Ups and Downs and Everything In Between

This video, which is one of the recent TED Talk videos, is of Steven Pinker’s talk called The Stuff of Thought. This is simply brilliant. So brilliant, in fact, that those who know me well are about to be utterly astounded by what I am going to say:

I now understand the value of indirect communication. And it is immense.

I also understand why I never saw it before: the benefits are reaped solely through language’s social applications, not its analytical ones. See for yourself by watching the video.

An incredible interview with this Harvard professor is available on Google Video.

Time is a limited resource. That’s why patience is a virtue.

If

By Rudyard Kipling

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Augh. Today is not the day I want to be an adult. Or have to go down to the courthouse. Or deal with law things and governments. Or go run errands before I can do that. Or stress about all sorts of future plans stuff. Or….

Bah. I want to crawl back into bed and stay there until Spring comes.

My mind is in Schrödinger’s box.

Am I asking too much? Why can’t I just go to parties and have a good time?

Baby steps have always been really hard for me to take. I am defined by extremes, my life a struggle to find a balance between two opposing influences on more scales than I could count.

Today, I resolved to clean. It was not easy, but I succeeded a little bit. I cleaned the floor of my kitchen and the living room, removed clutter from the coffee and kitchen tables, washed the dishes, cleaned the stove, and even folded a few clothes.

This makes me feel at least a little better.

In my inbox I see a confirmation from Amazon.com informing me that my order of “What Color is Your Parachute?” a book recommended to me by Kate Bornstein, is on its way (as are How to Write a Book Proposal and When Someone You Love is Kinky).

One step at a time, right?