Maury Island Incident

If I say I'm going to do something, and then I don't, what does that mean?

If it's a short-term thing, it seems to mean something different than if it's a long-term thing. Let's say I agree to meet you for lunch but I don't show up. That's a personal affront to you, whether I meant it that way or not. I might have forgotten; might have been killed or something on my way to meet you; might have just been so late that I missed you entirely, etc. The end effect is the same: I said I'd do something, and I didn't.

Now presume I say "next week, I'm going to make an ark," but I don't. No one's affected by this except me, but still, I said I'd do something, and then I didn't do it.

Now presume I say "after I graduate from college, I'm going to go to grad school."

I suppose that at different times, we speak with different voices. Sometimes it's a friend-voice (I'll meet you for lunch on Tuesday at noon), sometimes it's ambition (next week I'm going to build a boat!), sometimes it's hope (grad school, here I come!). I've dealt with a lot of liars and blowhards in my day, and I tire of them quickly.

Maybe that's why I'm so sensitive about the things I say, myself: I don't want to make promises I can't keep, don't want to make plans I can't follow through on, don't want to sound like some overambitious catterpillar who dreams about becoming a fish.

So, I don't talk much.

Today is Fête de la Musique

In 1947, Harold Dahl saw six UFOs near Maury Island (now part of Vashon Island, in Puget Sound). Artifacts (slag) dropped from the UFOs killed his dog and injured his son. The next day, Dahl was visited by a man dressed in black who knew details of the event, though Dahl had not publicized it yet. The man in black suggested that Dahl’s family might be in danger if he did not keep the sighting a secret. This is thought to be the first encounter with the Men in Black.

The wheel turns

It's Igor Stravinsky's birthday (1882).

In 1960, Ted Williams hit his 500th home run.

In 1972, five White House operatives were arrested for burglarizing the offices of the DNC in the Watergate Hotel. Supposedly, they were planting bugs, but some authorities assert that none were ever found by investigators. Some theorize that the burglary was actually a false flag, designed to draw attention away from “the whole Bay of Pigs thing,” (Nixon’s euphemism for the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath).

In 1982, Roberto Calvi, “God’s banker,” (the head of Banco Ambrosiano, closely tied to the Vatican, when it went bankrupt) was found hanging by his neck beneath Blackfriar’s Bridge in London. His clothing was stuffed with stones, and he was carrying around $15,000 in three different currencies. He had just spent a short time in an Italian jail, where he attempted suicide, but his death was ruled suspicious because he was a member of P2, members of which referred to themselves as frater negri (black friars). An independent forensic report in 2002 determined that his injuries were not consistent with hanging, and that he had not handled the stones in his pockets. Calvi said shortly before his death, “the only book you’ve got to read is The Godfather. That’s the only one that tells how the world is really run.”

Chop water, carry wood

My new awl. It's already a little darker than when I started on it- Hedgeapple wood is lemon-yellow when you first cut in to it.

Chop wood, carry water. Metaphorically speaking, it's what life's about. Work gives us meaning. We start to get distressed -or depressed-- when we don't have enough to do. Our brains are very complex; they can handle a lot more than we give them credit for, and when they don't have enough going on to keep them busy, they weave stories of their own which lead to problems like obsessiveness, compulsiveness, depression, etc. If life was harder, we just wouldn't have time to worry about whether or not we turned the all the lights off seven times before we left the house, or to sit around being depressed. Chop wood, carry water.

Of course I'm oversimplifying, you're much more complex than that. I'd love to hear your counter-points or arguments.

In 1219, Dannebrog (the national flag of Denmark) fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse (now Talinn, Estonia), and turned the Danes’ luck.

In 1843, Edvard Grieg was born.
In 1937, Waylon Jennings was born.

In 1956, The Quarrymen played a church dinner. Paul McCartney (13) met lead singer John Lennon (15).