Damn near every day after
work, I head to the James Joyce on Main Street. Usually, at least one
of my fellow barflies is hunkered down in front of a pint, but there are
rare occasions when I wander in and start chatting with strangers. I feel
like I've met someone with considerable in common with me if we can talk
about:
A) Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein has had more
influence on my thinking than any other dead guy. I don't want to do
too much violence to his positions in trying to summarize, but here
are a couple sentences: Philosophers love to tie themselves into knots
about things like "What is the meaning of life?" This question
is accepted as intelligible and most likely answerable. Witt points
out that questions usually make sense- they arise in a context, and
when we pose them, we have some ideas about what it would take to answer
them. Any question that doesn't have these traits should be suspect.
See the links.
B) Ecuador
I spent two of the best
years of my life in Ecuador, working with the Ecuadorian Park Service.
My loftier conservation goals were pretty much crushed by a host of
circumstances, but I did manage to start some community banks, plant
some trees, make great friends, and genuinely shake up my entire perspective
on life. During my first year, I lived in a little farming community
about an hour south of Quito. 3500m and no heat- it gave me a permanent
tolerance to cold. In the second year, I got my wits about me and moved
to the western slope cloud forests, where I could bird all the time.
Peace Corps has its problems, but in the end it was a very good thing.
C) Bluegrass
My first boyfriend had several
points, but the best thing he did for me was introduce me to bluegrass
and oldtime music. I still suck at guitar, but I'm all enthusiasm. This
kind of music is the most alive I know. It doesn't divide the performer
from the audience, and give them special, lofty titles as "musicians."
Bluegrass is all about getting together locally and then paying to listen
to guys that stay and pick all night in the parking lot at festivals.
It's the most democratic, egalitarian music.
D) Motorcycles
Honestly, I got a bike so
I would burn less fuel and be more likely to walk to work (not just
to look like a badass), but I guess I can see how people get obsessed.
It's my only transportation, and though I am too wimpy to road trip
as yet, I can see that sometime in the future. This is my little Suzuki
Savage 650. Actually, I stole tho photo- thanks, Bert.
Okay. That's
plenty about my personal life.
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