Posting

Posting conundrum continues...

There comes a time when perhaps not everyone needs to know every thought as I have it.

If you want to know what I am thinking - call me up.  Going low tech- feels more real.

Peace... out.

Posting conundrum

It has been a long time since I posted (somewhat intentionally).  I haven't lost my voice as much as I have lost the desire which makes me post.  I feel like expressing myself via web might be making me act less in the real world to fix those things that I am posting about.  Oddly, the more I was commenting about a topic online, the less I was actually doing to fix the problems I was posting about.  The act of posting became my action, so to speak, rather than a call to action that it should be.

I won't be posting for a while.  I would rather be acting in the real world than tossing out my ideas to an indifferent public and then leaving the issue for others to solve.  Maybe it is my own nature which causes this.  In fact, I am sure of it, but since it is the only nature I have, I will have to go with it.  I am unlikely at my age to suddenly become someone else or change radically.  I can, however, change my activities.

I could certainly post materials that do not require my action in the real world, something that seems rather useless to me.  For me, I find that a successful blog would be posting material that is important to others but not so important to me- a paradox which makes doing a blog pretty much pointless.  Until I have figured out this conundrum, I think posting will be a secondary concern for me and my posts will be fewer and farther between.  Thanks for reading.  GO OUT INTO THE REAL WORLD NOW AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL!  :-)

Guinea Pig - good eats

Peruvian Travel tips

FOOD

As in all things in life, what you like someone else might hate.  So it goes with food.  Ever eaten Llama, Alpaca or Guinea pig?  If not, your trip to Peru could settle it once and for all.

Someone's real house - food under foot!

I will NOT post a photo of a cooked guinea pig, but instead put a link- CLICK HERE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

More Machu

More Peruvian Travel Tips

CUSCO



Cusco city central square with hills behind

 ALTITUDE
Cusco city is in the center of Peru at an altitude of about 11K feet.  Taking altitude sickness pills helps a lot, but it doesn't make it like you are living back at sea level.  One thing that no one told us was that your digestion slows WAY down.  Eating lunch is pretty much all you can manage in a day.  Dinner was almost impossible to eat.  So- eat a decent meal for breakfast, followed by a small meal for lunch and another small meal for dinner (each meal getting smaller as the day goes on).

STREET VENDORS
You may not be prepared for the number and tenacity of the city's street sellers.  They are basically everywhere you turn and are pretty insistent.  Feel free to say no (obviously) but it appeared to me that the more politely I refused, the more they would press me to buy.  In the end, I found that a simple no with no eye contact followed by my complete dismissal of them was the best way to go.  It sounds harsh, but there you have it.

Tomorrow... guinea pig (yep, not just a pet anymore- its a MEAL too!)

Machu Picchu Photo blog

Hi All

Looking at changing the direction of the blog a bit.  I am hoping to do some photo uploads from my travels for a bit and also write down some tips for travel that I have gained through my many years of travelling abroad.

Tips for Peru

1. Lima is a pretty crowded and dangerous city- See it with a guide and keep your valuables either locked up in your hotel or in a secure bag.
2. The money in Peru is called Sol (plural would be soles).  It is currently about 3 Sole to 1 USD.
3. Visiting Machu Picchu is a great thing - Here are some photos from my visit.  More to follow on other days.




Paul and I with Machu Picchu below and Huyana Picchu peak behind.



Ollantaytambo Town with locals

More photos later!

Post before a holiday

I am going on holiday and won't post for a couple of weeks.. I know that in my absence, things could get a bit dicey, so I have made a decision.  Until I return, I leave Stewie in charge.  I expect that this will keep all of you in line!

Don't let his gaze fool you.  He is most definitely watching YOU!

Take care of yourselves in my absence and look out for the death ray from Stewie!

Want it? Don't need it.

Have you ever noticed that simply asking for something actually reduces the need for that thing?  Maybe better put, knowing that something COULD be yours alleviates your desire for it?  I guess it is the classic thing with people.  Some guys seem to only want 'the girl they can't have'.  The minute they get her, they don't want her anymore.  I have noticed in my life that a lot of things that we want, or want to do, are relieved by the mere act of allowing ourselves permission to those things.  For example, I notice that if I have chocolate in the house, I am not nearly as chocolate-needy.

Another example of this was when I moved into Paul's place.  Initially, I found that I was feeling a bit like I didn't have my own space.  I didn't notice it all of the time, just on Sunday evenings when I felt like I needed to fortify myself for the coming work week by some relaxing 'alone time'.  After about a month, I told Paul that on Sunday nights I was going to take a long bath (mostly so I could have alone time) and that I needed to just be by myself.  The first Sunday, my alone time was very relaxing.  The second week, only so-so.  On the third week, I found myself calling downstairs to Paul saying that I was bored and lonely and he should come up and talk to me while I was in the bath!  So- again, once I granted myself permission, my desire for it waned!  I think I just wanted to be able to know that if I needed time to myself I could get it.

Recently, the same thing is happening to me on the internet.  I have been a user of the various social networking outlets and a frequent writer in my blog.  However, I notice that expressing myself continually on these various 'public' outlets is becoming a bit like my Sunday bath time.  Now that I have the ability to tell the world at large my every thought as it passes through my brain, I have come to the realization that I don't really need to or want to anymore.

Plus, there is that 'weight'.  The weight I am taking about is the burden of obligation.  The weight of feeling as though you HAVE to post something on the blog, or have to check in on FB to see what is happening. Obligating yourself to post pulls some of the joy out of posting your thoughts.  And let's face it.  Posting your every thought online is actually pretty boring and uninteresting. Sure, checking in on FB when you are at a restaurant is fun, but I certainly don't have an obligation to tell people where I ate tonight.

As far as the Blog, part of me feels as though, the thing that made me want to blog was becoming obscured by my desire to have it well thought out, topical and potentially interesting/funny for those who read it plus the obligation of regular postings (or else you will all abandon me).

AND THERE IT IS..  The fallacy.  My millions of adoring fans will be disappointed if I don't post.  Hmm... dissecting that last sentence sheds a bit of reality of this.  Millions: There is no one reading this- well, not many of you.  Adoring: those of you who are reading know me personally, probably and are as likely as not to continue reading my thoughts if they are less often.  Disappointed:  Well, I can't imagine that people would be craving my every thought on things (if you are, please join stalker's anonymous please).

So - my new take on this blog.  I will post when I damn well feel like it.  You can come and read my thoughts (which will likely be fairly well thought out and fairly personal but not too personal).  Maybe knowing that I won't post every day will actually have the reverse effect and have you wanting more!

Tablet Computers are here to stay

So, I have an IPad.  I love my IPad.  I have a rather intense and intimate relationship with it. I am not sure that having had it, I could live my life without it.

Maybe you think I have gone too far and said too much, but I am not sure that is true.  It might be the purchase with the single most impact on my life in the last 24 months.  I didn't realize that I needed it as much as I did, that it could do what it does or that I could potentially replace SO many different items I have at home with it.

Recently, I have seen various articles on whether or not the IPad will win the so-called tablet-wars and other articles saying that they are glorified iphones.  One author said he was unsure why they were popular as no one NEEDED an IPad.  I guess his rationale was that if people don't need it, it isn't important.  I disagree on both fronts:  people need it and it is important for many reasons. 

It is a game center; a telephone (video chat in IPad 2 and just voice Skype on the original IPad); a photo repository; a music purchase and delivery system; a book library (and book store); a portable television set; a radio (online streaming is here people, get used to it!),  It has become my bank. It is my preferred method for reading magazines and newspapers as they are now video and reading formats delivered in one platform (think Martha Stewart magazine morphed with her show and you get the idea)- simply fabulous! 

I can shop from it.  I can track my weight and the arrival of my airline flight.  I have friends who use it for medical coding.  Most importantly, I can use it to vote for my favorite singer and dancer on popular TV reality game shows.  Hooray, no more annoying busy signals I used to get calling in!

These are all important features of the IPad.  However, there are three main reasons why I believe it will be the gadget that changes the way we all view and deal with computer activity. 

First, it is easier to read while on the toilet.  Laugh it you want, but if you have one, you know you have checked your email while seated on the porcelain throne.  This goes for couch web-surfing too.  How many of us have sat watching TV and wondered how old a celebrity was or where Crimea actually is or what is the distance from the earth to the moon?  Well, that leads me to item two.

Second, being able to access your applications, data, photos, music and telecommunication needs in one place increases our ability to get things done quickly and easily.  If you make it fun and easy, we end up doing it more and more.

Lastly, it is cool.  Face it, half of what we do in this world hinges on the coolness of the thing we are doing.  I feel so Star Trek - Remember those computers that Piccard used to use to take report?  NOW WE HAVE THEM!  It is probably a matter of a few years before they become a defacto telephone and communication system, document reader and video display.  In fact, all of those components are part of the platform now but they need tweaking before they work the same way as they do for Piccard on TV!  It is easier to read from than an iphone and big enough that you can see a video chat without being chained to your desktop.  Add the additional features and it is basically the perfect gadget.

Here is an article on some non-Apple tablets. Pick one, your life may never be the same!  http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/category/tablets/

One last fry

Today, I want to talk about hope.  The concept of hope is one of those things that brings up the story of Pandora's Box.  I will tell you the story, as I think that few people actually understand that story and what it represents. 

There is a version of the Greek myth of Pandora where she has a box or container that holds all of the world's evils.  Through a series of events the box is opened and all of the evils in the world come out, except one thing - knowledge of our own future.  (This is often incorrectly translated as 'hope' remaining in the box- which makes no sense if you think about it!)  If it were hope left in the box, it would infer that hope was one of the evils in the world and that it isn't in the world.  Neither would seem to be true.  What the original intention of the myth was that perfect knowledge of the future is an evil and since it wasn't let out of the box, humans can still hope. 

Anyway, I really love the myth of Pandora's box because to me it seems a myth about what it is to be human.  It says, pretty unashamedly, that life could be worse, much worse in some instances.  It says that while that is true, you can at least hope for a better tomorrow, hope for things to turn out the way you want. 

I have my own little reminder of hope that is similar to Pandora's box- the french fry box.  Except, in my box, I am not looking to see what was left inside, what I am looking for is that one escapee from the box, the one that got away.  Even when I know there is no fry at the bottom of the bag, I look anyway - See?  There is HOPE. 

In some ways, it seems we are all searching for that last fry in the bag- the hidden one that we don't really expect to find but hope against hope that it is there.  Here is hoping that your next fry encounter gives you an unexpected and hoped-for surprise.

Art. Or something like it

I can officially say I have seen it all.  Lady gaga arrived to the 2011 Grammy Awards in an egg.

I have to say, that part of me wanted to laugh (ok, I did laugh if I am being honest).  Still, part of me mentally jumped up and down for joy to see such idiotic spectacle. 

I love this sort of thing.  Often we forget that pop music is meant to be art.  Art, when it is really good art, challenges us, infuriates us, makes us laugh, cry, draw back in horror, or evokes some sort of emotional response.  Art exists for its own sake and thank the gods it does.

Lady Gaga clearly understands this.  Her arrival in that silly egg shows us clearly that she understands how to puzzle us and make us wonder what the f*ck is happening!  I think the latex outfits on her entourage were priceless.  I loved, particularly, that Ryan Seacrest thought he was somehow going to get an interview with her but try as he might, he couldn't get her to hatch!

Art has no use - arriving in an egg- WHY?  Just to knock us out of our boring lives for just a few minutes. I wouldn't watch the Grammy's typically, but this year I am glad I did.  Gaga, I solute you.