Fact, fiction and "The Road"

I recently read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. I found it a riveting book that was both compelling and depressing. Actually I read the book after buying it as a Christmas gift for my wife. Helen found the story equally compelling and we find our selves talking about scenes from the book on a regular basis. One of our favorite quotes from the book is: "Query: How does the never to be differ from what never was?"

 

Helen recommended the book to a friend of ours who had a negative reaction to both the book and its author. He sent Helen a note which described some of the apparent discrepancies in the author's biographical history and between the authors background and the life of his characters.

 

Our friend's note clarified a mental practice I have embraced for many years. I purposely try to avoid learning too much about the lives of writers of fiction. I don't read forwards to books if they were not written by the author themselves. I want the writer's words to be the fact of their lives. To me the biographical information about the author is the fiction. The author's writing is the facts of their life.

 

I spend too much time with non-fiction to chase after facts about the writer of a perfectly good piece of fiction.

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<http://www.DanLococo.com/>

 

MIA? Ho, how rude of me

I periodically contract people to provide services I either cannot or do not want to do myself. Since my daughter is home from college and in need of money, I thought I could take advantage of her recently acquired web-development skills. My daughter has adapted to her role as a contractor quite quickly. We had a 9:00 AM appointment to  review the project and she is nowhere to be found.

 

I thought to myself: "Where's Jessica? She's missing in action (MIA)". In fact, Jessica stayed out late with friends last night and is still fast asleep. Not only is she not MIA she's fully engaged in producing no action at all.

 

It occurred to me I often use MIA to refer to people who have  forgotten about commitments they've made. The more traditional use of MIA refers to persons who are unaccounted for in war zones. Using "MIA" to refer to a kid who forgot to set her alarm is a long ways from the original use of the term. Oh, how rude of me.

 

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<http://www.DanLococo.com/>

 

 

Losing my way

Zoe and I took our usual Sunday morning walk today. The Sunday morning routine is to make a pot of coffee, load up my talking book reader and head out for our walk. It was about 6:00 Am: prime time for a morning walk.

 

Unfortunately 6:00 AM is much darker this time of year and my vision continues to get progressively worse. I found myself having trouble negotiating our route and giving my book the attention it deserved. I also wasn’t very present to Zoe. I ended up not enjoying my walk very much at all. As I reflect on my experience this morning I find myself knowing I need to do something different if I am going to continue to enjoy the morning ritual Zoe and I have come to look forward to each day.

 

I realize I am making the experience too complicated and at the same time trying to be too controlling. I created a set of reinforcing loops that lead from bad to worse.

 

Given the amount of vision I have it may not be feasible for me to both navigate the walk by sight and read a book at the same time. I realize now I walked slower to compensate for my inability to keep track of my surroundings. This resulted in Zoe feeling she had time to explore all the interesting things a dog can find along the way. I found myself having to struggle to get Zoe back on track, which got me more off track.

 

The fact is there is nothing bad about just enjoying the sounds of the morning and leaving it at that. I think I have a plan for next weekend.

 

____________________

<http://www.DanLococo.com/>

 

The challenge of the non-negotiable

I did a couple loads of laundry this morning. laundry is one of the less glamorous percs of having a home office. As I was starting the second load the felt dot I use as a guide to set the washer came loose and fell off the control dial. I can't see the lines on the controls of the washer so I must have a tactile means of setting the machine. No tactile feedback, no way to set the machine. To paraphrase and old, bad, joke: No touchy, no laundry.

 

The solution to this problem is very simple. I just need a sighted person who can put another felt dot on the washer control dial and everything will be fine for another few years. If I can't get this assistance I simply cannot use the washing machine. I don't say this to be demanding just a statement of fact.

 

It occurred to me this is a great example of the challenges disabled persons face in many settings each day. Part of the problem is the simplicity of the solution. I have a very supportive family but it simply isn't a high priority to anyone (including myself) to put a dot on a washing machine.

 

There is a fair chance I won't get the dot on the washer control until the towels and sheets are dirty and no one else feels like doing them. That's fine in a home setting but may easily reflect badly on everyone (but more likely the disabled employee) in a work setting.

 

This simple situation is an example of how a person with a disability can be perceived as being less capable of getting a job done. There's no real blame to be placed here just a non-negotiable need for a cooperative effort.

 

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<http://www.DanLococo.com/>

 

 

Stripping it down in Nature

I attended a retreat yesterday called "Meeting God in the Rawness of Nature" with Richard Rohr, OFM. The day was held in Lakewood Forest Preserve, Wauconda, IL.  As with any good retreat experience it has taken a little time for the revelations of the day to clarify in my mind.

 

One of the reflection opportunities was to find a quiet place in the nature preserve and to reflect on the connection we have to what we found.  While I don't like to let my blindness be a controlling factor in my choices, I decided to keep things simple and not go too deep into the forest. I found ample opportunity to reflect at the place I was drawn to.

 

After settling myself I stood and absorbed the various textures, sounds, and smells of my surroundings. The reflection instructions asked us to identify a single object to reflect on but nothing called out to me. Instead I found myself reflecting on how the textures, sounds and smells of the nature preserve appeared to be a single monolith of input. As I paid closer attention I was drawn to the fact each element of this environment was a seemingly insignificant part of the whole. Instead of embracing the message of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 I found myself thinking quite the opposite.

 

I saw the sense of order we often prescribe to our natural environment is just a way to simply put order to a very complex system. I had to question my assumption everything has a 'purpose" in nature. By making this assumption I can infer I must have a purpose in the universe. I realized I could not assume everything has a purpose nor could I infer I have a purpose in the universe. Instead I realized each plant, bird and insect was simply doing what they do.

 

This revelation left me struggling to see where my place in the universe resides. It would be comforting to know there was a plan for me and I am merely a passenger on a ride designed by someone else. While the passenger idea has a lot of merit I've never really embraced the idea.

 

My reflection drew me to the conclusion I am an active participant in the mystery of the universe. A much harder, but far more exciting, view of the world. While this revelation is not new or novel, it reinforces my beliefs and experience. I am regularly amazed at the gifts in my life. I am also regularly surprised at how easily the gifts in my life compliment or are supplemented by the environment I'm a part of.

 

I found myself left with a need to regularly reflect on my own gifts and how I can be gift to others. While this revelation is not significant it is also not something I purposefully do on a regular basis.

 

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<http://www.DanLococo.com/>

 

She kissed a girl

One of the nice things about Facebook is the opportunity to keep up to date with the people I've gotten to know over the years but don't have frequent contact with. Jean is one of those people. We served on a Board together for a number of years. Our paths cross occasionally but infrequently. I enjoy reading her FB updates and I send her a copy of the newsletter I write.

 

The other day Jean posted a link to a disturbing story about the Atlanta police harassing a group of bar patrons for no other reason than they happened to be gay. I'm happy Jean posted the link because we all need to be vigilant when it comes to civil/human rights abuses.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-alvear/stonewall-2009-police-rai_b_286649.html

 

Jean has posted a number of links related to issues facing gay people. Some have been serious, some funny and some I've ignored. Out of curiosity I took a look at Jean's profile. Jean is in a relationship and she's gay. The world is now different and I'm not sure how to deal with this new information.

 

acknowledge or ignore: that is the question. To acknowledge Jean 's sexuality is filled with all sorts of presumptuous pitfalls. I don't want to seem  like I'm showing some sort of approval: indicating approval for someone's sexuality is kind of like indicating approval of someone's racial background: "Hey I just realized you're Asian and I want you to know I'm OK with that". Showing some sort of solidarity seems like a noble thing to do but I can't imagine being part of one of the very few groups who are openly (and legally) discriminated against so that would be a hollow gesture. Pointing out the dangers of living together out of wedlock might be useful if it weren't for the institutionalized discrimination thing.

 

I guess I'm stuck. I'll shoot Jean a copy of this blog post and hope she continues to share tidbits from her life in whatever ways our paths cross.

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<http://www.DanLococo.com/>

 

The Insurance Industry fears free-market capitalism

Susan Pisano of the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) trade group stresses two major points about health insurance plans:

 

1. The health insurance industry does not believe they could compete with a government operated insurance plan.

2. Only one percent of health care premiums go toward profits.

 

Two generally accepted points regarding health insurance administrative costs are:

 

1. For-profit health insurance have administrative costs of 15 - 30%.

2. Medicare has administrative costs under 5%.

 

When we put the position of AHIP together with what is accepted about administrative costs it is hard to see AHIP's concern over the competition a government administrated plan would provide. True, for-profit insurance plans would have to bring their administrative costs under control but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Once AHIP members brought their administrative costs under control the one percent difference (profits) would be insignificant and a free market would determine if they were deserved.

 

AHIP appears to fear free-market capitalism more than anything else.

 

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<http://www.DanLococo.com/>