A Day at the Races

I typed this up at midnight last night, or this morning, whichever you prefer. Sometimes I'll have a thought while lying in bed waiting for sleep to overtake me. That sounds so dramatic, that's why I typed it that way instead of just saying "waiting to fall asleep." Good, huh? So I get these ideas and sometimes I just entertain them in my head, figuratively writing out a masterful essay or comedy routine. Those become lost to the ages. Other times I'll type a note in my phone or scribble a note down using my phone as a light. This time I actually turned my computer on and waited forever for the three-year-old slowpoke to boot up. Then I typed the following:

Some people say that the first step in a race is the hardest one to take. This is because that first step represents weeks, months or even years of commitment and preparation. It is the culmination of early morning runs, muscle strain, dehydration, sunburn, windburn, trips and falls, blisters and miles and miles of being out of breath. The right diet, the right coaches, the right practice routines and nothing else. Everything in preparation for that one step; certainly there is a lot that goes into it. Moments before the race begins you are lined up with others who have similarly sacrificed and prepared. You focus and wait for the preparatory remarks. At the sound of the starter’s pistol your muscles contract and spring into action, your first foot crosses the line and the race has begun. The hardest step has been taken. This is what some people say, but not me. This is the easiest step to take...

The rest of this post can be found in the Ajax's Whimsical Revolution ebook for Amazon's Kindle. The book is a compilation of my favorite posts, 78 to be exact, of which this is one. If you don't have a Kindle e-reader you can download the free Amazon Kindle app for PC or Mac.

Have You Ever Noticed...

It seems so important to organize and clean out your e-mail inbox when you need to write a paper. I had over 600 e-mails in the inbox, now there are zero. The paper is still yet to be written.

A Pertinent Question of Life

I had three classes today. Each one frustrated me in its own special way. I won't get into the details, but suffice it to say I was tired of it all when I was done with the last one. Happily, on my way out of class I ran into a friend. We spent almost an hour talking. I explained to him my frustration and we discussed that, along with everything else in life. It was one of those deeply intellectual conversations, and as much as I don't care for philosophy, it had plenty of that as well. I like to philosophize in so far as I like to think about things, critically. Philosophy fails in that it is useless. A definition my friend gave that he heard from someone was that as soon as philosophy is applied it ceases to exist. My question to that is what good is it then? What good is talking and thinking if it leads you to doing, but then you never do? It is no good at all. Thinking about saving a person from a river, running to the bank with rope in hand and then just standing there doesn't help the person (maybe it gives the drowning person a false glimmer of hope before they sink beneath the water and their lungs fill with water, so I guess it isn't fair to say you aren't doing anything, just not anything beneficial). You help yourself though. You are all ready to attempt a rescue of the person, but instead you do nothing and keep your shoes dry. Philosophy not applied is keeping your shoes dry and letting a person drown.
Well, we had a long discussion and debate over lots of topics. We worked through some ideas and each said our part. To me it was more beneficial than the class I had just taken because my friend and I discussed and found resolution. I walked away with a different way of thinking. Whether or not I remember this change and I use it to change my behavior is another story. Our conversation was useless if I don't change. Just a lot of gum-flapping and lung compressions. Just a lot of philosophy. But, if he and I walk away and give those ideas some more thought, and change how we interact with other people and how we think for ourselves, then something good comes of it. If we apply what we discussed. I guess I am too harsh on my classes that I label as being useless and just a lot of hot air. Some of the other students probably are invested in the classes more than I am, I hope they are. For them the classes are as beneficial as my conversation in the hall was to me. I'm too quick to judge the situation from my point of view. I need to be aware of other sides. Not necessarily to give up what I perceive, but to be aware and hopefully really understand a situation.
I don't want to get into the details of my frustrations (I've already vented enough) or the content of the conversation, but I did walk away with one question that I want to mention. My friend posed the question of whether we respect the law or the law giver more. In the context it was of a religious nature; do we follow God or do we follow His laws? I think this question can give anyone enough to ponder about, whether you are religious or not. In any instance, do you respect the creator or their creation? This is the question I walked away pondering today. I don't think it is a new question, I've probably asked myself this question countless times in different ways. Today it has some direct meaning to me and I think it gives me a lot to think about. I can use this question to improve myself. It has direct influence on my motivation and intent behind everything I think and do, it could anyway. I hope that I will let it. I hope that I will make something meaningful come from the conversation I had. If I don't then I'm just raging against the machine, a machine that I am part of and regularly perform maintenance on.

Ajax's Fables: The Muffin That Would To Be A Man

A baker in Santa Clara, CA was just closing up for the night. He had let his staff leave early, always a kind employer, on this Friday evening. The bakery stayed open until 6 pm on Friday nights, trying to fold in as much business as possible from the homeward-bound townsfolk. Everything was clean, no flour anywhere. The baker set up the cleaned machinery for the next morning, then gave one final look around and locked the front door on his way out. It was a busy day, nearly everything baked that day was sold, which was typical. What wasn't typical was that one muffin remained in the show case. Just a simple sweet-dough muffin, nothing special, but a popular member of the cupped quick breads nonetheless. A simple muffin with dreams of something more. As it watched the people pass by on the street outside, the muffin sighed.
"What is the batter?" asked the mixing bowl, never one to pass by a pun, or a bun, it was a big bowl.
"I've wasted my life sitting in this display case." Replied the muffin.
"Your life!? Ha! You were baked less than 10 hours ago, I was there when you were mixed!"
"10 hours?! Oh, I'm getting so old, I'll be stale before long." Said the muffin, mournfully.
"Don't worry, you'll be freed in the morning, well, not freed, but $1.99'd."
"You don't understand. You are stainless steel, whatever that means, but you don't go stale. I don't know what I'm talking about, because I'm a muffin, but when I was first put in here this morning there were three muffins and a danish that told me what was what, and they said they heard that you don't have to worry like we do."
The wise mixing bowl remained motionless, for it was just a bowl; a talking bowl, yes, but it couldn't move on its own. It didn't have feet. It then responded, "Those pastries weren't full of fluff, it is true that I am different than you. I have been around longer than any scone, danish, donut or muffin. My wisdom surpasses that of the spoon or the oven mitt. I..."
"Then tell me one thing, please?" Interrupts the muffin.
"What?"
"How do I become the baker? Is it possible for me?"
"Oh little muffin. Of course it isn't, you can never be the baker." Chortled the bowl.
"Why not?"
"You are a muffin, and muffins can't be men." The bowl said with such disdain that the conversation stopped dead (Mostly because I have no idea where else to take this dialogue; a muffin and a bowl, come on! What was I thinking?).
Early the next morning the baker arrived and began baking various pastries and such. On one pass by the display case he noticed the solitary muffin.
"Don't you worry, little muffin, you'll be sold today. Man up." Offered the baker encouragingly. He's never been the same since he took that football to the head while feeding ducks in the park last spring.
The muffin lifted its chin, figuratively speaking, at those last words "Man up." Man up? it thought, so then it is possible! I should've known better than to trust a bowl.
Well, the muffin sat there cheerily wondering and waiting for something to help it in accomplishing its "manning up."
A knock on the door, 5 minutes before 7 am - opening time. The baker was prepared to get going for a busy Saturday, so he opened the door. In walked a stately gentleman. A tall blond Adonis, of sorts. Boasting of Finnish ancestry with every well articulated word, "You open then? I want a muffin or something. Just got off the night shift and I need something to get this taste out of my mouth."
"We are open, and I've got plenty of fresh muffins and scones for you, right this way," as he leads the man to the main display cabinet, "Where do you work?"
"Morgue."
"Ah...eh...intersting work I suppose?" Nervously the baker maintains the conversation.
"It's a pay check. Got anything with blueberries?"
"Yes," happy that the man didn't dwell on the conversation, "These muffins are fresh out of the oven and full of ripe blueberries, never frozen."
"Perfect, that must be what I smelled from the street. I'll take half a doz - well 'ello muffin!" The man sees the day-old sweet-dough muffin alone in its tray, "What's this muffin all alone?"
"Oh, that is a sweet-dough muffin, a popular type around here, but this little one is left over from yesterday, it's still good, but you are here so early, have these fresh ones."
But the man wasn't persuaded. He saw something in that muffin. Something he'd like to have inside of his stomach. Probably sugar, but maybe butter.
"I'll take that muffin, as well as half a dozen of those fresh blueberry deals."
The transaction was completed and the baker wished the man a fine morning. Once outside the man opened his parcel and removed the lone sweet-dough muffin. With two bites it was gone.
"Not bad." Said the man as he walked on down the street.
That night, after the baker closed up shop again, the mixing bowl told the tale of the muffin that wanted to be a man, and how it achieved its desire that very morning. The new muffins, unaware of the bowl's delusions believed every word, though they didn't know what they meant. But you know what they mean, they mean that if you want to live longer than one day, don't be a muffin.
The End.

Album Review: The '59 Sound

Artist: The Gaslight Anthem

Album: The '59 Sound

Label: Side One Dummy Records

Release Date: August 2008

Muffin Man clued me in to this band about a week ago. He sent me a link for their video for the song "Great Expectations" off the above named album, their second. The band is about to release their third effort in just a few days, June 15 to be exact. The new album is called American Slang and is available for pre-release streaming from Rolling Stone @ http://www1.rollingstone.com/hearitnow/player.php?xmlData=example_files/xml/music_player_data.xml

I'm listening to it now and it is sounding great. The '59 Sound is what I've been listening to non-stop for the last three or four days though, so I'll say a little more about that one.

The Gaslight Anthem is from New Brunswick, NJ. I grew up in South Brunswick, so I feel some township of origin relationship with them. My interest in the band is more than just native pride. The music is rock and roll at its finest. I like music that makes me feel something. Listening to the songs on this album makes me nostalgic for a time I never experienced. It is blue jeans and white t-shirts, muscle cars and nights at the Jersey shore. Blue-collar work ethic and day-to-day living. I haven't paid enough attention to the lyrics of all of the songs yet to know what is really being said, but these are the things I feel from it. There is an obvious feeling of the glory days and days gone by. I think the struggles of life are discussed, but without making you depressed. There is something hopeful in the overall sound of the album. It is romantic. Not Valentine's Day romantic, but American Dream romantic.

Well, it is obvious that I am not a music review writing guy. I play the guitar though, and I've played in a band, and I grew up in NJ. I can't clearly tell you why this album is necessary for you to listen to, but it is. I recommend that you don't eat anything for the rest of the day and instead use that money to buy this album. It is on iTunes for $9.99. You can thank me later. After you thank me I will pass your appreciation on to Muffin Man, the best music recommender out there.