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Just Leave(s)

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     Surf's up, someone would yell; but it meant little to my ears since I wasn't a surfer.  A body surfer, for sure, but not really good enough to be called that since back in the day, foam boards and "fins" were unheard of.  When a wave came, you just swam, bare footed, and hoped that you would catch the wave.  But more importantly, "surf's up" made me think of the late Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys.  Their album of the same name still had the tight harmonies the group was known for, but gone were the boppity sounds of reckless youth (I Get Around) and blossoming love (God Only Knows).  This was an album about what was happening to our planet.  And it was a song from that album that came to mind as I watched yet another neighbor take down his trees, baring his yard to the sun.  Sang part of A Day in the Life of a Tree : For years my limbs stretched to the sky, a nest for birds to sit and sing.   But now my branches ...
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Home. Less. Home.

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     There was a film the other night, The Golden Voice , which starred a weathered 84-year old Nick Nolte.  He convincingly played a homeless veteran, riddled with different shades of guilt that had churned into not anger or despair, but acceptance and wisdom.  It was simply done, and left a good message that no matter what we may think of a person, we should remember that we actually know next to nothing about them.  As Arrested Development sang:  No one ever knew his name cause he's a no-one.  Never thought twice about spending on a ol' bum until I had the chance to really get to know one.   So it puzzled me to read a comment by Esquire 's editor that said: A recent study showed that two-thirds of men aged eighteen to twenty-three say they feel that nobody really knows them well .  Two thirds!  The co-creator of Adolescence , (mentioned in an earlier post ) Jack Thorne, told Business Week : I think it’s really central, this...
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The Doc

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     As difficult as it was to leave the almost-comical but deadly serious world of politics, it was time for a pause.  And why not since the time had come for my annual physical, a time when you're checked (or should be checked) for the health of your colon, nerve reflexes, cognitive function, internal organs, skin, and more.  And no matter how many pundits (and your mind) tell you that 60 is the new 40, or that 70 is the new 50, such a check of your body quickly snaps you back to reality.  70 years of wear is 70 years of wear, much like when someone tells you about their old car saying, "this baby runs like new."  Uh, no.  And it's the same when you look up something on Dr. Google, or make a doctor's appointment...when the result turns out to be "no big deal," you tend to leave thinking, "well I could have figured that out."  But again, no.  Here's just one example...      There was a nursing prep book (the NCLEX-RN ) at...
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Be(a)ware...

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      With all that is happening, I am reminded of a frustrated Jesus in the Broadway play, Jesus Christ Superstar , a scene where he becomes so inundated with people wanting to be healed or helped that he finally yells out, "heal yourselves."   And quite honestly, we seem to be nearing that point as school lunches and food stamps are bulldozed over like settlers being forced off of the West Bank.  People are generous to a fault, and generally helpful by nature; but what happens as we start to leave our view of "things will work out" to a point of "we'd better start planning because who knows?"  Who knows indeed?  Several things brought this to mind, everything from an article on apathy to yes, that play, Jesus Christ Superstar .         If you've never seen the play or listened to the album (the movie was forgettable so perhaps skip that format), the music and lyrics were quite controversial at the time, and perhaps contr...
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