Zen and the Art of Scottish Snare Drumming

"Geez, this drum sounds like shite!"

"It's not the hardware, my friend. The sound of the drum is the soul projecting through the hands and sticks."

... awkward pause ...

"Gawd, that was beautiful. Can I use it in my blog?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't know you had one."

"I don't, but I might make one just for that!"
 

A Visit from an Old Friend

He walked into the edge of light around me and said "Hey!"

I haven't seen him since he passed away nearly twenty years ago. He looks younger now, and happier too. He said he's glad the Band is doing well; and not to worry, there are new players coming out in February.

We exchanged pleasantries for a moment. And then I awoke.

The Space Invaders - Part 2

The economic cost of invasive species to these United States is staggering. According to a 2005 article from sciencedirect.com: "Invading alien species in the United States cause major environmental damages and losses adding up to almost $120 billion per year. There are approximately 50,000 foreign species and the number is increasing. About 42% of the species on the Threatened or Endangered species lists are at risk primarily because of alien-invasive species." I won't spend time fact checking that claim. Feel free to do that on your own. One thing I am sure of, it has only gotten worse since then.

English Ivy, Garlic Mustard, Northern Snakehead, Zebra Mussels, Ferril Hogs, Nutria, Norwegian Rats, Burmese Pythons, Stink bugs ... the list goes on and on. For me, the worst is the Asian Tiger Mosquito. It is a fierce hunter; and this time of year, I can't go out in my yard without a can of insect repellant. I spray it on exposed skin to keep from getting bitten ... and then I like to spray it on Flying Tiger Mosquitos. It doesn't kill them, but it fills them with self-loathing - a cerebral victory if nothing else.
 

The Space Invaders - Part 1

There is a space in our yard - which once was grass - that we dug up to put in a modest rose garden. It flourished for many years; but over time the crabapple tree grew up, and that spot became too shady for roses to grow. My wife replaced the roses with other plants more tolerant of shade, and they also did well for many years. But the crabapple tree got bigger and bigger, the grass under the tree died, and the plants in the old rose garden began to suffer. Then from nowhere, English Ivy began to grow. It took over the old rose garden and grew under the tree where the grass had withered away. The Ivy had no trouble thriving in the shady environment ... and nature seemed to be in balance once again.

But my wife was not happy. The Ivy was squeezing out her flowers and she decided to fight back. She took the trimmer and cut the ivy down to the dirt. She says English Ivy is an invasive species and has to go. But something has to grow there. You can't have a big brown patch of dirt in your yard. Well, in about a month the Ivy came back as vigorous as ever. Eradicating an invasive species - once it has established itself - is not an easy thing to do.
 

1729

I'm a numbers guy at heart, and numbers guys have a tendency to look at life from a numbers point of view. It's a very different viewpoint than the one non-numbers guys use to view the world. I recently watched two movies about numbers guys: Rainman, and The Man Who Knew Infinity. Both good movies in there own right, but each with a very different take on the illness and genius of numbers and their place in the human mind. Watching them reminded me of the brief period I spent volunteering with the Montgomery County Association for Retarded Citizens. It was a great experience working with Staff and Volunteers helping fellow Citizens enjoy the fullness of life available to us all. But I had to give it up because I started having trouble deciding who was who.
 

Are You Listening?

I wish I had a dollar for every piece of good advice I've received in my life, then subsequently forgotten or ignored. I'd be a wealthy men ... but not as wealthy as if I'd just listened to all that good advice in the first place.
 

1 + 1 < 2

A well matched team that's been properly hitched can carry a heavy burden a great distance. If the team is poorly matched, one will pull harder than the other, and the work will suffer. But if the two pull in opposite directions in a tug-o-war, nothing useful can be accomplished until this battle of wills is over. Eventually one will win, but both will be exhausted from the struggle. Sometimes it's better to divide a team and let each carry what they can, guided by a wise Master.

Positively Mistaken - Part 2

"Hey look at that, now there's meat sticks!"

"Oh boy ... processed meat products from a vending machine ... what could possibly go wrong there?"

It's not easy eating well when lunch comes from a snack machine. Even when you try, the choices are limited. I settled on Raisinets - after all it's mostly fruit, how bad could it be? Well ... in short, bad. If you look at the ingredients list, the #1 ingredient is: Milk Chocolate. Who would have thought raisins would be #2? Perhaps they should change the slogan to "Blobs of chocolate with California raisins hidden inside.

Choosing a Better Life

Two friends walked along the breakfast buffet, and when they reached the fruit section one said, "You never know about the fruit at a buffet. It could be good, or it could be aweful ... but usually it's pretty bad."

The other one said, "Well even if it tastes bad, it's still good for you. It's probably the healthiest thing here."

When they sat down to eat, the first one said, "Just as I thought, this fruit is terrible. The apple slices are mealy, the melons are hard, and the strawberries are too tart. I don't know why I bothered."

Then the other one said, "This orange is OK, and the watermelon is pretty good, and these strawberries are fine. And besides, it's good for you."

And of course they both were right - and not because fruit is a state of mind. There is good fruit and bad fruit in every buffet line, and some folks know how to tell the difference. And so it is in life. We all face the same decisions, and some people make better choices than others ... and they live better lives because of it.

The Good Soldier

In the gathering light he fixed his bayonette and waited. When the whistle blew, he scrambled from his trench and ran into the growing hail of fire. Comrades fell on either side as he pressed onward - his goal now less than twenty yards away. He leapt into the enemy's position and plunged his blade deeply into the machine gunner's chest, then pulled free and fired into the face of the man at his side. He chambered his final round as he spun in the trench and fired into the next soldier in line. And then he stopped.

Long ago he'd understood a good soldier would find himself in a place and time such as this - where duty would require the ultimate sacrifice. He watched the soldier fall, and looked into the face of the next man in line - a man with a wife and two children ... a toy maker in another place and time. He judged fear in those eyes - weakness in his enemy - then leveled his bayonette and charged through the trenches to meet his fate.

And so the tale of the Good Soldier ends. Not because he lived or died, for in the end does that matter? No, the tale ends here because the Good Soldier - knowing some things in life are more important than self - in performance of his duty, did the best he could.

The End of the Alphabet

Well that's it. I've reached the end of my ABC's. It's not a perfect list: I wasn't sure about Q, there aren't many X words to choose from, and Z is actually two words ... but it works for me. Every once in awhile I review my ABC's to see if they still resonate; and occasionally I'll swap in a new word for an old. If you make a list of your own ABC's, I don't think you'll find it was wasted time.

A sincere Thank You! to The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1975 Edition - Eleventh Printing for providing the definitions. I think the most challenging part of this whole exercise was finding a couple of minutes each day in my chaotic life to post to Scarred Bark. Perhaps I should swap in discipline for duty.

Anyway, I'll end this post with the beginnings of a joke I've never been able to finish: "A neologist, an etymologist, and a lexicographer walk into a bar ... "

Let me know if you figure out a punch line.

P.S. Irony: The spell checker in Blogger thinks that neologist is not a word.

Z is for Zero Hour

Zero Hour - n. The moment of undertaking something, a.k.a. "Go Time!"

Y is for Yearning

Yearning - n. A strong emotion of longing or desire, especially with tenderness.

X is for Xenophobia

Xenophobia - n. Hatred or distrust of foreigners or strangers.

W is for Wanderlust

Wanderlust - n. An impulse to travel; restlessness combined with a sense of adventure.

V is for Valor

Valor - n. Intrepid courage, especially in warfare; personal bravery.

U is for Unrelenting

Unrelenting - adj. Not diminishing, or not changing, in pace, effort, or speed.

T is for Trust

Trust - n. A confident reliance on the integrity, honesty, veracity, or justice of another; confidence; faith.

S is for Sincere

Sincere - adj. Being in reality as it is in appearance; real; genuine.

R is for Resolute

Resolute - adj. Having a fixed purpose; determined; constant; steady.

Q is for Quandary

Quandary - n. A state of hesitation or perplexity; predicament.

P is for Prudent

Prudent - adj. Exercising sound judgment; sagacious; judicious.

O is for Outstanding

Outstanding - adj. Standing out from others of its kind; prominent; excellent.

N is for Nationalism

Nationalism - n. The belief that among nations the common welfare is best served by independent rather than collective or cooperative action.

M is for Modesty

Modesty - n. Freedom from vanity or excessive pride.

L is for Liberty

Liberty - n. Freedom from oppression, tyranny, or the domination of a government not freely chosen.

K is for Kind

Kind - adj. Gentle and considerate in behavior.

J is for Just

Just - adj. Fair, evenhanded, and impartial in acting or judging.

I is for Independent

Independent - adj. Not subject to the authority of another; self-determining; free.

H is for Honest

Honest - adj. Not given to lying, cheating, stealing; acting honorably and justly.

G is for Generous

Generous - adj. Abundant and overflowing.

F is for Faith

Faith - n. Belief without need of certain proof.

E is for Efficient

Efficient - adj. Productive of results with a minimum of wasted effort.

D is for Duty

Duty - n. That which one is morally or legally bound to do.

C is for Courtesy

Courtesy - n. Habitual politeness; good manners.

B is for Brave

Brave - v.t. To meet or face with courage and fortitude.

A is for Altruism

Altruism - n. Selfless devotion to the welfare of others.

Now I Know my ABC's ...

Remember those ABC books they had in the library when you were a kid? You know the ones: A is for Apple, B is for Ball, C is for Cat. With the exception of that one by Dr. Seuss, they were all pretty much the same. The books were filled with colorfully illustrated nouns of one or two syllables easily recognized by children.

I've often wondered what an ABC book for adults would look like. With more than a million words in the English language, the possibilities are endless. Over the years, I actually compiled my own personal ABC's; and I've decided to post them to my blog during the month of February. Sorry, no illustrations!

Inner Peace

Search for truth with all your heart, for in it the seeds of inner peace are found. The great thing about truth is that once you've found it, you are free to let it go. It will always be there, and easy to fact check. But there's the rub: The truth must comprise all of the facts - every one of them - not just the ones that fit our desired version of the truth. When you or someone you trust says, "Something doesn't seem right ... something doesn't add up", that's your subconscious-self smackin' your conscious-self upside the head with a 2x4 sayin', "Wake up, there's a rift in the truth continuum." You can ignore it if you wish, but your subconscious will just keep reminding you ... whether you like it or not.

Pedantry - Part 3

I sent an email to my co-worker, and Microsoft Office sent back the following inappropriate reply:

Should I report it to HR?