Ed's World/Chip's World

The real push begins...

If you've not been reading Eddie's novel, you might want to take a moment and do so.  It's shaping up nicely. 

Whether you are or not, she is now in the last push toward making her goal of 50,000 words for the month of November.  We are having to make a trip to the US to update our visas.  While she is hoping to write on the plane, anyone who has done the trip knows this may or may not be fruitful.

She needs your support.  Send Eddie and email.  Let her know you're thinking about her, supporting her....

Write often, believe me when I say these emails will not be distracting, but encouraging. 

Dream events

This isn't a dream, but rather an observation of things that happen in my dreams.

The other night I was dreaming and it occured to me in the dream that what was happening couldn't actually be happening so I knew I was dreaming (in the dream).  I let the dream continue for a while - but when I woke up I found it odd that was actually aware I was dreaming while in the dream.

This corresponds to another aspect of my dreams, the instant replay - that doesn't really replay the dream but rewinds to do a retake of the dream.  If, for any number of reasons, I feel some event in my dream isn't correct, I often go back to a previous point in the dream and redo that sequence of events.  Sometimes the events change, sometimes they don't.  Sometimes (whether the events change or not) I continue to rewind to replay the dream in a variety of senarios.

------  Just an interesting look into the dream world of Chip Clark  -------

I am 46 years old today

That's not the age one would report as a good whiskey (12, 18 or 30 come to mind), nor the age marketing uses to determine the prime target group (25-35), not quite middle aged (most consider this starts at 50) and yet...

• I've been married for nearly 28 years
• 2 adult children pursuing their own careers
• I have 2 grandkids (pictures posted in recent albums)
• served in the US military
• worked as a restaurant night manager, software support professional and software engineer
• traveled to China, India, Spain, Germany, Sweden, France, Britian and Mexico
• lived over 6 years outside the US
• written a symphony

And life isn't over.  In many respects it's just getting started. 

While the world markets are in turmoil with banks are tetering on the edge of failure to the point there is no secure financial future (for anyone), I see not just a light at the end of the tunnel, but a lush valley of opppotunities.  People often think of me as pessimistic; I beg to differ.  My list of accomplishments are pale in comparison to what I hope to achive in the life ahead.  With my partner/ confidant/lover at my side, I look at today as a beginning of much more. 

Here's to the future, may yours be as bright as mine looks to me.

Studying for the GRE

I am taking the Graduate Record Examine(GRE) next Monday in order to complete my application to Yale so I thought I'd include some of my thoughts about the study process.

The GRE is a test of analytical and verbal skills. As I have been writing term papers for university, posts on this blog and various other articles, I'm not particularly concerned about the verbal side of the exam. I have gone over some of the topics for the Analysis portion (analysing a short statement). It's the analytical portion of the test (maths) that has me concerned.

I understand all the math necessary for the test, but a good portion of it I've not used since I was in high school (nearly 30 years ago). The biggest concern for me is the quadradic equation. I remember working with the quadradic equation back in Algebra 2, but until I was reviewing the study guide for the GRE, I hadn't thought about it since then. If you'd asked me the formula for solving a quadratic equation I wouldn't have been able to tell you. I'm sure, at some point in class, we went through the process of solving quadratic equations, and proving the formula works, but going back over the information now, it is amazing to me that anyone ever thought of it in the first place.

Not limiting my research to the study guide, I took some time to look up quadratic equations on the internet and was stunned to find mathmeticians have been solving these problems for thousands of years. This is hardly new math. The Babylonians were working algebra back in 1800BC, with Sulba Sutras in India solving more difficult quadratic equations in 800BC.

I have no idea how well I'll do on the text next week, but I am enjoying the relearning of some of the stuff I learned in high school. I don't know how relevant it will be to my musical education, but perhaps taking a second look at it will mean I will retain it better this time.

Good days ...

I didn't get much sleep last night.  Not sure if it was the brain on overdrive or the sugar I had late in the evening (ice cream covered in chocolate... so there was caffine in there too).  But, whatever the case, I was falling asleep on the film Eddie and I were watching so we headed to bed at half 10 and by the time I laid my head down on the pillow at 11 I was wide awake. 

Several events happened yesterday which got my brain in gear.  My trombone trio (Canongate) was sent off to one of Juilliard's instructors with a reasonable chance he will get his trombone group to play it.  They may not perform it, but, if I can even get them to do a workshop recording of it, I'll be well pleased.

Another blogger, one who writes a really popular blog on Opera (OperaChic) sent me a very nice compliment in email yesterday about one of my reviews (on the other blog).  Then proceeded to read several other posts and commented that she really like my other blog and will come back on a regular basis. (Yes!!!)

I'm also in the midst of writing a Violin Concerto.  This isn't new (although I may not have mentioned on this blog); I've been working on this piece for a month now.  However, yesterday I received a note from the violinist I'd like to write this for that he's interested.  With him on board I can apply for a grant and may actually get my first serious commissioned work.  That may have been a factor in my sleepless night. 

Not able to sleep, I ended up writing until just passed 3 o'clock (in the morning).  Needless to say, I woke up this morning (at 7am... not willing to budge at the typical 6am to go workout) feeling exhausted and ready for a nap.  I made it to work and preceeded to read the daily news.

The Denver Broncos (my hometown football team - I grew up in Denver, so they're as close as a hometown team as I can get.  El Dorado Kansas doesn't have a football team) kick the stuffing out of their rivals the Oakland Raiders - 41 to 14 - and they did this on Monday Night, in Oakland!!!

For those that know me I often said, "Sleep is highly over-rated."  Well, lacking sleep doesn't make it a great day, certainly, and all the events of yesterday may have contributed to my sleepless night.  But waking up to a Broncos win gives me the feeling, a good day only leads on to a better one.

A Party in trouble

Reading the news today I came across an alarming trend... a large number of Republican Senators and Representatives under investigation for everything from bribery to fraud, misuse of funds, homosexuality and the list goes on.  I didn't really research anything, but according to www.electoral-vote.com/ I counted at least 10 and these investigations were causing problems with their campaigns (in some cases the reason they aren't running for re-election).

I grew up in the Nixon years with the Watergate scandel.  I thought (at the time) the Republican party would never survive, but they did - owning the White House 5 of the 8 terms since. 

During Clinton's years there was lots of talk about how criminal Bill was, and yet the only thing they could get on him was sexual mis-conduct with an aid (a female one at that). 

Now, we're in another election year - looking for a new President.  There doesn't seem to be any skeletons in the closet for either of these candidates (so far) and although there is some controversy around Palin's family, she herself seems to be safe (although her morality toward government spending seems to blow with the wind, so how does the wind blow on other issues???).  I guess what I'm trying to say is.... in a world where we should not only look ahead, but look behind...

A party tends toward the criminal wouldn't seem like a good idea. 

A party that cries against big government, but has (since 2001) created the largest government intrusion into the lives of Americans in history.  The Department of Homeland Security (George's contribution to the White House staff) is the second largest department behind the Department of Defense and in many respects controls what the Department of Defence can do - and that (to me) is really scary. 

A party that calls Russia's act of putting forces into South Ossetia as criminal yet defends it's presense in Iraq as necessary for US interest is two-faced.

A party that has created the largest debt of any country ever in history probably ought not be allowed to continue.  McCain says the Economy is not an issue and the budget isn't a problem is burying his head in the sand.

What is Freedom???

Forty years ago today, Martin Luther King gave his famous "Freedom" speech.   While things have changed, we are still struggling with the concept of Freedom.  What is freedom?

Some suggest freedom is in information - newspapers saying we have the right to it (Freedom of Information Act) or in not providing it (Freedom of non-disclosure of sources).

Some say freedom is in our right to bear arms (which is really a right to have a militia, but somehow that point gets lost in the arguement). 

Some feel freedom is only achieved with security (and some freedoms are lost to secure the important freedom of feeling secure in our way of life).

And yet I believe what Martin Luther King was talking about was the freedom to not be affraid.  Forty years ago a black person couldn't walk into some restaurants without feeling out of place (affraid). Forty years ago a black person couldn't apply for some attend certain schools or even walk down certain streets - out of fear. 

Today it isn't just black people who are affraid; it is everyone who calls themselves American Citizens.  There are some restaurants in the world we feel out of place, and there are some countries we're not welcome.  Even in the countries that call us "friend", American Citizens try to keep a low profile out of fear.  We are not welcome; we are not free.

I tell you this out of personal experience.  I live and work in the UK and while the vast majority of people here are wonderful, with no issues about my American Citizenship, there are those that are angered by the US foreign policy or arrogance. 

Some people think this is because of jealosy (they hate us because we have more).
But I suggest to you they hate us because we take more.
    We admonish Russia for entering a soverign nation (Georgia) and yet we attacked Iraq.

Some people think this is because of religion (they hate us because we're Christian).
But I suggest to yuo they hate us because we say we are religiously tollerant, and yet still allow for profiling of anyone who registers their faith as Muslim.

What is the solution?

Bill Clinton said it best he said, "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power."

If we really want to have freedom, to really be the land of the free, we need to lead by example. 

Guantanamo, Iraq - these are not examples of freedom.  They are examples of tyranny.  And as long was we accept a tyrant in the White House, we, the citizens of the United States of America, will not be free. 

Red Headed Neanderthal

This is not an insult....

According to this article, Neanderthals were likely red headed (and so vastly superior to homo-sapiens).

And if you think Neanderthals were stupid, think again.

The truth is, we're more like them than you might think... according to the Discovery Channel.

There's a lot more news on Neanderthals on Google, but I think it's pretty cool they were redheads....

Google Cows

I like cows.  There has long been a quirky fascination with the beasts, occasionally wondering what they're thinking as they munch across the hills of the Western US. 

I like Google.  It's my search engine of choice; my choice for daily news, and even my quick spell checker (type in a word you think you've mis-spelled and if you have Google will typically suggest the correct spelling for you). 

And now it seems Google has gotten together with cows in a very interesting (albeit useless) way. 

Cows tend to point north.  How do we know this?  Google Earth...

Here's an article all about it...

On a lighter topic, the cow jumping over the moon may be related to the leisurely activities of cows. 

Morning Sickness

I have not been, nor will I ever be pregnant, so speaking of Morning Sickness is done without any real experience or knowledge of the topic. I was even fortunate enough to marry a woman who didn't really suffer from it either... so I can't even speak of it with second hand knowledge. However, I do work in an office with a number of women in the late twenties to early thirties, so marriages and pregnancies seem to be fairly common among the staff. One of my close co-workers is pregnant with her second child and suffering severe morning sickness (to the point it's hard to keep any food day - for days at a time).

This article about Morning Sickness raises some interesting thoughts for me.

First of call in the Causes section - "Morning sickness is unknown in some more primitive societies where lifestyles are simpler, more relaxed and less demanding."

Wow! That explains a lot.

My co-worker, by her own admission, is excessively controlling and very demanding. For the job she's in this is an extremely good quality and one of the reasons she is so very good at it. However, it probably adds a good deal of stress to her life and therefore increases her risk of having Morning Sickness.

She also tends to have a cup of coffee in the morning and a cup of tea (non-herbal - ie., caffinated), with milk and sugar later in the morning, so there is a fair amount of caffine and sugar roaming about her system. I suspect (not being a doctor) that caffine is probably not the best drug for her system - and yet... caffine has some effects on the blood system that could ease other pains associated with the early stages of pregnancy (the rapid expanding uterus). So, it's rather a damned if you do and damned if you don't.

This article says that women who suffer may have healthier pregnancies... hmmmm.... 

Later on, in the causes section, it speaks about increased oestrogen levels resulting in an elevated sence of smell.  This article talks about the other benefits of oestrogen, like brain development (so, is that why women are smarter), fat distribution (which is why it's harder for women to lose weight - particularly so for women with high oestrogen levels), essential for fertility (in both sexes) and women with high levels are thought of as sexier (Eddie's level must be off the chart!). 

---

What brings all this up?

Well, my co-worker is suffering from it. And, as much as I love kids, I am concerned about both the mother's health and that of the child (not eating can't be good for fetal development). And, since my own wife didn't really suffer, I am trying to understand why some women do...