The Colosseum

 My wife and I were watching a show on TV the other day that was examining the technological achievements of earlier, less developed times.  Not surprisingly, they did a segment on the Romans, who did do some amazing feats of architecture and engineering 2,000 years ago.  They chose to focus on the Colosseum of Rome.  It was a stunning piece of work.  I cannot argue that.  What disturbed me, though, was the glib way they lauded Roman architects and engineers who created such an entertaining spectacle for the populace while making no real effort to decry the butchery that was at the heart of it all.  Some estimate that some 500,000 people died there, along with over a million animals.  9,000 animals were killed during the inauguration of the stadium, an event that the show's hosts felt 'outshone' the spectacle associated with the beginning of the modern Olympic Games.  How they can compare such disparate deeds without being sickened by all the killing is beyond me.  They also remarked on how it was a clever and original idea to control the populace by keeping them entertained.  At what cost?  I find it symptomatic of the violence which I believe lies at the very troubled heart of modern American culture.  Looks to me like our government has decided to employ similar methods for controlling our own citizens, and it is working quite well...

Pessimism...

"I don't believe in pessimism.  If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead.  If you think it's going to rain, it will."

-- Clint Eastwood

Been Busy...

Didn't find much time to blog over the last week.  Spent a day home from work sick - enough so that blogging wasn't the first thing that came to mind at that point.  Been trying to deal with a bunch of things on "the list".  You know that list?  The one with all the stuff you should be attending to.

We did find out the report we'd gotten that my wife's biological father had passed away was premature (it is complicated...*sigh*).  That was good, but someone should have called us with that news a while ago... 

My body has been giving me some warnings that I need to be taking better care of myself.  I have heard that message loud and clear - can I have an Amen!?  I have started making changes this week.  I've had very little soda - one of my weaknesses - and will be cutting it back farther.  I am making healthier choices about eating, too, with many more to come.  I'm avoiding a lot of desserts I hadn't been.  We've gotten careless in our cooking lately, so I am getting back to old habits in that department.  Vegetables are getting more plentiful again.  I'll be eating a lot of salads - some with greens and some with chopped vegetables (I love Middle Eastern salads!) - and more soups (higher water content foods are a good thing).  We did splurge the other night and have some nice steaks from Costco with vegetarian potstickers, broccolini and a dipping sauce I whipped up.  That sauce was "money", to quote Guy Fieri. 

My mother had proud of her father's Native American heritage, though it wasn't much talked about in her home growing up.  Those were different times.  The problem is that 1) he passed away over fifty years ago and 2) I haven't been able to find out who, exactly, his family tree was an American Indian.  Family "history" said it was Cherokee blood. 

Photos of his paternal grandmother, Mary Ann Randolph, show a woman who appears to be of mixed heritage, and her father's line is very hard to track.  A document from one of her brothers makes reference to her mother having some Indian blood, too.  Again...I haven't been able trace it.  Someone I spoke to online from that side of the family said she had heard similar rumors, and had a couple of other family stories to add.  Photos of his maternal grandmother, Amanda Jane Lawrence, also show a woman who seems to be of mixed heritage, with a similarly scanty past - at least in part.  Everybody seems to have come from areas where a Cherokee ancestor is quite plausible - North Carolina, Georgia, etc.  And that is as far as it has gone.

Until last night.  I was doing some genealogy on the Randolph branch when I came across the name of Mattie L. Hamm on the Dawes Rolls, the official lists from the early 20th Century that documented many tribal members.  Mattie's maiden name is Randolph.  She was Mary Ann's niece.  She also happened to be 1/32nd Chickasaw.  That puts the full-blooded ancestor four generations before Mary Ann.  Arrrgh.  That name may forever elude me.  Not a Cherokee.  The Chickasaw are one of the Southeastern Woodland tribes, speaking a Muskogean language, and sharing a common ancestry with the Choctaw.  Its cool to have finally found something!  It is a place to start.

Some clothes I ordered for Gina came today, along with a copy of The Black Keys album, Brother.  Good album!  I've been meaning to order it for a long time.

Life is good.

The Necessity of Suffering...

"Suffering is a dreadful teacher but often the beginning of the best in us. Suffering and creativity are often interdependent. pain produces a terrible tension released in our creative response. Suffering can be like a grain of sand in an oyster: it can create a magnificent pearl."
-- Teresa of Ávila

In my opinion, there is a pervasive belief in American popular culture that we need to bubble-wrap our lives. Pain, discomfort and suffering should be prevented and/or avoided as much as possible. Gina and I have seen it in an extreme form on a show where a Yuppie couple was getting a garden-makeover, and one of their concerns was that there not be too many flowers because their children might get stung. No one had a history of allergic anaphylactic shock to bee venom. They just didn't want their children to be exposed to such pain. *Snort* Getting stung is one of the rites of passage in childhood. I remember a bee stinging me on the elementary school playground, at recess. I didn't even bother to tell a teacher. Do those parents think they'll be able to shield their kids from pain later in life? Wait 'til they get to junior high, when "intercranial hormonal pressure" comes into play, and children start getting truly nasty to each other.

Hardship builds character, empathy and a host of other positive things. It sparks creativity. We wouldn't have the poetry of Rumi or Edison's light bulb without it, just to name a couple of examples. The trick is to rise to the occasion, instead of wallowing in defeat and self-pity, which doesn't accomplish anything. That comes with repeated exposure. Practice makes perfect, and all that.

Mamayu Hayuning Bawono

Mamayu Hayuning Bawono, or "to preserve the beauty of the world", is an expression of the harmony which is a central tenet of Kejawen, the indigenous spiritual tradition of the Javanese people. This isn't just a simple statement of conservation, but implies living a life which contributes on all levels to the harmony of the world, and effects all aspects of human life.

A bit farther to the East, Hawaiians have Aloha, which can mean love, affection, peace, mercy, compassion, and the breath of life. The late Paul Pearsall wrote at length on the Polynesian outlook at life in The Pleasure Prescription: To Love, to Work, to Play - Life in the Balance.

The Navajo people talk of the Beauty Way, a way of living that is meant to restore and maintain Hozho, a sense of balance, beauty, harmony, and health, amongst tribe members.

Even the ancient Egyptians believed in Ma'at, both the Goddess who created Order from the primordial Chaos, and their concept of truth, balance, order, and justice. It was her feather that human hearts were weighed against in Duat, the Underworld, to determine whether they would reach Paradise.

Around the globe, "primitive" cultures stress the importance of balance and harmony, which stands in the starkest contrast to our Western belief that the world is to be subjagated and exploited. If we look around ourselves with honesty, it is easy to see what that is getting us.

We have come to a place where we need to make a choice about our futures. It is my sincere belief that we need to choose a lifestyle that stresses balance and harmony. I don't believe this message is at odds with what constitutes the core of the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). It is my sincere hope that I may contribute, in some small way, to preserving the beauty of the world. I invite you to do the same.

The Daily Quote...

"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity."

--Carl Jung

14 Ways Your Cat Improves Your Health!

I found this in my email today.  Gina and I love cats.  I think it is pretty cool that their purring can be of benefit to their humans.  Check out the link for more info about how cats benefit human health.

 

The Daily Quote

 “We are constituted so that simple acts of kindness, such as giving to charity or expressing gratitude, have a positive effect on our long-term moods. The key to the happy life, it seems, is the good life: a life with sustained relationships, challenging work, and connections to community.”
--Paul Bloom

Bwahahahaha!

Tell Me a Story...

 

I loved to go through the scads of artwork that Night Walker used to posts on his/her Facebook page. This picture made a big impression on me. I saved it.  I can see there is a story, something timeless, that I'd love to read. Better yet, I'd love to hear a great storyteller tell it...

The Daily Quote...

“I've realized that although Valentine's Day can be a cheesy money-making stint to most people, it's a day of expressing love across the world. It doesn't have to only be between lovers, but by telling a friend that you care, or even an old person that they are still appreciated.”

― Reeva Steenkamp (August 19, 1983 - February 14, 2013)


(from "Thoughtful Mind" at quotes@wwwventures.net)

Learn...and Help the Hungry. For Free!...

Do you get bored sometimes? Find yourself killing time with mindless activities? Why not learn some stuff while helping to feed the truly hungry. Feedrice.com has a game you can play. Just answer the questions. Every right answer represents 20 grains of rice that will be donated in support of the United Nations World Food Program. One of my coworkers had gotten up to 36,000+ grains donated. The more people that play, the more significant the donations will become. We won't end world hunger this way, but maybe it'll be enough to keep a few people from needlessly starving to death. I provided a linked banner down towards the bottom of the page.

Bailey Stone Bradley, the Cowboy Evangelist...

Bailey Stone Bradley (1870-1947) was one of my mother's colorful relatives. Apparently, he would hitch some oxen up to that wagon and go out on the Great Plains preaching and ministering to the cowboys that were working out on the open range. He was my great-grandmother's oldest brother. So far, that's about all I've found out about it. If anyone has more info, I hope they'll share.

Extremist Hate Groups in America Up Nearly 70% Since 2000...

 

The Southern Poverty Law Center documents, studies, and leads the fight against extremist hate groups in the United States. They reported some 939 such groups in America during 2013. Numbers have grown about 70% since the year 2000. Not surprising, really. Much has been done to fan the flames of hate in the new millenium. For more information on the report and map, click here. If you are interested in their Stand Strong Against Hate program, click on the link. You can add yourself to their map of those who are doing just that. Check out their website, and their activities. We all need to work against the intolerance, hate and violence that currently plague our nation.

"Hate

It has caused a lot of problems,

but it has not solved one yet."

-- Maya Angelou

Dividing God...

I'm very partial to the ecstatic poets - Rumi, Hafiz and others like them. I've always wished I had their passion for the Divine, but I haven't been able to set myself on fire, like it appears they did. Sigh... Anyway, here is one from Hafiz -

Dividing God

The moon starts singing
When everyone is asleep
And the planets throw a bright robe
Around their shoulders and whirl up
Close to her side.

Once I asked the moon,
Why do you and your sweet friends
Not perform so romantically like that
To a larger crowd?

And the whole sky chorus resounded,
"The admission price to hear
The lofty minstrels
Speak of love
Is affordable only to those
Who have not exhausted themselves
Dividing God all day
And thus need rest.
 
The thrilled
Tavern fiddlers
Who are perched on the roof
Do not want their notes to intrude
Upon the ears
Where an accountant lives
With a sharp pencil
Keeping score of words
Another
In their great sorrow or sad anger
May have once said
To you."

Hafiz knows:
The sun will stand as your best man
And whistle
When you have found the courage
To marry forgiveness
When you have found the courage
To marry Love.

--Hafiz, The Gift, p. 136