A Curious Statistical Anomaly

My flu/cold/thingy is really getting annoying.  I go from moderately okay to barely able to move and huffing and puffing like I just ran a marathon when I barely walked across the room.  Yesterday, I got a lot of stuff done because I could just sit and work but I needed a few lay-downs on the couch to do it.  Today isn’t as bad but I’m definitely not okay.

Hyperion is back to work and he’s got the cough and congestion so I feel really wimpy complaining about my wee symptoms.  But then I’m on a lot of meds for my allergies and asthma so that might be giving me a edge up on the worse effects.  I don’t think it’s the big baddie that’s going around — my belief is we’re just overtired and stressed and the convention just put us over the top.  I’m reading that a lot of people at the convention came home with cold/flu and even a few cases of H1N1.

It seems all gatherings are a chance to share germs.  When you think about it, it makes sense that everytime you go to a convention, kids come home from college on holiday, you visit a new city or town — you’ll come home with a case of some type of illness (especially if you fly with a bunch of strangers on a plane with recycled air).

Basically, we get used to our own or usual germs and stuff.  But when you travel you find new and excitingly different germs and viruses to bring home.  I’m beginning to think it’s inevitable:  travel =  sick for a few days after return.

Meanwhile, I’m getting some reading done but only the light stuff I don’t have to concentrate on too much.  I’ve also started to enjoy my collection of Christmas films.   It’s my favorite holiday because of the spirit and love that seems to abound at this time of year.  Hyperion says I’m starting early this year but my son will be here for Christmas (he usually only makes it for Thanksgiving but will miss it this year).  So, there may be some reviews of Christmas movies coming up over the next few weeks.  Most of them will be older movies but it’s nice to visit the old standbys every now and then and see how they stand up to the passage of time.

I don’t care for the commercialization of  Christmas — we don’t even do the gift thing in our family or at least not more than one gift for just the immediate family (the grandmothers, Hyperion & me, and my son).  That’s it.  But I love the lights, the music, the friendliness, and the IDEA of Christmas.  For the entire month of December I try to do nice things for people hoping it will help me form new habits that will last throughout the year.  It does sort of at least it keeps me trying to be a nice person because those of you who don’t know me — I’m a bit snarky and I really don’t have a lot of patience with foolishness — like paperwork for the sake of paperwork, and make work just to say your doing something, and nit-picking just because you can when no one gives a hoot anyway.

So, how many of you are up for pledging to be a better, kinder, more friendly person during the holidays no matter how bad traffic gets or how long the queues are at the stores.  Anyone?

My browser is set to refdesk.com as my home page and today’s quote of the day was by President Theodore Roosevelt:

“A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled to, and less than that no man shall have.”

I got to think back over my lifetime and I remember that veterans used to get some really good deals for their service to our country. They got to go to college or take other training classes at government expense so that they could compete for jobs when they completed their service. They could got to veteran’s hospitals and get medical care whether they had regular health insurance or not because they had risked their lives for us. Today, most of the men and women who have given of themselves to protect us do not receive much of anything for their service, other than a pat on the back and a thank you — if they’re lucky.

Of course, I’m getting this impression from news reports and other sources such as returning veterans. From listening to the talk from those who deal with vets and from listening to vets on health issue lists discuss their problems in getting the health care they need. I saw the reduction of educational benefits shrink as the cost of a college education went up, from when I worked for educational institutions in IT.

When did this country stop caring about the people who risk their lives to keep us safe? They deserve not only our respect for the jobs they do and the risks they take, but some compensation for the time they they give in service to their country. They need a square deal. As citizens we should be advocating that their benefits be restored to them.

Am I against the war in Iraq — yes. Do I want our soldiers to come home? Darn tootin’ I do. That doesn’t mean that I don’t care for our troops, I just feel if they’re going to risk their lives, it should be for values that this country actually stands for (or used to stand for) and not for pettiness and to protect the interests of corporations.

The “war on terror” is a failure. It’s increased the number of terrorists groups and it risks the lives of our service men and women for no gain in safety. In point of fact, America and Americans are less safe now than before The Shrub started this little war. I could go on a long rant about security theater but you’ve heard that one before. For now, I want to say that we’ve lost our focus and that’s hurting this country in many ways that are not immediately apparent. We’ve lost the high ground we once had when trying to get other countries to see reason and to negotiate to make this a better world to live in.

Along with losing our focus on what’s important, we’ve lost our willingness to play fair, and to honor our commitments. A glaring example is how we treat our veterans when they return home. They should get the square deal that Roosevelt talked about — the deal they used to get and no longer receive. A deal that didn’t have qualifiers such as “we know you’re ill but you can’t prove you got this illness from the chemicals used in battle so it’s not covered by your veteran’s benefits. Sorry.” No, vet should have to worry about health care. No vet who passes the entrance tests should have college denied to him/her because the government no longer covers the costs they used to.

America was made strong on the backs of its veterans and the education and continued service they provided as ordinary citizens when they returned home, went to school, got jobs, and continued to keep America strong with the sweat of their brow rather than the their life’s blood.

If you really want to support our troops, make sure that they’re risking their lives for those goals that American once stood for. And when they return home or finish their tour of duty, see to it that they have benefits to make the risk worth their potential price — we owe it to them since, because of their willingness to serve, we get to stay home and live our lives in peace.

It was 40 years ago today that man landed on the Moon.  We did it.  We wanted to get there before the Russians and put all the energy and enthusiasm into getting a man on the moon first our priority.  I remember that day, watching TV and holding my breath as the craft began its decent.  It was a momentous event.  One that would make the history books.

Ernest Lilley, Sr. Editor for TechRevu.com, also remembers that exciting day and he’s written a prose poem commemorating his memories called “Moonfall“.

Google is celebrating this occasion with the release of an update to Google Earth allowing us to take our own trip to the Moon. You can download Google Moon for free here.

To learn more about Google Moon, take a look at this video:

Now if only NASA can get itself to get fired up about exploring space with the same dedication and attention to getting the job done as it did when we decided to go to the moon. I vote for men living on Mars. It’s the most likely planet to support human life and it’s about time we started thinking about getting some of our eggs out of this very fragile basket.

My father was in the Army during WWII. My grandfather was in the Navy. One of my uncles was in the Marines and I think the other was in the Army but he didn’t live in the same state and I hardly know him, so I’m not sure. When I lived in Mexico, Maine we’d go to the cemetery on Memorial Day or the day before to make sure there were flowers and a flag on my father’s grave, and later also on my grandfather’s. I spoke with my mother yesterday and she put a wreath on each of the graves of our family members.

Memorial Day was once called Decoration Day and it was a time to reflect on those who had been lost with an emphasis on those who’d lost their lives protecting their country — a day to remember Veterans. Time passes and now it seems with hardly anyone staying in one place anymore that the graveside laying of wreaths and flowers and leaving a flag have past. My mother was complaining that when she was at the cemetery that there were hardly any flowers on any of the graves. I reminded her that most of the youth have had to move away for jobs, and graves are now handled by the groundskeepers.

I’m in Maryland and my son is in Rhode Island. When my mother moves down here, in the sometime future, there will be little family left in the town I was born in — an aunt,  a niece,  a nephew, a sister-in-law once removed, and their families. The graves will probably then just get the usual groundskeeping and maybe a veterans group will remember to place a flag by the headstones of veterans.

Memorial Day has changed. It seems to me now that it’s a celebration of family. The living — with picnics and bbqs. And, as is usual at family gatherings, remembrances of those who are no longer with us except in our memories and our stories. The newspapers are filled with stories about how the holiday has lost its significance. I don’t think so, I think it has broadened its scope to include remembrances of all the fallen no matter how or when they past from present tense to loving memory.

Each of us, whether a veteran of a war (current or past), must do our part to preserve our nation’s heritage and now to restore our country to one that is looked up to as a beacon of hope and freedom — from oppression, from tyranny, from the misuse of power, and from torture and the abuse of human rights. Over the last few years, those “froms” have becomes “fors” and we, as a nation, need to stand up and put our country back on track. We’ve lost, as a nation, credibility in the eyes of the world and each of us must do our part to see that we never lose sight of the rights and freedoms guaranteed for all in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. Those documents have always applied to all citizens of this country and anyone under its jurisdiction and we need to reaffirm our commitment to the principles that our founding fathers saw as the underpinning for our government.

In this fight to regain our status and credibility, we may not all risk our lives but we all have a duty to do our part to watch our elected officials and stay informed of their actions on our behalf and to make sure that we once again become a “shining beacon of freedom” for the world.

Those that gave their lives to defend this country did so because they held that freedom and those principles to be more important than their own lives.  When we remember them on this one day of the year, shouldn’t we also think of the kind of country that held such meaning for them?  Doing the right thing can be hard.  It’s far easier to just let things go and say that there was nothing that you could do.  I think the generations of Americans who have fought to the death against those that would currupt our country deserve a little more.  They gave their lives … is a letter or e-mail to your congress critter really that much of an inconvience?

Valentine’s Day — a day to celebrate love. Today, I did a load of wash, made a big pot of chili, hosted a Capclave PR meeting for the current chair, wished a friend Happy Birthday, finished a book I was reading (Death’s Daughter by Amber Benson — the review will be in the March SFRevu.com), and had a couple of chocolate no-bake cookies for dessert. In a way it was a day of love. Loving what I was doing and the people I got to interact with.

While I enjoy the fact that Valentine’s Day is considered a day to celebrate love and the person we love — shouldn’t we be doing that every day. When people lose someone, they don’t regret telling that person that they love and care for them; what they regret is not letting the people they care about know how much they love them. So, why don’t we make an effort to express our love every day by treating every day and every minute as if we might not get a chance to do it over because we don’t get do overs. We may have a chance to regret or to make it up to someone but we never get to relive a day and make it better. We can however, decide that each day we’ll try harder to be the person that we wish to be.

On another tangent, what is love? We say, “I love you”. But we also say, “I love this dress”, “I love summer”, and “I love chocolate” all with the same word. But we don’t love a dress, summer, chocolate, and our spouse in the same way or even with the same intensity. It’s one of those words that mean only what we want it to mean when we say it and the hearer has to figure out what that meaning is. I think the Meatloaf “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” says:

I started swearing to my god and on my mother’s grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore that I would love you to the end of time!

So now I’m praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don’t think that I can really survive
I’ll never break my promise or forget my vow
But God only knows what I can do right now
I’m praying for the end of time
It’s all that I can do
Praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you!!!

We often say what we think the other person wants to hear. How often have you hear someone wish Mister/Miss Right would come along and then say their dating Mister/Miss You-Might-Do for now? How many people get caught up in hormones and pheromones thinking that’s love when it’s just nature’s way of continuing the species? To often, people wake up to realize that it was all lust and not love. How do you tell the difference when books, movies, and TV make the two look interchangeable?

Then there’s the fact that so much of the babblings on love make it sound like it’s always goodness, light, and happily ever after. Usually, there’s no mention of the compromises, the 2 a.m. feedings, jobs, sickness, worry about whatever — that love is also a partnership, a sharing of the load — happiness and sadness, joy and sorrow, hope and despair, adventure and mishap — it’s not an even road but journey that is shared with one then the other taking the lead.

Just some more musing on biology, sociology, culture, and language.

The year 2009 is fast approaching.  Just a bit longer and the we’ll begin fresh with another year.  Of course this New Year’s Eve will be one second longer than the last several as a leap second is added to bring us back into synch with the Earth’s rotation around the sun.  It’s the time that people make merry and make lists of resolutions that they hope no one will remember so they don’t have to keep them.  Of course some people make resolutions that they do intend to keep — I hope all those who make resolutions with such intentions manage to follow through on their plans to improve their lives.

2009 is also the International Year of Astronomy. I ran across this bit of information on the Astronomy Photo of the Day site. They also had this beautiful video of some of the wonders you can find watching the sky.

túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.

So, why not make one of your resolutions for 2009 to take the time to look up at the stars. Wonder at the beauty of the universe and the fragility of our place within it. Learn to recognize some of the major constellations. The universe is grand and our solar system is such a tiny bit in a very large sea.

Me. My plans are to write more, read more, exercise, and enjoy every minute of every day with my full attention. Carpe Diem.

Today was a day of surprises. I woke up to find Hyperion already out and about. He heard me moving around and said to come out on the landing. I did. What did I see? The Christmas tree just infested with tigers holding signs.

You see, along with collecting bears, we also have a fair collection of tigers (most from the same company). Some friends also have collected animals and we often will put them in situations and take pictures and share them around. So, somehow the tigers managed to print off signage, climb the tree with their signs and then go teddy for the day. (You know that stuffed animals have to always stay put when in the presence of people; a state that is called “going teddy”. That’s why you have to take pictures of them when they do things like this — of course, we keep hoping we’ll catch them at it someday but so far tigers — lots of points,  and all us humans — zip.

We’re having a quiet Christmas watching Christmas movies, reading, talking and just enjoying each other’s company. Friends called earlier with good wishes. I sent out email wishes to friends today. My son just called — he’s also having a great day.

I hope that all of you reading this blog are having a great day of joy and laughter.

It’s finally here — Christmas Eve and I’m all a twitter with excitement. I love Christmas, it’s my favorite holiday. I also love the artwork of Mary Englebreit, it makes me think of loving people, small towns, knowing all your neighbors, watching out for those around you, and just being the way life should be — or the way we wish it was only with all the conveniences of now. Anyway, we now have this flag at the end of our driveway. We took down the other flag we had to put this one up. I’ve been looking for this particular flag for a couple of years and had just about given up. But, I found it in our local Home Depot when I decided to take another look in case there was something more to my liking than the usual snowmen, poinsettias, and pine trees decorated in the wild. I just spent about thirty minutes trying to find a website that sold this flag so I could point to it but could not find one — Amazon didn’t even have it (which explains why I looked for it for so long).

I love this visual because I believe. Yes, there is a Santa. If you doubt it, you should read (or reread) Francis Pharcellus Church’s answer to Virginia O’Hanlon’s letter to the editor of the New York Sun. Virginia’s question was:

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

Church’s complete answer may be found here at the Newseum site. But the part that has always stayed with me and brings tears to my eyes whenever I read it is this paragraph:

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

I love Christmas not for the gifts, I don’t even care if I get any. I love it because it seems that, barring a few incidents (think Walmart stampede), Christmas is a time when people on the whole forget to be afraid of one another. People smile at you and nod a greeting when you walk on the sidewalk. The clerks in stores seems to actually recognize that there is a customer before them and make eye-contact and wish you a happy holiday. Everyone seems just a bit friendlier and kinder and more concerned for their fellow human than during the rest of the year. If only we could keep the good spirits of Christmas all year long this world would, in my opinion, be a lot better off.

So, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas or whatever flavor of this holiday season that you celebrate be it Hanaukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or some variation I’m not aware of. All of these holidays have the common believe that people should be kind to each other, families should gather to celebrate and give thanks for their blessings. So, blessing and best wishes for all.

And because I so enjoy tracking Santa’s progress during the evening on Christmas Eve, I thought that those of you with children (or who are young at heart) and who do celebrate Christmas may want to check out NORAD’s Tracks Santa 2008. (Remember to turn on scripts if you have them turned off). Enjoy your evening — I plan watch A Muppet Christmas Carol and other Christmas movies and spot check Santa’s progress.

Merry Christmas to All and to All a good night.