As a child, I had great dreams, too, especially when I heard of
supercomputers like the CRAY-II helping mankind make great leaps in
science and physics. But as a teenager, I learned that man
accomplished his greatest tasks (landing on the moon and the atomic
bomb) with no more than a slide-rule and belief that what we dream, we
can accomplish; and at the same time noticed a kind of stagnation -
our forward momentum seemed to be interrupted.
Today, though, we are scrapping the space shuttle program with no
replacement program ready to go. We are not colonizing the moon; we
are not exploring Mars. We start wars for as little pretense as ever,
with endings that result in no conquest, no moral determination, no
resolution. Instead of a society that dreams and builds, we - the
world - has become a society that condemns and restricts. Once-great
institutions, such as the Boy Scouts, the masons, and the Salvation
Army, have been laid low, replaced with embittered and embattled
institutions which exist for no other reason than to restrict and
suppress, such as HOAs.
Isaac Asimov saw all of this coming. I think he did not imagine it
would happen so soon. He's probably rolling over in his grave, as
must be so many of the Greatest Generation who worked so hard to build
a shining new world from the ashes of WWII.
Such things have been on my mind a lot, lately. There's so little my generation has contributed to the advancement of society. Oh, it's not for lack of trying or motivation - it just...dissipates. I voted for Obama simply because I believed him to be a better choice than McCain. Our country needs a new direction and I didn't see McCain providing that. I was not convinced, nor am I now, that Obama can - but his chances are better. "Change" was a great catch-word; but change doesn't come without cooperation, and Obama's ascendancy has not mended great rifts and there is less cooperation than before. Much of the non-cooperation, it seems, is simply out of spite. And I wonder how our nation can survive; for if this is how we act at home, how can we possibly be taken seriously on the world stage?
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Lousy run today. did not go to the race. Just stayed home, got out about 3:30 and did 4 miles. 52 degrees, cloudy, and as it turned out, VERY windy. I should have worn gloves and a hat. I was not able to run more than 2/3 of the distance, total, so I was walking about half the time. Sometimes I didn't have the breath, sometimes I just couldn't fight the wind. March. In like a lamb, out like a lion.
Gotta be up early tomorrow and go in and have bloodwork done. Is it more convenient waiting for a nurse to come draw blood? Yes; but it is more reliable to go to the lab myself. They are getting to know me by name there. My doctor and I are still chasing down this blood sugar thing; the most recent development is low platelets, perhaps due to the Vanco. Not very low, but enough the doctor was concerned because my history is of no problems there.
I am perhaps a little depressed. I have lots of things to do which are creative and energize me, but I find it hard to maintain energy for any length of time. Also, my favorite show of all time is now over. I am going to have
So as not to end this post on a downer, I want to highlight a new series on TV: Better Off Ted. I've only seen the pilot so far, but I was chuckling all the way through. It is like The Office mixed with Mad Men mixed with Scrubs. And it means Portia DeRossi is back on TV. I looooove Portia DeRossi.
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