Is it more altruistic to:
A: Selflessly help someone in need because of guilt.
B: Selfishly help someone in need because of the joy it brings you.
Is it more altruistic to:
A: Selflessly help someone in need because of guilt.
B: Selfishly help someone in need because of the joy it brings you.
Work, work
nothin’ but work.
Nothin’ but work
then I work some more.
(Repeat)
I am an artist, a scientist, and a philosopher. I pursue new ideas like Homer Simpson pursues dogs with fluffy tails. Alas, there’s little money in it and less acclaim. Are my efforts worthy, productive, or useful? Bite me.
Something I wrote back in the early 1990s:
“Truth lies like the grain of sand at the heart of a pearl. It may not be elegant, it may not even be pretty, but it is the core of the sugar coating we call our lives. The more we shield our heart, the more it suffocates, locked in by the pressure of its own protection. Crack through the lemming layers that insulate us from our own truth, binding our minds in a vice-grip of ignorance. What we find at the center may be red and raw, but it will respond. We may be enraged or hurt, but we will be aware. And through that awareness, we will grow again.”
Dealing with the bright and shining past you didn’t see…
I never remember when my mom and step-dad’s anniversary was (is?) but it was either May 11 or May 16. So, since this is right in the middle, happy anniversary mom, wherever you are, and dad I’ll say it in person when I call tonight, since you aren’t on Facebook (so why am I saying this to you here?)
Update: This was originally written on Facebook five years ago. As of today, mom is still dead and my step-dad is currently fighting for his life with Covid-19 in the hospital during this global pandemic. This year would have been their 60th anniversary, in passing.
Over the years I’ve come up with a lot of character names, such as these for mobsters that are take-offs on Mack the Knife: Jimmy the Lock and Barry the Hatchet. But today, Teresa added to that collection with this phonetic offering: Titan the Grip.
Mary (to me): Can you get me a bag of potato chips from the pantry? Me to Mary: Sure. I get the bag and hand it to her. She stares at it in disappointment and says, “It’s upside down…. (pause) I can’t eat this!” Time to call it a night.
The world is my cloister…
It’s not all free will and chaos;
there’s something going on…