King For Ten Days

David Markrof May 15, 2018

I noticed it right away, the moment I stepped onboard. This was DIFFERENT.
"Good afternoon, sir!" a cheery staff member beamed. I'll show you to your quarters!"
I looked on the servant's nametag. It read "Jerzey".
"What country are you from, Jerzey?" I asked, as we walked towards my room.
"Uzbridzia" he answered.
"Never heard of it" I replied. "Is that somewhere near Russia?"
"Yes" Jerzey replied, "it's a very wonderful, but tiny country".
We soon arrived at my quarters.
"I will be your room steward" Jerzey said, opening the door for me. "I will keep your room in perfect condition throughout your cruise. Just press the buzzer on the wall and I will take care of anything that needs attention".
Jerzey showed me a few things about the cabin, and then left. I was eager to relax. "How nice" I thought, pleasantly surveying my quarters, which had a balcony view fifteen decks above the water. Throwing open the balcony doors I was met by a light ocean breeze. "Ahh!" I exclaimed as I plopped into a plush chair nearby and surveyed the expansive scene my balcony view afforded me. Not twenty minutes in I was already settling in to 'cruise life', where everything is taken care of.

Up on the deck later, at dinner, I couldn't help noticing that the servers in the buffet line, where I chose to eat that night from the many options available, were smiling and friendly, ever helpful. Even when I got into an elevator alone with one later I didn't detect any of the usual disdain that cruise workers hide under the surface, they being contract labor subject to long shifts and less opulent shared berths on the decks below the passenger areas. Here there was none. 'Corrina' was unerringly bright and cheerful. It was almost too much. She told me about her homeland of 'Krastovia', which seemed to be another pleasant, though quaint and somewhat backward, Eastern European country I hadn't known existed. But there had been a lot of changes there, geo-political happenings that I had been slack towards keeping abreast of. Corrina mentioned the orchards in which her parents and other siblings worked, and the farm she grew up on, and though she had left there to travel she would be returning in six months for a long overdue visit.
I found I was nodding my head in agreement with Corrinas story, almost automatically. She seemed the perfect cruise employee, achingly sincere, painfully innocent, and wholesomely pure. What (another!) great catch for the cruise line!

And so it went, throughout my time on the Mermaid Of The Azure Seas. Whenever I had the slightest need for anything, a simple wave of the hand would bring a pleasant staff member instantly, almost, to my poolside chair, table, or seat at the bar. I couldn't get over the pristine level of service, and was adamant that when THIS cruise was over I was going to write a glowing review. But I also rued that my ten days in elysium were passing by quickly. Life here was effortless! My bed was made, my meals too; dishes and beach towels were whisked away, and every night I was offered a full menu of entertainment options. I must say, though, that compared to the staff onboard, the day tour operators I encountered on the docks offering shore excursions seemed to be almost gauche. Ruffians, they were, and though I was 'entertained' by their offerings, it came with a much, much lower level of service satisfaction that could be found onboard. Unfortunately, the Mermaid was not in control of the day tour operators, an issue we had been warned of beforehand. What a blessing and joy it was then, after a day onshore, to return to the ship! Many onboard were wondering a few days in what the point was in leaving for the day, I included. Cruise veterans that I encountered here and there onboard were heartily in agreement with that. But, taking in the sights and sounds of the islands we visited provided us with enough satisfaction, it was agreed, to make such endeavors worthwhile. After all, the cruise line could hardly be asked to create jungle tours, jet boat rides, waterfall hikes, and the like while still retaining the local flavor that those experiences provide- and cruisers expect. Of these excursions I, and many, many others on the liner, partook as we languidly sailed from island to island.

Then, sadly, the day came for me to disembark. Early that morning Jerzey was standing outside my door in the hallway, near a neat row of bags ready to be loaded by porters. I, oh so reluctant to leave, wished him a fond farewell. Trudging down the gangplank later with a group of departing passengers I heard a commotion and, like many of my fellow cruisers, looked back up at the ship. The entire service staff was dressed in their best in an orderly line and waving at us from the main deck, smiling and wishing us all a hasty return.
I know I'll be back! NOTHING beat my first ever A.I. cruise.

Until then I can only dreamily wonder, upon my return, what will the UPGRADED service robots be like?

Rabble

David Markrof May 14, 2018

Is 'the customer always right'? Mayhaps this business axiom has acted as an ENABLER for now the customer thinks that he or she can get away with, well, ANYTHING. And big business wants you to believe that, they really do. They want you to think that you qualify for individual attention and that the issues you raise will be addressed.

Maybe!
The reality is that businesses, ever hungry to capture more dollars, pander to all segments of society and plunge consumers into a one size fits all experience. Now, whereas there is a great upside to this (Costco) there is a downside to it as well, as individual shopping experiences aren't honored so much, unless you purchase an amount of goods or services far and above what normal people usually do. Thus, ordinary people become the rabble, and in that manner are moved from place to place, sourcing their goods and experiences from the menu that is offered. They mainly stay in chain hotels/resorts, shop at the big box stores or in vast quasi warehouses; wandering the aisles looking for this and that, they park in bustling parking lots and stream past hordes of fellow shoppers, trying to stay out of each other's way but there's never really enough room for that, is there? They feel rushed, fill up their carts, and get gone.
Volume, business people tell us, keeps prices low, but the tradeoff is customers become a herd of consumers.
In their travel, they are sold experiences and rush to pack those in, amongst others who are bustling to launch or conclude theirs, people are commodoties just as much as the experiences themselves. The entertainment they are served hits them at primal levels, food, survival, sex. Can't miss with those common ingredients.

As humans we are born to explore, to maximize our potentials, but..... hey, a lot of this is starting to look like a lot of people doing the same thing, you know? This points to the fact that we're really not so different after all. Little things set us apart, but the major plotlines for living a life have been exhaustingly acted out.
Still, whattaya going to do? Can't passively watch, that wouldn't be any fun. Join the scrum or sit on the sidelines are your choices. Within the arc of human possibility we exist and until that box is made bigger this is all we'll ever know.

2000 B.C. (Before Costco)

David Markrof May 13, 2018

Yeah, I remember those times. And they weren't pleasant. You had to think about price and value, you really had to do your homework.
But that was then. Costco changed all that.
I feel that as long as a Costco is near me, I am safe. Cargo will arrive on a daily basis, and yes, it will be depleted, but more will come. I'm sure of it, I've seen it happen. Big trucks pull up with more goods. From somewhere. Over and over.
Entering within Costco is like a dream come true. They don't just bake cakes and cookies, provide meat, stock frozen foods, carry produce, or sell ya canned goods like any old grocery store. They do it on an INDUSTRIAL scale. Costco is a provisioner! You could feed an army here. The National Guard could not do anything near a better job. If the s___ goes down, I'm running towards Costco, and I won't be the only one.
Costco is an example of everything the government can't do right. Here is socialism, communism, and captialism all combined under the banner of Marketplace, and nobody serves the marketplace better.

Far as I'm concerned, Costco could run the airport. Build and maintain the highways. Run the hotels. Costco Nation. Farfetched? They seen to know how to get things done. Just try and get a parking space near the front of the store though. They haven't figured that out yet. But that's a minor flaw in their otherwise perfect plan.
Wally Mart don't stand a chance. Costco is going to take over the world. Provisioning the masses is where it's at. I can't wait for Costco housing. Costco cars. Don't really want to fly in a Costco plane, but it would be nice if they ran a provisioner airline. Oh wait- Southwest is doing that already. Are they affiliated?
With Costco in charge we'll get this country back on its feet. Re-establish the American Dream. There will be room for EVERYBODY. One goal they have, and one goal only. Provision the masses! With whatever! Not just provide, piecemeal, like Home Depot, where they sell you individual things, like nuts and bolts. Costco would never do that. They'd sell you a BUCKETFULL of screws, nuts, and bolts for every conceivable need.
The days of nickel and diming the public are over, retailers! Costco rocks. The New Deal has arrived. There'll not only be a a chicken in every pot- there will also be a freezer full of chicken in the garage!

Not Known Or Experienced Before

David Markrof May 12, 2018

No matter how mundane my life gets I must remind myself that every day is different.
My present work entails me doing a routine, which can get pretty old at times, even though I hardly ever interact with the same people. This seems unlikely, because I interact with hundreds of people a day.
I've noticed that people exposed to a structured situation react in predictable ways, a fact well understood to business people, who are the designers, the meticulous crafters of Structures, but even so, there are people who appear within Structures known as Outliers.
Outliers are people who don't react in the anticipated manner. Outliers usually cause Situations, which have to be Handled, and that calls for Inventiveness. Even if ten thousand people have done the procedure in a similar fashion, and you think you've seen it all, you haven't- because outliers happen. They just do.
Outliers cause the events that are talked about afterward at work, they are the people that stick in your memory. They are either fondly recalled or they have you doing some processing when the work day is over.

So you never know. Days could go by and no outlier situations and then two in one day, or even three. But it's usually one or two outlier situations per day.
Today I am again at work, and yesterday presented me with little in the way of new, no outliers surfaced, so I guess I'll see what happens. It's all I CAN do. Meet the day.
But I'm not going to work just hoping. I project what I would like to see happen in my day, I set intention out there. I actively participate and never accede to events 'just happening'.
After that I meet the day. I can't control what happens, but I've at least placed an order from my menu. And it's a tall order, 'cuz I dream big.
I guess you could say that I'M an outlier then, because when I place that order, it's NEVER off the menu of what The Structure is offering.

"I"

David Markrof May 11, 2018

I exist, but not in time, for I know not what time is. Time is that which some perceive to be outside of me, but I am outside of nothing. I am everything, the all, I AM.
The author of this piece is aware that I exist. He sees this I to the upper right, and behind him, as he writes. He sees this I as an observer, secondary to him.
He realizes that he cannot locate himself other than to claim that physical evidence of his existence alone should be evidence enough, but he knows that this is not true, for nowhere in his body can he locate where 'he' exists. He is as a form. This is all he knows. I am also without form, and cannot be localized within one, for I am everywhere. He suspects this to be true. He has seen other forms come and go, and understands that his form will eventually disappear. Where will 'he' be then?
He does not know. Hopefullly, he thinks his personality will survive, but as to where and how he doesn't know.
To him, the I that he sees in his mind's eye is impersonal. It is not 'him', for it cannot be contained in a personality.
He doesn't know if other people sense that there is an I watching them, observing them, but he has heard that if they look they can detect its presence too.

Powerless to capture or contain this I, he can only wonder about it. Why does it watch him? Nothing he does seems to affect it in any way. It does not judge his actions, or celebrate his victories. It only watches.
This I is not evil, like the Eye Of Sauron or something like that, its not that kind of 'eye'. It is neither male or female, has no religious affiliation, asks for nothing, just is, and from all he can tell, has been there 'forever'. Day in, day out, through all the years of his life, I has been there, and if he forgets that it is, all he has to do is take time out to sense its presence. Yes, it's still there.
As he steps away from typing these words, the I observes.

I'm Soixantaine

David Markrof May 10, 2018

And because I am, I think I know a few things. After all, when you are soixantaine, you SHOULD get a little respect.
Being of this distinguished, erudite, accomplished, and applauded rank gives me permission to be just me. After all, it wasn't always this way. I used to have to care.
I used to have to calculate how people would react to me when I was not soixantaine, and that was a bother. But not anymore. I'm of the elevated status now where my word falls where'er it may, and however that settles in the mind of who receives it is their business- because I'm not in the business of pleasing others. You get this way when you're soixantaine, as most people might eventually be.
I early on suspected that I probably didn't have to do anything special to be soixantaine, if the ones I encountered were any indication. I, before attainment, and ever the sponge, closely studied their ways for I knew that one day I might achieve soixantaine position, and then, before I was even ready, I was! One of THEM.
But it's not like the lot of us get along, you understand. We're not over at each other's houses talking story, breaking bread, or celebrating in any way that we're soixantaine. We just ARE. And that's a cold hard fact.

I remember the day I became soixantaine. Ah, what a day it was. If I only remembered it more than remembering that it happened.....
I will let on to a secret, though. Those who are not soixantaine look up to us, the ones that are, and think that we have x-ray vision almost, some mysterious powers of perception, for we are known for giving sage advice. Guess we can't help it. Were those not soixantaine receptive to our wisdom we could save them a lot of trouble, but advice has to be heeded to be effective, and in that, the ones who solicit us fall short most of the time.
Still, some of them do take our words to heart and the joy we feel at that is less than we probably would have if we were less than soixantaine, which we aren't, but used to be. I know that sounds confusing, but not to one who is soixantaine.
Please don't think that we're hidden away in caves either, or something like that. Many of us would LIKE to be, but a great number of us still have to work and we grumble about that like most other people, only people that are soixantaine grumble like none you've ever heard! Trust me, I've experienced them. Be thankful that you, probably not soixantaine, don't have to.

Are us soixantaine a powerful force on society? We're great in number, yes, we get things done (only because we know better to do it now instead of then), so that's also a yes, and we're incredibly efficient because- I'll let you in on another little secret- we're lazy! Remember the part where I said listen to our advice? There's WISDOM there.
So where am I going with this? You'd think I had all the time in the world! Thing is, get a soixantaine talking and you could be stuck listening for hours.
Lucky for you, though, is the fact that a soixantaine's day is very structured and mine is no exception, so I have to take leave now. There are many things to do on my daily activities list and I hate to miss a single one. But before I go, I'll leave you with a favorite quote of mine, uttered by a fellow soixantaine:
"Never ask a soixantaine what he can do for his country. He's done enough! Ask a soixantaine what his country can do for him!"

'Soixantaine'- French word, means 'sixty or so, around sixty'

The Godfather, Part IV

David Markrof May 9, 2018

OMG I may need an intervention because I can't stop watching the situation in D.C.! It has nearly all the elements that Hollywood employs to pique your interest. I don't even need to list them because anybody who even glances at the news right now is following this story too. It's a slow motion playout, a 'simmering' (but not in a sexual way) drama containing the Playahs of our time. Oligarchs, a porn star, POTUS, his lieutenants, his muscle, the FBI, man I can't wait for the next installment, and the media delivers it to me the moment it happens.
I know there's another world out there, a much bigger and more peaceful one, where not a lot is going on but who wants to watch that when this engrossing soap opera, this telenovela is on? Here we have the patriarch, his seemingly distant and conflicted present wife, various kids and their intrigues; his businesses, their businesses, his (former) lovers, but where's MOMMA in all this? There's no Momma! And Mother's Day is right around the corner!
In the telenovelas I've (briefly) watched, Poppa appeared to be the one who had the final say, because somebody has to have the final say, and that's usually the man in Latin culture, isn't it? Patriarchical. Momma deftly held the 'familia' together. She provided the neccessary balance and without her input, her wisdom, the family members charged off on many times reckless pursuits and put the whole thing in jeopardy.

But this ain't no balanced situation. This is The Godfather. Poppa is running the syndicate solo and has trouble encroaching on all sides. How long can he stay on the throne? Who around him will be asked to fall on their sword next? It's almost painful to watch, the suspense is too much sometimes. One thing is for sure, THIS Godfather is pulling out all the stops. There is nothing that he won't do to protect his position.
When and if he stumbles, there isn't any Number Two within a country mile that can step in, which is just the way he likes it. I think that is bad strategy- any Momma around wouldn't approve, because her focus would be on the longevity of the family- but Poppa POTUS is headstrong in this regard. He imagines he is the only one capable to lead.
There's nothing else like this. It contains components of Game Of Thrones, The Wire, and Breaking Bad. it's I, Claudius (without Livia). You name it it's in there somewhere.
Who's WRITING this script?

Could Be True....

David Markrof May 8, 2018

I know you've all heard about the 'Birther Theory' bandied about by our Commander In Chief concerning the country of origin of our last CIC. But lately, upon examing some disturbing facts, I have to wonder if our present CIC was even BORN.
Hold on, I don't want to lose you. I know it's a wild claim to make but let's just look at this logically and see. You should be allowed to make up your own minds. Allow me to present to you some things I have uncovered and then see if they bring pause to you as well.
Question A. Have you ever seen this person, in person?
Question B. If you have, how do you know it wasn't just an actor playing the part?
I know this guy has a bio that spans decades, and if you want more background, you can read about his (supposed) siblings, parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents. But all that could have been made up by some scriptwriter. Hollywood does it all the time, and you've heard about ghost writers.
So. Back to the original thought, is this a real person? Can I go visit his workplace as an ordinary citizen of the realm?

I tried to get access to The White House once, way back in the 1980's when you could easily do that, but the line of tourists outside was too long and I didn't want to wait. These days it's much tougher. You can't get in unless you get an invite from your congressman for a particular day and time. Your tour group is then led through certain rooms but on that day, will HE be in one of those? Probably not.

It is alleged that the CIC has a wife and kids. Have I ever seen them in person? No. I can't vouch for their existence either. See how weird this gets?

Let's turn away from the CIC and his kin. Have I ever seen Taylor Swift in person? No. Can't say that she is real. Beyonce? Kanye West? Any of The Kardashians? The list goes on and on.
However, I think I know that famous people actually MIGHT exist. I went and saw some professional golfers once. At the tournament I went to I saw many of the guys I'd been watching on TV for years. My biggest moment of all, however, came on the fourteenth hole where not ten feet past the ropes the most famous golfer in the world, Jack Nicklaus (or an actor that looked strikingly similar to Jack Nicklaus), ambled by. The Golden Bear! I was awestruck, but not allowed to say "Hiya Jack!" 'cuz 'he' was playing golf. I saw him make a few shots. So I had that experience. It was fairly convincing.

This whole thing could be scripted, you know. Representatives of our culture could be appearing on stage for the cameras and playing their parts so well most people wouldn't suspect a thing. Well, I do! Does that make me crazy? Or just not as gullible? I'm not from Missouri, the 'Show Me' state, but I think this blind trust in what is going on right under our noses has gone a little too far. We can't be expected to BELIEVE all this, can we? I'd sure hate at the end when the curtain is lifted and the cameras pull back to discover that it's been a movie set all along.

Dudes, we've been pranked!

But what (now here's a sobering thought) if it IS real? I try to be on the fence with that one. It's too mindboggling, too illogical, to be real. Look no further than our present day CIC. Nobody that is supposedly worth a billion dollars has to sneak out of work to play golf.

Maybe it's a massive moving hologram, or some other technology that the people at the top have, you know, like those 'swipe your hands in the air' transparent computer screens in the movies that the tech-savvy actors use that you NEVER see for sale at The Apple Store. Could be they got stuff like that.
Anyway, back to the original premise of this whole discussion. If- and this is a big if- you were never born, how do you become president of the United States? Isn't that illegal? There should be a committee- bipartisan- looking into that.

Polite Society

David Markrof May 7, 2018

"Now children- behave!"
It starts early, the indoctrination. Manners, rules, etiquette. Hold your fork this way, open the door for ladies, trim that long hair, keep skirts below the knee, did you finish your homework?
Because you're going to become a well-rounded member of society.
Then later, in the workplace, rules of behavior. Adopting the dress code. 'The customer is always right'! Company meetings, brainstorming sessions, focus groups, and the overuse of charts that track every conceivable step of the process. Further indoctrination.
From the media comes more. Adverts, billboards, social media, magazines, live chats, commentary, feedback, it never ends. Who are you but a mental mutt after all this, a data-saturated product of social engineering?

However, in a secret room behind a door that nobody knows about, where cameras and microphones don't see and hear, is REALITY. This is where those 'ministers of the seven developing nations' lay down the locker room talk, probably around a huge poker table while smoking big cigars.
"I'll bet two oil fields"
"Raise you a cell phone network"
"I'll see that raise and up it a mining concern"
"Say gentlemen, what say we raise prices all across the board?!"
"Here here!" Done and so recorded!"
"Ha ha ha, yuk, yuk, yuk".
(A knock is head outside the door, their cue that's it's time to go outside)
Time for the photo shoot!
(announcer cuts in) "Their meeting concluded, the ministers of the seven developing nations are seen here shaking hands and congratulating each other over a productive session"
Back they fly to their respective countries.
Photos are taken as they disembark from their planes, snippets of conversation are captured by the press as they hurriedly make their ways through the bustling halls of government, statements are released, looks of grave concern are displayed by these oh so very analytical represenatives and then once again the doors are closed, sealed from the outside, the room is announced to be debugged, and the gentlemen in the room exhale big sighs of relief.

"Looks like they bought it" one says.
"Hook, line, and sinker, like always" says another.
"When the hell is our tee time?" says a third, irritated that they're not on the course already.
"My secure line says there's a holdup with the motorcade" says a fourth. "Some sort of protest is happening outside and it's taking time to clear. Wait- security says they found us another route. Gentlemen, it's Go Time!"

The Trouble With Lying

David Markrof May 6, 2018

"3,000 and counting false or misleading claims" Washington Post

I find it very disturbing when people try winning me over by claiming that everything they say is true, even when they get busted for lying over and over. Huh? What?! Ok, they've lowered the bar and so we're having to raise it. The present day administration has so mukked up the water that nobody knows what is going on and so, effectively blindfolded, we're all having to learn to navigate in a not new, but less-used way. We put our 'feelers' out. That's right. We navigate through the morass by 'tuning into the energy' around things.
Got no choice. As you can plainly see, truth will never be revealed, admitted to, or spoken by anyone. There is no truth! Everything can be changed. "I was just joking". "You're not comprehending the full context" "You're reading this the wrong way". Geez. These are The Shadowlands, this IS The Swamp. Murky, mist-filled, can't see ten feet in front of your face, and there ain't gonnna be no clearing because Twitter will remind you instantly that there is point followed by counterpoint so you can't move, you really can't, in any direction. Ugh!

We're being asked to step up, it's time, and if you think that any white knight is coming to save the day that's just going to prolong the unreality of this situation.
Gotta be your own superhero now. When somebody is talking on the TV, what is your 'read'? "Yes" or "No"?. How does it FEEL? Beyond the words? 'Fresh and clean', 'rank and oily', or...? Gotta put your thinking caps on too 'cuz if you don't what IS clear is that you're going to be kept in the dark. In this time where EVERYTHING and ANYTHING can be explained away, you have to give wide berth to some of the people that eagerly want to 'help you see the light'. Run like hell! Would you sit next to some guy in a mental institution while he explains 'reality' to you? Same thing.
Worldviews are fragile things. Philosophies are fragile things. A lot of people live on the surface and their boats can be swayed and rocked. Be kind to yourselves. Tread lightly. There is a lot of misinformation out there presenting itself as 'truth' nowadays. Someday the water will be clear. Until then.......

The End Of National Identity

David Markrof May 5, 2018

This is coming, if not already here in many places on the globe. It is very easy these days to be a temporary resident of a different country. We call this 'travel', but it is more than that. It is blending, it is immersion, it is other countries being hospitable and accommodating (while capturing tourist dollars). Travel can also have a sort of takeover or invasive quality to it, like when a plane lands in an isolated country or when a massive cruise ship docks.
With only a credit card, a passport, (and maybe) a cell phone you can travel to many places around the world and if you have enough money you can virtually live there, that is, stay for long amounts of time, which I did for awhile.
Doing this extensive traveling showed me that I'm not the only one doing it. There are many others out there and there are numerous websites devoted to living the 'expat' lifestyle. It wasn't always this way, though.
Think back to olden times. Hundreds of years ago, people couldn't go ANYWHERE. There were lousy roads, transportation was slow, danger lurked outside of one's town, and if you were from somewhere else chances were you were NOT welcome, as the town you came across and sought refuge or resettlement in had a limited supply of resources. It wasn't so much that you didn't fit in, which you didn't, it was more about threatening the townspeople's survivability. While still true even now, survivability issues have been greatly lessened. It is more the threat to one's CULTURE that is being presented when you cross the boundary line into some other tribe's turf now. You are a threat to the local thought system.

Well, if anybody gets exposed to the internet- which is a lot of people in a lot of different countries right now- that tremendously lessens the impact of one culture meeting another but even so, what I saw in my travels is that a lot of people are still quite ignorant of each other's way of doing things because there's only so much you (or they) can learn from staring at a computer screen. Long term immersion in a country accomplishes further melding in two ways. It acts as an on-the-ground, 360 degree, total sensory learning experience for you while you act as a diluting agent on the prevailing thought system. Eventually, enough people end up doing this and we'll all be non-natives, vagabonds, and drifters.
But I suppose there will always be nationalistic pride, as you have to be from SOMEWHERE. People tend to associate themselves with the same qualites that their long ago homeland has just because they were born bearing those genetics. I don't know if any of that stuff REALLY transfers but I do know this- if the experiment called America is any indication, you'll still retain nationalistic identity ("I'm Irish!", for example) even though it was your great, great grandparents who were actually FROM Ireland.
Not enough people are traveling yet to make border crossings, as they are in Europe, virtually meaningless, but eventually the travel industry, ever-driven to open new markets, will have regular service to each and every country on earth, even to the countries that are presently politically troubled, I think. Seem farfetched? I always look to see what the wealthy are doing to predict future trends. The wealthy have houses scattered all over the world. The only flag that they are (presumably) allied with is the one on their passports.

Lighter Fare

David Markrof May 4, 2018

Got a vanity license plate the other day for the first time ever. A 'personalized plate', in the vernacular of The State. Couldn't stand the state-issued one, it was soooo bland.
Putting the vanity plate on my car, then stepping back and looking at it, I wondered what was to come. Certainly I and my car will be recognized. Over time, in the local area, that will happen. To the many others not in the 'hood I will be a curiosity and they might wonder why the name I picked is on my plate, and what it means.
Simple truth is, I always liked the name, and my top choice for a personalized plate was already taken. So I picked that name I did, which is the name of a character in my favorite-ever movie, and I'm going to roll with it. See what happens.
Haven't driven my car to work yet, where everybody knows me, so I haven't fielded any questions about my plate yet but I'm ready for that. Got some stock answers, and yeah, I'll be a little self conscious at first, like when you get new glasses or shoes.
Never in my varied vehicles experience in multiple states did I ever get a worthy license plate number, and I guess that is what partially drove my vanity plate aquisition. Dozens of cars and never a triple digit plate number, or any good combination of numbers and letters. I always wondered if the good plates weren't given away by the people at the DMV to family and friends. They're supposed to give citizens of The State the top one in the pile- that's the one they always gave me- but I suspect they took the good ones out beforehand and put them in a drawer, to pass out at 'appropriate' times.

That sort of perceived unfairness always rankled me because I think your license plate number says a lot about you. It is supposedly numerologically significant, and I looked into that. Your car's license plate (letters and numbers) is a sum total single digit number between 1-9, each number representing a set of qualities. I've had 'four' cars and 'eight' cars and 'five' cars but I never really noticed any difference. House numbers and phone numbers seem to have more power.
Anyway, on my latest car registration experience the lady at the DMV reached over and gave me the lamest license plate number EVER and I guess that is what drove me over the edge. I've got a pretty good looking car now and the license plate she gave me was way out of character so I decided I would choose from the top of the pile baby(!) and took on the personalized plate process, which is very easy, but there is a long wait for the plates. Four months! Why? It was so long a wait I almost forgot about them but just the other day a letter came in the mail telling me that my personalized plates had arrived. Right quick I went down to the DMV and got 'em.

I'm gonna roll my ride down the street proud now, and I will be noticed. The price I have to pay for this is an extra $25 annually. Worth it?
Worth every god-blesset penny!

People's Choice

David Markrof May 3, 2018

Having gotten on the web you think you're hot stuff, that you're going to change the world, but it comes home to you quite quickly that The World isn't paying that much attention. Thus, our continued struggles.
But that kind of realization is nothing new. Way back when, the same thing happened. Buddha threw up his hands and with perfect equanimity calmly stated "I'm moving to a less contentious plane". Jesus followed him, ascending as well, as did the other big prophet hundreds of years later. Wise men (and women, many of them) throughout history have also declared "We're outta here!" and what's left is what we have at present.
Socrates, Plato, Alan Watts, Krishnamurti, Lao Tzu, Confucious, all tried. They left writings behind, as I probably shall, perhaps for the very few to peruse. Where will the rest be?

In the 'Esports Arenas' that are cropping up! 'Esports' are online gaming teams(?) individuals(?) that are watched by other gamers. Drake, the rapper guy, got online the other day and 600,000+ people watched him navigate through whatever game he was playing.
Sigh. Guess I shoulda been a gamer, huh? But- I'm not. I do what I do best, which is I philosophize about trends, the proclivities of the masses; I write about distractions, ways to overcome those, and hopefully add some value to life's experience because, guess what gamers? This game, unlike the ones you play, is gonna end. And when it does, you just might look back and think "What a waste!"
But not if you're riding the leading edge of Esports! The guys at the top and fronting the new teams springing up in major cities across the land are making bank, living large, and thumbing their noses at guys like me and.... ...that's always been the way of it. Exploiters of any new technologies think they're pretty cool 'cuz they've got the inside track and you're so far out on the periphery that you might be likened to Pluto, orbiting way out in the icy reaches while they're on the third rock basking on the beach hoisting their Cups O' Noodles (gotta eat fast in the gaming world) and showing their MILLIONS of followers how good they can play 'Fortnite', which I understand is the hottest game out there right now.

Seems to me that as far as many of the gamers are concerned, the icecaps could be melting, their Cups O' Noodles could be made with frackwater broth, the president could declare that DoubleSpeak is going to be taught in our public schools, and zombies (not onscreen, real ones) are marching on Los Angeles. The important thing to gamers is that their 'increasingly beautiful digital worlds' (as one writer described them) continue to be developed, and, for the promoters of the contests (like in any other sport that hopes to make it), 'seats' for the fans continue to be filled.
Somehow I think for the gaming world that's not gonna be a problem.

Vacation

David Markrof May 2, 2018

Being around hordes of people all day at work makes me not want to be around them so much on my days off. Like, I've had enough, thank you, I'm full. What I really miss is the space that exists when NO people are present, and that is hard to come by. Where can you get that purity of space?
Nature provides it, like at the beach, or in the forest, but it's hard to fully let go when you're on a public beach or deep within a dark, silent forest because part of you is still scanning your surroundings for danger, and that part needs to rest too.
Home can provide the silent recharging space, IF you have no kids, the parents aren't needing a call or coming over to visit, there aren't any must-do projects that you're contemplating doing, and you're able to block out knowing that the internet and TV, plus food and libation, are oh so painfully near. Sportscenter might be on!
And then, adding to that, physically you have to be in the right place, in a somewhat alert state of mind, not overly tired, hungry, or restless from too much sitting around (like after you do office work).
All of this in an effort to get THERE, where you are in meditation, communing with that neglected part of your being that is always present but is never allotted any time. This is where the answers, insights, and inspiration comes from, when space is created for new things to enter into the mind. Yogis urge people to sit and meditate, if only for twenty minutes- morning and evening- surely you can find the time (!) but I personally can't seem to find the time to do it anywheres near that consistently. However, when I do sit down and meditate it it is like going to the gym, where I come out thankful for gifting myself with some stringent physical exercise that I know is going to benefit me. Perhaps not that instant, but soon.

In a meditative state you're taking in data, I guess you could say, but it's not the kind of data you take in where you're passively watching TV or viewing videos on the internet, no matter how INTERESTING.
"But wait- wait just a minute here! Who has time to create the perfect space, and then immerse one's self in it for twenty minutes a day, twice a day? Isn't that unrealistic in the age of the 'short attention span'? Our lives move so fast now, there are sooo many things to do, and so we've built up momentum, a momentum that can't be stopped in twenty minutes".

"Can that kind of momentum EVER be stopped?"

The answer to that is that this momentum CAN be stopped, but it is a cumulative process. It happens over time. Regular meditation can keep the mind from building up racing speed. It isn't allowed so far off the leash, to roam hither and yon, like an untethered puppy.
"But wait! Even so, I want immediate results! I don't want my mental momentum to be curtailed, for I fear it will build again, perhaps even stronger. Any pause in my day is frightening to me. I MUST keep up!"
Ok. How about cultivating a CONSTANT state of meditation, then? This is surprisingly easy to do. It takes some vigilance, yes, but it can be done. Here, you stay always calm and peaceful inside because you see the VALUE in it. You never want to stray away too far from Source.
Try cultivating THAT and see where that gets you. I've tried to be in that state all of my life, even when I was a kid and didn't have the words to describe it. It just feels good. Natural.
Some might say, when you do this, that you're distant, not quite there, and they're right. I always reserve a little space for the creator of all space because I want that portal open always, never closed or hidden or muted. When I feel that losing my connection might be possible, due to any kind of craziness going on around me, I take time out to re-center and re-balance.
Lose the connection? No thanks!

I Guess You Keep Gettin' Sidetracked

David Markrof May 1, 2018

Now where was I, who am I, what is happening here? Oh- I'll turn on the news. Whoa! There is a lot going on. Problems there are, but there are people in postions of power who are working on solutions!
Slowly, things seem to be working themselves out. Maybe the danger of the banality of television that Max Schumacher so aptly described in the movie 'Network' has proven not to be able to take hold of the human race. Maybe we have risen above The Media, enough of us, to actually give a damn about the world and the people that live in it or is that a premature and presupposed assumption?

Social media is acting as our new televison now. Here I can act as an evangelist. I can start my own religion, preach whatever gospel I want, present 'facts' and opinions, foster dissent, bolster up my cause, I can in a thousand different ways use this medium for good or ill. Social media is MY 'Network', MY television station. I understand that Howard Beale saw the light many years ago when he, deep inside The Network, within The Matrix, behind the curtains that hid the wizard, SAW that ratings (now 'page views') was where it was at. Advertisers! Doesn't matter so much if it is relevant, what matters is that it ENTERTAINS. Pictures, videos, 'Vines' clips, cleverly designed text, soundbites..... You know what the most consistently popular stuff on You Tube is? Music Videos! Many of them get millions of views, and some of them hundreds of millions! People aren't watching educational stuff as much as they're watching 'Despacito' or 'Gangnam Style'!
The big difference now is that, unlike 1976, you CAN 'turn the channel' and find something relevant, something that enlightens and uplifts you. You're not limited to passively watching Happy Days or Charlie's Angels or Baretta or Threes Company or Welcome Back, Kotter or Little House On The Prairie or The Waltons ....
Distractions will always be available, but, unlike Howard Beale's exhortation to "Turn your TVs off! NOW! Turn them off and LEAVE them off!" I say turn them ON! Educate yourself. Take the opportunity to w r e n c h yourself away from those music vids and type in something that makes you think in the search box. You have unprecidented opportunity, and there is sooooo much good material out there. What a resource! What a gift!

It's either that, or:
Max Schumacher (to Diane): "You need me. You need me badly. Because I'm your last contact with human reality. I love you. And that painful, decaying love is the only thing between you and the shrieking nothingness you live the rest of the day"

Next gen comin' up

David Markrof April 30, 2018

Seeing as I'm on my sixth? seventh? eighth? ninth? lifetime in this lifetime, so many strange and varied experiences have I had, it's interesting to see the younger ones of the human family coming into their own and witness how they're handling/interpreting these accelerated times.

They seem to have an innate knack for handling computers, tablets, cell phones, and the like. With ease they incorporate into their days the vast amounts of data at their fingertips and shrug about it as if to say "What?!"

Where their minds are at I cannot fathom for they seem to be in a group mindset that is unknown to me, something that my generation did not and could not share. They seem to have arrived 'pre-wired' with an upgraded operating system. Am I wrong in this assumption? Certainly they are adept at many new ways of doing things.
What is interesting is how seamlessly they seem to incorporate any developing technology and have not a clue how life used to be without it. This is the base upon which they continuously build their version of reality and it is quite interesting to watch. What are they doing with these new tools? How are they exploiting technology? Some have entered the world of online gaming, some have become digital djs, some have explored different ways of making art, some have used the tools to travel and produce drone videos of areas of the planet from perspectives that nobody has seen before, some are experimenting with food and creating new food combinations, some are producing craft beers, distilled products, or organic food offerings from sustainable local farms, many of them are creating apps and algorithms and whatnot using the vast amounts of digital data (and answering the equally vast demand) that exists in the global marketplace.
It's their time to express, create, capture audiences, and celebrate around the table while the old fogeys, set in their ways, watch and grumble. Old people are jealous, see? They want to be twenty again and have those hopes and dreams in the conversation drowning out talk of looming expiration dates.

So go, young people, and I'll try to keep up with you because I don't want to listen to geezer talk any more than you do. Change is the only constant in the universe and while I do like to be comfortable I'll never say no to a better future. If you can, though, on behalf of the oldsters, restrain yourselves from overcrowding the planet, keep the construction hours at eight to five (and never on weekends, if possible) and PUL-EEZE limit the device updates.

Goodness Gracious Great Balls Of Fire

David Markrof April 29, 2018

There's a whole lot of prayin' goin' on.
Can't help noticing that there is a lot of huddling that I'm seeing lately and I don't know what to make of it. Is this for real? Are they actually praying, or are they just pretending to pray so they fit in with the people around 'em? How can you tell? If you just stand there, or sit there, looking like a five year old making a birthday wish before blowing out the candles, who can read anything but piety in your countenance?
Way I see it, God must be a very busy uh, 'man'. 'Cause what the people are praying for, in a lot of these instances, could very well be be at odds with what other people want. I'm not going to take sides here either way, I'm just observing, going to be scientific about it. So, if what people are praying for is different, and there's only one God that they're praying to, how does God answer that?
Does he look over at this group over here and count the number of people in the building, and make his determination based on the size of the crowd? Does he look at how politcally connected the people praying to him are and reckon "Those folks there represent a lot of people. I'm going to swing things their way"
Does he take all the prayers into consideration and then make a ruling, like a judge, where one side wins and the other loses?
Does he act like King Solomon and just cut the issue down the middle, and give half to each party?

Does he turn up the volume on his stereo to drown out all the voices pleading for help, procrastinate, only listen to certain prayers, or is he on call 24/7/365 instantly whisking angels down to those praying, giving them exactly what they need? To proceed?
Now I've heard that God is pretty wise. Smartest being ever. That's how he got to BE God, if you think about it. Anyway, I also heard that we are his subjects, like a king has subjects, and he wants us all to get along and be happy. "Ain't that right, God?"
You can talk to him like that, he doesn't mind. He knows you're as a little child. Never takes it personal.

What if God, though, wasn't singular? What if there was more than one? Whoa! Got a lot of pushback there, right away. Science, remember?
Geez, people can be so touchy! One of the things in life I have learned is that everybody seems to think they know who and what God is, and they can get pretty darn riled if you don't think the same way. There is a lot at stake here, and the main thing seems to be that God has to be on their side.
Who WOULDN'T want God on their team? You'd win-

every single time.

Passion Play

David Markrof April 28, 2018

Lately, and probably long term, what seems to be happening is I am rediscovering myself. Now what does that mean?
It means that those things that I pushed aside earlier are once again surfacing as possibilities. I can sense their presence, waiting in the wings, wanting to come on stage. What are these things?
They are all that was pushed aside as being impossible or unfeasible when I was X number of years old, many of them I don't even remember probably. So why now?
I don't have an answer to that.

I can tell these things are there, wanting expression, because they are persistent thoughts in the back of my mind, and persistent thoughts seem to come from areas of the psyche that I would name 'growth', 'soul's expression', or maybe even 'purpose'. These thoughts are not to be confused with fantasies because they have not the same quality of energy and well, energy...... ....let's talk about that. ENERGY has as many descriptive qualites as 'smell' has, or taste, sound, sight, and touch. When I say that certain thoughts have 'energies' around them, this is what I'm referring to. Energies can be dark or bright, heavy or light, they can have texture... ...er... ...maybe 'atmosphere' would be an even better word for energy, for atmosphere denotes something that is encompassing. "He walked into the room and the atmosphere (the energy) of ________ was present".
This sounds complex but it isn't, it's just a different way of navigating.
So, back to passion, and those energies waiting in the wings. THAT is what I'm referring to there. Those idled ENERGIES want to find expression, through me, as me, with me, whatever way you want to put it, and I also sense that these energies are benign because they have that quality exuding from them. Were they to be in any way negative (which they aren't) I would be able to pick that up a mile away.
How many of these energies there are, I don't know. There is a que, that's all I sense. Maybe they are nascent Thoughts Of The Day, but I think not. They're more than that. Unrealized dreams, could be. Everybody has those! Anyway, I'll see. But I'm not sure if, or when. Things happen when it's right timing for me, so it's a timing thing too. Anyway, a lot of this stuff is probably going to be personal but I'm sure some of it will spill over into these continuing pages. Best way I can describe it at present.

Life is a deepening, and yet paradoxically, revelatory mystery.

The Thinker

David Markrof April 27, 2018

It has come to my attention, after a lot of inquiry into things, to be aware, very aware, of what I am thinking each and every day. Thoughts create, is my belief, and there is no escape. Whatever you focus your attention on matters, personally, and then collectively.
Now some would say that this is not so, that they can think whatever they want and who the hell am I to say they can't and probably worse things but, the law is the law, and as a cop once not so patiently explained to me, ignorance of the law is no excuse.
For I, in the way back times of my life, was one of those rebel dudes, I thought and thought whatever I wanted. There was nobody there to stop me. I'll do what I want! Everybody else seemed to be doin' it, so why not? Never in any company I ever worked for was there an admonishment by top brass to curb one's thinking, but they might have been hinting at something when they posted signs like 'Think Safety" or "Work Safely", stuff like that. But I don't think they were onto anything deeper. Less injuries keeps insurance costs low was what all that kind of 'focusing' was about.

Outside of work, in the neighborhoods, it was think whatever you want time. It was preposterous to even think (there's that word again!) that any harm whatsoever could come from thinking. Thinking WAS freedom of speech. It went without saying that if you could SAY whatever you wanted, thinking was given equally free reign. You were sovereign in that regard. You may have been restrained by your physical, financial, or educational status, but when it came to speech and thought, you could go ANYWHERE.
And I did. A lot. But, being a curious kind of person, and coming into this world holding a suspicion that all was not what it seemed, I began to exercise my thinking ability in a different way. I wondered about really arcane stuff, and searched for books on the most esoteric subjects. Over much time, a different understanding of how things might actually be working evolved and wouldn't you know it, thinking was heavily involved! Under the rug of reality, as 'reality' was being presented, and hidden in 'reality's' dusty corners, was the (heh heh) 'operating system' for the original computer. The mind.

But you don't have to go to any spooky old library to find this sort of information, and I never did. The libraries I frequented weren't nearly as cool as the one above. They were modern, utilitarian, and rather plain. The picture is just there for show, to illustrate how information like this is supposedly hidden. It's not.

Jane Robert's book 'The Nature Of Personal Reality' was kind of where I started. I followed that thread, that lead, but that book is now very old and in fifty more years would probably fit right into the library above. There are any number of newer books out there that you can download on your 'mobile device' and read while in a hammock on a shady porch.

Oh, you got me, man!

David Markrof April 26, 2018

There's something extremely satisfying about wordsmithing. Assembling the words, which convey specific meanings, each and every one, placing them in a sentence, then building more sentences, which lead to paragraphs, tweaking the piece here and there, shifting this and that, getting it just right. It's a craft, oh yes it is, like art or sculpture. And, like in any field, there is competition.

I check up on other writers from time to time, I'm always doing it, I read their stuff and there are some pretty clever cats out there layin' it down. Yesterday's Thought Of The Day was a big struggle for me, I worked on it and worked on it, trying to distill the essence, but couldn't get it to where it satisfied. The clock eventually ticked away and I threw something out there, which I wasn't entirely happy with but it's the Thought Of The Day, not The Thought Of The Week. I've made a personal commitment to produce and so, sorry folks, you get what you get. (It's in the Terms And Conditons post I put out about a week or so ago, the caveat where I explained those finer points).

Likewise, from doing this writing, I know that my fellow writers are having the same struggles as me. "Do I use this word here, or not? What about that third sentence? Something in there doesn't seem quite right. Oh, the hell with it! I'm just goinna start over!" Oh yeah. I know thery're going through all that. Piecing together this stuff isn't easy sometimes- hell, a lot of the time. Some days you are in the flow and it just happens, on others the stars are crossed and the brain isn't cooperating so much.
So, the other day, I'm checking up on the competition and I read a well-crafted and very clever post that makes me want to holster my pen forever and say "You're the pinball wizard, man, the wiliest, craftiest cat East of the Mississippi, the bees knees, a god amongst men. Whatever IT is, I knew that this wordslinger had it, because the dude used Big Words not once but six times, as if to flaunt his prowess and have us mere mortals genuflecting in the glare of his magnificence. I'm gonna lay out those words for you here and you'll see what I'm referring to. Do you know what they mean? Not generally, but specifically? (word key at bottom of page)
1. 'venality'
2. 'tropisms'
3. 'munificence'
4. 'obsequious'
5. 'vacuously'
and then he pulls out the big gun:

6. 'pulchritudinous' (!!)

Wow. Drop that last bomb in any article and you just checkmated your opponent, pinned him to the mat, knocked him out with a fierce uppercut, blasted him with a word that astute readers of It Pays To Increase Your Word Power would not know the meaning of ninety nine times out of a hundred. Maybe nine hundred and ninety nine times out of a thousand.
So. The bar has been set. I've got some big words in my arsenal but..... ...should I use them? If I ever whip those babies out I might lose my audience for I want ordinary people to be able to relate to what I'm trying to convey. I don't want to floor them and have them running for either the dictonary or the exit, capiche? But, I must admit, after reading this guy's stuff, there is a temptation to throw biggies out there just to stay SOMEWHAT relevant.
I know- I'll 'float' a big 'un in an article every now and again. If I get any pushback I'll take a clue from the folks near the top and say "Heh heh! I was only joking!"

Word Key:
1. 'the quality of being open to bribery or overly motivated by money'
2. 'an orientation of an organism to an external stimulus, as light, especially by growth rather than by movement' (huh?)
3. 'the quality of being munificent, or showing unusual generosity'
4. 'characterized by or showing servile complaisance or deference; fawning'
5. 'expressing or characterized by a lack of ideas or intelligence'
6. 'physically beautiful, comely'

(bet you missed the last one! :)