Learning, living, loving and aging.

Occasionally I like to watch the IBM Watson commercial with Bob Dylan.It is easy to find on YouTube.

It reminds me of the power of language. Dylan is a master with words. His lyrics are so profound, have meant so much to so many. But, when it comes down to it, time passes and love fades. What else is there?

No matter what you write those themes are probably in there somewhere.  And really, those are all you need if you consider how much your life has changed since you first started paying attention, everything noteworthy can be summed up in those simple statements.

Time passes, and it goes fast, or it goes slow, sometimes it goes so slowly it doesn't seem to be passing at all. But, it does, and those times are a story all their own. Those times are often the best stories, the stories I look for.

"Some of these memories you can learn to live
with and some of them you can't"

And, love fades. There is nothing that burns so bright, so hot, as love. It has to fade or it would
consume you. Passion is replaced by fondness. Lusty, untrammeled obsession gives way to a comfortable need, that owes more to gentle caresses than anything carnal. And those are the stories I look for. The time tested attraction of people growing old together.

I look for hope and life, love and meaning in everything. Dylan taught me to do that. So, if you have a story tell it, and I will add it here. I think it will help people who need to know things change, but that is ok.

Dylan is a genius. His words have given hope, inspiration, pain to generations. I'm not sure he understands his importance in the world. And his overwhelming message, to me anyway is "the only thing I knew how to do was to keep on keeping on."

Life Explained Explains Life.

There are moments in life where time changes. It is not fluid. Time speeds up, and slows down. Sometimes there are so many things happening at once that time seems to collapse. Great painful heaps of tasks and chores. So many things to do that nothing happens, and time coils around you threatening to squeeze the life out of your tired, tear stained body.

Summer is like that. Heat takes a toll, and leaves you gasping for breath. The lawn needs mowed but it is almost like walking on the surface of the sun. Flowers are turning to dust right before your eyes, the sadness is unbearable.

Autumn comes and brings sweet relief, a chance to pause and take stock, but the rain gutters need cleaned, so don't take too long. Make sure you know where the snow shovel is, it will soon be needed. Dethatch, and aerate the lawn, put on the last treatment, and if you have enough energy maybe even "overseed."

But, we here at Life Explained, have always felt that life is a loose reflection of reality. Not a direct copy. More of a close facsimile. It is almost there, you can almost see it, then it is gone. So, don't worry too much about the problems, they may not even exist. It might be a myth, a story, like the bogeyman to make adults behave in a productive, profitable manner.

When you are running late to work, and dribble maple syrup on your shirt, and there is an accident on the freeway, two exits before yours, and traffic is backed up for miles, and there is no hope of getting to work before all of the bagels are eaten, don't sweat it. Just put on some Dylan, or event better one of those long Dead Songs from Europe 72, tap your steering wheel keeping time to the music and smile.

We are fairly certain that life is not as harried, and stressful as people would lead you to believe. In fact, we went and made coffee between this sentence and the last. Just walked away, carefree. Sure, this post is not going to write itself, and there is other things that need attention, but coffee called, and we answered.

We just returned from getting a cup of coffee, and no problems. And it is even better for the small act of rebellion, How many things are we worried about that are just not that troublesome? We don't know, but we intend to find out.

Join us, in the Life Explained Revolution. A movement to find the truth, to find reality. . Right now, get up, walk over and get a cup of coffee, stop and chat up a co-worker, and let us know what happened. We bet it was nothing bad. If you are in the middle of surgery, please ignore this advice, even if you are the patient.

Dilemmas Of Modern Life.

Where does a person draw the line? A question that applies to almost every situation, every day. At work, lunch time, cruise to the kitchen, stop and chat with a few co-workers, stuck in their cubicles, chained to their desks, waiting for that all important call, email, or fax. Man, poor suckers! But, you, my friend, you are free.

Ah, the sweet joy of lunch time, birds sing, eagles soar, and you are floating on air. A brief stop to waltz with the receptionists chair, and you are there, the kitchen, the last bastion of freedom in this wicked world of crushing, suffocating responsibility.

Plus, you have leftover Huli Huli chicken, wild rice and asparagus. So good, so tasty, so mush better the next day. How does that always happen? One day something is so delicious and the next day it is ambrosia. Who cares? Why analyze it? Just enjoy.

What?!??! Someone is using the microwave! and there are meals stacked up behind it, like a train wreck of tasteless food. Isn't there a faster way to warm up lunch?  That microwave is so slow! Curse the fates.

No one is there. Should you just sneak that awful looking, cheese covered pile of awful, processed
food out and warm up your healthy, delicious celebration of nutritional joy?

Looking around, you notice there is nobody near the kitchen. Nobody would see. It would be simple, pop your meal in warm it up and be eating before anybody notices.  What if you got caught, though? How would you explain this?

"My lunchtime is more important than yours."  My meal is better than yours."

Damn these moral dilemmas. These are the great questions of our generation. We should really get a hobby.

On a more historical note, fifty years ago today Bob Dylan played an electric set at the Newport Folk Festival. He was booed, and criticized, and cursed. Being Bob Dylan he didn't care. Since then he has gained some acclaim as a singer songwriter. Here is one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9EKqQWPjyo

Thank you, to all of the Dylan fans here.

Somebody, possibly several somebodies, has been posting quite a few Bob Dylan videos on Google+.  This has made me very happy, thank you all.  Dylan has been an icon in my life for so many years, memory fades trying to remember a time when he wasn't a regular on my music player, I had Bob Dylan 8 tracks cassettes.  It was a long time ago.

To this day, Dylan remains an unrepentant individualist.  His recent work may be as strong as his earliest albums.  He writes songs that can be universal in meaning, and so narrowly focused at the same time.  He hammers home a point and lets the listener figure out what it means to them.

Since he began his meteoric rise to music royalty he has been unapologetic, and cared little for the criticism.  He ignored the people who felt his voice was less than ideal, the same for the people who felt he sold out whatever style they preferred.  He made music his way, and when he sang it always seemed to me that the voice and lyrics were a perfect match.

His voice has aged, and changed, but I still find it perfectly in sync with the lyrics.  Lyrics that are still strong and vibrant, filled with life, and meaning.  He is evolving, experimenting, even at 73 he is new and fresh.  I hope he is working on another album.

His music takes a lot of room on my phone, and Siri and I listen to a lot of Dylan.  "Siri, play 'Changing of the Guards'."


So to all of you who have been posting his videos, thank you, because the times may be changing but Dylan is still fantastic.  Let me return the favor."Changing of the Guards" album version

It is time to accept reality, but only small bits.

It seems that some one has switched on the accelerator, and it has caused me to age at an abnormal rate.  Looking in the mirror this morning I couldn't help noticing the kindly old man watching me brush my teeth.  Poor, old gentleman, obviously lost, and now stuck in the mirror in the bathroom at our home.  I even asked my wife, "who is that old fool in our bathroom mirror?"  She sighed, and complimented me on such an accurate description.

It is very similar to "The Picture of Dorian Gray," except we are both aging, and quickly, too.  It has been said "the camera adds ten pounds," what is not so widely reported, though, is the fact that the mirror adds at least five, and possibly seven years.  One very important lesson here, don't take a picture of yourself in the mirror.  You won't like what you see.

Many aboriginal tribes feel that cameras will steal their soul, and having a photo taken is disrespectful the spiritual world.  Maybe the translation was imperfect, maybe what they were saying was something along the lines of "goodness, that photo makes me look awful, and is gradually eroding my will to live.  Thank the gods our culture has yet to discover the mirror."  You can see how that could easily be mistranslated, can't you?

But, except for a few aches and pains, and one terribly swollen, sore finger, that my doctor is going to fix right up today, and with luck it will be done lecture free,  I feel pretty good, and will be able to go on writing this blog indefinitely, (in the words of the great Bob Dylan "I got a head full of ideas that are driving me insane) as long as there no reflective surfaces around.

Reasons, by the number.

Sometimes life is very strange, taking unexpected turns often leaving you in difficult situations.  With little warning, short of breath, and cash you are forced to scramble through whatever swampy situation hoping to get out alive. Nobody gets out unscarred, you accepted that long ago. "We're all boxed in, nowhere to escape."*  Sometimes, it seems a lot of bother with no visible pay out.

So, we live, and then we stop.  And in between there is a lot of commotion, and change, and a lot of what can seem to be pointless struggles against toxic cruel adversity and endless overwhelming responsibility.   But, is it all worth it?  Yes, and you need to find your reasons, a list of good things, things that make the battle worth fighting.  Things that make life as a human, on Earth enjoyable. Things that make the Grim Reaper grim.

Here is my list for the day.

1. Donuts,
2. Pizza,
3. Coffee, (man that stuff is so good),
4. Bob Dylan music, (that should be higher, but the hunger is strong in this one, Emperor),
5. Three day weekends (coincidentally, there is one coming for a certain happy blogger this week),
6. New glasses, and they look good,
7. My car, it is the best one I have ever owned.
8. Kentucky Bourbon, (if it isn't from Kentucky it's just whiskey),
9. Smart phones, you can do almost anything with them,
10. The NCAA basketball tournament, the best sporting event of all time, especially when your team wins,
11. My friend, Doctor Dawg, he may be a nuisance but we are tight,
12. My wife, she is "too bright a light for anybodies eyes"**, she would be #1 if she ever read my blog,***
13. Prime numbers, everybody knows they are lucky, so we end on 13,

Take that, pale rider.  When you come for me, don't expect me to go quietly, I have a lot of things
going on, and you will just have to wait, so take a number, have a seat, relax, get comfortable, it is going to be a while, because in the immortal words of Bob Dylan;

"pick up your money, pack your tent,  you ain't a goin' nowhere."

Everybody has to make their own list of course, and it should be monitored and updated with the changes in situations, feel free to use any of my reasons they are universal, except for 11, Doctor Dawg is kind of possessive and 12, though, she probably doesn't read your blog either, but she is wonderful.


* Bob Dylan
**  More Bob Dylan.
*** I would have added my sons, they are the best thing I have ever had a part in, but it was a little unwieldy.