For my first ramble (on this site, that is. Those of you who know me have no doubt experienced first-hand ramblings from me), I thought I would discuss:
Do you know, I actually finished a book tonight? A real book. Start to finish. The start is not that impressive. I start books all the time. But tonight I actually finished a book! Amazing!
Now, it was not horribly difficult reading. Not Les Misérables, or the Summa Theologiae, both of which are sitting on my bedside table, waiting their turn. Nor did I read the entire book tonight. I started it several weeks ago. But it is the completion that is the exciting part! It was The Hobbit, a delightful little book by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is about, not surprisingly, a hobbit. About hobbits, the author says,
They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller
than the bearded dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or
no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them
disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come
blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a
mile off. They are inclined to be fat in the stomach; they dress in
bright colours (chiefly green and yellow); wear no shoes, because their
feet grow natural leathery soles and thick warm brown hair like the stuff
on their heads (which is curly); have long clever brown fingers,
good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after
dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it).
I was reading the book to remind myself (since I had read it at least once
before) of the stuff in it that can be used for
our his album. David was
concerned that in doing so, I would actually get quotations, etc., right,
instead of the incorrect, and therefore better, versions that I think
I remember years after reading them. But, he needn't fear, since it just
reminded me of what I remember, not what I just read. I have three kids.
My short-term memory is passed its limit already, thank you very much. But
reading it was enough to make me think of things for the album, such as a
song the only lyrics of which are, "The Eagles! The Eagles! <KLONK!>"
Did you know Michael Jackson really is an excellent musician? There has grown such a myth (largely unflattering) around him that I think people forget, or never knew, that he really is a great musician. I was looking for something to listen to after Ricky Martin (Anna's request), and remembered thinking that HIStory Past, Present and Future Book 1 was a good album, so I put it on. It really is good. I was planning on writing a whole review of it tonight, but since it is perilously close to morning already, and the alarm goes off at 7:00 am
One of the most distressing things about liking this album so much is that my favorite song of all (although Scream really works for me, these days) is Earth Song, which as full of liberal, peace-nik, environmental, eco-terrorist, Rodney-King-Can't-We-All-Just-Get-Along lyrics as you would imagine from the title. Maybe this was the beginning. Remind me to tell you the story of how I went from a knee-jerk capitalist conservative Republican to a principled, thoughtful political independent (and this was before people like Bob Smith started leaving the Republican Party).
Did you know that men walked on the moon?
No, really. That big light in the sky, like the sun, only dimmer? Changes shape? You know? Men From Earth got on the top of great big rockets and flew there. They landed and walked around ON THE MOON. Heck! Some even brought their cars!
I know, you're saying, "Of course I know that! Every one knows that!" But, do you really know what that means? I laugh at the retrospectives that are starting to pop up here at the end of the century and of the millenium, especially when they are written by political writers (Michael Medved, Haynes Johnson, etc.) because they put things like World War II, or the Cold War, as the Most Important Events of the Twentieth Century. They
Someone on the NewsHour mentioned a speech by President Kennedy in which he said that, "We do these things [going to the Moon], not because they are easy, but because they are difficult," or something like that. In 1999, our President would say, "We do these things [telling the truth], not because they are easy [for me], but because there is physical evidence." How did we get here? I often look at recent administrations, and have my doubts about democracy. How could the greatest form of government in the history of the world support, and even encourage, the abuses we've seen recently? But, forget about that, I want to upbeat.
It really was a great accomplishment for mankind to go to the Moon, one that is woefully underappreciated and misunderstood. The act itself was absolutely unprecedented and incredible. My grandfather was alive when the Wright Brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk, and when Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon. One lifetime encompassed the jump from the first powered flight to first flight to other worlds. That is incredible. That we were actually able to leave this planet is, in itself, incredible. People take it for granted that we can this, so they don't realize how amazing it is, or what to a hopeful future it can lead.
The other, and more important, aspect of the space program in the 1960's was the belief in two simple words, "We can." We take for granted that we can fly in space and go to other worlds. In the 60's, that was science fiction. Yet, it was in the 60's that we went to the Moon. The first step necessary to achieve great things is to say, "I can." We are surrounded with, "I can't," and therefore do not achieve great things.
As I see journalists look back on the Apollo program, and marvel at the "We can" spirit that infused it, I am reminded of the company where I work. We were, until recently, led by two great men, Mike and Paul. After Paul's death, Mike sent a memo to everyone in the company, which read, in part,
That is the spirit that got us to the Moon. And that is spirit that can get us through our daily lives. Do not say "I can't." You can. We all can. Do not accept others telling you they can't. They can. We all can. And we all have to, if we want to achieve anything.
My desire is that we move forward to make the Earth the best planet in the universe. It will be hard. At times it may seem impossible. But that is what we have always done: the impossible.
I don't have anything to say, really.
I can be so vindictive....
No, I take that back. I do want to say something. I was much (Marley's voice, no doubt about it), too much optimistic by the end of my last (or was it my first?) Ramblings. Or maybe I'm just too pessimistic now. I think we all know the reason why, and what her name is....
Or, was.
Or, at least, her brand name and model number.
Man! If you don't think Tom can get more morose, just play him a tape of him playing his old O1/W. He can plumb depths never before mind.
(Yeah, that was a cool, misspelling, wasn't it!)
Les Misérables and Summa Theologiae went back on the shelf, largely unread. I have since finished The Fellowship of the Ring and am more than halfway through The Two Towers. And, I have read over one hundred pages of Greek Literature An Anthology, which is the current book in my quest to read all of my books as they appear in my bookcases, chronologically by period, alphabetically by author, chronologically by publication. And here I am at Sophocles. I might finish by the time I die. I can't wait!
Well, I know that I can. I just have serious doubts about the rest of you....
The quotation from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was taken from
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The quote from My Fair Lady by Lerner & Loewe was taken from
My Fair Lady by Lerner & Loewe.
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