2018.04.26 - Day 43

Twitter account has been acting strangely last few days - couldn't log in or reset my password, so when I did manage to log in this morning I deactivated account. Second time I've done that. I can't seem to get on with Twitter and only used it to post music. Also, downloaded Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac (I'm totally Macified now) after giving up the struggle with the Mac's Pages word processor. I got it cheap (£16) so hope it's ok, though bought it on Amazon. It downloaded easily anyway and up and running.

Reading the same book as Alma by Charles Tart. He is discussing Gurdjieff’s controversial remark that man is a machine. I love Tart's engineering analogies where he draws parallels between a computer controlling conveyor belts with human thinking. We have an ability to develop automated response patterns that require less brain power, but problems occur when the automated patterns aren’t able to cope with a change in reality.

Zen - may I suggest that you try Mastodon as a Twitter substitute? You can read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_(software) or try a Youtube search for mastodon social.

If you were interested, you could join a small "instance" themed to something you're interested in, for example https://mastodon.art/about would be one place, probably of many, suitable for an artist. (I joined https://scholar.social/about )

I do find lots of advantages compared to Twitter. And you're not isolated on an instance as most are widely connected to others. Could be worth looking into. :)

Short of time today, so anything else will have to go in a separate comment.

Play...
Not sure what Aliens would think, but have spent some time thinking about their thinking.
Play by non-human animals? Watch the cat(s), kittens, puppies, the dreaded Youtube vids or even back to the "Walt Disney Show" of lion cubs 'playing', explained by that oh so wonderful narrator voice, 'It might look like play but these cubs are learning valuable jump-flip-turn-catch in mid-air maneuvers they will need to survive'

Actually do follow many sports... mainly hockey, but...
Sunday NY Times Sports Section on page 8, had a small 3 paragraph "oh yeah" item, that you probably did not read.

"Colin Kaepernick, the former N.F.L. quarterback whose kneeling protest of radical injustice spurred a sports movement but may have cost him him his job, was awarded Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award on Saturday.
"Radicalized oppression and dehumanization is woven into the very fabric of our nation -- the effects of which can be seen in the lawful lynching of black and brown people by the police and the mass incarceration of black and brown levies in the prison industrial complex" Kaepernick said at a ceremony in Amsterdam where the award was presented by the organization secretary general Shalil Shertty.
How can you stand for the national anthem of a nation that preaches and propagates 'freedom and justice for all' that is so unjust to so many of the people living there?' Kaepernick said"

if you subscribe they might show you:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/sports/colin-kaepernick-amnesty-international.html
which is a longer article., but differently worded.

(please excuse for retelling a story)
In 1968-9, went to a concert.
It was in a building named "The War Memorial".
Before the concert they played a scratchy recording of "The National Anthem". Not only did Riddle sit down, but also turned back to the stage. with so many others.
Later that night Jimi played that same song. Not only did we stand and jump and cheer, self was sitting on a tall guy's shoulders (love you Jerry, rip).

(not on point, but) maybe synchronicity or just entertaining. This came last night while writing.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/296714487073466/permalink/1765926286818938/
hope the link works.

Play-as-Being feels like a nice bubble for me lately. Other things, like FB or Instagram, aren't holding the same interest, naturally. I often take breaks from social media, but they are aggressive breaks: I deactivate myself and go from appearing as a friendly picture of some sort, to mere silhouette. The process is to create a vacuum I then fill up with finishing things I haven't finished. It is dramatic.

This time, I just stepped out, and feel no pull, even when clicking the above link, which was moving and worthwhile. I listened twice because at the end of listening the first time I realized I hadn't heard a thing. I think it is the #savoring.

People, or at least many people are not listening to Kaepernick now, but those who are, are having a chance to grow and learn a lot. edited 18:04, 26 Apr 2018

Not to get political or anything... ;-)

I'm in a different position to many American Pabbers. More often than not, they are lucky to be native, whereas I am an immigrant. When I was studying for my American citizenship in 2015, as Pema did five years before me, I found quickly that I had started to know more about the United States, its history, its culture and its government, than very many people I talked to about it. And to assist my education, for the year leading up to it, I undertook to lead a weekly virtual tour of the US, one state a week as a kind of tour-guide, and I was often told I knew more about a particular state than they as a state native knew.

When I see the American flag flying free, it's the Constitution that I see flying there. That's all it represents to me. It doesn't represent to me what other people feel. Nor does it represent what other people think, or have been told to think. And it doesn't represent to me what other people have done, or have been forced to do, in its name, the integrity of which can flutter in the wind as governments change.

Service comes in many forms. Patriots take many guises. I'm sad that the majority of those who serve are not recognized as such, just because they have never put on a military uniform. I'm sad that many who promote and defend our constitution are upbraided as unpatriotic because they don't fit a particular political, religious or physical mold. It seems to me that patriotism has lost its way, and has largely been replaced by an easy-to-manipulate jingoism.

Empathy and understanding lead to compassion. Very often one has to listen and to ask questions. Instead I see people in their self-reinforcing bubbles being told what to think and say, never stopping to listen or ask. I can sympathize with the Riddles and the Kappas because I listen to them. We listen to each other. It's refreshing! And as we do, boundaries, even national boundaries, fade somewhat, and revert to a proper sense of proportion.

I still watch football, by the way, though I'll often join the program at kick-off, and not before - deliberately so. Am I being unpatriotic? Should I be allowed to watch at all? ;->

It was a birthday and sort of busy.