Maine Forest Cafe

“I like the dreams of the future better than the histories of the past.” Thomas Jefferson

Freeport 2008, originally uploaded by Zeus Ocean Storm.

The Fourth of July, Independence Day, the birthday of the United States of America, is our most important holiday. We celebrate this day with parades, family barbecues, fireworks, and hopeful reflections on our country. This was my day, as it was last year, as it will be in the future.

Democracy is the the living flame that illuminates life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Republic to which it stands adds needed and necessary structure to our never ending, always ongoing quest for liberty and justice for all.

Peaking around the couch, originally uploaded by Zeus Ocean Storm.

Dog books from my library.

Good Dog. Stay. By Anna Quindlen (New York Times Bestselling Authorh. 2007. 82 numbered pages. LibraryThing popularity – 38975. 111 LT’ers have this book. 3 stars

Marley & Me by john grogan (New York Times Bestseller). 2005. 291 numbered pages. LT popularity – 512. 2901 LT’ers have this book. 5 stars

Pack of Two by Caroline Knapp (The New York Times Bestseller). 1999. 249 numbered pages. LT popularity – 18655. 179 LT’ers have this book. 2 stars

Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote. (Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award) 2007. 398 numbered pages. LT popularity – 23624. 182 LT’ers have this book. 5 stars

The Art of Raising a Puppy by The Monks of New Skete. 1991. 274 numbered pages. LT popularity – 17408. 198 LT’ers have this book. 4 stars

The Official Book of the Labrador Retriever by Dr. Bernard W. Ziessow, Editor. 1995. 448 numbered pages. LT popularity - 2,475,937. 1 LT’er has this book – me. 4 stars

1,344 pages across 6 books.

Star system defined (WIP):
5 – glad I read it, read it again
4 – good for what it was
3 – could have lived without reading it
2 – should have not read it
1 – should have not bought it, aka, What was I thinking?

So what does all this mean? Dogs enter and leave our lives, living a condensed existence from puppy, to teeanager, adulthood, middle age, old age, then beyond, leaving forever holes in our heart. The two best books (5 stars) tell great tales of wild and loyal dogs. Marley in an urban environment. Merle in a rural environment. Marley is pure lab, Merle has lab influences. Dogs teach us how to live our lives. Both books can be read again.

Why read books on Labs? Because I’ve had four in my past and my fifth one is here with me. They are all always with me. Jackie from the Brunswick shelter. Donovan de Donar from a Tucson pet store. Chani Frontier Thunder from western Nebraska. Thor tres Thunder from Auburn, Alabama. And now, Zeus Ocean Storm from a dedicated breeder up the road, around the corner and across the county and town line.

Why Labs? I’ve found them to be loyal, friendly and obedient companions. We have walked many miles together. Zeus will be doing his first NH 4K a week from tomorrow. We train together daily.

Roman Baths, originally uploaded by Zeus Ocean Storm.

Bath, England

Well, I knew it was going to happen, just didn’t realize it would happen prematurely. I’m approaching a milestone - half-century of existence - birthday. In two months and small change. Yesterday, in the mail, I received my first AARP solicitation, proudly proclaiming that I might be eligible to possibly save money on car insurance. No big deal, I have a shredder. There will be more to come. Soon, I’ll become an eligible card carrying senior citizen discount seeker, or not. I might look to young. Just ask me.

Albert Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.”

Today, I will live the other way.

Fabulous, awesome, inspiring and other superlatives From London through Stratford on Avon, across Hadrian’s Wall, Edinburgh, the Scotttish Highlands - I could live there - Loch Ness, Glasgow, Tintern Abby, Bath, Stonehenge drive by and back to London. Castles, cathedrals, abbies, palacies and stained glass. Insightful and engaged tour director and bus driver. Stone buildings, edifices, walls & hedgerows. Whisky bars, pubs and kilts. Awesome tour companions. Polite traditions. Confident cultures. Again is not soon enough. Home to Zeus hugs.

“Now that
I am one,
be one”
RMSJr

WC7

I passed yesterday. After a 10? session long class, followed by an immersion studying period. I went into the examination with confidence, 100% sure that I would either pass or fail. Being the linear kind of guy that I am, I completed the examination sequentially, marking no questions to return to, to rue and ruminate over. Start to finish took 2.5 hours. Several moments later, the results status appears - Pass. In several weeks, I get the official score.

Now, on and back to other things - How to Think

Ed Boyden is an assistant professor in the MIT Media Lab. His lab broadly invents new tools to engineer brain circuits, in order to treat intractable disorders, augment cognition, and better understand the nature of existence.

Briefly.
1. Synthesize new ideas constantly.
2. Learn how to learn (rapidl).
3. Work backward from your goal.
4. Always have a long-term plan.
5. Make contingency maps.
6. Collaborate.
7. Make your mistakes quickly.
8. write up best-practices protocols.
9. Document everything obsessively.
10. Keep it simple.

He concludes his blog entry with two practical notes, logarithmic time planning, “events that are close at hand are scheduled with finer detail than events that are far off”. And, conversational summaries, “useful to write and draw while talking with someone,”.

Thinking, think about it.

Citation: Boyden, E. S. “How to Think.” Ed Boyden’s Blog. Technology Review. 11/13/07. (http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/boyden/21925/).

WC216

“The world will change when you are ready to pronounce this oath:
I swear by my Life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man,
nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine.”
John Galt

This I must remember to remember.