The world seems to be going mad like never before and there is no solace in what is to be found online. At at time of world is in clear crisis just a cursory glance at Memeorandum exposes deep divisions, those yearning for blood, others keeping support quiet, or fears silenced to avoid confrontation with commentors. No leadership anywhere. Not one strong voice for peace of any kind. Just birds of a feather continuing to flock virtually together.
Everyone clutching to the marketed versions of reality that they’ve chosen to buy. And worst, that they’ve chosen to sell.
I wonder about the world we are leaving our children. Forget the Left/Right divide – it’s the entire Baby Boomer generation that has failed them, and we are reinforcing that failure. Becoming part of the machine we claim to want to replace.
You know who I’m listening to in my free time? Late 60s, early 70s Rolling Stones. If any song is a song of the moment, it is “Sympathy for the Devil”: Use all your well-learned politesse, Or I’ll lay your soul to waste, um yeah. Timely.
All the while I really just care to think about is the wonder of Emma.
The last three weeks or so have been mind blowing: she has started sleeping thru the night, moved into her nursery, started siting up and standing under her own strength, eaten her first few dishes of solid food (sweet potatoes and oatmeal, not exactly solid, but it’s not a bottle), took her first couple of swims in a pool (well, not swimming, but hanging out with me, Richelle, Mom and Dad).
She can roll over to her belly now very easily, and tries to crawl. She gets frustrated, but man she is determined! One thing that makes us pause is the difficulty she has in rolling to her back. She does it, but sometimes gets very upset while failing to pull it off. She’ll get there and I know I shouldn’t worry, Richelle seems to handle it better than I do, but both of us still check in on her a few times a night. Yeah, I know, we’re amatures 🙂
Speaking of the pool, I’m signing up for swimming lessons. Emma’s grandparents and Richelle aren’t going to be there every day so I am going get over this hump for her.
And speaking of learning things, I need to learn some lullibies on my guitar, which I’ve recently restrung after not playing since Emma’s been born. She loves music and her reaction to a few things I’ve played and sung is just fun.
Emma has spirit and heart. She reinforces mine and reminds me what is really important.
In other news, things have heated up at work and I’ve seen an increase in responsibilities, some of which involve my interests out here. One place to keep an eye on is labs.comcast.net. More on that later.
Congrats, Emma!
I love watching them roll over — they get so excited! And eating solid foods (sorta) is such a big kick, too. Sleeping through the night is such a godsend for you guys, too. Enjoy the extra rest you’re getting!
As for the world we live in, I totally know what you mean. There is just no getting around how f-ed up this place is. Have you read Owen Meany by John Irving? It’s from the 80s but has passages really relevant to today. Took aim at a lot of the baby boom anti-war stuff, calling that the anti-draft movement instead. Anyway, you might enjoy it. Especially now that you’ll be better rested!
Enjoy the swimming lessons, too!
You once told me and steve h years ago carl, when we were all just misfits in a harsh world – alll we have is each other. I too have a different feeling about this latest round of crisis, none like I have ever had before. Even with 9-11 which, in all of its mind blowing course of the world changing affect, still left me with a sense of “getting on” with everything. This time though, just how out of the blue this eruption occured, I do not feel well about.
Like you, I wonder what world my 10 year old son and 18 month old duaghter will be having to look at when they come of age and start understanding the overwhelming sense of desperation when you try to take it in all at once and with it, the total loss of innocense they now live in. It is probably selfish of me to look at that innocense as if it were a blanket they can keep themselves wrapped up in forever and wish it could be.
Worst of all, I feel absolutley powerless to do anything about it. Writing congressmen is futile. Even commenting on blogs seems to get lost in abyss of cyberspace.
But, your words still ring true – all we have is each other. If the world comes to that day I hope to the Heavens me and my family can be with friends like you guys. Even if we see each other once every 3 or 4 years, I still love you guys. Always remember that.
Thanks you two 🙂
Never heard of Owen Meany J, but the book is now on my wish list at Amazon and will be bought with my next batch of books.
It’s good to have some friends, and to try and stay grounded right now.
One way or another – the entire Baby Boomer generation, that now represents the leadership of this country, and in many respects, the world, is failing on a scale that is unimaginable.
We’ve been taught to point the finger at each other instead of at ourselves.
Oh, I know my boomer critique may sound strange considering those who know me tend to categorize me as some kind of hippie since I take a have a fairly progressive set of personal beliefs, but that’s because I believe in the inherent goodness of the human race, not because I want to belong to some movement hell bent on seeking power that employs the techniques of its competitors to get there.
Although I certainly understand, just read Gleen Greenwald or follow Media Matters, both of which are a great places to follow the hatred spread in our media and across the blogosphere. An environment that technologists and geeks foolishly believed would influence matters to create more dialog (that’s two-way), and a better future for the human race.
It’s ironic that the children of the 60s have decided to employ fear and hatred as business models and political platforms. It’s fucking tragic and we are all paying the price.
Human nature doesn’t change, no matter what medium or technology it employs. We’ve created an environment where we are drowning in data without context. An environment that demands we have short attention spans to keep up with it. With less attention available to concentrate on any one thing, events that occur which would change the course of previous administrations only get a few days airplay before the media must – must – move on.
Fear and hatred drill down to grab our attention. The marketers know it. The politicians know it. Media execs know it. An entire generation has decided to employ it in an attempt to govern and ‘lead’.
And my generation is following that example. Shame on us.
I am at the tail end of the baby boomers–a generation that had its heart and soul gutted with the assinations of JFK, MLK, RFK, Viet Nam, Kent State, etc. the hope and energy turned to anger then cynacism. It knocked the wind out of us and we never recovered. We had so much potential. re: A Prayer for Owen Meany: Absolutely my favorite book of all time.