So it has come to this

Several posts ago, I wrote about a particularly disappointing adventure in a restaurant regarding chicken. I simply refused to wait in a fast food restaurant for FAST FOOD. I ws momentarily nonplussed, but I relaxed and have since gotten over it. Really. However, I have found out that calling 911 is the new and improved way to deal with unpleasant and/or personally annoying social situations. A few weeks ago, someone who didn’t get the correct change in a McDonald’s called 911 to ask for police intervention. A few days ago, I herd (yes, I know) that a woman who’s cattle had gotten loose made a similar plea to our underworked 911 operators. And in case you forgot, last year John McCain’s brother called them to rant about traffic problems in our nation’s capital. As someone who spends a lot of time in traffic going to fast food restaurants…our 911 operators might want to get ready for the onslaught.

Filed under: Writings

A modest proposal & prayer for our nation

Even as someone who has voluntarily served in the military, I have had mixed feelings over the years about the idea of patriotism. I went into the Navy, as most do, before I knew better. I was young, ignorant, and just wanted somewhere to “park” while I figured out what I really wanted to do. I originally wanted to go to college, but it just didn’t happen at the time for a variety of reasons.

The four years I served were a mixture of very good times and very bad times. I met some very good people and some very bad people, but I learned one thing: we are all in this together. At 18 years of age I met and became good friends with someone who had never met or seen a black person…EVER! He had a lot of questions and misconceptions to be sure, but he accepted me as I was. Whether on a ship, in a submarine, or in the barracks…there was no place for prejudice, pride (the bad kind), or pettiness. We all knew that and lived in that reality every day. No, we didn’t all like each other; and we argued, fought, and had disagreements as all “families” do. But we understood that each of us was just as important and worthy and valuable as the other.

As an African American living in the south, I have also learned that often there is plenty of room for each of those–sometimes in the community and sometimes even within the walls of a church building [not The Church.] I am not a raving jingoist, but I do love this country. Even with all I’ve experienced, the United States is where God chose for me to live and as I’ve gotten older, I have learned to appreciate it more with each passing year.

On this 4th of July, I want to offer this prayer in the hopes that we are reminded that we really are all in this {life journey} together and we can, with God’s help, make it more pleasant for each other if we really want to.

Lord,
Grant us peace, your most precious gift.
O eternal Source of peace, bless our country, that it may ever be a stronghold of peace and the advocate of peace in the council of nations.
May contentment reign within its borders, health and happiness within its homes.
Strengthen the bonds of friendship and fellowship between the inhabitants of our land.
Plant virtue in every soul; and may the love of your name hallow every home and every heart.
May you be praised, O Lord, Giver of peace.
Amen.
—Adapted from The Methodist Hymnal

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Opinion, musings

Forget what “they” say–go ahead and have a good cry

For a variety of reasons, some personal…some “otheral” , I have had more than usual occasions to cry this year. It has been really strange because, as you know, men aren’t supposed to. However, William Frey, a biochemist who does double duty as a researcher and a professor has spent a good deal of his time asking why people cry and he gave me a rationale. His fascination with this subject led him to write a book entitled “Crying: The Mystery of Tears.” In this book he wanted to answer some basic questions such as why men cry less than women, how humans relieve themselves of stress, and what tears can teach us. One thing he learned was that people generally feel better after crying which may suggest a release of chemicals that build up during stress. Further work turned up an interesting mix of chemicals in human tears. Manganese, enkephalins, and prolactins somehow work together to promote feeling better, but there is no explanation of why men and women cry differently. Apparently men don’t seem to feel any better nor do they cry as often as women do. In fact, most men (me included) are ashamed to be seen crying. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is the preponderance of tear ducts in the eyelids of women. Another may be societal pressures that are placed upon males in general to adopt and adhere to macho stereotypes. Whatever the reason, we must not, according to Frey, disallow this very important stress-reducing activity or minimize its effectiveness. I feel better already.(cf Go Ahead–Cry! by Micheal Ryan; William Frey, Crying: The Mystery of Tears, Winston Press, Texas, 1977. )

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Opinion, musings

Oh, these troubled times we live in: Revisiting Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”

In the short story “A Modest Proposal,” English author Jonathan Swift calls attention to the deplorable condition of the poor and the seeming lack of concern of most to come up with any real, workable solutions in dealing with the issue of poverty. He wants the people of his country as well as his readers to take their sociological heads out of the sand regarding this problem, and he uses very strong sarcasm, irony, hyperbole, satire and some incredible imagery to achieve his intentions. He attacks such “sacred cows” as motherhood, fatherhood, and the then dominant religious community. On a much broader scale, however, I believe this piece can be used as a vehicle by which we can look at ourselves and ask ourselves some very probing questions; questions that have to deal with our own contributions, whether actively or passively, to this problem. The poor, it is said, will always be among us…what will we do about it?

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Opinion, Recommended Readings, Writings

People Make Mistakes

It was as simple as that. Isn’t that the way it is most times though?

I was in Wal-Mart today buying a second gallon of paint in as many days. The man who mixed it the first time was also my mixer this time. I’ll call him Robert because that’s his name. I guess he felt confortable enough to tell me more about himself than I have told most of my family and close friends. [I am always amazed at people that can do that.] Anyway, he begins to tell me about some surgery that he had some time ago. The doctor who did the surgery made some mistake that almost cost him his life and he said almost offhandedly, “But he is still my doctor because …people make mistakes.” Then he went on with his story. The point being: I have heard that countless times, but never in the context of lifesaving–successful or otherwise. It hit me today like it never had. People make mistakes. I rarely gave myself that luxury. Or other people. Maybe those ubiquitous words of wisdom will “take” this time. I’m going to cut the people in my life some slack. And myself. Thanks, Robert.

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Writings

“Life beats down and crushes the soul, but art reminds you that you have one.”

Stella!!!

Filed under: Quotes

10 minutes?! (from “Fast Food Forays–philosophy from unlikely sources”)

I spend a good deal of my time in fast food restaurants. I am not sure whether it is laziness or convenience, but I do. I went to one of my favorites once–KFC. I wanted 10 of their delicious Hot Wings. I went up to the clerk and informed him of this and he said it would be about 10 minutes. (10 minutes?! I thought to myself—but they sell chicken for a living! ) Then I remembered I had nowhere to go and nothing to do it being a day that can be described as both summer and lazy. I thanked him anyway and promptly left the restaurant. Then I got bothered. Where had my life or attitude gotten to when I couldn’t wait 10 minutes for something I really wanted? What did this say about me in particular and society in general? I decided to stay and have the Hot Wings I had driven 10 minutes to get.

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Writings

What is Art? part 3–the end

In the broadest sense, art is not always a physical thing. As I stated before, it is also the process of creating though you may have to use physical objects. For instance, a play uses physical things like people and props to get across non-physical ideas and concepts.

Both imagination and creativity play a part in art making. What you want your product to “look like” is a function of the imagination that went into it as well as the creative process used to produce it. We use art for a variety of reasons. We use it to learn about our creative expressions, and to learn from our past. Art holds further value for us such as material, intrinsic, religious, patriotic, and symbolic.

The difference between creating and making is origin. Creating suggests originality while making suggests that you reorder or copy. To create is to bring forth something heretofore not observed (ex nihilo). [Secretaries make copies, not create them.]

Art is the process of creating, recreating, and/or redefining animate or inanimate objects or ideas into an observable form.

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Writings

What is Art (part 2)

We know that art exists because it does. However we choose to define it, man has and will continue to use different ways to tell his story (be expressive). She will continue to interpret the world and reactions to that world. Even children from an early age seem to manifest a creative impulse through drawing in the sand, stacking blocks, and making mud pies. They do this even before they write or speak. In fact, children are taught in school to distinguish between colors and shapes before they can read and write.

According to Webster’s, aesthetics is the branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. We have always heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder– what one person finds beautiful or appealing, another simply does not. Therefore, aesthetics can play a part in art making only subjectively. The artist has to decide from a variety of angles how to create or recreate the product. From there, the artist has to decide how to get to his artistic destination (the process).

Filed under: Writings

What Is Art?

Part 1

One of my favorite quotes regarding art is by Ralph Waldo Emerson who says, “Art is the path of the creator to his work.” Another is by Elbert Hubbard who philosophizes that “Art is not a thing: it is a way.” As I began to reflect on what I “know” about art, I realized that art was at once a process as well as a product. As a life-long participant in various aspects of the creative arts (school art classes, museum visits, community actor/director, etc.), I have been involved in both the process of creating art ( material gathering, material preparation, media manipulation) , and the product itself (an ashtray, a play, a greeting card, an interpretive dance, etc.) In a way, the artist is a part of the media used to create art. This is especially true in dance or live theater where the human body is the medium of expression.

Filed under: Writings