Thursday, July 03, 2025

The Collapse CXCIV: Music

25 November 20XX+1

My Dear Lucilius:

One of the things I miss most is music.

Music is a thing that was ubiquitous in our culture and society of up to two years ago. It followed us almost everywhere: in every retail and commercial location, in the car, in our worship services. Many had listening devices (headphones and so on) that allowed one to listen to music wherever they were; in some cases, one saw people who almost never seemed to disassociate from them.

Now, there is virtually no music to be heard at all. I suspect it stems from two sources.

The first is simply that so much of our music was borrowed in the sense that it was “piped in” to us. We listened to it, the aural history of 2,000 years or more, performed by others. In more modern instances, the very instruments themselves were powered by electricity. If we sang out loud, it was only in particular settings: at church, in a concert, in the car at the top of our lungs. Only rarely did one hear anyone singing alone by themselves.

The second is that so many seem to have lost the interest or ability to play music.

At one time, learning of an instrument was de rigeur a right of passage growing up. Many – myself included – went through the inevitable piano lessons. For others it was recorders in class. Some “advanced” to some form of band or string instruments through middle school and high school, perhaps even into college.

And then for many, it simply stopped.

The reasons are as varied as people. For many, I suspect it was simply the fact that they got busy with the art and practice of living and thirty minutes to an hour a day of practice no longer fit into their schedules. For others, the camaraderie of the band or orchestra was what they enjoyed as much or more than making music remove that as an adult, and the interest quickly waned.

A few persevered of course, making music as a hobby or as a semi-profession. But these were inevitably those that did it out of love of the medium – in the world of the last 30 years, there was little enough money in music for the bulk of those that made it.

Now – I would say “suddenly” but we seem to be a little beyond that now – there is no music at all.

In my visits to others locally, I have seen a few instruments: more than a few guitars, mentions of a trumpet or saxophone which are brought out for inspection when I show any interest, even the odd piano or two. Occasionally there are music books around to go with them, but just as often there are none, just a set of notes or chords that seem to have embedded themselves in the brain.

This loss should not surprise me, of course. Literature contains multiple references to music of Ancient peoples for whom we have nothing but at best scanty notes or descriptions. What did the Romans bawl out in their tavernae? What was the sound of the Greek Paean before the hoplites started marching forward? What songs did the Vikings sing across the seas, or the courtiers of Heian Japan play to each other under the Autumn Moon?

I can hum the songs of my youth, Lucilius, and the soaring ballad chords and guitar riffs of the Power Rock of high school roar loudly - but only in my mind can I now here the actual music as it was played. It is secreted away now, in disks and on drives and other media that are locked down although nothing but dust lies on them.

In any crisis of civilization, the arts often seem the first to go.

Your Obedient Servant, Seneca

Wednesday, July 02, 2025

2025 Switzerland/Germany: Basel Minster (II), Tombs

 One of the neat things to me about Basel Minster was the tombs that were present.


"Bischof" in German is "Bishop" .


"Ritter" is German for Knight.





"Graf" is the German equivalent of Count.


"Und andere" means "and others".



As near as I can tell, someone named Johannes died in the year A.D. 1300:


I was a little shocked in looking at this tomb to realize that this was the tomb of 16th Century Humanist Desiderius Erasumus.    This was a pleasant surprise; I had completely forgotten he had died in Basel.  Interestingly, even though he was a Roman Catholic, he was so respected that a funeral with Roman Catholic rites was given to him in Basel, a city that was becoming staunchly Protestant.  In modern times, he is most remembered for his work In Praise of Folly.



Adalbero (Adalberto) II, founder of the cathedral:



Tuesday, July 01, 2025

2025 Switzerland/Germany: Basel Minster (I)

 The Basel Minster is a church (originally a Cathedral) located in Basel, built between A.D. 1019 and 1500.  


(The Southern Tower (left is named the Martinsturm and the Northern tower is named the Georgsturm after Saints George and Martin, saints of knights)

The original structure was originally started in A.D. 1019 by Bishop Adalberto II (the city of Basel had served as the seat of a bishop since the relocation of the seat from Augusta Raurica in the mid 4th Century A.D.).  The initial layout was completed in A.D. 1225.



The structure was damaged by an earthquake in A.D. 1356 but was rebuilt by 1363.  In A.D. 1421, additional towers were added.  The last major addition, a tower in the Southern quarter, was added in A.D. 1500 and marks the end of the construction (a mere 481 years).



After the Reformation, the cathedral became a Protestant church. Many of the artwork and interior decorations were destroyed by iconoclasts in A.D. 1528 and 1529.








Monday, June 30, 2025

June 2025 Grab Bag

 Sometime this past Saturday, I surpassed 2,000,000 views:

It seems apparent that something changed around the February/March timeframe.  Part of that may be that I somehow got linked to other sites (due to the kindness of the owners of those sites).  But somehow, based on the nature of the traffic, I wonder.

(As a note, the records only goes back to June of 2010, when I had a whopping 355 views that month.)

An examination of the overall traffic reveals some interesting locations:



But the past three months reveals even more interesting things:



Singapore and Vietnam seem to fall in the timeline with our trip to Cambodia and Vietnam (we did stop in Singapore on the way there).  No idea about Brazil, I have never been.  A quick review yesterday morning for the last 24 hours also revealed Brazil and Vietnam as "top" countries.  

I have no idea what would make me so interesting that Brazilians and Vietnamese seek me out.  If they are all bots, I have to give Blogger credit:  the last time I had spam was some months ago.

Interestingly, I hit 1,000,000 on 28 October 2023, so the cycle time is speeding up. 

That said, I am sure there are some real views there as well.  Thank you to all the actual readers for your continued support. 

On to 3,000,000.

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My Winter/Spring "harvest" seems complete at this point.  Below you see the results:  Emmer Wheat, Jet Barley, and garlic (Always, the reliable garlic.  It has never failed me.).  Other than a large handful of Spinach, this is more or less what I got.


That said, I am not at all disappointed.  This was my first foray into balcony container gardening and I anticipated getting nothing, so anything is a victory.

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After having removed the remaining stalks of wheat and barley, I was thinking about succession planting.  Herbs struck me as being in order, as they are something we can use and do grow into containers.  I went by my local Big Box store:  Herbs are currently $5.98 a pot.  That was an investment I was not willing to make.

Then, at a stop of large regional grocery store, I went out to their garden center (turns out they have one).  Low and behold, they were clearing out their potted herbs.  Feeling a worthy protégé of Eaton Rapids Joe, I snagged mint, thyme, and English lavender for $4.00 total.  That, to my silly math, is an 78% savings over what I could have paid.

(Thyme and Lavender)

(Mint.  It was very healthy and had a lot of growth).

If I had had the space, there was the makings of a lavender farm in the amount of remaining lavender there.  Perhaps against my better judgement, I may go back there as of the writing of this on Sunday. It is too good of a deal to pass up.

(Editor's note:  I did go back.  The lavender has been completely vacuumed up by someone.  That said, they cut prices again, so I got a sage plant for $1.00.  That raised my "savings" to 84%. )

General garden, End of June 2025:



Currently I am growing leeks, alfalfa, Jerusalem Spinach, and peppers.  The alfalfa is an experiment - well, really all of this is an experiment.

On the bright side, I have serrano peppers!


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I have gotten out of the habit of making bread over the last two months for reasons I do not fully know.  It is easy to do with a bread maker; I really have had no excuse.  Yesterday I made a sort of light rye:


I will say that a game changer for me was finding that Bob's Red Mill makes small batches of non-wheat flour which are pretty reasonable, thus opening up new possibilities.  We also now live near a store that sells bulk grains (and I have a grain mill).  So more opportunities to experiment await.
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A the Cat sends greetings.  Other than a penchant for clawing at couches and "stepping in" to J the Rabbit's cage for a visit (somewhat unwelcome by J), the adjustment is going well.


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I think I finally have a "drink".

When I was out to dinner with The Ravishing Mrs. TB for a belated birthday celebration, I had a Porto Tonico.  It is a drink made with port and tonic water and finds its origins in Portugal. 

Basic recipe:

- 2 ounces white port (it can be any port, but white is preferred)
- 4 ounces tonic water

That is it.  It can be garnished, if you are fancy, with mint leaves and a bit of orange slice or lime slice.  (I, being not fancy, do not garnish.)

I find them highly refreshing.

If you are lucky enough to live somewhere that sells generic tonic water in the 12 ounce cans, get those:  You can get two Porto Tonicos and a chaser of tonic water out of single can.

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The Ravishing Mrs. TB and I have started passively looking for a house.

When I say "passively", it is simply looking at some pictures and starting a list of things we would like to have in a house.  Part of that is also making short day trips around the area to see the communities, mostly West and North of us, as neither of us want to live closer to the rather large urban area directly nearby or even in the greater area we now live (nice to rent in, maybe not so great to buy in).

In terms of "needs" at the moment, they include at least three bedrooms (we may have one or more family members living with us from time to time), 30 minute or less commute from my work, within 1 hour of the major airport (if we use the "30 minutes to work" rule, it is a sufficient stalking horse),  a better heating/cooling system than we have now, and at least one room with a sufficient ceiling height to allow me to practice Iaijtsu in the rainy and cold season inside without our ceiling being in peril.  Also highly desirable is some amount of land, or at least farther distance from our neighbors - if I had my way, I would like to have a better garden and try my hand at bees and poultry again.

This is all very tentative at the moment.  But it is never too early to start planning.

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You may remember from this past Saturday that my cousin's partner was home on hospice.  He had been given two to four weeks.  My cousin let me know that death came yesterday - Three days from the final diagnosis.

Live each day well.  Tomorrow is not promised us.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Changes, Swirling Memories, And Wa

Memories drifting,

autumn's leaves falling to die

shades of Summers past.

The arrival of A the cat last week was not without its own disruptions both here and at New Home 2.0. For here of course, the adjustment of having a cat again where there has been none for the past year.  At New Home 2.0, sadness that he will not be as a regular dweller any more.

This thought dogged me as I made the drive to work this week, leading me to consideration of the last time we were all together.  To my mind that was likely the end of 2020.

Not that 2020 was without its own challenges, what with the Plague and a change in careers.  But it was the last time that - as far as I can recall - everyone was home and all of the pets were with us.

It made me sad as I drove on through the traffic lights and made the turn onto the main road for work.  So much - so very much - had happened in that intervening period of time.  Moves, job changes, deaths, graduations, first careers - all things that over the time, conspired to slowly pull things apart.

2020 me would not recognize the life that I am living now.

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This week, one of my cousins - probably the one I am closest to - let us know that his partner, who has battled cancer for years, took a turn for the worst.  2 weeks at best, 4 weeks at the outside.

We had brunch together in May when I was down to The Ranch.  Yes, there was cancer being battled, but that was not something we discussed at all other than swapping a few jokes about hair loss.  I thought about it this last month, but my visit there took another turn.

My cousin is the son of my Aunt Pat, who was diagnosed with cancer last year.

I cannot remember the last time that side of the family was all in one place.  We are simply too spread out at this point.  Most of that group was present for my mother's funeral in June of 2024;  a perhaps far happier time was for my niece and The Brit's wedding last November.

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There is an inevitableness to all of this, of course: time only continues forward and is merciless.  Things unwind and dissolve and nothing will bring them back into being.  We never truly know or grasp when we have the "last time" for anything (my father in law The Master Sergeant who passed away last October:  when was the last time I had seen him before he went into the hospital?  Not later than the first quarter of 2024, which seems like a lifetime ago now).

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The incomparable Old AF Sarge posted yesterday something called "The Quiet Mind".  If you have not read it, I commend it to your attention.  His discussion of simply seeking harmony resonates with me, perhaps now more than ever.

For whatever reason, change seems to be shredding my reality. That harmony, that  å’Œ¹ (Wa), matters more to me every passing day.

The memories continue to drift, driven faster by a world I no longer understand.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Essentialism (XXIII) Eliminate: Limit

 "No is a complete sentence" - Ann Lamott

The disappearance of boundaries, says McKeown, is typical of the Nonessentialist era in which we live.

Technology has not helped this, of course.  Even at the time of the publihsing of Essentialism in 2014, McKeown notes that technology had already made more things possible like calendars with Saturday meetings.  It is far worse now, of course, in that with the democratization of the InterWeb and the regular issuance of personal computers to employees and The Computer in Our Pockets, we are accessible at any time of the day or night.  

But more than just the technology, the fact is that that technology would not matter if it were not for the lessening of boundaries between personal/family and business life - as McKeown, notes, "It is hard to imagine executives in most companies would be comfortable with employees bringing their children to work on a Monday morning, yet they seem to have no problem expecting their employees to come into the office or to work on a project on a Saturday or Sunday."

Boundaries, he notes, are a lot like the walls of a sandcastle: Let one fall down and eventually they all fall down.  And it can be uncomfortable, and even job or relationship ending, to say "No" to such requests.  Yet Mckeown notes that not pushing back can cost us more: it costs us the ability to choose what is most essential.  If we do not set our boundaries, it is not that there will be no boundaries; it is that they will be set by someone else to serve their design, not yours.

Nonessentialists think of boundaries as constraints or limits, a sign of weakness in a productive life - after all, what successful person ever said "no" to opportunity?  Essentialists, on the other hand, seeing boundaries as freeing, setting aside time to work on their essential goals and objectives, not the goals and objectives of others.

There is a saying that goes something to the effect of "A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part" - that other people's failure to plan (or in this case, have boundaries) does not and should not mean that I stop what I am working on to address it.  And yet we all have these people in our lives, high-maintenance individuals who make their issues our issues, their purposes our purposes, their agendas the things that must be completed (instead of ours, of course).  How does the Essentialist push back?

1)  Don't rob people of their problems: Problems, it has been said, are opportunities in disguise.  That said, not all problems are our problems.  Sometimes they are problems of others who make their problem our problem.  Sometimes we have to take on that problem (say, at work when my manager brings me an issue that must be dealt with and they cannot); other times though, they are problem which we somehow choose to take on or are saddled with.  This can look like a pet project (not critical) that someone else asks us to take on or being asked to review something that is not ready for prime time (you are being used as an unpaid editor) or someone that likes to talk when you critical items to do (to be fair, I am guilty of this).

The solution? Put up fences.  Demarcate what is and is not your responsibility.  Do not deny people the ability to grow through their problems.

2)  Boundaries are a source of liberation:  Just as fences keep pets and children in from the dangers of roads by both expanding their total space and putting a barrier between them and traffic, setting up boundaries allows us to be "...free to select from the whole area - or the whole range of options - that we have deliberately chosen to explore."

3) Find your deal-breakers:  A deal-breaker is any kind of request or activity that you will refuse to say yeas to, unless such a request overlaps your own agenda or priorities.  Know what these are up front so you can easily say "no.

One method McKeown suggests for understanding these is to write down any time someone makes a request of you and you feel somehow violated or upon.  It may only be a "minor pinch", but it is likely that this is indicative of a hidden boundary that is a deal-breaker.

4) Craft social contracts:  McKeown relates a story in which, at being put with a colleague on project who approached such things a very different way - yet the project was successful and harmonious.  He credits this to the fact that at the beginning of the project, they sat down and McKeown defined what his priorities were, what he would and would not do for extra work - and asked his colleague to do the same.  They then worked through what they wanted to achieve on the project and what boundaries were necessary to use each other's time productively.  As a result, they were able to work on the essentials of the project to achieve it without the typical issues they often arise when different styles try to mesh without being conscious of where the boundaries are.

In the working world, these can sometimes look like Service Level Agreements (SLA):  what you should expect of me and what I should expect of you.

The great thing is that limits and boundaries, like with any habit, become easier to enforce and adhere to as they are practiced.

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Application:

I am not very good at setting boundaries - or at least, not very good at keeping them intact.

Being a person who is highly people pleasing oriented does not help.  I am forever trying to be helpful (making other people's problems my own), bad at setting boundaries (lest I anger or disappoint people), unwilling to admit I have deal-breakers (see above), and almost never set up social contracts (possibly because that involves revealing more than I care to about myself, or at least feeling that way).

In other words, I could pretty much work on any one of these four areas and be 100% in the game.

Of them, the deal-breaker seems the most interesting me - somewhat surprisingly. I am often aware of that small "pinch".  I had no idea it could be indicative of a larger issue.  And I am sure, if I thought about it at all, there would be several deal-breakers lying around in plain view.

Of everything in the "Eliminate" category, this seems to be the one I have made the least progress on.