUDORS* (2014)

Cheesy quote of the day

Linked book

For the sake of play

a thought

Memories of Silk and Straw: A self-portrait of small-town Japan

Welcome to the N.H.K., N・H・Kにようこそ!

THE WARS OF THE ROSES: THE FALL OF THE PLANTAGENETS AND THE RISE OF THE TUDORS (2014)