I was organizing my home office the other day. Among the many things that needed putting away, I came across a bunch of books my daughter got for me a couple of years ago. There was a school library that was closing and getting rid of many of their books. She gobbled up stacks for everyone in the family based on their interests. Among them were topics as varied as gardening, a guide to herbs, landscaping, some on wrestling, home improvement, electrical wiring, bicycle maintenance, books on inventions, product design, and innovation through the 20th century. I am touched by how much my daughter sees me and knows my interests. I don’t know which I like more, the actual books or the fact that the pile of them reminds me of how much she loves me.
Author: Jim (Page 16 of 51)
Father of 4, Engineer, Social Worker, longtime blogger, #linux user. Opining on the internet? What else is it for?
Before
After
Yesterday I did something crazy – well not crazy for me, but something odd for Puerto Rico. When I lived in the States, I commuted to work on my bicycle. It was a great experience. I would get to work, clean up with a wet wash cloth, or shower if one was available, change into my office clothes and get to work. All my commutes have been around 15 miles each way, which makes for a pretty decent workout. The nice thing about bike commuting is the energy you have early in the morning. While everyone else is grasping for cups of coffee like brain-starved zombies, you feel ready to go, oxygenated, pumped, energetic. If I had ever taken drugs, I imagine that’s what it feels like. You feel like anything is possible, the world is at your fingertips.
The ride home is just as cathartic. Maybe you’re a little tired or stressed after a long day, but as soon as you get on the bike, it all melts away as you eat up the miles, reflect on and interact with the city, talk to strangers, see things you wouldn’t see from a car, and stop for a bottle of wine for your lovely wife/husband. These were some of the happiest times of my life – even if the job was brain-dead.
I’d gotten away from that though. Sure, I’d go out in the morning to do grocery shopping and run errands, but it just wasn’t the same. Since I’m a consultant, when I visit an office, it’s usually not for the entire day, or it’s multiple offices in a day in inconvenient locations.
But the other day in a fit of “I’ve gotten so FAT,” I got an idea. Why can’t I just plan a day to take care of all my pending tasks onsite. I usually do them from home, but sometimes working in isolation is not motivating. So I cleared my schedule and okayed my plan with the client.
I took off early in the morning for a 14 mile ride through San Juan into Cataño. The morning was a little wet from a recent rain, but the air was cool, and the bike was comfy. Laura had packed me lunch – a sandwich, orange, and apple – and I had my laptop stowed away in the paniers, along with a change of clothes, washcloth, and towel.
Man, did that feel good. It reminded me of 17 years ago.
Oh blessed unerring document, we must protect its sacred words – or at least that’s what many on the right in the US would have us believe. The US Constitution (including the Bill of Rights), was a complete, although unfinished, document and one upon which we are still working. It is not the unerring words of our “founding fathers,” white men who did not implicitly protect, free speech, freedom of religion, physical freedom for people, free press, right to assemble, or the ability to seek redress from the government for grievances .
WTF, I hear you saying. Go ahead and read it, as it was written, its original text. I’ll wait.
Here’s the first amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
It didn’t say the states couldn’t. And they did. States had state religions, banned literature, restrictions on press etc, all the way until the 20th century.
At that time, the federal government did not explicitly prohibit these things, nor protect them as inalienable rights. It simply said, Congress shall make no law restricting or establishing. I know you’re scratching your head. You thought the Constitution was sacred, handed down by a Christian God. Obama wants to destroy it. He is a tyrant. He wants to take away our guns.
Want to know who else was a tyrant?
Abraham Lincoln. He was a tyrant because he wanted to expand the federal definition of freedom to the states.
Want to know something else? Activist judges were the ones to encroach the constitutional protections to the states. Yes, activists judges (as the right likes to call them) gave you your freedom of speech and press.
When did this happen?
1925. Did you get that? It wasn’t until nineteen twenty-five that case law recognized that the Bill of Rights applied not just to the federal government, but to the states. And it wasn’t even really over at the point. It’s still being fought about.
So, let’s remember that the Constitution is not sacred in its original form. It was a complete document, but we’ve been fleshing it out, still working on it, tweaking it to make it better lo these 230+ years. It also goes hand in hand with just as many years of judicial precedent.
Intentions of our “founding fathers?” Their intentions were noble, I imagine, but short-sighted. They left out women, black people, none-land holding whites, did not protect freedom of speech, assembly, press, religion, did not prohibit involuntary servitude, and a whole host of things.
Once we see the document as above reproach we cease to grow as a nation as a people.
Our story as a nation and our document are not yet finished and they will continue to be written and perfected. They are not perfect, just as we are not perfect.
We/it are works in progress.
Laura and I were in a perfume store looking for a nice uni-sex perfume. We have always liked CK One ever since it came out nearly twenty years ago, and recently Calvin Klein has expanded the “One” line to include some other scents. Laura and I were trying them out and were thus far non-plussed. I turned to the sales person, “Do you have any other uni-sex perfumes?”
“Here, try this one.” She took out a red bottle. Unbreakable Joy.
“Ooo, Unbreakable Joy. I need that in my life. Give me more of that.” We spritzed it on a couple of paper strips. It smelled nice, we agreed.
The saleswoman hesitated, and mumbled, “It’s from the reality show people – you know…”
We paused, not understanding her hushed tone and downward glance.
“You know,” she paused, “the Kardashians.” And she left it hanging in the air as we nodded in understanding.
Still, I liked the scent, and the name on the bottle just wasn’t a concern to me. “Whatever – it’ll be our opportunity to not take ourselves too seriously. Unbreakable joy and a reminder to not be so serious… we’ll take it.”
Watching “Once Upon a Time” when it hits me – and I don’t know why I’m realizing this now – Disney is racist. There are no black characters, and when they appear they are either disappeared or killed post haste.
- Sidney / Genie / Mirror – gone, probably in jail
- Lancelot (yeay a black Lancelot – oh wait, he’s dead) uceremoniously killed by Cora
- Gus Gus / Tow truck driver – killed by king
- Cinderella’s fairy godmother – blown up
Seriously, Disney?
Laura was telling a story, and she ended with, “It was more fun than a barrel of blasters.”
I registered her intent, but my verbal receptors didn’t quite parse her syntax. I thought for a moment. There was something wrong. Then a smile formed on my lips, “I think you mean a ‘barrel of monkeys’ or ‘had a blast.'”
She had already collapsed into a puddle of giggles.
“You are too funny, my love, you and your mixed metaphors.”
A little spider had strung a line from a hanging lamp to the floor. Jaimito noticed him first when he came into the kitchen early in the morning. He was so tiny, at first I could not spot him. “Daddy, watch out. He’s right there,” he said pointing. His tone was not one of alarm or fear, but simply a motion of caution. Please be careful, our spider friend is there. Don’t hurt him.
“He’s our spider-bro, Jaimito. Ready to defend us.”
“Yeah, he’s like ‘I got my eye on you, fly'” I laughed at Jaimito assuming the voice of our little friend.
“That’s too funny!”
With the bustle in the kitchen it seemed most prudent to relocate him, lest something happen to our faithful arachnid vigilante. I picked off the web from the hanging lamp and edged my way to the corner. Spider bro, leaped to the floor and was gone.
“I got my eye on you, fly!”