Up before eight, breakfast and the paper. Last night you finished Harper’s and found some personal interest in your reading. Your main interest was the essay by one of your favorite writer’s of letters, Lewis H. Lapham and the title is “Democracy 101—Mark Twain’s farewell address”.
Harper’s is the closest magazine left of one of my other favorites during college days, Norman Cousins’ The Saturday Review of Literature. The other essay of interest is “Video Ergo Sum” by Israel Rosenfield, which focuses on Oliver Sacks new book, The Mind’s Eye published by Knopf.
Harper’s is the closest magazine left of one of my other favorites during college days, Norman Cousins’ The Saturday Review of Literature. The other essay of interest is “Video Ergo Sum” by Israel Rosenfield, which focuses on Oliver Sacks new book, The Mind’s Eye published by Knopf.
What struck you most was the brain’s perception of color as in nature there are no colors. Here is the paragraph on page eighty.
“The creation of a coherent environment out of chaotic stimuli is one of the brain’s primary activities. There are no colors in nature, only electromagnetic radiation of varying wavelengths (the visible spectrum is between 390 and 750 nanometers). If we were aware of our “real” visual worlds we would see constantly changing images of dirty gray, making it difficult for us to recognize forms. Our visual stimuli are stabilized when the brain compares the variations in the different wavelengths of light; the consequence of these comparisons is what we perceive as “color”. The brain creates a sense of “color constancy”: no matter the lighting conditions – bright sunlight, filtered sunlight, or artificial lighting – colors remain more or less the same. This phenomenon is not fully understood. But colors themselves are not in our surroundings. Brains therefore; create something that is not there; and in doing so they help us to make sense of our environments.”
Harpers, “Video Ergo Sum”, Israel Rosenfield, April 2011, p. 80.
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The other bit of interest I discovered in the “Findings” article on the last page, 84. “Prairie dogs kiss more often if humans are watching.” Why would that be, I wonder? Do they detect the ‘humorous joy’ on the human faces and find it of experimental interest and curiosity? Why would those creatures find it of interest to our touching noses? Dogs sniff each other’s butts, I wonder if these two-legged creatures find that of equal interest? Anyway, it provides a light-hearted moment in my day.
Post while the moment is still with you. – Amorella.
Running on noon. You ran an errand for more grass seed as the other batch got washed out. And, after calling Time-Warner Cable you are driving in to Tri-County mall to exchange your digital remote, which presently is not working well. This morning an old musician whose music you love popped into mind to add to Woody Guthrie yesterday. And you are reminded of teaching an American literature course or two at Mason. You developed a unit for late Spring – Blues, Bluegrass, and Rock – which some of your students enjoyed as a diversion from the literature book. You enjoyed developing the unit which lasted two to four days at most because it brought back memories of being a disk jockey for WOBN while at Otterbein College. The objective was to show the artistic connections of rhythm and lyrics (subject matter and romantic literary elements) in the development of blues into early rock. The only testing was a short essay on what was learned that was of personal interest (notes allowed). The musician you thought of this morning was Lead Belly. So, you would add Lead Belly to Woody Guthrie, Amazing Grace (by a one time slave ship captain turned minister, John Newton), Noah and Jesus in thinking of “redemption”. Lead Belly was born Huddle William Ledbetter in January 1888.
I always considered Woody and Lead Belly down to earth authentic musicians. Many were influenced by their music, lyrics, and style.
More later, post. - Amorella
You spent much of the afternoon attempting to program your new remote with the TV. It did not work, T-W Tech told you to return to Tri-County for another remote. The newer one works better but it also is not satisfactory as the sound does not work. Fortunately an older remote can work the sound.
It has been one of those days but not having work hours helps tremendously. I don’t feel like writing though, a scramble of notions in the brain or mind. Not much focus. I also updated the software on the iPad to 4.3 from 4.2. I can’t tell any difference at all so far. No complaints though the iPads are running fine. I think we do not use our Apple products to the extent of others. They are all continually reliable, I don’t expect much more.
Left over Papa John pizza (always excellent nuked on day two) for supper after a mid-afternoon lunch of Tri-County Graeters, the best local makers of chocolate sodas. No real lunch for you after that other than an apple on your second drive into town.
That’s pretty much it for the day, Amorella. I am hoping to go to bed early and let Monday be gone. I need to go buy myself a Lead Belly CD at Half Price Books. I am in the mood for that raspy voice and some picking on his twelve-string guitar. I have a vintage Smithsonian CD that may have to do tonight.
Tomorrow, dude. – Amorella.
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