Any errors found in this blog are due to my unfamiliarity working in only three spatial dimensions.
Debra She Who Seeks commented that my blog could be improved by adding more pictures of hamsters. Egad! Talk about happy to oblige! I thought I would start off with a sampling from the Japanese artist GOTTE the Hamster Painter; see https://www.hamgotte.com. His main series is "the life of hamster Sukeroku", but all of his hamsters are adorable.
My dear blogfellow Spo commented the other day that he didn't know Virginia got snow. Meanwhile, outside my window this afternoon:
Now that the Christmas decorations have been taken down, I'll need to get some touch ups done on the wall paint...
At the new year, there's all sorts of looking back on the past year. Not surprising, but for some reason I find myself looking way back this time. Maybe it's that I turned 70 this past year. A bit of a surprise, I guess, since I haven't taken terribly good care of myself over the years. Perhaps more of a surprise is that I've managed to outwit the assassins for so long. And losing both my brothers in just over 2 months last year certainly contributes. Anyway, I find myself looking back on my life, and wondering what are some of the important things I've learned over the years. A very good question, I think.
First would probably be the impermanence of things. The world I came into is very much not the world I live in now. The continents and oceans are pretty much in the same place and all (and even they haven't always been where they are) but that's about it. Many a decade ago, I thought unchangeableness was an ideal to be aimed at, a sort of perfection. I did finally disabuse myself of that, but I do still find myself uncomfortable with ephemera. I keep on collecting, and after a while purging for the sake of my hard drive, pretty photos and funny memes taken from the 'net. I only realized recently I do this because I want the beauty and the humor to last, even though the very nature of the digital photo and the meme is that they one-shot disposables. Nothing I deem worthy should be temporary... even though I darn well know better.
Another is that people are mostly weird. I find most people rather mysterious, I think, and certainly the larger the crowd of them the more baffling I find them. I once thought I had people figured out, or at least had the key to finding out why they did what they did. That old certainty has passed, as so many other certainties have. People do what they do, and often do the opposite of what they want to do. It's a mystery, and it's likely best to give them wide berth, with the exception of a handful of close friends.
Sometime in my late 30's or 40's, I did think I had things figured out in general, knew what I believed, had nice solid ideas about things. In good Socratic fashion, in my 50's I realized I actually knew very little and was uncertain about most things. I've concluded that the big questions about "life, the universe, and everything" really are unfathomable, and that "42" is as likely an answer as anything else.
So at 70 have I become a nihilist? No, not really. What I've developed is an acute sense of the limits of human understanding--especially MY understanding--and a surprising comfort in not knowing and never knowing. Maybe I'm a sort of quietest (not in the religious/philosophical sense). The universe will do as it darn well pleases anyway and, in good Stoic fashion (Stoicism is as close to a religion as I get these days) the most and best I can do is adjust my attitude to what time and the cosmos brings. This brings tranquillity to the soul.
Blogger’s spam filter has been giving me trouble. Your comments should appear as soon as you post them. But lately, comments have been getting snagged by the filter and sent for my approval instead of posting. I have to go and check the filter manually to catch this. So please be patient if you don’t see your comment right away. Many thanks for your kind attention!
I do love living in Virginia; probably the first time I ever really loved the state I was living in. So this gallery features winter scenes of Virginia landmarks. Enjoy!
Jefferson's Rotunda at UVa
Mount Vernon
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I installed my new winter comforter and pillowcases yesterday. Let the adjacent cosmos rejoice!!!
Here Comes Santa Clause: Words almost fail me! Heaven's above the repetition, and I find the syrupy religious sentiment in the otherwise vacuous lyrics a troubling juxtaposition. Nowhere in the annals of English-speaking Yuletide folklore do I find a reference to a "Santa Clause Lane." Sounds like a street in a cheap subdivision. Besides, Santa and his reindeer are supposed to fly, what are they doing on the highway?
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree: The lyrics have more references to dancing than a book on Dionysiac festivals; see above re repetition. Worse yet, Justin Bieber did his own version of the song, calling it "always one of my favorite songs to celebrate the holidays." If that ain't damning I don't know what is. Audience Survey: Has any of you ever attended a "Christmas Party Hop"?
Wonderful Christmas Time: The repetition in this meaningless song makes "Jingle Bell Rock" sound like Shakespeare. Modern Christmas songs are almost devoid of meaning other than having pleasant feelings and doing pleasant things at what just happens to be Christmas, feelings and things that can be experienced almost any time of year. Oh, and the inspired lyrics in this one, e.g.:
For the purposes of this blog, the title "Jollities" will by used to indicate posts that consist of memes, cartoons, and other tomfooleries meant simply to amuse. There will seldom be any additional text or commentary.
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| This year's tree in the HamsterPalazzo |
