Disgruntled, Again

There's just a little snow, thusfar, this morning. The number-size of the catch in the 5 live-catch mousetraps seem to have reached its maximum and begun coming down. M & I seem to have increasing body pains and somebody asked me why I write these blogs. I kinda snapped back: "Why are y'askin'?"

I don't know how many years it's been, now. Was it Judy Collins who sang "Time Passes Slowly Up Here in the Mountains" and lots of people have said that "Time flies when you're having fun." Abel and Old Doc Freud both talked of the similar meanings of antithetical (opposite in meaning) primal words from antiquity. In Latin, Sacer means both sacred and profane. In Hebrew, Kadosh can mean adjectivize something with its sense of holiness, while Kadesh from the same root refers to a male prostitute. Most people translate the Biblical and Prophetic word Nachamu as "Comfort, Ye," as in the Handl chorus so popular around this time of year. But the Writer/writer of the Bible, also, uses it to refer to "changing one's mind towards disgust," as it is used at the end of the Creation Myth in Genesis: And God 'despaired' about the creations he had brought forth.

Over many years of being and teaching, I've used "I'm brighter than I look" and "I'm not as bright as I look" almost interchangeably. Perhaps, I've used it to tell the person I'm addressing that it's time to consider the what of what I'm saying rather than worrying about the who of its origins. Geez! And why do I say it in such a convoluted way rather than just coming out and saying ... "Hey, you. It don't matter. The imprimatur of my brilliance is not the issue here. Just, stick to matter at hand, if you would."

Why, why, why. Hey, it's kinda like "Whine, whine, whine." 

Lemme go back to Biblical languages. In Hebrew, there are two words typically translated as why. Lemme riff on them for a few minutes and then go shovel the little snow. Don't ask me why ... Actually, the line from HAIR was "Don't ask me why, I'm such a hairy guy" or philosophical questions, for that matter, on why men are born with nipples. Y'know! Some things just come along for the ride.

Back to Hebrew:

(Word 1.) LaMah ... comes from the join of two words .... the preposition L' ... meaning towards ... and Mah ... meaning what. Pu'im together and they spell -- more or less: Hey, Bro ... what were you trying to get at (when you cracked the egg on your little Sister's head, or somesuch).

(Word 2.) MahDuah ... again,  comes from the join of two words ....  Mah ... meaning what and Duah (not from scat but rather) from the word  La'da'as, to know. Kinda has the intention of: What were you thinking?

I suppose, I can answer that. When I began blogging, it was right around the time that I showed up at the Gym at around this time ... roughly 5:00 AM it must've been. A conversation, a brief conversation occurred between myself and Gina who was my age, maybe a little older ... the lady at the desk.

H: Hey, G'morning.

G: G'morning. How ya doin?

H: Not bad.

G: No. Y'can't start the day "NOT BAD" ... life is great.

H: Yeah, life is great but my back does hurt and I thought you were actually asking how I was doing.

G: Well, I am!

....

What to say? It got worse. It occurred to me that there was a kind of expectation that A would ask B and then B would ask A and both would respond: "GRRRRRRREAT." I saw it at professional conferences. I remember when a colleague showed me his new kitchen that cost 50 times what my first new car cost in the early-mid 60's and 12 times what my parents' first home cost in 1961 and told me that it made him feel great.

Made him feel great. Really. Made him feel great? Wow! About 1970, I saw some graffitti on the bathroom wall in the Limelight Coffee House in Buffalo, questioning that construction: "made me feel ...."

                              Someone had written: My mother made me a homosexual.

              Someone else penned just below: If I get her the wool, will she make me one, too.

Nevermind the political correctness, for the moment. 

This morning, Gina, I feel shoveling-sore and I feel if not everyone of my days, then most of my years. I know what's written in my appointment book about visitors scheduled to come, I intend to see all of those that trudge through the slushy snow, I have a half a dozen tasks to do including allowing the dentist to finish a root canal, I just am finishing a posting to my blog, and I don't tend to preface any of these tasks with a "why bother?"

One of the simplest definitions of health comes in three parts, like "Gallia in tres partes divisa est," at least according to General Julius in his Gallic Wars.

Part One: Recognize a desire to do something.

     Part Two: Figure out if doing it will hurt you or others.

          Part Three: If not, Jump in and do it.

for if you wait too long, especially in the Last Quarter, the opportunity may never reappear.


It was Brother Thomas Merton who began one of his prayers: Dear God, I have no idea where I'm going (and if Brother Howard may add, no justification for going there. [tomorrow, I may think differently.])

Vaia con Dios, Amigos.