30 September, 2012

Seymour Goes To Heaven


Seymour was a good and pious man, and when he passed away, the Lord Himself greeted him at the pearly gates of Heaven.

"Hungry, Seymour?" the Lord asked. "I could eat," said Seymour. The Lord opened a can of tuna, and they shared it.

While eating this humble meal, Seymour looked down into Hell and noticed the inhabitants devouring enormous steaks, pheasant, pastries, and vodka.

The next day, the Lord again asked Seymour if he were hungry, and Seymour again said, "I could eat." Once again, a can of tuna was opened and shared, while down below Seymour noticed a feast of caviar, champagne, lamb, truffles, brandy, and chocolates.

The following day, meal time arrived, and another can of tuna was opened.

Meekly, Seymour said, "Lord, I am very happy to be in heaven as a reward for the good life I lived. But this is Heaven, and all I get to eat is tuna. In the Other Place, they eat like kings. I just don't understand."

"To be honest, Seymour," the Lord said, "for just two people, does it pay to cook?"
Author Unknown

29 September, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

28 September, 2012

Mighty Finn - Update #6

Holy datebook, friends. Has it really been another month?! It's amazing how fast the days go by when you stay busy. Anyway ... thanks for stopping back to check on me. Biggest news is I'm crawling now. It's just so cool! I can move!

 It's all you need. Good book. iPhone.
Some quality beads to mouth - if I drop my pacifier.

Can't start working too soon on my upper body strength -
so here I am showing off at a local park.

That strength isn't just for showing off -
it's also useful for getting perfectly situated in my stroller. 

Indoor workout? Of course. 

 Mommy's always right there though.
She knows I want to try that giant swing - just like at  the Olympics.

A bit of artfully concealed cooling down after my workout.
Discretion is important to learn early, I think.
Some princes have yet to learn that.

I'm so hungry after my workout that I could eat the menu. 

Minnie Pearly would approve. 

 Another day, another bistro.

But now it's time to look out on those brash Rocky Mountains
and reflect a bit on what a great ride I'm having so far.


27 September, 2012

{poetically plagiarized} 11: Niebuhr





Serenity Prayer



God, grant us ...
Serenity to accept things we cannot change,
Courage to change the things we can,
and Wisdom to know the difference.

Grant us ...
Patience for the things that take time,
Appreciation for all that we have,
And Tolerance for those with different struggles.

And grant us ...
Freedom to live beyond the limitations of our past ways,
Ability to feel Your love for us and our love for each other,
and Strength to get up and try again even when we feel it is hopeless.


Adapted from Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971), American theologian.

26 September, 2012

I'm More Than Cranky. Way More.

I have some physical challenges. It doesn't have to be a whirlpool. No big deal. I cope.

I arrived at work today, however, only to find all of the handicapped parking blocked off and a campus safety officer watching over it all.

No advance notice. No reason. No nothing about why an entire section of a parking lot was needed for more something important than the needs of those of us with challenges.

Normally this is not too big a deal for me, but for the past two months I have needed supplemental oxygen - which I have to tote along with me. Today I would need to tote it twice as far and because I wasn't thinking clearly, I would be toting it uphill. On top of that, it was a 'BAD' day for my physically. Arrrggghhh!!!

That's what happens when you spring these changes on us. When we can follow our plans, we manage just fine, but require us to make some impromptu changes, and we make mistakes - at least we have more difficulty than there needs to be. For me - today - that meant stopping to catch my breath seven times between parking and my office.

So I complained. I wrote the president, the provost, the associate provost and my dean that "there was never, never, never any acceptable excuse for blocking the handicapped parking spaces" and that I almost just went back home.

And ... not one of them was aware that this had happened or that there was even an event that could lead to it.

Once again we take a seat in the back row, and I'm way past cranky.

Give me my civil rights back.
TGB   
See:
Desperately Seeking Parking
Too Bad, But I Got There First
Service Denied!

25 September, 2012

{essential truths} Normality

As your life unfolds,
you will encounter more people
than you might have expected
who seem perfectly normal
until you meet them.


24 September, 2012

{picture perfect} Церковь

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
(Церковь Спаса на Крови)
On the Griboedov Canal, just north of Nevsky Prospect
St. Petersburg, Russia
Digital image
Copyright © 2003 Thomas G. Brown

23 September, 2012

The Irish Brothel

A pair of Irish ditch diggers were repairing some road damage directly across the street from a whore house. They witnessed a Protestant Minister lurking about, then ducking into the house.

"Would ya look at that, Darby!" said Pat. "What a shameful disgrace, those Protestant Reverends sinning in a house the likes of that place!" They both shook their heads and continued working.

A short time later they watched as a Rabbi looked around cautiously and then darted into the house when he was satisfied no one was looking. "Did ya see that, Darby?" Pat asked in shock and disbelief, "Is nothing holy to those Jewish Rabbis? I just can't understand what the world is coming to these days. A man of the cloth indulging himself in sins of the flesh. 'Tis a shame, I tell ya!"

Not much later a third man, a Catholic Priest, was lurking about the house, looking around to see if any one was watching, then quietly sneaking in.

"Oh no, Darby, look!" said Pat, removing his cap, "One of the poor girls musta died."
Author Unknown   

22 September, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

20 September, 2012

{this memory} 62

This is the story behind last Monday's {this moment}.

Ah, youth. That would be me - 35 years ago in one of the animal research labs at Utica College.

Today I would be called a neuroscientist, but my training is as a specialist in theories of learning and motivation with further training in physiological psychology and in animal behavior.

That's right, lab rats, I study ... er ... lab rats. When I joined the faculty at UC, there was very little to support animal research, but a series of state and federal grants took care of that. In this photo you see some of the first cohort of subjects for my research - White Carneau pigeons.

Where are the rats, you ask? Well, it depends on the research question, and the animal is just a tool to help us explore the lawfulness of behavior. Different behaviors, different animals. Although I have used rats, monkeys, and pigeons over the years, these pigeons are by far my favorite subject.

I loved my years in the laboratory, and as my career begins to wind down, I have many wonderful memories of excellent students and quality research. I am a fortunate man.
TGB

19 September, 2012

Up Pumping

About a year ago a good blogging friend challenged us to come up the one song that really gets you going when you need it - your personal Pep Song. Rocky always had a great one, but I had trouble doing this. I narrowed it to two possibilities and responded with that, but it's too narrow for me. I scanned my iTunes files (over 6000 songs) and found well over a dozen that all served to put me, as she wrote, "in a positive and 'watch-out-world-I'm-so-ready-for-you' mood"

One thing that did occur to me as I scanned those songs was music's inherent ability to control my mood. It didn't matter what mood or emotion I wanted to dial up - I easily could find an artist or a series of songs that woud get me there.

But back to my Pep Song. Er, Songs. It was a struggle; I had sixteen. I chopped four by restricting artists to only one song in my list and chopped three more because they just didn't quite measure up to the others from the perspective of "pump-me-up-ability" - not that I don't love the songs though.

Here are my top nine and in roughly this order, but the order could easily be different tomorrow -- ALTHOUGH I did this again a few months ago having forgotten about this post and came up with pretty much the same list. Validation.

1. John Fogerty - Centerfield


2. The Eagles - Life in the Fast Lane


3. Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop


4. Dire Straits - Walk of Life


5. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Old Time Rock and Roll


6. The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up

7. The Doobie Brothers - China Road

8. Shania Twain - Rock This Country


9. Huey Lewis and the News - Heart of Rock and Roll
(takes about a minute to get rockin')


The three that almost made it are: Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama; Crosby, Stills, and Nash - Love the One You're With; and The Who - Who Are You.

And the doubles I arbitrarily chopped: Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way; Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Rock and Roll Never Forgets; The Rolling Stones - Satisfaction; and The Eagles - Take It Easy.

Don't mess with me - I'm pumped, world.
TGB   

18 September, 2012

{essential truths} Computer

A human being never stands so tall
as when stooping to help
a small computer.


17 September, 2012

{this moment} 62

A Monday ritual. A single image - no words - capturing a moment from the past - sometimes a place with many moments - but somewhere along my life's Journey over which I wish to linger a bit and savor each treasured aspect of the memories it evokes. If you are moved or intrigued by my {this moment}, please leave a comment. On Thursday in a companion ritual called {this memory}, I'll share the story of this moment.
{this moment}
Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

{this moment} is a ritual copied and adapted from cath's wonderful blog ~just my thoughts. She, in turn, borrowed it from Pamanner's Blog. Check out their blogs, and if you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your {this moment} in the comments for each of us to find and see.
TGB   

16 September, 2012

Never Been Used

In parochial school students are taught that lying is a sin. Instructions, however, also advised that using a bit of imagination was acceptable to express the truth differently without lying. Below is a perfect example.

An attractive young woman on a flight from Ireland asked the priest beside her, "Father, may I ask a favor?"

"Of course, child. What may I do for you?"

"Well, I bought my mother an expensive hair dryer for her birthday. It is unopened but well over the Customs limits, and I'm afraid they'll confiscate it. Is there any way you could carry it through customs for me - hide it under your robes perhaps?"

"I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you. I will not lie."

"With your honest face, Father, no one will question you."

When they got to Customs, she let the priest go first. The official asked, "Father, do you have anything to declare?"

"From the top of my head down to my waist, I have nothing to declare."

The official thought this answer strange, so asked, "And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?"

"I have a marvellous instrument designed to be used on a woman, but which is, to date, unused."

Roaring with laughter, the official said, "Go ahead, Father. Next please!"

Author Unknown   
Contributed by Claire   

15 September, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

13 September, 2012

{poetically plagiarized} 10: Subraman

Book Passion

I dreamed I was eating
a book.
It was made from 8” by 12” slabs
one inch deep.
It tasted like cheese
but cut like watercress.
as I chewed I understood.

As I looked around
others were reading
the same title
but in the regular way
I couldn’t determine
which was best,
eyes only
or digesting it my way.

Others began to notice me
and stare.
Made me feel queer.

I was in a restaurant though,
a fitting place to eat
and drink
so I ordered bourbon
and I kept on chewing.

I realized
their eyes
would never make them full.

Belinda Subraman, 1986

12 September, 2012

Dazed In Arizona

It was in May, of 1996, and we were in Tucson, of Arizona. I'm not much of a bird watcher, but it was only two days after I had added Geococcyx californianus to my Life List. That would be the Greater Roadrunner, and given what I was about to experience, it was just so appropriate that it belongs to one of the 30+ genera of the cuckoo family - the fastest, of course, reaching speeds of nearly 20 miles per houa when chasing prey.

My friend said it was surreal, and he was correct. It was, in fact, one of those kinds of moments you live for but can't imagine would ever actually happen. In fact, in this case no one would have ever imagined it. Period.

I was in town with my wife and two daughters because the elder daughter was competing in the International Science and Engineering Fair. With us was another couple from our area with whom we were friends and whose daughter was also competing. We were excited about the competition, but we were also determined to see all that we could in the area.

We drove up Kitt Peak to see the collection of telescopes at the National Observatory - especially the impressive McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope.

We visited Old Tucson Studios where many television episodes and over 70 movies have been filmed since 1939, including Rio Bravo with John Wayne.

We made a quick stop to see the University of Arizona.

We went horseback riding among the cacti in Saguaro National Park, and we even went underground into the dry caverns of Colossal Cave Mountain Park.

But nooooooo. None of those were surreal. My memory is getting dim, but I think it might have been the last evening of the competition. They threw a party for us at the Biosphere 2 complex.

Biosphere 2 is a 3.15-acre structure constructed between 1987 and 1991 as an artificial, materially-closed ecological system. It was used to explore the complex web of interactions within life systems in a structure that included areas based on five different natural biomes, an agricultural area, and a human living/working space. In September of 1991, four men and four women were sealed in for two years. A second team - and the last - entered a few years later.

And there we sat. We had completed our tour of the facility, and the party was in full swing. My friend - the other father - looked at me and said, "You know, if you had ever looked at me and said that one day we would be sitting on the lawn (see above) of the Biosphere, with over 1500 adolescents, eating hot dogs and hamburgers paid for by Intel and listening to a rock band belt out some golden oldies, I would have had to suggest we take a serious look at adjusting your medications."

He was right. Who would have thought it? And who would have thought things would someday get even crazier in Arizona.
TGB  

11 September, 2012

{essential truths} Stretch

When you wake up in the morning,

it is always, always, always acceptable
to stretch and make baby dinosaur noises
before you have your coffee.

10 September, 2012

{picture perfect} Ocracoke


Ocracoke Light Station, Built 1823
(replacing a 1795 tower)
Ocracoke Island
North Carolina

See: Birth of Salvation
Digital scan of 35mm color slide
Copyright © 2011 Thomas G. Brown

09 September, 2012

No Enemies


Toward the end of the Sunday service, the Minister asked, "How many of you have forgiven your enemies?" 80% held up their hands.

The Minister then repeated his question. All responded this time, except one man, an avid golfer named Walter Barnes, who attended church only when the weather was bad.

"Mr. Barnes, it's obviously not a good morning for golf. It's good to see you here today. Are you not willing to forgive your enemies?"

"I don't have any," he replied gruffly.

"Mr. Barnes, that is very unusual. How old are you?"

"Ninety-eight," he replied. The congregation stood up and clapped their hands.

"Oh, Mr. Barnes, would you please come down in front and tell us all how a person can live ninety-eight years and not have an enemy in the world?"

The old golfer tottered down the aisle, stopped in front of the pulpit, turned around, faced the congregation, and said simply,

"I outlived the bastards."
Author Unknown  
Contributed by Claire   

08 September, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.

07 September, 2012

Poetically Embraced

I wrote this last December, just before January's marathon thirty poems in thirty days throwdown. I don't recall any particular inspiration, but I may have come across the image and simply wanted to write something to pair with it. Perhaps I was just playing with moods and words. It's not great, but I kind of like it although it seems unfinished. I hope you do too.
TGB   

unforeseen
embrace arrives
warm and nourishing
like mist on summer’s morn
but once the day unfolds
treasured embrace
and mist alike
become just
memory

06 September, 2012

{this memory} 61

This is the story behind last Monday's {this moment}.

Are lingering and unanswered questions also memories? Unmemories? This image may be from Crossville, Illinois, or from Naylor, Missouri. Not sure, but I do know it is from 1912, exactly 100 years ago.

The soldier is my paternal grandfather, and the child is my father. He was three in this image.

I know little about my grandfather. What I do know I posted in {this memory} 7, and I've posted several times about my father. For example, see Father's Day.

The mystery is the occasion of this photo. It is the earliest I have seen of my father. His father had abandoned him (and his mother) when he was an infant, a couple of years before this photo. Why was my grandfather back from Arizona? How often did he come? My father never mentioned him.

In fact, I'm not aware he had any presence at all in my father's life. I want to know just as surely as I want to smack him for treating my father that way. I did visit his grave once, and I didn't know what to feel.

Of my father, there is no conflict. I have nothing but the warmest memories.

In spite of the things I don't know, I still have so many wonderful memories. I am a fortunate man.
TGB

05 September, 2012

04 September, 2012

The Man Who Would Be Patient

A spiritual master - one of many gifted Teachers in my life - has suggested that patience asks us to live each moment to the fullest, to be completely present, to taste the here and now, and to be where we are.

This is harmony. This is beautiful music. It is a simple wisdom - an essential truth that is easily ignored and far too successfully by most of my fellow travelers on the River.

My hope is that I have accepted this euphonism from my Teachers and that by listening to them practice its melody, I have embraced it. What remains to be seen, however, is how well I have learned the notes and whether the nagging noises of a tumultuous world can muddle what has so effectively and effortlessly been composed for me.
TGB  
Repeated from September of 2011  

03 September, 2012

{this moment} 61

A Monday ritual. A single image - no words - capturing a moment from the past - sometimes a place with many moments - but somewhere along my life's Journey over which I wish to linger a bit and savor each treasured aspect of the memories it evokes. If you are moved or intrigued by my {this moment}, please leave a comment. On Thursday in a companion ritual called {this memory}, I'll share the story of this moment.
{this moment}
Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

{this moment} is a ritual copied and adapted from cath's wonderful blog ~just my thoughts. She, in turn, borrowed it from Pamanner's Blog. Check out their blogs, and if you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your {this moment} in the comments for each of us to find and see.
TGB   

02 September, 2012

Gone Too Soon


The Pope, Billy Graham, and Oral Roberts were in a three-way plane crash over the Pacific Ocean. They all died and went to heaven together.

"Oh, this is terrible," exclaimed Saint Peter. "I know you guys think we summoned you here, but this is just one of those coincidences that happen. Since we weren't expecting you, your quarters just aren't ready. We can't take you in, and we can't send you back."

Then he got an idea. He picked up the phone, "Lucifer, this is Pete. Hey, I got these three guys up here. They're ours, but we weren't expecting them. We gotta fix the place up for them. I was hoping you could put them up for a while. It'll only be a couple of days. What do you say?"

Reluctantly, the Devil agreed. Two days later, however, Saint Peter got a call.

"Pete, Lu. Hey, you gotta come get these three clowns. This Pope fellow is forgiving everybody, the Graham guy is saving everybody, and that Oral Roberts has raised enough money to buy air conditioning.

Author Unknown   

01 September, 2012

Tree

Almost every day I photograph this tree near my office window - always from the same angle, the same zoom, and about the same time of day. This is my favorite image from the past week.
TGB   

Copyright © 2012 Thomas G. Brown

To view a video set to music that contains 135 images taken over 12 months, click here.

For the 2010 collection of images, click here.
For the 2011 collection of images, click here.
For the 2012 collection of images, click here.