Worldwide Ace - Latest Comments

Re: The Whole Shebang

TheOldBear — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:45:09 -0000

A good topic would be about the Talmud as the first conceptual example of hypertext.

Re: Thunder Down Under: Part V

Ace Harmon — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:33:26 -0000

It was awful. They first told me I didn't have strep. Two days later, they told me I did have strep, but not mono. A week after that, they said the cultures for both were positive. I complained that I couldn't sleep due to the sore throat, and they told me that was dangerous in the early stages of mono, hence the awesome cough syrup. It's one of the only times I've actively appreciated medication outside of antibiotics (which are simply necessary for some illnesses). Sorry you didn't enjoy the same luxury.

Re: Thunder Down Under: Part V

Erin Chilvers-West — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:53:58 -0000

i had the mono/strep combo too. I dont think I had anything as good as codeine for it either.

Re: Thunder Down Under: Part VI

Ace Harmon — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:31:21 -0000

There's always more, but that would be an autobiography. I may do an epilogue enumerating my recovery in a slightly less detailed manner, but I have no desire to spend a quarter of my waking hours each day cataloging the other 12 or so waking hours. As my friend Tres revealed in one of his most recent entries in his travel blog, trying to capture everything can be overwhelming.

Re: Thunder Down Under: Part VI

TheOldBear — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:03:27 -0000

Is this the last installment? Surely there is more to this tale. I expected a continuing Dickensian saga, as described by Charles Dickens aficionado David Perdue:

A factor contributing to Dickens meteoric rise in popularity was the way in which he and his publishers, Chapman and Hall, chose to publish his books. All of Dickens major novels were published serially, in monthly (or weekly) installments. A full length novel was out of the price range of most of his readers (a novel cost 31 shillings in 1836, average worker earned 6 to 20 shillings per week) but a monthly installment, 32 pages with 2 illustrations and advertisements, could be sold for a shilling.

Dickens wrote each installment with this type of publication in mind, many of the installments ended with a hook that kept the readers glued to the edge of their Victorian seats wondering what would happen next, thus ensuring the sales of the next installment.

Dickens' ability to capture the imagination of his audience, many of them new to fiction due to a rise in literacy during the industrial revolution, was due largely to his amazing power of observation, incredible wit, unforgettable characters, and a command of the English language probably second only to Shakespeare. His fiction provided a voice for the causes and frustrations of the poor and working classes helping to assure popularity across class boundaries.

(source: http://charlesdickenspage.com/...

I still have a few shillings left. I hope there will be more installments of your writings.

Re: Thunder Down Under: Part IV

Ace Harmon — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:34:31 -0000

They gave me morphine, but no hallucinations.

Re: Thunder Down Under: Part IV

Craig Talbert — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:09:45 -0000

The next part had better include some wicked hallucinations on morphine, Terrance McKenna style.

Re: Guilt by Disassociation

Sarie — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:44:36 -0000

As teachers we always hope that we can leave a positive lasting mark on our students. And we hope they remember us fondly. And it surely does suck when we can't remember them. I've had something of your experience noted here as well.

Re: Conscious Imperatives – Part II

Ace Harmon — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:39:10 -0000

You're much cooler than you think you are.

Re: Conscious Imperatives – Part II

Dixie Murphy Ross — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:23:34 -0000

you make me sound much cooler than I am/was.

Re: Postcards From the Other Side

TheOldBear — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:12:16 -0000

I just heard a tribute to Steve Jobs of Apple Computer who died yesterday at the age of 56. It included an excerpt from his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University. The excerpt is worth quoting here:

          When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like:
"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most
certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since
then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every
morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my
life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And when
ever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I
know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be
dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to
help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything
— all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment
or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death,
leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are
going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking
you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no
reason not to follow your heart.

          About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. … It turned
out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable
with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

          This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope
it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived
through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than
when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one
wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to
die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No
one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death
is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change
agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now
the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will
gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so
dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste
it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which
is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the
noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And
most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary.

----

A video of Steve Jobs' entire speech is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Re: Two Lights Passing in the Night

Mark Krebs — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:15:55 -0000

Later, she dialed -911.
"No it's not an emergency NOW, but I just want to report him."
...
"This guy on a bike, in the tunnel, at the underpass by Pearl."
...
"No, he didn't have a weapon that I could see, but it was dark. ...He WAS mustachioed, I'm pretty sure about that, and swarthy, or hulking, a little bit. He could overpower me!"
...
"No, he didn't,not yet. But..."
...
"Not threatening, but there was poetry, he had poetry and he used it without compunction."
...
"Yeah, it was pretty bad. Are you going to send a cruiser?"
...
"Look I need him locked up in my bedroom!" Voices rising... "No, I mean, locked out of it, of course! Can you even Imagine what might happen? There would be no stopping us, ...him."
...
"What am I supposed to do? What if he does it again?!, or doesn't? I don't KNOW!"
...dialtone...

Re: Postcards From the Other Side

Ace Harmon — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:30:14 -0000

I appreciate the kind words and empathy.

Oddly enough, I feel like my life is constantly improving. Every year, I get better at not letting myself fuck things up and better still at appreciating what I have. I grow, learn, live and love all of it, and even my greatest complaint is but a spec on a virtually unblemished existence. By no means do I think that my 30s damn me to some purgatory.

If anything, I think that's the difference between cynicism and cynicism as pragmatism. I still hold out hope for the world and my cynicism is a means to that end. Whether it's the right tactic is a completely separate question.

Re: Postcards From the Other Side

Markrkrebs — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:19:58 -0000

I hear you Ben. I recall the phone call on the day, the carpet in the empty house, my ancient body (30 YEARS!) pouring ichor on my father, something about life being as good as over, not sure I could face that my youth was gone.

A decade later I realized how childish it was of me, how cruel to him (54 at the time?) to have to console ME on my not quite perfect body, not quite perfect stamina. His support kept me from buckling under the weight or ennui.

Still another decade later, the same speech (more eloquent) from you, and the same support (less supportive) from me. You can transcend my stupidity, see beyond my short sightedness, if you can imagine right now, or can maybe begin to at least, how sad I am for you (not in particular but all of you) that you cannot seem to see how warm it is to be in your skin right now.

Re: Sad News

Ron Ballard — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:52:15 -0000

Thanks for your kind words about Bob. Bob and I were friends for past 20 years back in NYC and NJ. I am very thankful that his friends in Colorado regard him in the same way. Regards, Ron Ballard.

Re: Sad News

Meg — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:30:11 -0000

Please send me an email - meg@megmaurer .com. Robert was a dear friend of mine from almost the minute he arrived in Boulder. He spoke to me often about his Eldora friends.....I have details regarding a memorial service for him. Thank you for taking the time to write this, you captured lots of Robert with your words. With Kindest Regards, Meg Maurer

Re: Damsels in Distress

Mike — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:52:48 -0000

Very well written.

Re: Live Unplugged

Ace Harmon — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:50:34 -0000

I've come to realize that, and since college, I've always found a way to enjoy the day how I want to.

What bothers me is the sense of social obligation I feel to others. For every gift or phone call or message, I want to be able to say "thank you, you're important to me and I appreciate your attention." Yet that takes time, energy, and focus I don't have when I'm busy trying to take care of my own needs. My disconnection is simply a way of reclaiming my birthday and allowing a day to truly focus on myself and my needs without interruption or distraction, and selfish though it is, it's the only effective way I've found of doing so.

Re: Live Unplugged

TheOldBear — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:33:59 -0000

You are blessed that your birthday provides an opportunity to invite others to celebrate with you. When you're a little kid, adults orchestrate disconnected social events for you. Once you become an adult, you can take control of the situation and construct your own event for others to enjoy with you.

To paraphrase Lesley Gore: It's your party and you can cry if your want to.

Re: The Fat of the Matter

Ace Harmon — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:08:25 -0000

I apologize if I offended you. I had no idea that you've struggled with your weight, especially given how fit you are. My assumption of a unique perspective was just that, an assumption. As for the assertion of loathing, I don't feel there is any loathing on your or, for that matter, any other member of the book club's part. The last line of the entry is intended to be a very general statement about society and wasn't supposed to apply to the people there.

Re: The Fat of the Matter

Mark Krebs — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:34:38 -0000

I've been fat, so I call BS on your presumption of a unique perspective, and assertion of loathing. You need to do some introspection.

Re: Filling Out the Forms

Ace Harmon — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:21:35 -0000

Thanks! Your prompt entry is still in progress.

Re: Filling Out the Forms

Ace Harmon — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:21:28 -0000

After reading the pertinent passage, I can't tell if Parkinson is being facetious. There truly are social patterns that people fall into for ease of comfort, movement, and success, but I think these are set by the given society. Also, the assertion that specific sides of the room and a clockwise rotation represent a biological imperative is absolutely silly.

I often wonder how much of my social success is my given personality and how much of it is learned repetition of others. There's a certain element of sociopathy to the way in which I fall back on forms previously presented and don't bother to really assert myself in a way that is my own. Then again, perhaps going through the movements is how I function and anything else wouldn't be me.

Re: Filling Out the Forms

Sarie — Wed, 18 May 2011 03:24:47 -0000

I enjoyed reading this~

Re: Filling Out the Forms

TheOldBear — Fri, 13 May 2011 00:31:06 -0000

Your insights into the structure and choreography of the cocktail party are excellent. And your survival skills show great improvement -- considering that flight apparently was not an option.

I refer you to Chapter 7 of C. Northcote Parkinson's humorous book "Parkinson's Law and Other Studies in Administration" which was originally published in mid-1950s. In it he notes that the flow of people at a cocktail party, and the relative times of their arrival and departure, allow one to determine which individuals are the important people and which are less significant.

You appear to be well on your way continuing Parkinson's "research" and developing some potent corollaries of your own.