January 9, 2006

Today was a rather busy day for me. I went driving all around doing interviews and meetings and finally ended up back home around 7pm to a homemade spaghette dinner with some of that great garlic french bread toast that you pop in the oven for 20 minutes or so. After a great dinner, I always feel like a “good animal”. I cannot remember who said that and somehow I imagine it was Emerson but I doubt it. Turns out he made a statement that I just bastardized. My profound apologies Waldo. You were one of the greats to me forever. When I started questioning things, which gets me to why I am blogging now; I read things that a few people wrote. I liked the notions and philosophies of Emerson and I always loved Thoreau for some reason. Perhaps it was his sense and love of the natural things. As time went on, I read Atlas Shrugged and got a new sense of questions and answers. If you’ve read that particular Rand book, the question about “bearing the weight of the world” got me. Philosophically, we all seem to bear that weight and less often can we shrug to rid ourselves of it. Sometimes the weight is work; sometimes its play. Sometimes its responsibility. Another author favorite of mine once said “the best way to avoid responsibility is to say you have responsibility”. This leaves me with the desire to shrug often. Remove that sense of needing the weight. Sometimes for some of us the weight is physical and sometimes its metaphorical; but often its the accumulated weight of a life or so of baggage we allow to accumulate. We have to just shrug at times.

On to the observations. Tonite I watched the discovery network and watched Living with Dinosaurs made in 2000 or so. This is one good paleontological and geological gateway! It addresses lifestyle, migration, behavior, ecology, and even color and shape. I’m amazed at the work that these cowboys of science can do with nothing but bone and other remains. The exhaustive detail of this particular work amazes me most of the time and gives me fits and starts of thought the rest of the evening. You probably have gotten the “what ifs” yourself. What if this; what if that. If so, you are being a good animal yourself!

Congratulations and welcome, good animal.