Library Etiquette
                         As Viewed From The Computer Station

Apparently the Columbus (Ohio) public libraries are down on playing music so loud through your headphones the sound bleeding out can be heard across the room. Hence, the on-duty staff will walk right up to you and strongly request you "turn it down".


However, when it comes to any kind of "noise ordinance" decrees they still do nothing about loud talking (whether on cell phones or sitting in pairs and groups), nor about all the noisy children and teenagers running around shouting back-and-forth to each other (sometimes while playing video games on the computers).
Nor does one get any relief from "table drummers" or from fancy micro-gadgets that make all those weird loud blips and bleeps.


I'd like to see some kind of all-around effort made to ensure a comfortable environment for all patrons instead of these mere cherry-picking token displays of occasional "responsibility" by some lone staff member from time-to-time.


Part of the reason they do nothing about loud talkers and loud kids is probably because those culprits are usually upper-middle-class "professional" types, your "average Joes and Janes" and their offspring.  In other words your "normal" "everyday" types. The "primary patrons" the library system serves. Hence, the staff tend to be more "flexible" with and tolerant of such types, and that's why they sort of "get away with" a lot of their rude behaviors, even as music lovers have to watch the volume on their iPods.

                        It'll Soon Be Upon Us: February 3rd


The 56th anniversary of the untimely deaths of Charles Hardin Holley, Richard Valenzuela, and Jiles Perry Richardson---who were suddenly instantaneously rendered deceased when their chartered small plane crashed and burned in an Iowa cornfield while on an ill-fated mid-winter cross-country tour.


Some of you may or may not be familiar with an instrumental Ritchie Valens recorded titled FAST FREIGHT under the pseudonym of "Arvee Allens".
"Why did he record under that name?" you ask.
Why not?  It's also his namesake as well, just in the phonetical:
Ritchie Valens: R.V. Allens.

Popular Psychology: More "Snake Oil" Cures From The "Experts"

How long has the phenomenon of "Pop Psychology" been around?  It has to be somewhere in the vicinity of 60 to 70 years.


You have to love those "experts" and all their "quick fix" solutions to the many problems, difficulties and dilemmas we, as humans, have to deal with so frequently:
                  A Positive Attitude Equals a Longer Life
                  Be Your Own Boss, Control Your Own Destiny By Believing In Your OWN Powers
                  A Cheerful Demeanor Equals More Money, More Friends, More Lovers
                  More Smiles, Less Stress


Of course totally ignoring a fundamental reality:  that people are reactive creatures.  What happens to us affects us in relation to whatever the content of said occurrence(s) in question is (are).


Add to that the fact that, although people can also be proactive, no one individual has much control over most things that go on around them or that winds up happening to them a lot of the time.  And if adversity should find one it can affect oneself financially, mentally, socially, domestically.


If someone is depressed, disgruntled, cynical, insecure, paranoid, angry-and-outraged there are usually reasons behind those feelings and attitudes.  These traits are not something simply needing to be "medicated" or hypnotized away like some kind of "unwanted baggage".  They are among the results of existing in a petulant world known for being incessantly stonewalling and shanghaiing by it's innate nature.


Two songs come to mind when it comes to the art of bashing pop psychology for it's inaneness and ultimate irrelevance:  THE OLD PHILOSOPHER by Eddie Lawrence (1956) and DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY by Bobby McFerrin (1988).
Next time you listen to either one of those songs pay attention to the sarcastic dialogue and lyrics.
Some situations are difficult-to-impossible and are thrust onto oneself from outside sources over which one has no control.  And, as such, no amount of "believing in your own powers and abilities" or "positive thinking" is going to do much to rectify or solve such dilemmas.
And, true: It's a fact that people find those who are depressed or go around "gloomy and negative" unpleasant to be around and try, as a rule, to avoid or ignore them.  But it's also a fact that the reason most people have those type of attitudes toward the "unpleasant" is on account of society's narcissism and general lack of empathy for others.  Thing is, people often get depressed or upset because of the way their society and certain others around them jerk them around constantly. 

Responsibility (Revisited)

I'm not a person who's ever very eager to take on any kind of responsibilities par-for-the-course.
I'll still follow through on any obligations that get thrown my way if and whenever feasible.  And I respect the underlying concept itself in the general sense.
But deep down inside I'll still be "kicking and screaming".


I'll assert that it's only those in a position of authority or favor who should have responsibilities put on them.
That if I'm going to have to be "responsible for" anything then I'd better be given some degree of authority---or at least given a "higher rank".  I'd better "have some more stripes put on the sleeve of my shirt".


That it's not right the way so many demand certain things of me without providing the means necessary for me to follow through adequately on their extortive wishes: more knowledge of the subject matter in question; more authority so as to have more command over my situation; co-operation, assistance and support from others; granting me a higher status so I can enjoy a higher merit and credibility level.

                              Adage/Musing For Today


One should never be suddenly thrust upon a stage and expected to play a certain part without having had a chance to get in costume, be handed a script, and be given a chance to memorize and rehearse that script.

                        Guy anonymously calling up a girl he has a crush on
Him:  So-o-o-o-o ...what are you wearing right now?
Her:   Clothes. Perfume. Shoes.
  




                                                    Doctor's Appointment
Doctor:  How's your diet been lately?  What do you normally eat in the course of a day?
Patient: Food. Beverages. Water. Coffee. Vegetables. Pastries...




                         

                   This Week's Special
  10 Half-Gallon Containers Of Milk For $10
                                        Plus-Card Users



                                                          What kind of deal is this?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't milk one of the most perishable food items in existence?
As an aging single childless male who resides in a small apartment unit, of what benefit is a deal like this to the likes of me?


Maybe if one is running a group home or an orphanage or a retirement center.
But advertising this offer to the average consumer...


Do people just buy stuff because it's "on sale" or "on special"?


Yeah, let's stock up on two month's worth of a food item with an average shelf life of two weeks.

They're STILL after Roman Polanski for a single act of sexual improprietism with a (then-)"minor" (who's now in her 50s and mother of grown offspring and maybe even a grandmother) he committed almost 38 years ago.


Are these all-out grandiose efforts to bring this now-82-year-old to justice worthy of all the tax dollars they're sucking up?  Well, considering the high standards we hold our celebrities up to, absolutely!


We all know how these grossly underpaid entertainers, authors, and producers are best-known for their modest lifestyles, their conservative beliefs, their stable marriages, their well-mannered public behavior and speech, the lack of scandal and corruption in their personal lives, and their common-sense and rational mindsets.


This makes the kind of behavior Polanski engaged in nearly 38 years ago still worthy of the kind of excessive outrage on the part of the general public and officials and also justifies the need to apprehend this dangerous social heretic by any means possible.


If Poland refuses to extradite Polanski then send in the CIA or the Navy SEALS and flush him out by any means of force necessary.
World Salvation is dependent on rectifying this situation and by ensuring Polanski doesn't escape the wrath of justice due him.

The international "radical Muslim" communities have their own version of "hate speech" laws.
Say anything disparaging about any of their members or about their religious beliefs and it's an automatic "death penalty", carried out by their own bands of henchmen anywhere in the world.
(They'd truck all the way up to the North Pole to get Santa Claus should he ever decry any of the ethos of "radical Muslimism".)

Birthdays

Elvis Aaron Presley would have turned 80 yesterday if he was still living
Born January 8 1935 in Tupelo






As far as I know David Robert Jones is still around
Born January 8 1947 in London
David Bowie turned 68 yesterday

After thunderstorms on Saturday the state of Ohio and the Great Lakes region have been transformed into a total tundra once again.


Just in time for a doctor's appointment I have that'll involve waiting for buses and walking the remaining two miles (each way).

The Quintessential "In-Charge" Persona

                                                     Authority figures:
Not just government and the police, but also:  medical/dental professionals; your bosses; your landlords; your store managers; business owners.


Next to their position of being able to control and manipulate the lives of others, they're notorious for being madly in love with themselves and with the myopic agendas of whatever faction(s) they align themselves with.  And with their "God-like" mindset one never relishes being in a position of co-dependence on one of them.  Because they have the tendency to try to "take over" the life of whoever is "assigned" to them, demanding that client/patient/defendant/tenant/customer drop whatever else they're doing in their life and put forth all efforts into meeting whatever agenda and criteria said "in-charge" person puts on said subordinate.  Never mind said subordinate might also be answering to the whims and demands of other "in-charge" factions who are also demanding subordinate's undivided attention and time.  Each and every "in-charge" type thinks their agendas are "the most important thing in the history of planet earth" and, as such, precludes any other agenda or plan, even plans subordinate made with other "in-charge" types in advance.

                    First Adage of 2015
                        Longevity is the ultimate confirmation of validity






                               First Musing of 2015
How come the VoiceMail on most cell phones don't work? It seems each time someone's phone goes off they "have to" answer it or apparently they'll miss the call.