Seniors

Icon of the Pentecost, Russian, 16th century.   “The king stablished all his knights, and gave them that were of lands not rich, he gave them lands, and charged them never to do outrageousity nor murder, and always to flee treason; also, by no mean to be cruel, but to give mercy unto him that asketh mercy, upon pain of forfeiture of their worship and lordship of King Arthur for evermore; and always to do ladies, damosels, and gentlewomen succor upon pain of death. Also, that no man take no battles in a wrongful quarrel for no law, ne for no world’s goods. Unto this were all the knights sworn of the Table Round, both old and young. And every year were they sworn at the high feast of Pentecost.” (Le Morte d'Arthur, pp 115-116) Yesterday was Pentecost, a major feast day in the Anglican Church. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter, and commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples after Jesus' death. In Greek, Pentecost means "the fiftieth [day]" and originally refered to an ancient, historical Jewish festival commemorating the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. In modern Judaism this festival is called Shavuot.  As had happened with the Jewish festival, in early Christian England, the theological observance of Pentecost was conflated with already-existing pagan ritual of Beltane. In the Arthurian legends, not only did the King have his knights swear their most solemn oaths on the day of Pentecost, he also refused to go into the dining hall until he had seen some miracle or wonder; it's one of the ways that Arthur's other-worldliness and spiritual leadership is shown in the legends, in contrast to Lancelot and Guinevere's adultery, as well as some of the other knight's acts. In later England, though, Pentecost was more often called Whitsun, or Whitsunday. The Wikipedia has a good entry on the possible etymology of the name "Whitsun", or "White Sunday", in the late Middle Ages, and on the possible conflation of "whit" (white) and "wit" (understanding) : "The name is a contraction of "White Sunday", attested in "The Holy-Ghost, which thou did send on Whit-Sunday" in the old English homilies, and parallel to the mention of hwitmonedei in the early 13th-century Ancrene Riwle. Walter William Skeat noted that the Anglo-Saxon word also appears in Icelandic hvitasunnu-dagr, but that in English the feast was always called Pentecoste until after the Norman Conquest,  when white (hwitte) began to be confused with wit or understanding. According to one interpretation, the name derives from the white garments worn by catechumens, those expecting to be baptised on that Sunday. Moreover, in England, rather than the more usual red, were traditional for the day and its octave. A different tradition is that of the young women of the parish all coming to church or chapel in new white dresses on that day. However, Augustinian canon, John Mirk (c1382 - 1414), of Lilleshall Abbey, Shropshire, had another interpretation: Good men and wimmen, this day (Dies Penthecostes) is called Wytsonday by cause the holy ghost bought wytte and wisdom into Crists dyscyples, and so by prechying after in all Cristendom and fylled him full of holy Wytte Thus, he thought the root of the word was "wit" (formerly spelt "wyt" or "wytte") and Pentecost was so-called to signify the outpouring of the wisdom of the Holy Ghost on Christ's disciples." However, today the liturgical color for Pentecost in our tradition is red: red for the "tongues of flame" that supposedly showed the presence of the Holy Spirit. Lots of parishioners, too, wear red on that day. Yesterday we had a liturgical dance by the kids, carrying trailing "flames" of yellow, orange and gold transparent cloth, three baptisms, and we sang a lot of special music - more about that later. I've never been too keen on the idea that the "Spirit" only appeared in the world at that time, and only to these early Christians, so I was happy that

The “money talk” is a loaded topic for seniors and their children. Handling finances can be a parent’s toughest loss since it’s directly tied to maintaining independence.

What a Monday it has been....Mike called at 6:30 am to tell me he had taken the wrong meds. He had taken his night time pills instead of the morning pills so I ran over there to see just what he'd taken. It wasn't too awful since most of them he takes twice/day anyway but there were 3 that needed to be omitted tonight since he has already taken them. I was mostly concerned about the anti-psychotic medication but we were OK there.He is getting closer to requiring 24/7 care. I just don't know how I'm going to pull it off yet. I'm still trying to decide what is best all the way around both financially and with his safety as a priority. But this is hard!Last night I went to bed feeling completely overwhelmed. But if I just slow down and tackle each thing one at a time I'll eventually get this under control.Ron and I have one more weekend before his surgery. I just went to the doctor myself because I was pretty sure I had a kidney infection coming on and I was right. Thank goodness I caught it early. I can't afford to be sick right now.

Painted Ceiling of the Swan Hall, Royal Palace, Sintra Several weeks away from Autumn Cottage Diarist pages - during which I have waited for Springtime to properly arrive in the garden (it's been a long, long time a-coming!). I have filled the creative well by travelling to Portugal for a week, and have spent the gaps in between by listening to silence and discovering what it held for me. Now here I am again, refreshed and renewed, to share some of these events and activities with you. A few weeks before I went away, my old camera 'gave up the ghost' - which was alarming in one way ('oh, no - I'm going on holiday in four weeks time!!) - but an opportunity if viewed from another perspective ('Oh, no - I'm going on holiday in four weeks time!! - perhaps it's time for a new camera??'). The old one was seven years old - ancient and hobbling in digital camera terms, so I awarded myself a new one - a Fuji Finepix S4500 - which has since been set on 'Auto' while I have got used to it, and with which I am - up to now - totally delighted. Don't be surprised if you see more pictures than words here for a while! Here is a taster of what has been happening for me - in and out of Autumn Cottage - for the last couple of months… A pheasant thought he was a blue-tit at our bird table Pip decided that springtime HAD arrived !    I gritted my teeth to climb on a plane…landing in Lisbon The view from our apartment …all worth it, to enjoy café life and watch the world go by Rossio Square I was able to immerse myself in colour and music May Day celebrations in Rossio Enjoy wonderful food and wine in tiny, local, backstreet restaurants Walk in beautiful gardens University Botanical Gardens, Lisbon Gaze upon spectacular scenery The Castelo dos Mouros, above Sintra Tiptoe through a  City of the Dead Prazeres Cemetery, Lisbon ...and sit in some rather nice places to do a bit of living... The Church of Sao Vincente da Fora, from the Porta da Sol Latin American music at the Porta da Sol But after all my adventures, I've now returned to Autumn cottage and the springtime garden - which is where you'll  find me for the foreseeable future!  

Upon my visit to Orchard Cove a few weeks ago, I met a lovely woman named Diana. She was intelligent, charming, elegant, beautiful, and she happened to be wearing a gorgeous red head wrap. I was instantly drawn to Diana because of her stunning hair accessory, and the way it which it framed her face, and elevated her presence. When I approached her and asked if I could take her photograph, she was shy at first, but really came alive in front of the camera. After I took Diana's photograph she shared a story with me. She told me that she was dining at a restaurant when a man approached her and said, " You know, when you see an elephant in a room, you run the other way." Diana told me that she was hurt by these cruel words, but she didn't let this stop her from wearing what makes her feel comfortable. I, like the ladies and gentleman I photograph, have been dressing up since I was a little kid. My grandmother would let me go through my grandfather's drawers and play dress up with his old hats, vest, ties and argyle socks. As I have gotten older, I haven't stopped "playing" and enjoying the joy that accompanies this creative expression. Why should we stop playing dress up, just because we are no longer children??? I later found out that Diana started wearing different scarves and head embellishments due to the effects of a medical condition. Since recovering she continues to wear her turbans and wraps and has a renewed sense of freedom.

The FDA recently ruled to move some painkillers to a different category of controlled substances. Drugs are classified in “schedules” reflecting their addiction potential.

After space travel, one of the most loved themes of science fiction is robots.  Many people, going back centuries, have imagined creating artificial people.  Writers of robot stories have seldom explored the technical details behind what it means to create a thinking being, they just assumed it will be done – in the future.  Since the 1950s artificial intelligence has been a real academic pursuit, and even though scientists have produced machines that can play chess and Jeopardy, many people doubt the possibility of ever building a machine that knows it’s playing chess or Jeopardy. I disagree, although I have no proof or authority to say so.  Let’s just say if I was to bet money on which will come first, a self-aware thinking machine or a successful manned mission to Mars, I put my money on arrival of thinking machines.  I’m hoping for the both sometimes before I die, and I’m 61. There is a certain amount of basic logic involved in predicting intelligent machines.  If the human mind evolved through random events in nature, and intelligence emerged as a byproduct of ever growing biological complexity, then it’s easy to suggest that machine intelligence can evolve out the development of ever growing computer complexity. However, there’s talk on the net about the limits of high performance computing (HPC), and the barriers of scaling it larger – see “Power-mad HPC fans told: No exascale for you – for at least 8 years” by Dan Olds at The Register.  The current world’s largest computer needs 8 megawatts to crank out 18 petaflops, but to scale it up to an exaflop machine, would require 144 megawatts of power, or a $450 million dollar annual power bill.  And if current supercomputers aren’t as smart as a human, and cost millions to run, is it very likely we’ll ever have AI machine or android robots that can think like a man?  It makes it damn hard to believe in the Singularity.  But I do.  I believe intelligent machines are one science fictional dream within our grasp. [click on photos for larger images] Titan is the current speed demon of supercomputers, and is 4352 square feet in size.  Even if all it’s power could be squeezed into a box the size of our heads, it wouldn’t be considered intelligent, not in the way we define human intelligence.  No human could calculate what Titan does, but it’s still considered dumb by human standards of awareness.  However, I think it’s wrong to think the road to artificial awareness lies down the supercomputer path.  Supercomputers can’t even do what a cockroach does cognitively.  They weren’t meant to either. It’s obvious that our brains aren’t digital computers.  Our brains process patterns and are composed of many subsystems, whose sum are greater than the whole.  Self-aware consciousness seems to be a byproduct of evolutionary development.  The universe has always been an interaction between its countless parts.  At first it was just subatomic particles.  Over time the elements were created.  Then molecules, which led to chemistry.  Along the way biology developed.  As living forms progressed through the unfolding of evolutionary permutations, various forms of sensory organs developed to explore the surrounding reality.  Slowly the awareness of self emerged. There are folks who believe artificial minds can’t be created because minds are souls, and souls come from outside of physical reality.  I don’t believe this.  One proof I can give is we can alter minds by altering their physical bodies. To create artificial beings with self-awareness we’ll need to create robots with senses and pattern recognition systems.  My guess is this will taking far less computing power than people currently imagine.  I think the human brain is based on simple tricks we’ve yet to discover.  It’s three pounds of gray goo, not magic. Human brains don’t process informati

Above: Blue Ridge Christian Academy. My grandfather, the Christian Scientist, frequently used that expression when confronted with anti-science dolts. I immediately knew it had to be the title of this piece. I can do no better than to simply quote my local newspaper, the Greenville News, about this latest horror. And to the rest of Blogdonia, Tumblr, all points of the internet and beyond, let me underscore it: SEE WHAT WE PUT UP WITH AROUND HERE? This is why I often do not take your intramural lefty-theoretical squabbles seriously. In these parts, we are still dealing with the freaking Scopes trial. The title of the Greenville News account is Blue Ridge quiz ignites firestorm, accompanied by the coy subtitle, Furor brings attention, but possibly salvation. This is a cute example of how the Greenville News always tries to have it both ways. As is evident in the article below, this phrase could refer to 'salvation of the school itself'--which was ready to go belly-up financially... OR it could mean, literally, the way to Salvation with a capital S. (article is credited to Lyn Riddle, staff writer) Which meaning is intended? You decide:It was labeled “4th grade science quiz. Dinosaurs: Genesis and the Gospel.” Eighteen questions. The first four were true or false. The earth is billions of years old. A lopsided pencil mark circled false. Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, another circle: false. It went on from there, testing students on the beginning of the world according to creationism, the belief that the literal interpretation of the first book of the Bible explains it all. Both were marked correct. Before long, the quiz was posted on the social news website Reddit, unleashing a firestorm of criticism on Blue Ridge Christian Academy, a tiny private Christian school in northern Greenville County. In what board chair Joy Hartsell says shows God is at work in the world, the controversy may be what saves the school from closing. About six weeks ago, parents were told that the school would close May 31 because the founder and major donor would no longer make up the loss in operating expenses, said Diana Baker, the director. “We may have found the path to get the money,” Hartsell said Friday. So far, about $10,000 toward the $200,000 needed to stay open next fall has been received and more checks arrive in the mail every day, Baker said. She said she received a $3,000 check on Thursday.Cue my grandfather's phrase, the title of this blog post. Fundies to the rescue! Knuckleheads of the world, unite! The rest of the article makes it clear that the sheltered and ignorant denizens of Blue Ridge Academy have never even seen Reddit before. Someone obviously unleashed the "DIAF" meme, which made them hyperventilate and call the sheriff's office. Do you believe? If I had called the sheriff every time someone online wished a nasty death on me... well, the Greenville County sheriff would be permanently camped out in my kitchen. But yes, pick a fight with stupidity and then howl when the world takes you seriously, as I have said numerous times, is the usual fundamentalist technique. Your thoughts?

I was in Hawaii last week, don’t ask, it rained almost the whole time.  It was still fun because we were there with fun friends.  We all made the best of it.  But part of me did wonder why I was spending so much money to be somewhere else when the weather was so much better back at home.    It used to be that the only part of traveling that I didn’t like was that I missed my doggy back home.  I worried about her.  Oh and guilt, I had much of that too, worry and guilt.  Toward the end of those past trips, I got more and more anxious to get back home to make sure she was ok.  I was always so happy to see that everything was fine when I got home.  Although after greeting me joyfully, she would catch herself and move to ignoring me for several hours just to remind me how mad she was that we left her.  I did mention the guilt, right?  Those Beagles are clever. I have to admit that trips have been much more enjoyable over the last several years since we haven’t had a furry friend back home to worry about.  Even though our days back home outnumber those on the road, this has been my biggest hurdle to adopting another dog.  But on this trip, I had another yearning for home, even before it started raining.  I missed my piano.  Really, I had piano withdrawals.  So I downloaded “Music Theory for Dummies” onto my iPad so I could still do something that felt like learning the piano.  That made it worse.  I just wanted to practice everything I was learning about building chords.  To hear what some of the minor scales sounded like on the piano, I used Garage Band on my computer.   Since I’ve been home, I’ve been practicing about three or four hours a day.  It’s all I want to do. So now I’m thinking that my passion for travel has been overtaken by my passion for piano.  And if I’m not as hot on travel anymore, if I just want to be home with my piano, then maybe it’s ok to get a dog too.   I guess I'll have more time to reflect on which passions pull hardest when we spend a month in New York this summer.  But in the meantime, a reader sent me this picture of his best friend.  I know, who could resist that face, right?  So yes, it is making me seriously consider his advice to just "get the puppy!"   Related Posts:     What's on Your Bucket List?     What Five Things Make You Most Happy (and Why Aren't You Doing Them?)     Enjoying Retirement with Doggies   Be ready when Google’s feed reader shuts down.  Subscribe by email—it’s free! (Photo credit:  Thanks to Kirk B. for the temptation!)