Who?  

Dateline Boston---The Democratic Convention

Boston--The Democratic Candidate Rouses the Nation and Stirs Citizens' Enthusiasm.  The Republicans Tremble. 

Not Bogart

Remember: Smoking is not good for philosophers and other living (or formerly living) things. 

Neither a fish, nor out of water 

Advice on How to Vote

"I never vote for anyone, I always vote against."   W.C. Fields 

On Quotations

[O]ne must never miss an opportunity of quoting things by others which are always more interesting than those one thinks up oneself. ---Marcel Proust

They Have Seen the Thing Themselves.

They have seen the thing themselves…

Rusted and wicked in its age
Detonating with seconds, amassed
Broken and willing occupation
Tender, yielding, and final
Just in its unattainable yearning
Scented in lavender and lilac
Impossible in the shadow of itself
Hidden amidst our frenzy
Typical as the mean
Complete before its beginning
Tense against its own boundaries
Lavish and arrayed in dread
Waking to the tremor of its pulse
Upright against the spiked angle
Stark as the moon in its declension.

Which one is Camus? 

MY TOE--A POEM

By Hannah and Moo Moo Camus

You ran over my toe,
You hobo,
Don’t you know,
That you just ran over my toe?
That’s my favorite toe
Way down low,
It’s big and puffy,
And shaped like Idaho.
OUCH!!! Watch where you’re going!
Be careful where you’re mowing!

Heidegger and the M&Ms

Scene: The Baja Men are blaring from the CD player in the kitchen. "Can you shake it like this? I can move it like that. Can you shake it like this? I can move it like that. Can you shake it like this? I can move it like that." Ad infinitum. It is 7:45 a.m. and Hannah my daughter and I are wolfing down a hurried breakfast, before we drive to summer camp. I stand up to take the breakfast dishes to the kitchen sink, and as I do, I turn around and notice this scene: Hannah, listening to and singing along with the Baja Men, is consuming a healthy breakfast of chocolate chip waffles with whipped cream and M&Ms on top. The music is among the worst I have ever heard, although, thank god, the lyrics are harmless, if dizzying. On the crowded kitchen table, right next to Hannah¹s chocolate chip pancakes, lies the Oxford Companion to Philosophy, which the night before, I have presciently, if unwittingly, opened to the entry, "Authenticity." It reads:

"The condition of those, according to Heidegger, who understand the existential structure of their lives. Heidegger held that each of us acquires an identity from our situationÐour family, culture, etc. Usually we just absorb this identity uncritically, but to let one¹s values and goals remain fixed without critical reflection on them is ‘inauthentic¹. The ‘authentic¹ individual who has been aroused from everyday concerns by angst, takes responsibility for their (sic) life and therefore ‘chooses¹ their own identity. But Heidegger also holds that some degree of inauthenticity is unavoidable; the critical assessment of values presupposes and uncritical acceptance of them, and the practical necessities of life give priority to the unreflective action over critical deliberation. So, as Heidegger makes clear, authenticity is like Christian salvation: a state which fallen individuals cannot guarantee by their own efforts."

I notice also that the dog is unremittingly scratching himself. Mental note: call vet. Additional mental note: refill propane tank so we can BBQ chicken for dinner tonight. One more mental note: the Oxford Companion has it wrong. It¹s not Christianity, per se, but Calvinism that says that "fallen" individuals can¹t guarantee salvation by their own efforts.

Meanwhile, I am attempting to achieve ‘authenticity¹: "The unexamined life isn¹t worth living." "I think, therefore I am." "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it." Etc. etc. etc. Thank goodness Hannah has left some M&Ms on her plate. Mental note: When I return from dropping Hannah off at camp, delete Being and Time from reading list and eat remaining M&Ms.

Why is the Dog Eating Steak While I'm Eating Corn Flakes?

I notice today, that Stanley, our poodle, is eating left-over steak for his breakfast. I notice this, as I find myself grudgingly cutting up pieces of steak and dropping them into his doggie bowl. Ahh, Breakfast; the most important meal of the day. Or so it is reputed. Protein is very important, especially in those early hours when the body is just recovering from the trials of a good night's sleep. That's why the dog needs steak, I guess. Meanwhile, I shuffle off, bunny slippers and all, to eat my corn flakes, fearful that I may become undernourished, while the dog thrives and prospers, renewed by the sustenance of animal protein, while I, downtrodden, scrape by on wood-flavored, nutritionless cardboard.

Happy Smiles in the Consumer Imperium

"The triumph of advertising in the culture industry is that consumers feel compelled to buy and use its products even though they see through them."
Dialectic of Enlightenment, "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception," Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944)

Sirius--The Dog Star

There once was a dog named Sirius
Who’d chase his tail, until he became quite delirious.
He’d run round and round
Until he wound down
And couldn’t tell his front from his rearious.

Not As Pretty As I Feel

I’ve recently discovered, that for far too long, I’ve thought of myself as smarter, better-looking, and taller than it turns out, I really am. This may come as a terrible shock to you, dear reader, to learn this. I know that it certainly did to me. Disappointingly, I’m not really that tall, that good looking, or that smart. (Oh, the crisis of enlightnement!) And I’m now struggling with the question of what to do with this new, regrettable knowledge. I’ve thought about going back to school, but that doesn’t help with the issues of height or beauty. Maybe cosmetology school?? No, I don’t think that will address the crux of the problem. And what about height? Elevator shoes? Well as I ponder the "ugly truth" you may wish to read some of the other entries in this Blog. See the "Previous Posts" section.