Time sure flies but you can't escape it. Half a century ago, the same year that Sputnik was launched and Dwight D. Eisenhower was President of the United States, I arrived and got down to the business of living. Now, half a century later, here I still am feeling the truth of Indiana Jones' words, "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage."

To take BRIEF stock (to do more would be really maudlin and tediuous):

I've lived in 15 cities/towns, 6 States of the United States and 4 countries.

I've visited 12 foreign countries.

I've been a Christmas Card salesman, Sears Warehouse Attendant, School Teacher, US Army Soldier, Satellite Ground Station Operator, Repairman, Maintainer, Controller, Manager, Planner, Instructor, Training Developer and Operations Chief, Harris Corporation Microwave Radio Tester, Best Buy PCHO Sale Representative and currently a Computer Systems Adminstrator.

I've made legions of acquaintances and out of all those claim 9 of them as close friends. And, as Clarence told George Bailey, "No man is poor who has friends."

I've seen the development of color television, hand held calculators, personal computers, the internet, video game systems from Pong to Atari 2500 to Wii, velcro, Flair pens, ipods, cell phones and countless other advancements.

Star Wars is 30 years old and Star Trek is 41 years old this year.

I remember the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I stayed up to watch man land on the moon for the first time, and have witnessed all the rest of the historical events between and since.

To say the least, the last half century, while being anything but a bore, has been fun and not so. No wonder it flew by faster than USS Enterprise NCC 1701 or the Millenium Falcon at top speed.

Life begins at half a century, so the sages say. That being true, the next half-century will have to be seen to be believed. I intend to do both.

"100 Years' by Five for Fighting

I'm 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
I'm 22 for a moment
She feels better than ever
And we're on fire
Making our way back from Mars
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
I'm 33 for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm a they
A kid on the way
A family on my mind
I'm 45 for a moment
The sea is high
And I'm heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy, Time to lose yourself
Within a morning star
15 I'm all right with you
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
Half time goes by
Suddenly you're wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on...
I'm 99 for a moment
Dying for just another moment
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
15 there's still time for you
22 I feel her too
33 you're on your way
Every day's a new day...
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live

If you need a respite from whatever has you wrapped around the axle right now, just run these little ditties through your mental circuits:

Johnny Mercer - Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Postive

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark)

Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between


Blue - One Love

Yeah, alright

It's kinda funny
How life can change
Can flip 180
In a matta of days

Sometimes love works in
Mystertious ways
One day you wake up
Gone without a trace

I refuse to give up
I refuse to give in
You're my everything
I don't wanna give up
I don't wanna give in
So everybody sing


One love for the mothers pride
One love for the times we cried
One love gotta stay alive
I will survive

One love for the city streets
One love for the hip hop beats
Oh I do believe
One love is all we need

Late at night
I'm still wide awake
Feelin this is one
More than I can take

I thought my heart
Could never break (never break)
Now I know that's
One big mistake

I refuse to give up
I refuse to give in
You're my everything
I don't wanna give up
I don't wanna give in
Everybody sing

One love for the mothers pride
One love for the times we cried (times we cried)
One love gotta stay alive
Oh I will survive

One love for the city streets
One love for the hip hop beats
One love oh I do believe (one love)
One love in all we need

Baby just love me, love me,love me
Baby just hold me, hold me, hold me
Oh love me love me love me
Oh yeah

One love
Baby just love me, love me, love me (love me)
Baby just hold me, hold me, hold me
Oh love me love me love me

One love for the mothers pride
One love for the times we cried
One love gotta stay alive
Oh I will survive

One love for the city streets
One love for the hip hop beats (one love)
One love oh I do believe (one love)
One love in all we need


Feel better, now?

Or do I have to take drastic action?

Just blogging in to tell you all this:

Nothing is happening.
Nothing happened.
Nothing happens.
Nothing always happens.
Nothing will happen.
Nothing will have happened.
Nothing will be happening.
As soon as nothing happens let me know.

Think about nothing. Makes you think, don't it?

Nothing is the lack or absence of anything. Colloquially, however, the term is often used to describe a particularly unimpressive thing, event, or object.

In mathematics, nothing does not have a technical meaning. It could be said that a set contains "nothing" if and only if it is the empty set, in which case its cardinality (or size) is zero. In other words, the word "nothing" is an informal term for an empty set.

In physics, the word nothing is not used in any technical sense. A region of space is called a vacuum if it does not contain any matter. But it can contain physical fields. In fact, it is practically impossible to construct a region of space which contains no matter or fields, since gravity cannot be blocked and all objects at a non-zero temperature radiate electromagnetically. However, supposing such a region existed, it would still not be "nothing", since it has properties and a measureable existence as part of the quantum-mechanical vacuum.

The concept of "nothing" has been studied throughout history by philosophers and theologians; many have found that careful consideration of the notion can easily lead to the logical fallacy of reification. (If one does not believe that nothing is no thing.) The understanding of "nothing" varies widely between cultures, especially between Western and Eastern cultures and philosophical traditions. For instance, emptiness, unlike "nothingness," is considered a state of mind in Buddhism (See Nirvana, Mu, Enlightenment). Existentialism and Heidegger have brought these two understandings closer together.

The label nothing gets perceived as either important or not-important depending on the actual system in which it is considered.

"Il bel far niente" translates to "the beauty of doing nothing."

"A hole would be something. No, it was nothing." Rock Biter from "The Neverending Story"

"Nothing from Nothing" by Billy Preston

Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
You gotta have somethin'
If you wanna be with me
Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
You gotta have somethin'
If you wanna be with me

I'm not tryin' to be your hero
'Cause that zero is too cold for me, Brrr
I'm not tryin' to be your highness
'Cause that minus is too low to see, yeah

Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
And I'm not stuffin'
Believe you me
Don't you remember I told ya
I'm a soldier in the war on poverty, yeah
Yes, I am

Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
You gotta have somethin'
If you wanna be with me
Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
You gotta have somethin'
If you wanna be with me

"Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits

Now look at them yo-yos thats the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain't workin thats the way you do it
Money for nothing and chicks for free
Now that ain't workin that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain't dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb

We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TVs.

Double or nothing?

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.

Happy New Two Thousand and Seven.

For the new year, beyond advising to remember to write 7 instead of 6 after the 2 and two 0s when you write the year this year, here are some more sublime soliloquies from sages in ages (actually just one age) passed:


Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, 1927


If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling


Desert Pete

I was travelin' West of Buckskin on my way to a cattle run, 'cross a little cactus desert under a
hard bargaining sun.
I was thirsty down to my toenails, I stopped to rest me on a stump, but I tell you I just couldn't believe it when I saw that water pump.

I took it to be a mirage at first. It'll fool a thirsty man. Then I saw a note stuck in a bakin' powder can.
"This pump is old," the note began, "but she works. So give'er a try. I put a new sucker washer in 'er. You may find the leather dry.

You've got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe.
You've got to give of yourself 'fore you're worthy to receive.
Drink all the water you can hold. Wash your face cool your feet.
Leave the bottle full for others. Thank you kindly, Desert Pete.

Yeah, you'll have to prime the pump, work that handle like there's a fire. Under the rock you'll find some water left there in a bitter's jar.
Now there's just enough to prime it with, so don't you go drinkin' first. Just pour it in and pump like mad and, buddy, you'll quench your thirst.

You've got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe.
You've got to give of yourself 'fore you're worthy to receive.
Drink all the water you can hold. Wash your face cool your feet.
Leave the bottle full for others. Thank you kindly, Desert Pete.

Well, I found the jar, and I tell you, nothin' was ever prettier to my eye and I was tempted strong to drink it because that pump looked mighty dry,
but the note went on, "Have faith, my friend, there's water down below. You've got to give to really get. I'm the one who ought to know."

So I poured in the jar and started pumpin' and I heard a beautiful sound of water bubblin' 'n' splashin' up out of that hole in the ground.
Then I took off my shoes and drunk my fill of that cold refreshin' treat. Then I thanked the Lord, and I thanked the pump, and I thanked old Desert Pete.

You've got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe. You've got to give of yourself 'fore you're worthy to receive.
Drink all the water you can hold. Wash your face cool your feet. Leave the bottle full for others. Thank you kindly, Desert Pete.

Billy Edd Wheeler