WalkFit

The Walkfit infomercial has been completed and my testimonial is about 2/3's of the way through the program...by the way, those are the original '3,000 mile' inserts I wore for the entire walk, still usable...I really do owe them my healthy feet -which are priceless but only cost me $20 ...and yes, I do still wear a pair in all my shoes..........

Hope

ahhh, yes...so Mr. Obama is a dreamer and idealist whose enemies are cynicism, apathy and hate...but the world has sighed a collective sigh of relief that our reputation-decimated by the Bush years-can be repaired....To those who argued against his "inexperience"..it was "experience" that made the mess we're in. To those who criticized his "socialism" well, "free enterprise" has shown itself quite flawed..What shall it be-socialism or greed? or no doubt a little of both?... I am always amazed at the simplistic arguments of the propoganda machines to justify both positions...Funny thing is, Truth and Reality always seem to intrude into human nature and shit happens anyway. Me? Like John said " I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round..." Who knows-maybe a meteorite will hit tomorrow and make it all irrelevant...I'll still put my faith in Creation and hope for the best , as I have always done...the future is what we face Together or divided http//www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081105192704.htm

POSTSCRIPT: I am the most encouraged I have been in years by the intelligent manner with which Obama is choosing his cabinet, such as Nobel physicist Steven Chu for energy secretary... My God! A president who is not afraid of reason and actual facts! Hopefully the next four years will be the long overdue start of a new future during which foresight has a place.

Optimism

I just repositioned my stock portfolio, which is invested in an IRA in Vanguard mutual funds, and basically exchanged money between the same funds I have owned all along, so by doing that have re-purchased many shares at a lower price. Whether that will ultimately improve my profit will depend on what the economy does in the next ten years, but I sense that the market bottom has been reached and I do not want to miss whatever rebound occurs. Because the federal budget is consumed by three major expenditures: Social Security 21%, Medicare 21%, and Defense 20%... it is clear that entitlement programs make up the bulk of our debts rather than the "earmarks" and "subsidies" that politicians babble about. Now people can and do argue every which way about whether we should be paying for elderly people's medicines and food stamps and all that, but to me the question is whether we can afford them, and there is no doubt that yes we can, IF there were more equitable distributions of wealth. There is NO rational justification for the skewed priorities capitalism has produced, whereby a radio talk show personality or a ball player or a writer or a surgeon should be paid a million dollars while the Essential occupations which benefit society and produce something tangible-such as farmers and mechanics and-are paid marginal wages. Even teachers, who commonly cry poverty, are among our highest paid workers when one considers the actual hours worked per year. Most people-particularly those in power who decide such things-frequently use terms such as "parity" to justify what they earn without ever examining honestly whether any of them actually deserve it; they assume that because so and so makes this much then they should too. Yet the society can survive without ballplayers and doctors and politicians, but farmers? or garbage men? Perhaps the 100 Billion dollars that Wall Street financiers gave themselves as bonuses over just the last 3 years(...no doubt skimmed off potential profits that Could have been distributed to IRA's and 401ks) could be distributed to the truly needy and there would be plenty of money to be shared among people-with no need for new taxes. How about it Brad Pitt, or Rush Limbaugh, or the rest of you? Rather than attend charity fund raisers, just refuse your salary for the rest of your life and donate that to the starving in Haiti. As globalization spreads the wealth between nations, there will be a lot more shifting of power in the coming decades, and unfortunately the United States may not be one of the winners. It depends on whether we refocus our priorities and decide to take action in some critically needed areas, not least of which is weaning ourselves of foreign dependencies and reinvesting in some good old fashioned elbow grease.

Watkins Glen, NY

Just got back from a weekend with Beth at Watkins Glen, where there is a gorge trail that is one of my top ten neatest places in the entire country...The trail follows the stream for about 1.5 miles and has been made accessible by a series of tunnels and astounding stonework cut into the side of the chasm...The whole feel of the place is like a medieval fantasy land- as if gnomes or dragons are going to appear from a crevice...Pictures don't do it justice, but those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about...Lord of the Rings for real...!!

Hmmm

I was going to say something just now, but noticed that I had said something fairly pessimistic in my last entry...and people are still whining about what so and so said twenty years ago and bitching because they can no longer afford 3 bathroom houses...The best news I've read lately is about GM's plug in hybrid to be released in 2010 which will go 40 miles on battery power and another 360 using a small engine to charge the battery, for a total of 400 miles on about 8 gallons of gas. Two years too late but it takes a crisis to spur action and hopefully it's not too late in the larger picture....Part of me believes that a major economic depression would be beneficial to many Americans by adjusting their attitudes to a more appreciative state, but I am outraged that it was obscene greed that put the entire world into this precarious economic condition..The terrorists who want to bring down Capitalism merely need to sit back and watch-no need of bombs...I get weary sometimes watching human nature destroy itself when there is/was so much potential, and I get disgusted that we are killing the rest of the planet along with us. Maybe it is part of the master plan and our reign is nearly over...maybe we just need another shot of hope and courage and cooperation and innovation..I'm just not convinced that people in this nation have it in them anymore..we'll see... If anyone is looking to me all I can say is that I slept in a ditch with a smile on my face so we don't need all the materialism to be happy...but I also sometimes think that my thought processes and opinions diverge so far from the average citizen that I don't even bother to engage in the dialogue anymore

foul moods

....been moping around today, feeling sorry for myself for stupid reasons and expressing cynicism about the state of the world, and while I shall never apologize for such moods nor try to be Pollyannish about life...at the same time that I am feeling like this I am aware that it is a childish, self absorbed condition which shows lack of appreciation for the many good things I have...It is an odd mental condition when problems that seemed trivial yesterday acquire exaggerated gravity today, yet nothing about them has changed and tomorrow they will seem trivial again because, after all, most of them Are trivial and the ones that aren't are not worth obsessing over. There is a certain arrogance to a bad mood, as if in our insolence we honestly presume that we know what is best for the world,or other people,or that whether the Democrats or the Republicans win or whether climate change does or does not occur really makes a difference to the Universe... I have known one thing about foul moods for a long time, which is that I analyze them a lot more than I analyze my good moods, probably because feeling poorly simply feels worse than feeling good,and is more difficult to live with.  Basically, cynicism and irritability are forms of anger, and anger often arises from the pride or fear that comes before we admit to the underlying pain that is their root cause. Until we express our hurt in all it's primal intensity , we lash out or blame external reasons...Over time our self examination, as well as expressing feelings without judgement, and talking, and writing, and music, and walking, and watching nature,and most of all- love and empathy- heal us. That's life... in my heart I never forget that I have it good when I see other people with Real problems...

Paul Rodgers

Through the generosity of a long time guitar buddy, who currently is president of the Quick Chek convenience store chain in the NJ/NY area, a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Paul Rodgers-the lead vocalist in Free and Bad Company who currently tours with Queen and his own bands. They performed mostly old Bad Company and Free songs in what was an excellent performance...there is No doubt that the guy can still sing! The venue was a balloon festival for whom Quick Chek is a sponsor, which is the largest festival east of the Mississippi, rivaled only by another festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico. http://balloonfestival.com/

After the show we waited in a backstage tent until Rodgers came in, where he shook hands and posed for pictures with us, then signed autographs for those who wanted one. He was gracious and friendly the whole time-a genuinely nice guy to show patience for what probably has become a somewhat boring obligation after so many years. I thanked him for all the great music and mentioned some obscure tunes to which he replied "Thanks for remembering! " ...so..for those of us whom have been fans for decades this was a genuine treat-a once in a lifetime opportunity to personally thank an artist whose work we have been admiring since we were kids. In the autumn Rodgers begins another world tour with Queen, so if you get the chance to see them, don't hesitate!