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| Cognitive Functions, Public domain chart by Jake Beech |
The individual conscious and unconscious, of course, can only be completely defined on an individual basis, but there is a typology of cognitive functions. Based on Jung's typology, Kathleen Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers came up with the system shown above. Isabel Briggs Myers having added Judging and Perceiving to the characteristics described by Jung. No matter who you are, you will approach problems using one of these sets. If you want to get a good overview of the cognitive functions then take a look at Dr. A. J. Drenth's Personality Junkie page which will give you links to an overview and the descriptions of each.
I can give you a good example of how these work with my own type: Introverted Intuition (Ni). In his overview, Dr. Drenth says:
"Introverted Intuition (Ni) apprehends ideas, patterns, and perspectives that emerge within. INJs may feel less compelled to read extensively, since their source of N material is inwardly derived and divined."If you read yesterday's post you will see proof of that, not just in my aversion to be unduly influenced by what everyone else was writing about something I was researching, but in standing back from Franz Boas' perceptions about art and synthesizing them into a broader view. In his analysis of (Ni), Dr Drenth also says:
"Of all types, INJs are those most concerned with the “big picture.” This can be understood in terms of their Ni, which is the most abstract and forward-looking of all functions. Ni is comprehensive and holistic. Its visions, answers, and insights manifest as comprehensive wholes. Consequently, INJs often feel more like recipients than they do creators of their ingenious ideas."I noticed that he goes on to speak of another INJ, Stephen King who creates his novels in the exact manner I create my blog series. Of course, Stephen King's medium is far more lucrative!
If you read yesterday's post and thought something like "Yes! that's exactly it!" then you might be the same type as me, but if you had an opposite reaction, then you would be another type. This does not mean that I would consider any of your analyses wrong, far from it. It is just that you would look at things in a different way. In fact, if you are an archaeological researcher with experience, what you have discovered might have been impossible or at least very difficult for me to discover. Yet we both have successes in discovery. Just as an archaeometallurgist would not be consulted to identify pottery, the interpretation of different aspects of an archaeological site would be greatly enhanced by including researchers with very different cognitive function dominances.Yet, this is never done.
The main reason for such an oversight is that as a profession, archaeology is only concerned with the material. Its collective consciousness is thus extravert and refuses to think about anything as internal and ethereal as psychological cognitive functions. Here's a conversation featuring the extraverted King George II of Britain:
Jung referred to the "wretched 'isms" of the collective consciousness. We can also think of the "mob mind". Archaeology can include people of all cognitive types, but its preponderance with the material would tend, in an evolutionary manner, to select out non-materialistic types in its organizational power structure. Remember, too, that evolution is not the path to a higher state of being. That attitude is Neo-Dawinism and prevalent among advocates of eugenics and genetic engineering. UNESCO unifications are another example. Individual types of organisms evolve to meet the demands of their environment, but if the environment then changes they will go extinct. The more specifically they have evolved, the greater the chance of their extinction later. Extinction, itself, is a necessary part of the "Big Picture" which would consist of a more holistic view such as that expressed in the Gaia hypothesis, which, itself, is subject to viewpoints from very different cognitive functions."Pray, who is this Hogarth?""A painter, my liege.""I hate painting and poetry too! Neither the one nor the other ever did any good!""The picture, please your majesty, must undoubtedly be considered as a burlesque!""What? A painter burlesque a soldier? He deserves to be picketed for his insolence! Take this trumpery out of my sight."
Tomorrow, team-building.
John's Coydog Community page
Your explanation of your philosophy is beoming clear and clear. The introduction of new ideas is necessary for evolution of thought to occur. As changes happen on our Earth people have to realized this is the natural cycle of life and to study how and why it happens. As Margaret Mead witness of her studies on how change occurs as cultures meet and mingle.
ReplyDeleteYes, Tannis, that is it in a nutshell. Archaeology is not the only subject to have ghettoized itself, but I see it increasingly making very silly mistakes and they are starting to be noticed more and more. I will have an example of one of them tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIt also takes a very patronizing attitude with the public, often using them for only menial tasks while writing about educating them. In Britain, this combines with the class system and starts looking very much like the series I have been watching "Downton Abbey", in particular about the First World War period. Yet, prior to about the third quarter of the nineteenth century, innovation was in the hands of the amateur. The establishment's answer to this was to absorb them into their society while, at the same time, downplaying their origins and what had led to their discoveries. It was almost like cattle or horse breeding introducing the genes of stronger stock. the transition in British archaeology is marked very clearly by John Evans and his son Arthur Evans, even though it took a little while for the "academy" to utilize Arthur's talents. For the earlier breed we can talk about Darwin and Bill's favourite, Richard Francis Burton.
The difference today is that with even more institutional fossilization, the process becomes much slower and the old stock shows ever more signs of their weaknesses. But being heavily sponsored by governments they do not perish that easily. The public, however starts to laugh a little louder. In history, when the public stops laughing, there is most often sort sort of revolution. While I would like to think of myself as clever in everything, a lot of that is just lack of any challenging competition, and I find myself stating the obvious too often.
People are so easily lead down the garden path without a clue because they believe everything and do not question anything. I remember in teaching these ridicious ideas would be presented and everyone just sat there like bumps on log. One had to be brave to question the reason and what the real outcome would be. Being a thinker does not make you popular, so what, is popularity the real goal. During the Klein PC era, I was not on anyone's popularity list and now people what I was talking about has come true and are realizing the mess we have with infrastructure. Introverts take it for so long then have to say something to wake people up. I am happy I am on the right track with your blog.
ReplyDeleteTalk to you this evening. I have been sorting my final collection of children library books, called a school in the neighbourhood and some of the teachers are coming to go though them.
Ah, yes, the "experts say" syndrome where the experts, mistaking complacency for acceptance, think they are on the right track and give up thinking altogether. Euripides said "question everything" and Einstein added "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education".
DeleteA funny thing happened at the park: a middle-age couple came in with a very small white dog. One or both of them were deaf because they were signing to each other. Tristan ran over to greet the dog. The dog ran and Tristan chased it. Then Tristan ran and the dog chased Tristan. The woman seemed disturbed by this and kept trying to keep the dog away from Tristan. Then the couple went over to the playground and later, I saw the dog running along a bridge on a jungle gym. Then I saw the woman look at the swings for the really small children that have those enclosed seats. I thought "Oh no". Sure enough, she picked up the dog and with some difficulty got it into the swing seat. She pushed it and the dog went back and forth for a bit. It did not look too happy.
Later the dog tried to chase Tristan and vice versa, and by this time they both had sticks. The woman became even more worried and kept trying to keep the dog away from Tristan and Tristan away from the dog. Various signings went on between the man and the woman during all of this. I remembered something that George Bernard Shaw had said to one of his female acquaintances who wanted to get a dog for her London apartment: "... If you can't stifle the instinct to have something to pet, have or hire a baby".
Why am feeling like a trapped bird? Sometimes the people in ones life have no respect for one and saying anything just causes more issues, My dear friends allow me to discuss the issues with them and thank you for asking. Poetry is place I can find understanding and escape.
ReplyDeleteSomeday a I feel like a an owl who just sits there watching and saying nothing.
A wonderful thing happened today. I called a near by school and let them know I had a collection of children's book I wanted to give away. I heard back from one of the teachers and she came to pick them up. What was special about the whole situation was she had been a student teacher at the school I retired from (Pineridge). She remembered me and of course told me as a student teacher she was told to talk to me if she needed advance on techniques to teach students with special concerns. I did not know my fellow teachers viewed me as having these skills. She said I had a lot of patience.
The dog story is great. I can just see the small dog swinging away with a why did you put me in here look. The lady certainly does not understand the world of dog.
Thank you for the laugh with the quote from George Bernard Shaw what a wit he was blessed with. I wonder what the woman did - baby or dog.
I think that dog enjoyed his few minutes of dogdom. He kept looking back at us as he left the park.
DeleteHere's one of Carrie's poems for you. She often called herself "A tourist in people". It's one of her Calgary poems:
_Waiting at the Esso Plaza_, Carin Perron
This place is a casino.
People sit soberly.
They keep their heads turned slightly down.
They look somewhat furtively round.
No one is making a sound.
Marble rises like smoke in a silent
casino, drifting past mirrors
to the ceiling above. Here are two worlds:
above, a pall of tungsten-lit marble:
below, impassive in functional couches,
people are waiting:
they are all here for only one thing.
The woman across from me,
with her perfect red lips and china-blue eyes
looks at nothing—
certainly not at me.
Me, I look in mirrors, watch
great marble jaws open up
into ominous walls. Everywhere, lights
glare and swell. Behind us, a wall of glass
vibrates with daylight.
She stares. Her lips are parted.
Her eyes are clear and pale as the windows,
flat with the hue of the sky.
Her mouth is painted. She watches, artlessly,
as bells ring: elevators open and close—people,
rising and meeting, are flowing through
rotating doors…and bells ring: elevators, spewing out
bodies in an endless, sickening stream—careless
and cruel as a sea-creature spawning:
It is a gamble of hideous proportions.
Her eyes startle and leap
at the sudden, calamitous swell.
Bells ring, and the people are so many cards, tossed out
by a dealer indifferent and dazzlingly swift,
in a perfect and cold-blooded rhythm (an insensible,
passionless gesture: a magician performing alone;
the dance of a languid and flawless machine)
—bells ring, and the bloat of the people
shrinks everything suddenly down: the space,
like a circus tent, folds up and floats
to the ground…no one is waiting for long: bells ring,
and the people, moving and meeting,
swirl through the mirrors
and leave, laughing.
She watches. Doors,
revolving, relentlessly, round.
The mirrors fill up with their sound.
I turn from the woman, possessed
by her grenadine mouth and glass-dolly eyes.
From a mirror, I watch her, unharmed.
Unbidden, she rises, as sheer
as the smooth marble walls. She shimmers—
outlined by mirrors and glaring blue windows,
she floats in the space like an eye.
She pauses; she slips very slowly back down.
Then we are alone—in opposite couches, poised
for the sound of a bell. Padding restrains us;
I pretend I am comfortable: I watch her
murderess mouth almost twitch. She turns to me:
I decline; I look away, pensively. This is all
perfectly normal, to wait like this
into the night.
The marble is porous and gray as a bone,
heavy as sweet-savoring clouds: only the guard
holds it down. She studies the painting
that floats on the wall, and her eyes come to rest,
a dolorous blue: a vividly, viciously innocent, soft
Magritte sky. Beneath the prairie unction
of green, she tightens her blood-velvet
frown. Her eyes drift, inexorably,
away…
My hands are turning to stone.
The woman with perfect red lips and china-blue eyes
looks at something, but not
at me—
there are too many mirrors here.
The silence is numbing.
Tungsten lights drone out spectres in marble.
I can feel the spaces regrow. Great glass doors
and lazuli windows lead out to a city
grown dark. Bodies move, outside.
A bell rings.
I watch her (the guard continues to look down)
head (she needn’t pretend: I know her panic)
slowly (the very last card is placed down)
turn (lights shimmer as eerie as snow).
An elevator has opened and closed.
The very last thing—a tableau:
a room full of mirrors, aglow
and brimming with marble—
engulfing a woman alone.
It doesn't matter where one is there are times one is alone. Thank you for the poem, your wife was very talented. My friends came by and we went out for Vietnamese since one of them had been dreaming about it. She is a hilarious person.
ReplyDeleteInstead of being blue I thought I should do something productive so I have been going through my wardrobe. Don' t people keep the stupidest things. I will probably have a car load to donate to Good Will. Lucky them!
I remember volunteering for a casino fundraiser, there were so many lonely people. I found it upsetting especially the single older women. I promise you I will not be one of them.
You are a very caring person.
The poem seemed appropriate to your story. There is a state one can achieve: something quite satisfying. It is freedom from both fear and desire. What else could freedom be?
ReplyDeleteCarrie was indeed very talented. The judges of three years competitions at the Bournemouth International Festival each gave her a signed copy of one of their books as a special gift when she finally took first place in the third year. She had been in the top three each of the three consecutive years she had entered. They were all "blind-judged" (no name on the poem). She was a "poet's poet" Her poems are rarely things scribbled at once (save for her poetry sweatshop poems, which just do not "seem" to be). She sometimes worked for years on a poem and you can see more in them in each reading. My favourite parts of that one are the repetitions of down, round and sound and the stanza with thoughts interjected in "I watch her head slowly turn":
I watch her (the guard continues to look down)
head (she needn’t pretend: I know her panic)
slowly (the very last card is placed down)
turn (lights shimmer as eerie as snow).
Her complete works will become another ebook in the not too distant future. Its (often complex) formatting might require some work. I am looking for a very easy to use ebook builder that will not mess with that or make some things impossible. There is also some complex hyperlinking, indices and notes. The novel will "get my feet wet" without driving me round the bend.
Re your earlier message, it seems you might become something of an educational consultant!
Wishing you all the best in publishing Carrie's work. It will lose its affect if not published correctly.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment, sorry to say those days are gone.
I was the ATA representative for 15 years between the two schools I taught at. I enjoyed the times when we had to deal with labor issues. It was like playing chess. The teachers would be very worried and I would make sure they understood the moves that were necessary to reach a settlement.
Some more things about me. My mon had polio as a child. The muscles in her left ankle were effected and when she was four she put her hand in a pump gear which damaged her right hand. While she was hospital in Edmonton a doctor did surgery on her hand to repair some of the damage. She had to learn how to write left handed. There were many things she could not do so as I was the oldest many things were my responsibility. She never complained. A very good life lesson for her three children. I am the oldest, my sister and my brother who was born 12 years after me. He always said he had two mothers and my sister who had been the youngest was so jealous of him. I know my father was not happy that I wasn't a boy.
There many great things about growing up on the farm because my fathers family lived near us and we pretty well saw them ever day. We were raised in a very loving environment and it was until I went to school I learned there were nasty people. I certainly did not have the skills to deal with these type of people it took me along time to find my voice and to feel secure enough to stand up for myself. My mom was a teacher and she taught at the same school we attended . I never had her as a teacher but my sister and brother did. She was an excellent teacher just like her mother before her. There were three generations of teachers in the family. My grandmother came from East London when she was 18 to teach near Edmonton. The students told her she spoke funny English.
I guess this why when I am uncertain I am like the bird in the cage. You are good sounding board for me. Thank you again.
There is a line in T. E. Lawrence by his friends (1937) written by Apsley Cherry-Garrard who was a member of Scott's last Antarctic expedition, and I thought of that when reading what you had written above: 'Give me the child until he is seven,'said Cardinal Mazarin 'and you can have the rest'. Our early childhood seals our subsequent years. Your loving environment when you were a child, and the the traditions and the caring could never be thwarted no matter what nastiness might try. Perhaps any lack of respect you receive might only be a projection of whosoever might give it and it is really an unconscious lack of respect for the circumstances of their own upbringing they see contrasted by your own. It would be nothing that could change you and thus might even be pitied.
DeleteI am making mental images of your dog story. It would have been like watching a silent movie. Questions :
ReplyDelete1. Was she talking at all , some can?
2. Can dogs learn sign language?
I had two dogs one was our childhood pet and the other a Yorkie. She was smaller than a cat and very loyal to me. She was very ill like your last dog and had to be put down, that was a very sad day. I have two cats both are females which are easier to handle than males. One is pure black and called Shadow and the other is a multi-colored long hair called Lily. Shadow is the extrovert and Lily the Introvert like her owner. Lily only likes to be petted at night by me and she hides when people come to visit. Iit is nice not to come home to an empty house.
I look forward to reading your new blog . It will be later in the day because I have a luncheon and some shopping to do in the early afternoon.
She made only a worried sound and would gesture with one arm: to the back of her for her dog and away from her for mine.Her dog would run behind her only to come back round, the other side, toward us. Both dogs were just trying to avoid her. For the last encounter I was sitting, casually, on a bench just smiling. Partly because I found it amusing and partly because I didn't want to contribute to her fear by looking concerned.
ReplyDeleteMy lab/border collie cross would sit, come, walk at my side, stay and lie down, all by signs, and would go wherever I pointed. My Coydog isn't quite there yet (especially with the concept of pointing) but he is picking up on sitting and walking by my side, or moving away by signs. when I had two dogs (the other being a purebred border collie, I whistled in a different way for each to come. I like to teach dogs combinations of spoken, hand signal and whistle commands. Tristan comes right away when I whistle for him. He also keeps in the park and will only greet another dog being walked by at the edge of the grass. A jackrabbit, though, he will try to chase wherever it goes. At least he came back after it gave him the slip and that only happened once. We have encountered most of them when he is on his leash.
The neihboour has a border collie and she is a character . Once she was annoyed at him for taking to go long to join her, she sat by the houset and howled at him. Another time when he owner was having a new fence built she decided my yard is where the owner should be, she tried herding him there by nipping at his heels. She was still in training at that point. It was a funny show to watch from the bedroom window. I realize dog can learn to read hand commands, I was trying to be funny.
ReplyDeleteHow is your foot doing? Realizing you are out and about walking the dog things must be doing much better. Another talent of yours dog trainer, the list continues to grow. Now take cats , yes they can be trained but they are very independent and decided when and where. I once had a beautiful grey long hair named Silver, he was my best friend. He liked sleep by my pillow at night. Silver saved my llife once because the younger daughter left a stove element on low heat and a pot holder was just touching itt and it began to smolder. Silver was running over top of me and meowing loudly. He led me out to the kitchen just in time.
I hope it rains. I have left the bedroom window open I want to hear and smell it. As they say it has been a long time coming and I won't have to put the hose on to water. My iPad is low on power so good morning since it around 2:30 am. Sleep well.
I've had two border collies and one border collie X. "Dog trainer" would be overstating it, and my current dog being both a rescue dog and a coyote hybrid has been quite the challenge. I am actually quite amazed at how civilized he is becoming. He still has a few quirks: the only dog I have ever had who hates being brushed. Perhaps he had been traumatized by being brushed too harshly, or perhaps it's his coyote side, I don't know. I've tried every imaginable sort of brush and glove brush, and he even looks worried when he sees me brushing my own hair. He likes being stroked, scratched and rubbed though, and I'm able to groom him somewhat that way without getting bitten. We had cats in the past, but I'm much more of a dog person.
ReplyDeleteMy heel has been doing much better since getting the Crocs, but I can't walk as fast in them. The dog gets walked regardless of any foot pain. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, it's about time!
I can check with my niece about why some dogs do not like being brushed because she runs a dog grooming business. Only if it is all rifght with you. She may have some good ideas. I am a dog and cat person but teaching would been bad for the dog because of the long hours I put in. Arrived at work between 7:30 to 8:00 left around 5:00 to 5:30 daily and had homework to do. After 24 Years of this no wonder I felt like retiring. I had to learn how to sleep in and smell the roses again. I once had a parent ask me , you must know so much because you are a teacher and my response was the longer I teach the more I realize I do not understand and that learning is a life long adventures. This is what happens to so many they don't want go further on this adventure.
ReplyDeleteBy all means, ask away, thank you. Does she carry muzzles, leg shackles and sedatives? Perhaps a general anaesthetic? Or does she just dive right in wearing full body armour?
DeletePerhaps because I have had such a varied life, the idea of retirement is anathema to me: I'm always thinking about what should come next. I've been doing this blog for about three years, and before that there was about three years of voluntary PR work for the Ancient Coin Collector's Guild. Mostly having to do with the U.S. State department memoranda of understanding with various countries about import restrictions. I also wrote press releases for them. Before that I was mainly researching and writing about the Gundestrup cauldron (still incomplete) and formulating various theories about the Celts, mostly on Celtic-L with Raimund Karl and others. Prior to that there was Carrie's cancer and eventual death; cancer research and designing and building the Celtic Coin Index online; Before that I was mapping the Bow and North Saskatchewan River systems after developing my own map techniques for making maps far easier to understand than was though possible (perceptual engineering). That led to an unfortunate half a million dollar Intellectual Property and contract violation lawsuit against TransAlta Utilities, a horrendous battle with the Canadian government where I finally refused to ever do business in this country again, and the return of Carrie's cancer from all of that stress. Right now, my plans for the future are to do with ebooks and completing the Gundestrup Cauldron study which both Raimund Karl and Vincent Megaw think is about the best interpretation ever done.
Lawsuit are not a pleasant experience. I had to help my sister in such a situation her dear ex-husband had charges brought against her for stealing property after their divorce. Luckily she won when the judge found out the items were old used items, he gave the Prosecutor what for. We felt they were using the case to send a message to women. Thank goodness justice was not blind in this case. When ever the big boys and their lawyers are involved they make it so difficult for the those without unlimited resources.
ReplyDeleteI have to do some research on mini-shrubs for my garden to replace some that have been removed. I created garden of mini-shrubs and perennials. There are always changes to be make and gardening keeps me in touch nature. I only plant annuals in the tubs and boxes. Have you had any rain yet. I am smelling moisture in the air. Talk to you later. I will talk to my niece.
Our experience was especially unpleasant. Out last $11,000 went to a law firm after TransAlta first had us spend a lot of money in staff and computers in order to increase our production and then turned around and reduced the numbers of flood evacuation maps they were ordering. This was to reduce our income in preparation for them to attempt to reverse-engineer my process and violate our contract so that we would be in a poor financial position to sue them. After the contract was violated, our accountant told us to invoice them for the unpaid part of that contract. When we did that (at first TransAlta had us surrounded by security and escorted from the building when we tried to deliver the contract, but afterwards, their lawyers told them that this was illegal and that they they had to accept it) TransAlta then reported the invoice to Revenue Canada who demanded all the taxes from us, at once, owing on the part of the contract that TransAlta had refused to pay (they used an obscure law designed for financial institutions to do this) Then the Government hounded us and sent financial demands, not only to our other clients, who dropped us, but also to any company whom they thought we might do business. One of the minions, in a phone call to Carrie said "we know what we are doing, we are putting you out of business". I went to England looking for out of country business, but most of what I found was for Carrie's database skills and when I got back, Carrie had become very ill and terminal cancer was diagnosed.
ReplyDeleteThe Oscar Fish, which has a very small mouth, first attacks the eyes of the fish on which it preys so they will not see the subsequent attacks. It then makes a series of attacks nibbling off bits of the prey's fins until the prey cannot swim away. Once immobilized, the Oscar can then devour it slowly -- like cancer.
TransAlta were never able to reverse engineer my process. They worked on that for a year before giving up. After Carrie's death our lawyer collected the information from me about how Canada had put us out of business, saying that he planned to launch a pro bono suit against the government for treating us and other small businesses in such an unjust manner. I never heard from him again.
Back to the blog...
I am sorry to read your story. Big companies with their lawyers and accountants when they think they are correct they are vicious. They do every trick in the book to win. No wonder Bill made that comment about there is no such thing as "fair play". I guess it depends on who is playing. Your story of the Oscar fish is spot on. I would not have any faith in government after this situation.
ReplyDeleteI have a helper today my daughter dropped her cat off for a play date and she does not like me typing on my iPad.
The luncheon was with a group of retired teachers. It was great to see so many of them. I was surprised to meet a teacher who taught at my children's school many years ago. She remembered me, I guess I left a lasting impression. I was able to find everything on my shopping list.
Now to start doing researching on miniature scrubs to replace the ones that were taken out and have a large cup of tea. I will read your blog later.
Thanks, Just got back from Safeways, unlike your experience, they had no liver and that's what I was especially after. I got a barbecue chicken instead. They did, however have sales on just about everything else I needed. They also had a sale on Haagan daz, So I came home with some vanilla bean ice cream (can't say I needed it...)
DeleteDid you know that the Prime Minister of New Zealand, a few years ago, kicked TransAlta out of his country because of their ruthlessness and poor ethics? The problem part of that is that he blamed Canada in general. Governments only help the taxpayers, but they favour those who pay the most taxes. We were not a $5 billion company. So when TransAlta ordered them they snapped to attention.
I don't know whether you know this, but there is an American company hat has developed a very high-yield and thornless blackberry that will actually grow in Calgary. You would need a trellis though as the yields are really high and it cannot support that weight on its own. If only I still had a garden...
I love liver. Too bad you had to settle for a barbecue chicken and the ice cream yum, yum. Why shouldn't you treat yourself sometimes. Big companies have direct lines to the ministries in government, the little people don't. As I said to someone one day there are reasons there are revolutions. I had been interested in what is going on in the USA. Why should 1% of the population have all the wealth. I realize it is not any better here.
ReplyDeleteI'll find some in a couple of days, meanwhile I'll console myself with Haagan Daz!
ReplyDeleteI never watch, listen to or read the news. I never vote, and I just recycled my TV. The only down side to that was that, for the first time, ever, I forgot to pay my cable bill. I always paid it early and this time I got the next month's bill with the amount carried over. Fortunately, it was emailed and I got it the very day the bill I forgot was due, so I paid it online at once so I was not late. I have cable phone and internet, but I think that not having a TV helped me to forget the bill! Now my budget for the month is $100 shy of what I thought it was. Probably won't be able to put much aside for my computer component savings. Oh well, next month will be better and I do not have as many books to buy as I did this month. I'll console myself with more ice cream.
I am a bit of a political animal. My parents both were County councillors for the County of Newell. One of the family members of a Liberal member of parliament in the 1930's. The poor man died while giving a speech for reelection. I have been a NDP member but at the moment they are in trouble with me. Planning to call the National office in Ottawa next week. I had discussions with policy makers, for the party, during the last election. The trouble with introverts when we have something to say it happens. Like or not. Enjoy the ice cream I can taste it from here.
ReplyDeleteYes, we tend to speak our mind and never back down from a fight. Funny how people can think that an introvert could be superficial!
DeleteI think Abebooks must be reading my comments ;-) Right after i said that I would not have to buy many books next month, I got an email from them with a link for free shipping to Canada. What could it hurt to take a look, I thought. I found two books, both new print on demand: T. E. Lawrence's 1911 travel diary and the excavations reports from Carchemish. Damn!
I'm eating some ice cream as I reply.
When you have an interest in something it is wonderful to find hidden treasures. Go for it John! As they say take the bull by the horns! I was out checking out the garden. Question where is the rain?
ReplyDeleteThe Nanking Cherry is covered in blossoms and the bumblebees gathering honey. The rose bush is starting to leaf out and many others things are coming to life. I finally decided to water, I just can not wait any longer. The TV weather report says the rain is not reaching the ground.
Spring is coming earlier in you part of town than in mine. No blossoms on the Nanking Cherry at the side of my building, and the Caraganas along 33rd Avenue are only just starting to form leaf buds. No sign of life at all on the young burr oaks. The lilacs have small leaf clusters already but I have yet to see any flowering tree. I suppose it is because I am closer to the mountains and, believe it or not, about 200 feet higher, even though further south than you. The rain (if it comes) will likely hit the ground here. I get more snow in the winter and it melts slower than downtown, which is only about 50 feet lower than your area.
DeleteThe Nanking Cherry was seriously pruned before last season and that resulted in hardly any cherries. Hopefully there will be more this year. Although they are somewhat tart, I still like them.
I've bookmarked the Abebook page and will redo my budget this weekend. Back to Downtown Abbey and the aftermath of the Spanish flu on Netflix.
I called my niece. Her name is Leah. She suggested that you call her . The business is called Yuppy Puppy and the number is 403-283-6887, just leave a message if she does not answer. She has been in business for many years and is experienced. She said sometimes giving the dog a bath will help loosen any dirt caught in his fur and make it easier to brush. This is part I became confused, do you wait for the fur to dry or brush iwhen it was wet. This is when she told me to have you call her. Also, sometimes a mild sedation med. can help to calm Tristan and he may find he enjoys the brushing experience. Now that I have written this confusing information, I hope you can make sense out of it. I hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I will call, but I will also explain what she might be getting herself in for. But perhaps the sedatives will work. That he might enjoy it? Well, its nice to know there is optimism in the world...
DeleteShe has her business at her house in Valley Ridge.
ReplyDeleteThe sunset to night was fabulous with pinks, blues and purples. Good night and sleep well.
I was not optimistic, but I looked it up. Two buses and a train, Doable. My daughter also lives in the hinterlands and her place is even more difficult to get to. Accessible at only certain times in the day. Aptly named Hidden Valley. I really like living closer to downtown. I sometimes even walk down (but its mostly uphill coming back so I don't do that at all). My friend Robert actually lives in the same building as his shop. With pick up and delivery services he could almost avoid winter completely as he can get into the lobby through the back door of his store. He does have to go out, though, to pick up mail from his PO box and send orders off by post. That would be just too inner city for me, though. I like the greenery of Killarney.
ReplyDeleteGood morning! You will like Leah because she loves dogs and will make Tristan feel comfortable . Her mom is the one who gave me the tiny, adorable Yorkie called Princess who thought she was a big dog.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first moved to Calgary the population was around 350,000 and traveling around the city by bus was so simple. Downtown was the center for most activities and all the great movie theatres were located there.
My sister and I lived in a basement suite on 17 Ave. just north of SAIT. We had many happy gathering with friends from Duchess at this address. Oh what fun we had because we were parent free. The misspent days of our youth.
I have to go turn on the water since it hasn't rained yet, go to Coop to shop, do some laundry, take a friend for an eye appointment and start to pack to go to Edmonton on Friday evening . I will be back late Saturday night. Between loads of laundry I will write your blog.
Good morning! The dog has been walked and I have gathered up the things I need for today's blog. I think you meant to type "read my blog" in your last sentence, however, if you are actually offering me a day off then let me know.
DeleteI was thinking about he dog grooming and the sedative this morning. I must ask you niece if Tristan will be able to make the journey back home on Calgary transit afterwards! I might have to arrange a ride with a friend or my daughter otherwise.
The last place Carrie and I lived, and where Carrie died was on 17th Avenue just NW of SAIT and east of 14th st. in this house:
http://tinyurl.com/zapw5x3
No rain or snow here yet. I did notice that blossoms have appeared this morning on a small Nanking Cherry down the street so it would seem that the seasons are about a couple of days later here than in your area. One year I missed the Lilac Festival on 4th because there were no lilacs yet in my neighborhood. Although I cannot remember ever seeing a lilac at the Lilac Festival, just concessions, people and dogs. It's a tradition to take the dog to the Lilac festival, perhaps they should change its name to the Dog Festival.
Have fun in Edmonton-- if that is possible ;-)
That house was also the birthplace of the Celtic Coin Index Online:
Deletehttp://www.celticcoins.ca/coin.php
Sorry to let you know I will not be giving you the day off, I couldn't even do it justice. The readers of your blog would think someone is playing a joke on them. I am as slow as a turtle getting started today, sometimes I like to smell the roses.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started teaching my writing style was of course of a higher level of vocabulary. If was interesting it was not the level of communication these parents understood, so I had to change my ways. After 24 years of this I am having to relearn this type of writing style. The dictionary and I have become best friends.
I have heard the Liliac Festival is like dogs vill. I can not believe we lived in the same area of the city. What a small world! I moved from there in 1971 over to the duplexes behind Brentwood Mall.
Oh well, I just finished today's post anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think Tristan is finally ready for his initiation at the Lilac Festival this year (weather permitting).
Bill lived close to Brentwood Mall some time after his marriage break-up. I don't remember where I was living in 1971. I have bad sense of personal chronology.
The night we had the party for Bill, we went to his house,in the area you mentioned, for drinks and then drove him to the celebration. I remember thinking that he was a neat housekeeper and he took such pride in showing us around his home. He seemed so happy and relaxed that evening and I was glad we had decided to put this function on for him. I found out he could be a bit of a tease that evening.
ReplyDeleteI am some what like Larwence in that I can remember details. Sometimes people look at me and say how did you remember that. It has to do with associating memories and ideas. The word to describe this is called schema putting things into categories. My children tell me I have ADD because sometimes the ideas are coming so rapidly. They don't get it.
My list is becoming shorter- laundry finished, shopping completed, and watering done. Just waiting for my friend to arrive.
That might have been the earlier house. Both were in the same general area. The first was where he lived when he was married. It was in that small, quiet area bounded by 14th st, Northmount and Confederation Park golf course (that's when he had Pizzle); the second was much closer to Brentwood, southwest of Charleswood drive, might have been Cherokee or Chicoutimi. Just a short walk to Brentwood Mall. He had a bigger male dog then and the house was more rustic and set in some trees.
DeleteThe place we were at was a series of two story duplexes attached together. Where ever it was he was still a neat housekeeper. This friend is always late, hard for a person likes to be on time.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a completely different place altogether, both places I mentioned were detached houses.
DeleteJust spoke to Leah, she gave me some good advice and mentioned that Tristan being a coyote hybrid probably didn't need much grooming anyway. Which is true. She said that of course when you see neat coyotes, no one has groomed them! I said my concern was mainly getting rid of all the fine hair he sheds (being part shepherd). So I will try to get him some sedative pill from the vet and get him trained to accept grooming before I take him there for the professional treatment. So, great advice!
Leah is a special niece to me. When my girls were young she babysat them. Her mom passed away from cancer same time was i was ill in the hospital. I was not able to say a final goodbye. Also, my father passed away from cancer in 2010, at the age of 85. He was brave about the whole situation.
ReplyDeleteMy family learned a lot about the stages of grief and dying. It is not easy.
I am glad today is over because I tried to do much. I have to remember I can't do everything at once. I am already in bed.
After I took my friend to the eye doctor , I made her supper. We had meat loaf, boiled potatoes with fresh mushroom gravy, Brussels sprouts, sliced fresh peppers, and cherry tomatoes.
While I waited for my friend at her appointment I continued reading Campbell's book. Wow is it interesting. Enjoyed your blog from today.
It's certainly not easy and it tests one. With Carrie there was three years of knowing she would die and four more years before I experienced any semblance of normalcy. That's a long time.
DeleteOverdoing it? I'm no stranger to that. Today I mostly just laid about and watched Netflix. Although I did find a detailed quote from one of T. E. Lawrence's friends which totally confirmed my thoughts about his basic character, but that was nothing more difficult than reading a few pages and it was very rewarding. I plan to overdo it on the weekend.
Have a good night, or, I hope you had a good night (depending on when you read this).
Maybe it came alright the first time soiry
ReplyDeleteThis iPad is driving me crazy because it is not telling me if my messages are coming through to you . Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI don't check for messages that often at night. Perhaps your iPad doesn't know that ;-)
DeleteIt does not appear anything went through. I think will talk to you tomorrow when my brain is not so tired. Good night and sleep well.
ReplyDeleteGood morning! Since I went to be be so early am wide awake. What did you watch on Netflix yesterday while I was buzzing around like a bee?
ReplyDeleteLuck you! We all need to recharge our batteries sometimes. I missed communicating with you yesterday and my day felt empty .
Good morning, and I thought I got up early!
ReplyDeleteI was continuing with my Downton Abbey marathon. I had watched some of the series a long time ago, but when I got notification from Netflix that another season had been uploaded, I decided to start it all again.
Communication is important, but this digital age spoils those of us who can still remember letter writing when many days could pass before an answer came. Writing my first book mirrored that time: before I finally used a computer, I started in pen, then manual typewriter; electric typewriter; electronic typewriter; pre-PC word processor. For the last two, ink was very expensive. it cost me 25 cent a page for good quality, so I rigged up a paper towel holder above my desk that fed a roll of fax paper. I would just type for a day and then cut off the paper. My work was measured in feet, not word numbers and I ended up with a number of scrolls. What I did not know at the time was that the print starts to fade after a while. Eventually, it all got transferred to a Microsoft Word document, converted to PDF and published.
Nowadays there is Twitter where little is said, but too frequently. Even email discussion groups are going the way of the dodo to be replaced with Facebook "likes": the modern equivalent of a simian grunt.
I have protested for the longest time about icing the computer to communicate with others because I enjoyt talkingI to people on the phone or writing to them. My brother would get so annoyed with me because I would not text or email him. I told when hell freezes over. Well that's happened because I texted him this week for the first time. The so-and-so told me he loved me for sending it.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I am on Facebook is because my daughter put me on, it wasn't my decision . My girls realize not to send me emails or text messages . People are loosing the art of verbal communication. Loved the simian grunt comment. Question is blogging a form of letter writing?
I was making images of the paper towel hold with fax paper . It shows how invent one needs to be to save money. You are a clever one.
Conventional letter writing is so slow, especially over long distances, and I find that any in depth conversations I have in person or on the phone are infrequent. In person, I would think about one every two weeks, and on the phone, many months can go by because although I sometimes have long conversations, I am not fond of that and the medium seems not ideal. I sometimes have long and fruitful discussions on the phone with an American numismatic researcher/writer who always records the conversation.
DeleteThe most fruitful of all forms of communication I have had were on the Discussion list Celtic-L ran by Raimund Karl, but that list is now almost completely silent now. Facebook-oriented discussions seem not to get off the ground enough to even be called discussions. As soon as LinkedIn Discussion Groups added a "like" button, discussion stopped. Whivh was sad as I had many interesting discussions on a mythology group hosted by Emilio Valli of the U.N. Blogs are slightly better but do not usually lead to the sort of collaborative work that Tim Berners-Lee was seeking to enhance with his invention of the WWW at CERN where the Internet had been developed so that researchers could share data and discuss things at a faster rate.
The medium is the message as another Albertan once said, but it seems like the message of Facebook and Twitter is "Duh", and the phone is mostly used to complain and to discuss personal problems (usually to no avail).
The blog (short for web-log) seems to now be the equivalent to the online newspaper article with its comments field plus a version of the old-style weekly/daily columns by a regular journalist. It does lack the in-depth discussions of the earlier email discussion lists and trying to get collaborative research done with it is like pushing chain.
I find, though, that it is a good way to work out ideas and a regular blog certainly helps with writing. I also have a network of private email correspondents where collaborative work certainly does take place and a couple of interactions with metal detectorists have really advanced understanding and research in both directions.
The best of all conversations existed in the old "salon" type of interaction where people would meet to discuss their mutual interests. That led to many discoveries and innovations. I think its origin might have been the eighteenth century London coffee houses, but in the nineteenth century it switched more to dinner parties. I was surprised to read that Boswell's London Journal was not published until 1950! The best published letters would have to be 84 Charing Cross Road. I have been in the bookshop of its title many times. (it no longer exists).
Thank you the explanation. Where as I have many fruitful discussions by phone. I guess why I enjoy phone conversations is I love to hearing the sound of people's voices I gather so much information from the tones. But this is me.
ReplyDeleteJust returned from seeing my dear Aunt. This time she was spot on. We had a great exchange of interesting stories about her mother. How she came to Canada from England at the age of 18 to teach school in 1915 How her husband and her fell in loved at first sight as she was walking along the road and he drove pass her in his cutter. Life has so many surprises. They had seven children and all were productive citizens.
I understand why you prefer using the computer. It works well with the type of research and information sharing you do. I, too, find Facebook "Duh" because there is no ability to engage in a discussion. I do not plan on opening a Twitter account.
I just finished reading today's blog interesting opinions and supports to your discussion. Can't wait to read your novel and work on T. E. Lawrence.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend. I bet you won't be sitting in a car for six plus hours.
Thanks, Tannis, I notice that you do not say you agree with them ;-)
DeleteI doubt that I will be sitting in a car at all. The only worst thing than driving three plus hours to Edmonton is arriving there. Fortunately, that effect gets reversed on the way back ;-)
I never thought about voice tones on the phone, but I'm quite visually oriented. One of the reasons for my blog is to leave information for my heirs, much like the stories you heard today from your Aunt. The amount of family history information I ever heard from my parents, grandparents, aunts and an uncle would probably not fill a single blog post and they left no writing, either. Besides working out ideas, the blog also lets me develop various writing techniques and to think about composition. It also exercises the mind. None of these things rely on responses so it evolves into something different than I first had planned save for showing more by example than by arguing for my beliefs about independent research and collecting. I do invite discussion now and again to see if the times are changing. I never though that I would write anywhere near the 669 post I have written. That is a huge output in words. I did discover that I have a working vocabulary about half way between that of a college graduate and William Shakespeare (who holds the record in the English language) but there are only two real synonyms in English: gorse and furze. I sometimes really have to think about the exact word I am going to use, and its etymology (If that happens to be Latin, it barely matters, Better educated Romans spoke Greek, and English has done horrible things to Greek (Like zoology from zoe completely misses the point and just pluralizes bios in essence) Chinese is even more complex and nuanced than Greek. Chinese people can get into much discussion and arguments over the meaning of a lot of old Chinese poetry (two of them did translating a Ming Dynasty poem for me) It's all highly metaphorical and context dependent.
ReplyDeleteSo I'll let the medium dictate the message as it it can't be stopped from doing that and experiment,now and again, to see where the medium will allow me to go. We need more mediums.
sorry about the comment order mix-up. I was sure I clicked reply instead of add comment. That happened once before, about a year ago.
DeleteI think why the family stories have survived is because of the large number of family members. These are probably over 100 + members of the Davies side and luckily everyone is aware of each other because of a strong networking system. Also, we organized numerous family reunions and during this gatherings we had to act out family events from the past. Luckily we are a fairly creative bunch and the humour often presented during these skits had us rolling on the ground or floor.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear this is not the case for you. I find these oral stories give you a sense of history and belonging. This is what you are doing for you grandchildren. They need to realize what a special person their grandfather is and what he has accomplished in his life time. Well done John . In some way this could equated to Campbell's importance of mythology.
One of the benifits of such a large family is that in time of need the support mechanism is there. It is like sending a smoke signal passed along from one family member to the next. This was so important after the passing of my parents. In one of Gladwell's books ,he wrote about a group of Italian immigrants who came to the USA. For some reason the community members lived long lives. It was not because they ate the right foods, exercised and etc. it was because they had a sense of community and support from each other. ( I may have presented this information between, forgive me if I have.)
You have an excellent command of the English language and you present it well in either the academic or common daily presentations. God I am sound like a teacher.
Yes, I do agree with the opinions and supports which always make for interesting reading.
A family that size is almost incomprehensible to me. My grandparents (both sets) had a total of five children, one died when young. The remaining children had two children,myself and my sister. My sister never had children. Carrie and I had one, my daughter, who has two children. So I now have four living blood relatives.
DeleteMy maternal grandfather died when I was about a year old. He worked for British Railways as a signalman but was an accomplished artist and furniture maker. He almost made it to being an RA but got as far as being exhibited at the Royal Academy. He made his own winch-operated easel and full size billiard table, both massive and out of solid mahogany. As a signalman in WW II he wrestled a three-man stirrup pump over to a building near his signal box an sigle handedly put out an incendiary bomb that was threatening to destroy the Geffrye Musum in London. He got a medal for that. My mother and my aunt had a singing group during the war (with a friend of theirs) modelled after the Andrews Sisters. My father actually stayed with real Andrews sisters, once, in Philadelphia during the war. My mother worked checking the bomb hatches for Lancaster bombers and checking glider wings, and in the Land Army worked at Sandringham Estate. She had a boyfriend who was killed on HMS Hood when it was sunk by the Bismarck before she met my father. My father was in the Royal Marines and got malaria in Burma. Disobeying orders, two of his friends dragged him through the jungle when they were advancing and back to the ship again. He was being given the last rights when his fever broke, he woke up and swore at the chaplain. He was caught, but not punished when he missed the launch after shore leave once and swam two miles in the night through shark-infested waters. The officer who caught him just pointed at the sharks and said nothing. He was was loading shells for the big guns on either the Rodney or the King George V (I forget which but he had served on both ships) when the Bismarck was sunk. He said he never saw her (being below deck locked in the shell room) but heard her guns. So there was strange connection with my mother. His father had runa way from home at the age of ten, worked on various farms until he was old enough to join the army and enlisted in WW I. he was part of a british force sent to Russia to train the Russian Army. He hardly ever spoke to me except just before he died and asked me how my fishing trip went that day. He was a really gruff "old soldier" I once saw him cut his lower leg open with a knife and suck out the poison from an adder bite. His leg was purple. I was about four when I watched that. That, in essence,is my family history.
Hopefully, at least one of my grandchildren will have children, otherwise the line will die out completely!
Glad to hear you agree with my theories, even if I do not get to argue the points!
The trouble with my writing is sometimes I read over the errors because of this I require an excellent editor. This blog is becoming like a conversation Moyers and Campbell. Maybe I should be developing complex questions for you to answer. I wonder Bill would think of your blog.
ReplyDeleteWriting on an iPad can't help, either. I never use my tablet for messages. It's hard enough typing in something to search for a show on Netflix. These things must have been designed by people with tiny fingers. I make lots of typos, I often catch and fix them later on the blog, but you cannot go back and edit comments on blogger. Carrie was my first editor, so that was pretty good. Toward the end, she did not have much to edit that I had not already fixed. Editing for typos is really hard, they are so easy to miss, even after several edits. Apart from line editing I rarely change anything more than once.
DeleteI have had some amazing mentor/friends through my life and Bill was an important one, as is Raimund Karl,and Vincent Megaw. both really top in their fields. On the shoulders of giants...
I even wonder what Bill thought of the WWW.
Complex questions would be great! One can learn more from questions than answers.
Not to be appearing stupide what does WWW mean? It is probability in your work and I have not put it into my long term memory.
ReplyDeleteWorld Wide Web!
DeleteLast reply. Still waiting for my daughter, she had something come up at work. Have a great weekend. Thank you for the information. I suspect he would have liked it because he could have been in contact with you without little effort.
ReplyDeletePossibly, but Bill was like a survivor of the best of the 19th century. He never seemed to go for gizmos or even recent model cars. Have a great weekend if that is at all possible in Edmonton. A little lateness is good, you will miss the long line of cars heading home to Airdrie on the no. 2 highway.
Delete