Gathering Ideas

Ideas are easy. I get ideas for articles all the time. I just don't follow through on them. I get a lot of my ideas while I'm driving. I read decades ago that driving occupies your analytical mind and lets your creative mind work unhindered. I believe that's probably true.

I think about how I am not doing my Prime Blog Posts this month. I'm tired and there are too many other things going on in life at the moment. (Thoughts of my no doubt less-than-helpful emails to my two youngest and my letter to my son B, currently supported by Brazoria County, and I shake those off.) Maybe I can do a blog post on the days evenly divisible by ten. I still gather ideas, though.

There were better sunbathing pictures, but not safer ones!

For instance I drove to work this morning a little later than usual. In the Houston area that usually means glaring sunshine and maximum air conditioning, but this is the start of the two weeks (I hope) in the fall when the weather is gorgeous here. I think how 75 degrees seems a bit chilly to me and how my brothers would think it's nice. Maybe body chemistry changes depending on the weather we're used to.
The weather made me think of Costa Rica, since the weather there is supposed to be "perfect" all the time. Yet just last week Costa Rica had a 7.6 earthquake.  My brother saw it in almost real-time, before the news services. He was teaching a class on tectonics, had the data tracker open for earthquakes and it started pinging. This was twenty minutes before the news services picked up and broadcast the story.
Thinking of news services made me think of the (not-so) hidden groups that control the country. My brother says the politicians run the news. I say the news makes the politicians and run the country by influencing voters. No matter how you look at it, the politicians currently suck. That's the technical term. My brother and I don't agree on much politically or religiously, but we agree on that.
Which got me questioning what kind of people run for politics? One group certainly would be those who want fame, with huge egos that demand a lot of media. Some of them go into Hollywood (like Oprah and George Clooney) instead. There's a group that see politics as a way to make a fortune, or increase one, and maybe they're right. There is certainly the group who want power, usually to go along with the first two reasons. There might be a few who go into politics solely for the purpose of helping to govern a great nation and provide a strong future for our children and grandchildren. I don't know if that last group can withstand the pressures of Washington without being crushed into one of the other groups, though.
Thinking of politics made me wonder how the Democrats kicked God off their platform and booed when mention of God was left on anyway. I had to do some research on that one. What they did was do a voice vote to remove the phrase "God-given rights" from the platform wording. To be fair, the delegates didn't necessarily boo the decision to put the phrase back in, they probably booed the decision that the voice vote was sufficient to decide. Interestingly, this bit of news didn't get much play in the mainstream media and I couldn't even find it on CNN, except a few articles wondering why they put the phrase back in and what party can represent atheists. I'm still baffled, but I liked the Catholic article on the incident.
The Democratic platform also has a paragraph (not changed) stating “We gather to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth – the simple principle that in America, hard work should pay off, responsibility should be rewarded, and each one of us should be able to go as far as our talent and drive take us.” Even ignoring the omission of "God-given rights" from their previous platform statement, my big concern is the fact that if hard work pays off, you are responsible and rewarded and go as far as talent and drive take you - then you now pay an extra burden of taxes. So do well and be punished for it. I don't get it.
Top 10% paid 71% of taxes
I also thought about Darling and how she isn't doing terribly well after this surgery. The pain meds ("better than morphine" according to one doctor) don't seem to do the job and she's itching all the time. She's also nauseated (as in feeling nausea, as opposed to nauseous, which means to cause nausea). I'm not a very good caretaker; when Darling feels bad I don't know what to do and I find myself frustrated and angry. Why isn't there a pill to take care of everything all at once? I'd take it.
I started thinking how you should always have a notebook and be prepared to write your ideas down. I've lost many, many ideas because I did not capture them and they escaped into the either. No problem! I have an iPhone, so I started Siri and said "Record memo" and once again realized how stupid Siri is for the things I want to do. "I found fifteen record stores near you," she replied and even pronounced "record" using the verb pronunciation.
And I think of how I order a really big breakfast because I'm hungry, then eat two potato nuggets from the breakfast meal and I'm not hungry any more. That gives me lunch today and breakfast tomorrow, I guess. As I finished the nuggets at my desk I get one more thought for a Blog post.
I opened a small ketchup container I brought from home. It seems that ketchup in those small plastic/aluminum containers have a shelf-life. At least the old one I opened seemed mostly water, and that sure isn't appealing. Chemical Engineers had a hand in how to do the food for those little containers. Look at the work they do in University of California, Davis in the Food Science department. That's interesting stuff and would make a good post, if I wanted to do so. Now that I know these containers have a life expectancy, there will be a mass burial when I get home.
By then, of course, I'll have more ideas that Siri won't record for me.

Comments

  1. Still spelunking for ideas myself, father dear. >.> At 2 AM. Oh, charming 2 AM. I'm glad you've got so many buzzing through your brain, sad that Siri's a bit stupid, worried about your stress and Mom's pain, wishing things were better for you.

    I visit the lad not this weekend but the next. That should be nice. I will try and visit the two of you soon, too, so we can share delicious breakfasts in this slightly chilly weather.

    Politics baffle me. I ought to pay attention and I don't. Thanks for posting a bit about it...it's all the news of it I have.

    Love you.

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