The Nuremberg judges
Are turning in their graves
As their new world order
Becomes the old world order.
Category Archives: Personal
An Exhaustive List Of Things I Know With 100% Certainty
The Calculus of Politics
Pause to understand the manifolds of the group…
How derivative the nature of our thinking can be…
How climbing the slope can yield the maximization of power…
How maximal joy can be found through integration.
Time Traveler
Years ago I went on a future-trip
To an unimaginably distant land
Full of wonders and richness I was unworthy of
Where the natives growled and howled and snarled
Throwing rocks and stones and barbs upon me
Whispering “you don’t belong! you don’t belong!”
Now I live in that distant land
And find no natives, but travelers
All whispering “Do I belong? Do I belong?”
Yet my mind still lies to me and says
In the future lands I must visit
I am unworthy. I do not belong.

Things I Have Discovered While Running In The Dark
A giant pink dildo in a bear-proof trashcan in San Francisco’s Presidio.
More people are asleep than awake.
A man collapsed with a needle in his arm on Sixth Street.
At times we all run alone in the dark.
A stray brown dog that ran with me up a Turkish mountainside.
We are rarely as alone as we think.
A homeless woman cheering me on on Market Street.
Friends will run along side us no matter how dark it is.
Shivering in the fog overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
We have limits.
Gently jogging to meet the sunrise over the Oakland Bay Bridge.
The importance of conservation of energy.
The lights of Waikiki twinkling below the pill boxes atop Diamond Head.
We have hidden reserves.
The kind ER doctor who inquired if I planned suicide in Mission Bay.
Our limits are often not what we think they are.
An eight-foot-tall clown’s head protruding from fog in Stern Grove.
The absurdity of it all.
Accidentally stumbling upon the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen.
The serendipity of life when we let go.
Volunteers with orange sherbet at mile twenty-two in Napa.
The pride of going the distance.
Clanking masts gently kissing in the Dubrovnik harbor.
The love that awaits our return.
A freshly-murdered man at Christmas Tree Point.
We cannot stay awake forever.
Coyotes scurrying by in Corona Heights.
When we awaken it is time to start running.
Resting a moment in a New Orleans’ graveyard.
Recovery is part of the journey.
The drifter asking “what time is it?” on Billionaires’ Row.
When awake, the answer is now.
And This One
My firmest wish
Is years later
When I recall
I will savor
The beauty of
This profound moment
And this one
And this one
And this one
The Badge Of The Dress
Damsels in distress
Fighting in their dress
Oft show men of strength
Who rush to impress
As lacking finesse.
For wisdom suggests
Damsels fight through stress
With reserves of strength.
(The badge of the dress.)
So tender redress.

Thought #29
Thought #28
Headwinds
The canvas of society
Is blown by the furies of the populace
As we sail the oceanic void of existence.
The passions push as we run downwind,
The bullets fly as we reach,
And the renegades howl as we close haul.
Without the revolutionaries we’d be in irons,
And most times the dangerous blowhards
Fly through the sail to die parched alone.
And yet I cannot help but fear
The storms that blow over our bow
Shall wreck us this time.
Thought #28
I am an ordinary beautiful being.
I am a mundane miracle of creation.
I am a common sacred life.
I am a run-of-the-mill child of God.

History PhD
Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.
Those who study history are doomed to watch others repeat it.

Thought #27
Reality is to choice
As wealth is to happiness,
As poverty is to despair,
As grief is to hopelessness,
As danger is to fear,
As struggle is to suffering,
As love is to love.

Almost, But Not, Symmetrical (4)
Family.
We all have them.
Our parents had them.
Our’s inherit from theirs.
We play with them.
Sometimes we indulge them.
Sometimes we regret.
We fight with them.
Sometimes we expel them.
Sometimes reunions are … complex.
Yet…
When we acknowledge,
Without subservience,
Their individuality…
When we honor,
Without worshipping,
Their power…
When we forgive,
Without condoning,
Their mistakes…
When we discipline,
Without anger,
Their transgressions…
When we support,
Without coddling,
Their struggles…
When we praise,
Without semblance,
Their growth…
When we accept,
Without shame,
Their flaws…
When we cherish,
Without limits,
Their totality…
Beauty becomes them.
We become whole with them.
We learn the nature of love.
Demons.
We all have them.
Our parents had them.
Our’s inherit from theirs.
We play with them.
Sometimes we indulge them.
Sometimes we regret.
We fight with them.
Sometimes we expel them.
Sometimes reunions are … complex.
Yet…
When we acknowledge,
Without subservience,
Their individuality…
When we honor,
Without worshipping,
Their power…
When we forgive,
Without condoning,
Their mistakes…
When we discipline,
Without anger,
Their transgressions…
When we support,
Without coddling,
Their struggles…
When we praise,
Without semblance,
Their growth…
When we accept,
Without shame,
Their flaws…
When we cherish,
Without limits,
Their totality…
Beauty becomes them.
We become whole with them.
We learn the nature of love.

Almost, But Not, Symmetrical (3)
Those who enter the cathedral
Through the back door
On their hands and knees
Covered in filth and fleas
And who sit in back
Shaking back and forth
Praying quietly
Tend to look up
As though their lives
Depended on it.
Because it does.
Those who enter the cathedral
Through the front door
On their own two legs
Covered in frocks and finery
And who sit in front
Heads held proud
Proclaiming loudly
Tend to look side-to-side
As though their lives
Depended on it.
Because it does.

Thought #26
All lives end in defeat, if each day death is feared.
All lives end in a smile, if each day death is cheated.
Regardless, all lives end,
And death loves her rogues.
Thought #25
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is not remembered
For the thousands of cars safely carried after it opened,
But for its collapse one fateful day.
Nor is it remembered that now there sits two bridges,
Strengthened in partnership,
Carrying millions with the learnings of that collapse.

Snowflakes
Every unique snowflake
Is a snowflake.
Snowflakes melt.
Snow endures.

Almost, But Not, Symmetrical (2)
There are two types of pain …
Beautiful pain strikes our ego.
Beautiful pain strikes our pride.
Beautiful pain builds us up.
Beautiful pain teaches love.
Ugly pain strikes our soul.
Ugly pain strikes our honor.
Ugly pain tears us down.
Ugly pain teaches hate.
… that in the moment, are hard to discern.
Beautiful pain can feel ugly today.
Beautiful pain feels beautiful tomorrow.
Our minds cannot discern,
But our hearts know which is which.
Ugly pain can feel beautiful today.
Ugly pain feels ugly tomorrow.
Our minds cannot discern,
But our hearts know which is which.
Both hurt, in different ways; …
Beautiful pain hurts.
Beautiful pain is a struggle.
Beautiful pain transcends suffering.
Beautiful pain nourishes.
Ugly pain hurts.
Ugly pain is a struggle.
Ugly pain amplifies suffering.
Ugly pain kills.
… and both can break us, if we let them.
Fear walks away from beautiful pain.
Deceit weakens as we lie.
Isolation inspires others
To leave us to our fate.
Fear turns to embrace ugly pain.
Deceit weakens as we lie.
Isolation inspires others
To leave us to our fate.
Yet both can serve us …
Courage turns to face beautiful pain.
Integrity protects as we strengthen.
Vulnerability inspires others
To face their beautiful pain.
Courage walks away from ugly pain.
Integrity protects as we strengthen.
Vulnerability inspires others
To face our ugly pain.
… to grow.

Series: Almost, But Not, Symmetrical