On or about 01-27-06 16:26, Ardith Hinton did engage James Bradley

 AH> Of course!  You're a musician.  Drummers are musicians too...

There are those who debate the issue, and often, with vindication. I did, just
yesterday, receive an invitation for my percussion work, so I'd like to think
I'm 'worthy'. 

The hardest thing for me right now is exercising the attention span. I was
never much on arrangements, and relied on notes, or scores, but just as I was
wrapping my head around complex arrangements, I couldn't figure out why I was
loosing it again. (sic.)

 JB>  Look in the mirror, FOOL!)

 AH>           Yes, I think that is often the case.  Years ago a
 AH> mother told me she & her son... who was a toddler at
 AH> time... weren't getting along very well.  It was a complete
 AH> mystery to her, but not to me.  I didn't have the heart to
 AH> tell her I thought it was because they were too much alike....  :-)

L!!! The ones who wonder why their offspring like to push those big red shiny
flashing buttons? A friend told his squeeze (I may have mentioned before?) and
her kid that loved pushing moms' buttons, "Don't push her buttons, and mom,
stop putting them front and centre." 

Usually it is easier for me to understand others, by recognizing why they may
be behaving in ways that seems obviously dysfunctional. The baggage they carry
may have nothing to do with common sense, but more painful to abandon than a
digit. 


 AH>           As Bernie Siegel commented, many people would
 AH> rather send a man to the moon than look inside their own
 AH> heads!  I agree with him that the effort is well worth
 AH> while.  But it's hard work, and they may not like all they
 AH> see there.  :-)

I'm not from Mars, I'm from American Graffiti.


 JB>  prepared to do anything about it!

 AH>           Makes sense to me.  If you don't consciously
 AH> realize what you're doing & why, you can't make an informed
 AH> decision about how to proceed....  :-)

"Informed..." That's a dirty word here. I've been toying with a flavour of
Linux, that - for a change - *is* well documented. My limited attention span,
and cortisoned hip joint have been trying to comprehend that.


 JB>  I guess the world is still turning, and everything is
 JB>  as it should be. 

 AH>           DESIDERATA... "No doubt the universe is unfolding
 AH> as it should."  :-))

Oh, can I quote you on that?


 AH>  I kept quiet when a certain person asked elsewhere why
 AH>  others are so stupid, ignorant, and thoughtless

 JB>  LOL! "Why is everyone but me crazy?"


 AH>           I guess such comments are supposed to impress upon me how
 AH> intelligent, well-informed & thoughtful the speaker is.

I was toying with a Friend of my mother. I don't live in the best
neighbourhood, and was explaining to her some of the idiocy I see around here.
She asked if there were any reasonable individuals near me. I got out through
the laughter, "Everybody's crazy but me." 

Of course, I said so in jest, but maybe I shouldn't. I just meet up with an old
friend that *is* on that kick, AND she was hospitalized a few times due to
mental illness. It's almost as insulting as telling a mentally ill person to
pull their socks up, or lift their boots up by the straps... Another
'certified' person pointed out to me, how insulting the comedic effect of "Take
a pill." or "Have you taken your medication?" can be. I'd
never thought of it
like that, and no longer find it as funny as I used to.


 AH> They don't.  I did notice how easily this person was able
 AH> to divert attention, however, from other people's concerns!
 AH> I'm delighted to help those who are ready, willing & able
 AH> to examine questions I think might lead to some interesting
 AH> discussion.  But I'm only human, and I need to talk to
 AH> people who will make an effort to understand my concerns
 AH> too....  :-/

"Yatzee!" The more I understand of it, the more these twelve step
programs make
sense. It's almost as predictable as the stages of mourning. A person has to
realize they are flawed, regardless how perfect they perceive themselves...

Again, a self-help junkie can be as sick as anyone, but, that every human being
could use work, really *is* the first step. If the person can't resign
themselves to that, why bother? 


 JB>  I need to shut up, and you start me in on these topics!

 AH>           I'm delighted to hear it... [chuckle].

L!!! Ya, I just worked off the cortisone. I've a couple of your messages in
stockpile, I've wanted to comment on, and you're *delighted*?  

 JB>  I'll bump into a wall enough times, that random events
 JB>  alone lets me stumble into the right course of action.
 JB>  Then, I realize I didn't take notes of how I achieved
 JB>  that success. (Yes, back to my LR 'puter.)


 AH>           So... you may need to remind yourself to take notes!  Trial &

Like a suture, they always end up too long, or too short.

 AH> error is a legitimate way to learn.  I read somewhere that people
 AH> who feel they have some control of their own destiny are
 AH> mentally healthier than people... including the
 AH> recidivists, perhaps?... who feel like victims of chance.

I'm not sure I buy that, cart blanch. There are MANY healthy Buddhists. 

Maybe, happy subjects of circumstance???

 AH> Seems to me you're on the right track when you recognize a
 AH> success & try to do the same again....  :-)

I've defended my hair-brained ideas often. I'll draw both a huge quantity, and
often large diagrams about a project, and not try to edit myself at that stage.
After revisiting the ideas, I'll naturally weed out the impossible, and
unreasonable, and people still think I'm off the wall with what I put together.

My front yard is a prime example. Aerially, it looks like a terraced heart.
I've mentioned it is also an effective pair of speed bumps. The grief and funny
looks made the execution near impossible to execute, as dad was constantly
waffling on his approval. (Typical parent? |-) After his small sabotages, I
sabotaged his attempts to sabotage - in the form of a big pile of pruned
branches, so he couldn't run the lawn mower over a planting and distribute more
weed seed heads. 

Off the wall? You bet! That was one hair brained idea that actually survived
intact from conception to execution. This fall, I unearthed an early, maybe the
first large drawing I made of the plan, and it is almost an exact facsimile.

Other projects go through HUGE changes from conception to execution. None of
them may them self, improve the resale value of the house, but together they
all should work together to improve my sense of comfort in my environment. If
they don't succeed, I have no qualms about scrubbing the works, and starting
with a revised plan. As I usually only loose salvaged material, and my time and
efforts, it's well spent for the experience.

Closure::Opener

PS: Hmmm... I guess this following is something to do with the spell chunker?
I'd never encountered it before.

 LocalWords:  synovial

... James
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