This concerns the story of the illness of Amiee Copeland. I know I will receive criticism for seeming insensitive; however, there are some things folks need to understand. Her fate is unfortunate; however, I think people forget the circumstances surrounding her fate.
She injured herself using a home made zipline. The injury was a deep cut on her leg, which subsequently became infected from the microbes from the river into which she fell. The infection overwhelmed her body, which resulted in amputations.
Amiee made a foolish decision to use the zipline, and the consequence for her foolishness happened to be the perfect storm of infection. I would not wish this fate on anyone; however, she took a risk and lost. No matter how much sympathy I conjure in my mind, I cannot forget that this was the result of a dangerous decision.
Also, this idea of "flesh-eating" bacteria has been blown out of proportion and away from fact. Despite the name of her condition, the infection is not eating away at her skin, as you would watch mold grow and eat away from a piece of fruit. Rather, the infection is so severe, her immunity cannot cope with it, which is causing organ system failure. Amiee's brain, trying to keep her alive, feeds (through bloodflow) what it thinks are the three most important parts of the body: the heart, lungs, and brain itself. As a result, circulation to the periphery of her body lessens, resulting in necrosis, which results in the need for amputation.
Do not interpret my post as I don't care about Amiee's situation. It's unfortunate that this is an experience she has to endure. However, I think people, in their need to be sympathetic, sometimes forget how the injured arrive at their fate. Secondly, the scaring of the uninformed (which I imagine, is most of us on this, including myself until recently -- though my knowledge is still limited) with the phrase "flesh-eating bacteria" rather than explaining why amputations are occuring boils my blood.
Feel free to comment. The next post will be from my new home.
]]>Today he highlighted a commentary by Bill Whittle (posted below). I've heard his commentary on Afterburner before. Usually I agree with his assessments. The "Merchant of Despair" commentary is completely right. The general election that will take place on November 6, 2012 is the most important election of my lifetime. It is imperative that our current president now be allowed four more years of rule. I encourage you to comment on the video posted below.
]]>One such memory has moved to the front of my mind, and it is from my final summer at VanderCook College of Music. It is about a female and the brief friendship we forged over a short period of time in Chicago. We're still friends to this date; however, there in a month there is only so much you can learn about a person to define their friendship in terms of friends you have had for years--but friend, nevertheless.
Before I continue, I have linked YouTube recording of "Motorcycle Drive By". Listen to it before proceeding.
The lyrics are not that significant, but do have some meaning to the memory. The tone of this song is what reminds me of the that summer. We had planned to lie upon the grass outside of VanderCook and look into the trees. Because of time conflicts, that never came to pass. That was one part of the over all memory of my experience.
Unfortunately (I can speak only for myself), nothing other than friendship (which is significant in itself for reasons that I'll probably describe in a future post) was to come out of our meeting. While this memory is on the front part of mind, I'm working to recall and memorize meetings and conversations as best I can, for from our brief time together, I learned a great deal about myself. Socrates has taught me some valuable lessons in my life, one of which is to "Know thyself." Through this person, I experienced rare moments of introspection and insight, for that I'll be eternally grateful.
This memory is two years old. Perhaps it is a problem that my mind has conjured it from the depts of my memory. However, I wonder my mind's purpose was to remind me of the experience of self-discovery rather than the experience of bittersweet events. Regardless, I'm glad it suraced long enough for me to attend it and relive some of the discovery.
]]>The program into which I've enrolled is the Associate of Applied Science Degree majoring in Networking concentrating in Cisco systems. I am looking forward to this journey. I'm unsure where it will end. Perhaps I'll be on the podium with another skill set, or perhaps I'll leave the podium and begin a new career path.
I'm currently waiting the review of my transcript to see if I am able to exempt core classes, which, holding a Bachelor's and Master's degree, I think I ought. I'm scheduled to begin classes this summer, and according to the matriculation map I created, I should finish in two years: Summer 2014.
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to make some time sacrifices to make room for my coursework. I'll have to weigh my outside of work activities carefully. Such decisions will be difficult, but after about 5 years of deliberation, I believe my return to school is a wise one.
]]>Over the coming months, I must do some contemplation and introspection about my future. Such a task will require return to the wisdom of my old master of teaching, Socrates: "Know thyself." A side note: Socrates taught me to teach through questioning. I credit my use of "why" during teaching sessions to Socrates. Unfortunately, I'm not well read in Socrates's work; however, those two principals: "Know thy self" and teaching through questioning have stuck with me.
I digress (and will continue to do so). As I enter my third decade, I find myself analyzing and reviewing my previous year(s). This is not new, for I do it often and especially as my personal new year's day comes and goes. The question of happiness arises. In most respects I have forgotten what happiness feels like. I know what it isn't. I can identify others' experiencing it. I have the capacity to know and feel the difference between a negative and positive event. However, I feel no capacity for true happiness. I know I once had his capacity; however, I have forgotten what it feels like or how to identify it within myself.
This has been true for over a decade and a half. I cope with the deficiency well (consider the length of time I just mentioned). However, at times this reality moves to the front of my mind. For what ever reason, it has been lingering in my conscious thought for longer than normal. An obvious question may be "what would make you happy?" I cannot answer that, for I don't think I truly know. Focusing on this aspect of me with the scurnity required to find a solution is like staring at a beach and focusing on one grain of sand that is of average color. I either (a) don't know thyself enough to have an answer (b) fear what the answer would be if I truly participated in introspection, or (c) know thyself well enough to know there is no answer.
This pointelss rambling will soon come to a close. This post is why I haven't written a blog entry in over three weeks or haven't recorded a podcast in over six months. There is nothing substantive that I can share.
]]>It was curious that Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. Even though I do not follow any organized religion, the holiday of Christmas has greater significance to me than any other holiday. For me, it is an opportunity that is always reserved for family time--regardless of the time challenges our world presents. The break my job affords me during Christmas gives me time to reflect and plan for the upcoming year.
It's also fun to watch Christians celebrate this (for their religious canon) all-important holiday. It's enjoyable to watch the absolute joy involved for these folk to celebrate the birth of the keystone individual in their religious beliefs. This year's Christmas celebration seemed extra specials today is Sunday--often reserved as a day of worship for Christians. I attended the Christmas service at New Bridge Baptist Church in Cleveland, GA. My attendance was there not for the worship experience but for the family experience--several members of the maternal side of my family were in attendance.
The service was a traditional county baptist "preaching." I sang with the choir, which I always do when I visit. It was a fun experience. The folk singing aren't professional singers, but it's good folk enjoying music as a tool to enhance their experience. The service itself had a different kind of fervor for it was recanting the all important story of the birth of Christ on the day that the Mass is celebrated.
At the end of the service, the preacher always makes a call to the congregation to name folk the congregation needs to support by keeping them "in their prayers." Today's call was a bit different, for we were remembering folks who had been lost or were/are to be honored in the present/from the recent past. Rarely do I participate with this, for I feel a detachment with the worship aspect of this experience; however, today I did participate. I asked the folks to remember the family of Jerry Coleman. I explained that they likely didn't know who Jerry Coleman was and further explained that he was a former student of mine who perished earlier this week. I asked the congregation to keep their Coleman family in their thoughts while they cope with the tragedy of losing a child--especially during the week of Christmas, which (I didn't explain, for it goes without saying) is a holiday so focused on time with the family.
I hope, reader, this was a good day for you. Among all of the great family time today, the above event help make this day, the wonderful day I recall it being for many years and will hopefully contine to be for many years to come.
]]>However, I have no capacity to write fiction or to tell a story. I wish not to hear the argument of "the more you practice writing fiction, the better you'll become." I already know that. I'm not concerned about the skill. I know that can be developed over time. I'm writing about the ability and capacity without which the skill cannot be present.
All fiction writing I've "produced" to this day has been nonsensical garbage. I lose all command of the language when attempting to write fiction. The words I write have a depth of thought akin to a brainless slime. Even though I'm attempting to write fiction, where I can create my own rules of logic, etc., I cannot produce text with any cohesiveness. The writing is segmented and reads of a person incapable of creating consecutive thoughts that complement each other. The ability to create worthwhile topics is not worth mentioning.
What is curious is that I can write in a formal setting / voice. My command of English is there when I write for research or when I write about another's work. With my self-critique, I will not slash as far as to say I cannot write, for that would be untrue. I can write. I simply can't write when it is only I creating the narrative. I can write about others' work. I can write to describe a process and its conclusion. Those two areas require either another's work or my own non-written work (If I attempt to describe the process and conclusion of my writing, I fail.).
My mind and knowledge of English simply do not allow me to create the substance. Eventually I'll accept this reality, and not bore your with the cyclical lamentation.
]]>My experience in music has led me to discover pieces of music that illustrate the final crossing from life into whatever is next. This prelude came to mind today. I decided to place the link before the text, so you would hopefully take a listen before you read my thoughts on the piece. I am convinced there is a transition out of life where the etheral part of you (i.e. your soul/spirit/etc.) moves away from your brain and transforms itself for whatever comes next. I think that during this transition, there may be some "conscious thought" left within the soul. Albeit, such thought will never be experienced as we know conscious thought, rather it'll be whatever is recorded by your soul to be its final memories of the time spent on the plane of existence where we all reside.
This prelude describes how that transition feels. In mortal terms, it would be described as floating. However, the actual motion wouldn't be random as floating indicates--nor do I see it as direct as flying. I suppose I see it more as a detachment. As the body is either worn to its last or is compromised so that it is incompatible with life, the soul simply detaches itself from wherever/however it is one with the body. That process of release is what Bach captured with his notes in this prelude. As the piece progresses diatonically and chromatically, I hear that as the encoding of the aforementioned conscious thoughts into whatever memory capacity that our soul has--if its is memory as I know it at all. I also hear this middle section (development--or fantasia as Wynton Marsalis calls it), as the remaining consciousness of our soul looking down at its former host as its transformation happens. I know I am anthropomorphizing the concept of a soul, but my descriptions are limited by my strictly human experience.
The final statement of V7 (where the pedal tone C has a major 7th above it in the tenor voice) and subsequent resolution to tonic (with the final 4-3-2-3 in the melody) is the completion of both the transformation and transition. The V7 is one final look at the end of the mortal experience and the I begins whatever comes next.
]]>Eventually, we will all play the losing card. For some of us that may be simply the final breath we draw as we end many years of the experience of life. Others may unknowingly play that card, when cranking up their vehicle one unlucky morning or evening. Some others may willingly play that card, when they determine their life should end.
Other lyrics of the song lack certainty--especially the title. There is no true way to know. At the moment of death, we cross into the next plane of existence with no opportunity to express to the remaining mortals wether or not the last moment of life was with or without pain. However, our potential to play the losing card is absolute. It will happen. The only question is when.
The quesiton of when is a whole discussion within itself. I question the wisdom of describing my position on this blog. Unfortunately, educators are governed by the court of public opinion, which, or course, rarely considers facts and is immune to objectivity. Mental health and its pathologies are still taboo for many folks; thus, me trying to objectively discuss the issue of suicide strikes me as unwise.
The above curbing of my words disturbs me, for I try to live by two principles: (1) Do not live in fear and, most importantly (2) Truth always. How can I live by "truth always" when I said I "do not live in fear," yet, succumb to the potential of above paragraph?
]]>Do not comment with the argument of "its the hotel's policy to have no pins; thus, the person should've worn a pin of a U.S. flag anyway." If you do, then you clearly miss the greater point.
Now, (I can feel my blood starting to boil), I have no patience with political correctness. I'm a firm believer in you can say the truth without being a jerk; however, the notion of no one should ever be "offended" (which is a word I abhor with no exceptions) by anything said or displayed is ludicrous.
Rarely do I type with all caps; however, this message is simple and must be heard in the way I would shout it: IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY SEEING THE UNITED STATES FLAG, THEN LEAVE THE UNITED STATES!
I become infuriated with "citizens" who tap all of the resources available to them through citizenship that refuse to embrace the symbols of the United States. You'll notice my useage of the United States, and not "America." America encompasses many different countries. I'm focused entirely on the United States of America. I am loyal to only the United States of America, and if you wish to consider yourself a citizen of the Unites States of American, you should embrace opportunities to display or gaze upon one of our most important symbols: the Flag of the United States of America.
Do not lob arguments to me about fair-weathered patriotism. I.e. I'm writing about my loyalty to the United States just because I saw some news story. I do not campaign daily only the virtues of the United States, and I do not feel such a campaign is necessary. It is understood that being a citizen, I believe in such virtues. I will say this. If the Star Spangeled Banner is being played or sung, my yap is shut (unless I'm singing the first verse), my hat is off, I'm standing at attention, and my right hand is over my heart until the hymn has been completed. Even though I follow no organized religion, I say the Pledge of Allegiance in its entirety every day at work. "Under God" used to bother me, not anymore. Rather than asking the quesiton of "who are you to have "Under God" in an official state text," I now ask "are two words really that significant if we're supposed to be accepting of all faiths in our citizenry?"
Do the aforementioned acts make me "better" or "more patriotic" than anyone else? No. It is simply how I display it. It's the same as a person wearing a flag pin or someone singing the hideous song, "God Bless the U.S.A.," and cheering for the late cymbal crash near the end of the tune.
Onto "forced patriotism."
What keeps any culture alive over time is the teaching of tradition. How can our children assume an identity as a United States citizen, without understanding basic ideals of patriotism? I think (for any form of school system--but especially with what's currently available) if there is government-mandated primary and secondary education (and the requirement for most to be in a government-maintained school), then certainly the government of the country it represents should teach then later require some basic acts of patriotism toward said country. As mentioned parenthetically, I think the Pledge, the Star Spangeled Banner, and other symbols of our country should be taught even if education was privitized and there was no government presence at work. Again, IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR CHILDREN BEING REQUIRED TO LEARN AND DISPLAY BASIC SYMBOLS OF PATRIOTISM, RENOUNCE THEIR (AND YOUR-IF NECESSARY) CITIZENSHIP AND LEAVE THE UNITED STATES!
As I have mentioned before when commenting on illegal immigration, I would expect nothing different from any other country. If you are a citizen of France, I would expect to see the expectation that the citizenry should be respectful of national symbols and have a knowledge of vocal symbols of patriotism. I don't think it would be unreasonable for children to recite a pledge of allegiance.
Perhaps this issue can be described and solved with some simple questions: If you do not pledge allegiance to the United States, how can you call yourself a United States citizen and reap the benefits of citizenship? If you are ashamed or offended by the presence of the Red, White, and Blue, how can you call yourself a citizen? Finally, if the thought of being identified as a United States citizen disgusts you, then why not renouce your citizenship and emigrate, rather than remain and be misreable?
Final comment--this was effectively stream-of-consciousness writing. Quips about minor grammatical and mechanical errors will be ignored.
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