Tuesday, September 24, 2013

7:02 AM I got up early and started coffee because I couldn't sleep The news is on. I had to switch to channel 4, which doesn't have as thorough a news presentation as 12, and virtually nothing of national news, but sometimes my antenna just won't bring 12 in, and today is one of those days. The sky is very cloudy and dark, with a slow but persistent rain falling. My father would say it's good for the garden, because the water makes its way down farther into the soil than with a heavy rain. I'm having to use my bedside lamp. From the way the weather map looked, it shouldn't last all day, though. Good. I don't like two and three days of rain. The news is showing more accidents than usual today. When I'm out on the road in the rain I always slow down, but there are inevitably some cars that whiz past me. I have had several experiences of skidding on a wet road, and it always scares me. I'm just not willing to speed up for them.

President Obama was on TV at about 10:00 this morning speaking to the UN. He gave a very good speech and most of the audience seemed to be interested and paying attention. One man was smirking. I didn't recognize him. I wonder what country he represented.

3:35 I have just paid all my bills and called the insurance company to see why they denied permission for me to get a stress test. They are going to reconsider it and write me another letter.

I'm reading now. 5:33 I'm not making much progress with the novel. News and supper now.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Cher is on the Today Show today. She has a new album, her 26th, and I think it said she is going to go on tour again. She arrived at the studio riding behind a uniformed police officer with two others, all riding on motorcycles and with their sirens going. Cher does know how to put on a show. Policemen in uniform are usually unsmiling, but this one was grinning, especially as Cher kissed him on the cheek when she got off the cycle. She is still slim, and was dressed in tight black pants and a spangled top. I remember her fondly from the Sonny and Cher television show. I always thought she was very tall, because she was so much taller than Sonny, but in her biography on Wikipedia it said she is 5'8”. Sonny must have been very short indeed. She sang a new song “It's A Woman's World.” Her voice sounded slightly husky, but was still strong.

I was watching my bedtime tape of television documentaries last night and on it was some extended news footage of the Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel trial. They are the ones who owned the two dogs that killed Dianne Whipple in January of 2001. That breed is called Perro de Presa Canario, originally bred for working cattle on Spain's Canary Islands. Show quality males are 23 to 26 inches at the withers, and weigh from 100 to 140 pounds. They require “early socialization and obedience training,” and still are sometimes aggressive toward other dogs and suspicious of strangers. These particular dogs came from a prison inmate named Paul Schneider who was attempting to start a dog fighting business from behind bars. Knoller and Noel got the dogs “through the relationship” with him, apparently a friendship. Knoller adopted Paul Schneider as her son shortly before the dog attack occurred, so it was more than a client and attorney relationship. Schneider was also a prominent member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. The dogs had already bitten a number of people, and Noel, when told by a professional dog walker to muzzle them, told him to “'shut up' and was called offensive names.”

The jury convicted Knoller of second degree murder and Noel of felony charges of keeping a mischievous dog. It was not clear, according to Wikipedia, whether they had actually trained the dogs to attack, or simply had insufficient control of them. It was stated that the the woman who raised the dogs had kept them on a chain, which tends to make dogs more vicious. Knoller is serving a 15 year sentence, and Noel served a term of 4 years. Both owners were attorneys in California and as a result of the trial were disbarred. It was a deeply sad story –- that an animal had been allowed or even caused to be so vicious and that two lawyers, who are supposed to be respected members of society, were so lacking in common sense and moral fiber as to keep them without proper restraints and training. Their close connection with a prison inmate serving a life sentence is also amazing. What kind of people were they? Some people love their animals over all other things, of course, but I wonder if they were actually planning to fight the dogs at some point. At any rate an apartment house in the city is not the place for such an animal. Maybe they should even be a banned breed, as probably the pit bull should be.

President Obama came out this last August against the banning of specific breeds of dogs, based on studies by the Centers For Disease Control and the Task Force On Canine Aggression and Human-Canine Interactions. According to those studies, there are no “objective” criteria for determining exactly what breed a dog belongs to, as so many dogs are mixed, and both owners and law enforcement don't have a clear cut way of knowing what a given dog is. Also, according to the White House report, those individuals who are intentionally raising vicious dogs will simply move on to another breed that is not yet banned. The ASPCA recommends education of owners and the spaying or neutering, as that reduces a dog's aggressiveness. Nancy Perry, the ASPCA's Senior Vice President For Government Relations praised Obama's stance. So it's apparently next to impossible to tell on the basis of breed alone whether a dog will be dangerous or not. In the book I read about dogs, however, the author said that genetics is a major cause of aggressiveness, and that some breeds of dog should particularly be given lots of warm human socialization early in their life and obedience training. The author also was against methods of dog training that included physical punishment and intimidation, as a timid dog is more likely to deliver a “fear bite.” I have always loved dogs, and have found most of them to be receptive to being touched gently, but some dogs I've met don't respond in a friendly way and I always respect their distance. If I have a dog, which I won't at this time in my life, but if I were to win the lottery and buy a house with a big back yard, I would like a border collie because they are mostly gentle, but will bark and even bite if their owner is threatened, and they have the intelligence to make a better judgment of which people they meet are dangerous to their owner. A prowler skulking around the house would be challenged.

10:25 Finishing my coffee now, and back to reading my mystery novel. Bix Golightly, the underworld operator who is threatening Clete, is described here in a humorous and entertaining way, rather than as a truly dangerous man. His thug underling Waylon Grimes shows a definite lack of respect for him and Golightly doesn't smash him to bits. He then sees Clete come to a bookstore near his house and confronts him. Their conversation is a really funny run of tough guy language. After besting him in the verbal jousting match, Clete follows him, planning to catch him and Grimes together and beat them both. He parks outside Grimes' apartment house and watches as Golightly goes in. Unbeknownst to Purcel, Golightly has found Grimes dead inside. As Purcell waits for Golightly to come out, the police come by and spot Purcel, but go on about their business. Then Golightly comes out and goes to his car, when a shadowy figure emerges from the doorway next door and shoots Golightly three times. Purcel hides in the alley and watches the shooter walk away.

12:58 I just finished watching “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,” which I like a lot because the questions are a combination of common knowledge and logic, so I can usually answer them. I wish I could get on the show, because they definitely do win a lot of money. I complained about Cedric The Entertainer when I first saw him, because he was so boisterous and loud, but I'm used to it now and I find him funny. He pulls some funny facial expressions and hasn't shown any bad taste, like I thought he might.

More reading. Blue Melton, Tee Jolie's sister, was also missing. She shows up a couple of days later floating in a marsh encased in a large block of ice. Robicheaux is called to the scene and identifies her. The coroner examined her and found a red balloon in her mouth in which a message was inserted. It was in Blue's handwriting and said “My sister is still alive.” She had received a “massive” overdose of heroin, and had a puncture mark on her body. The coroner concluded that she was injected while in the water or was put in the water shortly afterward. The author didn't say why the coroner thought that, but I conclude she probably had water in her lungs. There is no trace of humor in the author's writing now. The narrator Robicheaux, after leaving the coroner's office, sits by the bayou and watches a cottonmouth moccasin come out of the water and slither into the bushes. The only reason I can imagine for the author to include that is to heighten the suspense, which was already created by the bizarre fact that Blue was imbedded in a block of ice when she was found. Definitely spooky.

Purcell has a problem. He saw the shooter when he was hiding in the alley and recognized her as his daughter whom he had met only once when he bailed her out of jail at her mother's request. As a result, he didn't go to the police to identify her as the shooter. He was looking for her instead and finally met her in a bar, but didn't identify himself to her. He finds that he can't help noticing her beauty as a woman and doesn't want to show it. He leaves the bar and drives to the gangster's apartment who was said to be holding the IOU against him. He asks him who hired “Caruso,” who happens to be his daughter. He takes his anger out on that man when he says he doesn't know, and tells him to pack up and leave the city. Robicheaux, meanwhile, is still looking for Tee Jolie Melton. He goes home and finds his daughter there looking at a series of photographs of paintings at a new exhibit. He looks at them and thinks the model on one is Tee Jolie. Alafair his daughter tells him he's been imagining things about seeing Tee Jolie, but agrees to go with him to his apartment to talk to him. The painter Pierre Dupree tells him the model isn't Tee Jolie and he's never heard of her.

Purcell shows up next in the police station being questioned about the murder of the gangster. It seems he made it on the bus to Baton Rouge where he went into the men's room and the mysterious shooter kills him. They throw Purcell in jail until they release him on bail. When he gets out he finds the woman from the bar (his daughter) who bailed him out. He gets in her car and they go to a cafe. They make some introductory conversation, during which Purcell still doesn't tell her that he has recognized her, and instead asks her if she wants a job working for him. Her answer is that she isn't big on clocks and calendars. She thanks him for the beignets and asks him can he walk to his office, that it's only two blocks, and leaves. He is wondering how she knows where he works, thinking she had followed him from the gangster Frankie's apartment to the bus station, and then followed the bus to Baton Rouge.

Robicheaux wakes up at four in the morning hearing the phone ringing in the kitchen. He gets up to answer it and it is Tee Jolie who has called to tell him she is okay. He tells her about her sister being dead, but she says the static is so bad she can't hear him. She says goodbye and hangs up. His wife Mollie asks him what he was doing and she doesn't believe him when he tells her. She says she can't deal with his delusions. He goes back into the kitchen and sits in the dark. She calls him back to bed and said she didn't really mean it. She asks him what he was dreaming about and he says he can't remember, rather than talk about it.

5:46 Time to eat and watch the news. More reading tomorrow.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

It's 11:43 AM and I have finished the Ann Rule book, Too Late To Say Goodbye. It was interesting to the very end, at which point Rule tied up every loose end about each character. The story was true and she followed out every detail about the prosecution's case. It took over two years before they finally traced the murder weapon to the dentist Bart Corbin. The connection was a friend of his in Alabama who gave him the gun, supposedly for self-protection against Jenn his wife. The friend was a very reluctant witness, saying simply that he “didn't want to get involved.” However the police finally found the serial number of the gun on a 911 tape in the Alabama town where the witness lived, and the witness confessed to his local sheriff that he did in fact give Corbin the gun. When Corbin's defense attorneys were informed of that, they asked for a plea agreement. There was no trial. Corbin plead guilty to two charges of murder.

There was a great deal of detail about Corbin and his life. While he was certainly unstable, given to crying jags and rages at both the women, there was no sign that he was irrational – just extremely self-centered, egotistical and lacking in empathy. He lived his life in a coldly logical way. He simply refused to let either woman reject him, which was of course what they both did, and paid for it with their lives. There was also another woman who had a relationship with him and then mysteriously disappeared, but he was not tried for her murder, and it remained unsolved. The result of his pleading guilty was that he was charged with two counts of murder for which he is serving two life sentences. Unfortunately, he is serving them concurrently, so he may at some point get out on parole. One source on the Internet said that the date that he may be up for parole is 2020.

Lunch now. I'm watching “Aqua Kids” on channel 4. The content of the show is interesting to adults as well as teens. I'll watch anything about animals, almost. I don't like the show on Animal Planet that shows the police arresting people for abusing animals. I can't watch animal abuse. I know it goes on, but I don't see how I can help, and some of the things on that particular show are really gruesome. Some people will argue that the Bible says man was given “dominion” over the animal world, and that therefore hurting animals is no crime. The same argument is given for our despoiling the natural environment. It really is a great loss. Once a forest has been cut down a number of bad things happen – we lose the power of plants to clean up the air, the soil begins to erode, animal habitats are destroyed, and we no longer have that sense of peace that walking in the woods can bring. I don't basically believe that man is the measure of all things. We overrate our intelligence and importance when we think that way. Man needs nature to bring out our best personal characteristics, not to mention the very things required for life to continue, breathable air and clean water.

1:24 PM I'm starting a new novel, Creole Belle by James Lee Burke. I've read a number of his and they are all different from each other with fresh new ideas for the plot, and they often contain mystical aspects. He is an American Indian who lives in Missoula, Montana. He has written, according to the cover of this 2012 story, thirty novels and two collections of short stories, won six prizes and has had three of his books made into movies. I look forward to starting this one.

Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel are best friends – Robicheaux is a sheriff's deputy, and Purcel is an ex-policeman turned PI who work in New Orleans. They are violent and tough talking, but they champion the cause of underdogs. The dialogue is rough with a touch of profanity. A creole woman that some thought was dead has appeared in Robicheaux's hospital room and left him an Ipod that supposedly has her voice on it. This is the only proof he has of her presence among the living. Oddly, no one but Robicheaux can find her voice on the Ipod. There are two underworld types trying to shake down Purcell over an IOU that he paid off within a week of incurring it, so the paper shouldn't have been kept at all. Purcell, who has flashbacks from his time in Vietnam, went into a blackout and beat the man within an inch of his life. I don't see how that is going to solve his IOU problem, but I will continue reading and find out.

Robicheaux has a cat fitting for a tough rogue cop: Tripod the pet raccoon's “buddy Snuggs, our unneutered warrior cat, …. His ears were chewed, his neck thick and hard as a fire hydrant, his body rippling with sinew when he walked. He was fearless in a fight, took no prisoners, and would chase dogs out of the yard if he thought they were a threat to Tripod.”

5:57 I have quit reading and am watching an interview with Cher. She does fascinate me. She is so striking, even now when she is probably 70 years old. I think I'll look her up in Wikipedia. She is one year younger than I am. Her name was Cherilyn Sarkisian. According to Wikipedia, the name Sarkisian is Armenian. Her biography articles on the Net don't say what her ethnic background is. I thought she was part Indian, but it didn't say so. She is dark and has a strong nose. Armenia is a former part of the Soviet Union. Maybe I'll get a biography about her from the library.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

8:22 AM News –- Channel 12 First Coast News discussed bullying. A young man who was bullied has written and is acting in a play about bullying. He said that both people who were bullied and former bullies have come up to him afterward and talked to him. It seems that some people who were bullies come to regret their actions and try to change. I'd like to see that play. I'd also like to get a good book or two about the psychology of bullying. FCN has a boot camp for young people called the Anti-bullying Boot Camp, also. Cyber bullying is a big problem, and the lady who was on the segment said that laws are being written that criminalize it. I'll look on the net and see what I can find about that. I'd like to see all bullying criminalized. It is, after all, assault. I feel the same way about kids who bring knives to the schoolyard. It shouldn't be considered “a stage they are going through.” It should be punished as though they were adults. In the same category is hazing. I wish the human animal could be more civilized. Teachers and other school officials should crack down on it. Instead they often try to ignore it. They aren't doing their jobs and should be fired for that.

A friend of mine has a spunky daughter who was slapped by a boy when she lit into him verbally because he spit on her friends food. When he slapped her she “went blank” and began slugging him with both fists, backing him up against a wall. Her parents went to the school officials to get the boy punished, but they were told that “we would have to punish her too” if they punished him. Nonetheless, the boy got the message and never bothered her again. Some self-defense techniques might help the students who are bullied. I do basically believe that bullies, like other criminals, don't want to pick victims who can fight back. It is also true, though, that being able to stand up for oneself verbally should be tried first, and will often be enough. One kid has little defense against a gang, of course. The schools should monitor what goes on on the playground and in the hallways, so that the gangs who go around together could be watched. Cliques among the jocks and “popular kids” should be watched, too, as they do often harass less aggressive students. We tend to think of the problem kids as being from poor homes, but they are often privileged instead. Sometimes those kids are used to getting everything they want from their parents, and don't develop a very active conscience. If I were the head of the school system, the students who start fights either in a group or singly would be expelled. Of course, I would investigate the incident and try to get witnesses, so it could be established who hit first and what the provocation was. It seems to me that spitting on somebody's lunch is provocation.

Coffee now. 9:21 On the net – Author Lindsay Ashton has written a murder mystery called The Mysterious Death Of Miss Austen, based on the true case of her symptoms when she died and a lock of her hair which a reader bought at auction, which tested positive for arsenic. I'd like to read that book. I'd also like to read a real biography of Austen's life. She is probably my foremost literary hero. With none of the flashy techniques of some modern authors, she wrote beautiful prose which flowed perfectly and never failed to have a well-formed “plot,” while writing deep characters as well.

Net and news – Mystery intoxication condition –- a man in East Texas, 9/20/13, was diagnosed with an infection of brewers yeast. The yeast had colonized his colon, and caused him to have a blood alcohol reading of .12, though he hadn't had any alcohol to drink. It took five years for anybody to believe that he wasn't actually drinking. Finally a nurse Barbara Cordell who was a friend of his took him to Dr. Justin McCarthy who put him in the hospital for observation and diagnosed his condition. The condition is called “auto-brewery syndrome,” or “gut fermentation syndrome, and the high production of alcohol is triggered by a “glucose challenge” (high blood sugar) and a high carbohydrate diet. Fascinating!

Reading now. I'm about halfway through the Ann Rule book. The murder suspect is a chronically angry and bitter man with a very negative attitude toward women. He was slow to begin to date women, had the attitude that men are tops and women are secondary under all conditions and was very angry and “hurt” when his first real girlfriend dropped him. He alternated between crying and raging over it. When the second girlfriend wanted to split up he killed her, and then his third romance with his wife went the same route. He is a dentist who, according to his words, wants to “stick it to his patients,” so that he can make more money. He is parsimonious and greedy about money and harsh toward his young sons and wife. His wife didn't catch on until the very end that he was physically dangerous and didn't make the attempt to leave him in time. I'm at the point in the reconstruction of the crime at which he is about to kill her. I don't know what the author's evidence was as to the events, though in the introduction it said she read the case files in the police department. I'm reading with interest.

My allergy problems are better today, though I haven't taken an anti-histamine. I ran out and need to buy some more. I have decided to go with Benadryl rather than Claritin, because it does as much good and doesn't cost as much. I need to buy groceries today, too, so I'll get dressed after lunch and go up there. Still reading.

I went to the drugstore and bought Benadryl and Sudafed (store brand) and a mouthwash fortified with fluoride that is supposed to harden the enamel. I bought too many groceries. The bags were so heavy that I could barely make it in the doorway. Luckily the guard was there and she opened the door for me. I'm well-stocked now, though, so I don't have to go again for about a week. I only bought 5 cups of yogurt, so I will need that a little sooner.

I tried to finish the book this afternoon, but it's time to eat and try to catch some news. I'll finish it tomorrow morning.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

News – The most interesting thing in the news today was the scheduled testimony of Caroline Kennedy in front of the Senate as the nominee for Ambassador to Japan. She has worked in party politics, supporting Obama over Clinton, though she also contributed funds to Hillary Clinton in the same race. She is a lawyer, writer and editor, and has served on many boards for charities. She worked two years for the Office Of Strategic Partnerships for the NYC Department of Education. She is a liberal, favoring same sex marriage, the pro-choice position on abortion, gun control and the death penalty. She advocates the security of Israel with Jerusalem being the undivided capitol of Israel, and Israel as being responsible for their own security decisions. She hopes for a two-state peace agreement with Palestine, if Palestine is “a true partner for peace.” The Wikipedia article and other websites did not comment on her expertise on Japan. If she is confirmed she would be the first female ambassador to Japan. The website nippon.com stated that the consensus in Japan is one of approval. I will be happy if she is approved, because she is the last of the well-known Kennedys and though she is in the midst of a separation from her husband with a rumor of an affair on the side, she seems to me to be a promising candidate. I think she is intellectually capable of performing well.

The weather yesterday was, as predicted, rainy with 4” falling in Jacksonville. Naturally there was flooding in several parts of the city. Our drainage system doesn't work perfectly. San Marco has a number of streets that almost always flood when it rains much. There are always the warnings for drivers to turn around and go back rather than trying to drive through flood waters, but there are always cars that get stranded because they didn't follow the advice. I hope I will have the common sense not to drive through flood water if I'm ever out in a heavy rain storm. I have been in storms with rain so heavy that I couldn't see, even though the windshield wipers were going at full tilt. Sometimes I put my flashers on and slowly proceed, but more often I have pulled over to the side and parked until the rain got lighter. A thunderstorm in Jacksonville doesn't usually last more than 15 or 20 minutes, luckily.

There is a really cute commercial that just played for Captain D's, a restaurant that I never patronize because they have mediocre food in small quantities. Their commercial, though, has a young black girl and her father sitting in Captain D's. The father asks her “If you have 6 shrimp and someone takes 3, how many do you have left?” She gives a couple of seconds thought to it and says “Six, because nobody is going to take my shrimp.” Her father is taken aback, and says she is a smart girl. Then after a brief announcement of what Capt. D's offers, they switch back to the father again, who is reaching out his hand to take some of her shrimp. Without a moments pause, she says with a determined smile, “We just talked about that!” The father gives a very funny expression of dismay and says “You sound just like your mother!”

I'm going to start reading a true life crime story by Ann Rule, who has written a number of those. This one is called Too Late To Say Goodbye. A woman who is supposedly happily married is found dead with a gun beside her. The husband, it turns out, had another relationship in the past in which a similarly suspicious suicide occurred. The story takes place in Buford, Georgia in 2004, with the previous death occurring in 1990. Reading now.

Page 23, this sentence strikes me for its literary style, almost like poetry. “The shriek of sirens piercing the chill December morning on Bogan Gates Drive was almost as alien as the thackety-thackety of helicopters overhead would be.” That really is a very good opening sentence. The author comments on the fact that Oprah Winfrey once broadcast her show from Buford to turn a light on the hard-set racial problems there. The neighborhood is well-to-do, the husband a dentist. Rule is going into considerable detail about all the people involved in the story, and I am enjoying it. It reads smoothly and I'm moving right through it at a good pace. I'll have to get another one of hers. I saw one the last time I was at the library.

It's 5:25. Time for the news and supper.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

News –- The Today Show had a series of new patents on today, several of which I missed, but the the last three were interesting. The best one was a set of folding reading glasses which fold up into a round pendant that you wear around your neck. Then when you can't see your menu you just open them up for the time it takes to read it and then close them up again. They are decorated with rhinestones and hang from a long chain that has no clasp, under the theory that you can't see clasps anymore. It looks like something that will sell. I wear glasses all the time, but if I didn't I would definitely need them.

The weather forecast for today is a 50/50 chance of rain, and from the look of the sky it's coming this morning. I'm having to use my bedside lamp, it's so dark outside. Oh, well. There has been no rain for over a week, so I assume we are in a drought by now. That is the standard condition in Jacksonville, hence the paleness of lawns and shrubbery as compared to the darker green in Piedmont NC where I come from. I do sometimes miss the deep black soil and greenery as you drive along the roads in North Carolina.

I need to buy a new mouse. The roller ball in my mouse is not turning like it should and I'm having to pick it up in my hand and turn the ball with my finger. Supposedly you can open up the mouse and pull the ball out and wash it to solve that problem, but I can't get it to open. I also need printer inks, so I should just go out to Walmart and get them both. I'll try to do that soon.

Reading now. I rushed on through the book. The author basically says to accept your introversion and use the strengths that it entails. Don't fight your nature. If you “can't think” in a big, loud party, then don't go to one. Don't make excuses for yourself about it – just thank the well-meaning extrovert for the invitation, but say you need some time to yourself or even that you don't like large groups of people. Most people understand that. Do meditate, exercise your imagination and your logical abilities, do something artistic or read a book. Don't consider yourself to be inferior or weaker because you spend a lot of time thinking. If you want to participate in a group activity, do so, knowing that you can go home earlier than some of the others. We are all mixtures of introversion and extroversion, and both types benefit from the society of the other. Don't nurse anger at the extroverts if you can help it. Anger does lead to mental and emotional illness. Instead give yourself the things that make you feel satisfied –- ideas over game playing or lightweight conversation and cooperation over competition. Write, paint, play music, take a quiet walk or talk to a close friend.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be only in the presence of other introverted individuals because I sometimes find extroverts, if they have the capability of listening as well as talking, to be up beat and cheering. I do think it is possible to be alone too much, and I find that my introspective thoughts can become depressing. If people are the competitive type, I don't want to be around them, though. To me competition is not the action of a friend. I want close friends, primarily, rather than a large number of acquaintances that I tolerate, but don't really like. So I can be fairly critical about the matter if I think they are uncaring, unthinking or even cruel. To me people like that aren't superior. They're extremely flawed.

5:00 It's news time. Goodnight.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

11:33 I had a doctor's appointment today at 8:30 for a blood test and consultation. I got a new prescription for Flonase, a nasal spray that used to help me a lot. I hope it does, because I am tired of this endless stuffy nose and tickling throat. I have coughed so much that my chest and throat hurt.

I made three cups of coffee this morning, instead of two. I don't want to make a habit of that, but every now and then I just want the luxury of having something tasty to sip. I'm reading the book on introversion. I have never had any doubt that I am primarily introverted, but I also have a more extroverted side – at least I am pretty assertive and interested in the external world. This author keeps talking about the preference for internal thoughts. I do read almost constantly, but I like exciting or intriguing things. I once substituted books on archeology for mysteries, and was just as interested by delving into the deep and mysterious past as I was by exciting stories. I like getting input from external sources, but am more likely to use books and TV documentaries for that than people, especially those who aren't good sources of information. The true extrovert isn't very interested in learning things. They do tend to talk mainly about other people and status activities. I like to find friends who also read and like gathering information, and whose conversation about themselves is more probing and thoughtful. Talking to them is more interesting and less likely to be full of competitive interaction. I don't like to compete. It doesn't feel friendly to me, and I don't get that thrill from winning that some people do. I always tend to protect the underdog.

This author talks about American society as being predominately extroverted, and even we introverts tend to adapt to that by opening up more as we mature. Helgoe says that making contact with other less aggressive people (aggressive is my word. This author hasn't talked about gentle versus aggressive.) and interacting in the greater depth that one on one conversation allows, or in small trusting groups, is better for the introvert. In other words, acknowledge your type and stop blaming and criticizing yourself. It's healthier and more satisfying. Make friends who are like yourself. This is what I've always done, of course. If I am invited to a large party, I probably won't attend. I like a small party with half a dozen people of mixed sexes and varying backgrounds, and I can have individual conversations within the group, plus the subjects of conversation probably won't be gossip. Of course, it also matters who is giving the party and inviting the guests. A good introvert is more likely to invite more socially open and thoughtful people. The author mentions that a psychological type conference in Britain, saying that the British people had difficulty identifying American introverts, and the Americans had trouble spotting the British extroverts. Americans are more excitable, aggressive, and talkative in general. I have liked most of the British people whom I have met. Of course, I have only met a few, and mainly while I was in college, so they were scholarly types.

“The Extroversion Assumption: -- Introversion is the exception and extroversion is the norm –- Parties are fun – Being popular is important –- It's who you know, not what you know – Networking is essential to success –- It's not good to be alone –- It's important to be a team player --- The more the merrier. The pressure to act like an extrovert can be intense. We as introverts need to improve our ability to see others who are similar. There are certain places where introverts dominate, especially libraries and coffee houses I would add, concerts, plays, and actively benign social groups such as church related activities or clubs with a common interest or goal. For me the goal is to enjoy myself and grow as a person. I have always been one who needs friends, but they are close friends rather than the type of surface-level group-centered relationships that many extroverts prefer. As an adult, I have found it possible to enjoy what I had available to me and be happy most of the time. I need the time apart from others to ponder and analyze, thus calming myself and straightening up my thinking. I do tend to make all my own decisions by myself from the “facts” gathered from either close friends or books. I am not easily swayed by pressure or “group think.” I can be a very good friend to certain other people.

The author gives information on two introverted societies, “Norden” and Japan. By Norden, she is referring to Norway and the other far north countries. One aspect I wouldn't like about that area is the very short winter days, with no sun at all on Dec. 21 inside the Arctic Circle in Norway. One thing that does drag me down into depression, or did until I began taking my current medications, is the short winter day and especially the rapidly shortening days of Autumn. October is my most anxious month. April, on the other hand is my most buoyant, giving me a high that got me diagnosed as bipolar. The author, in describing Norwegian society, says visitors “are stunned by its beauty and cleanliness.... Introverts are less likely to feel overstimulated here, and are spared the constant evidence of the other people who share this space.... The prevailing form of government, social democracy, embraces consensus decision-making.... a more inclusive “feminine” style of management, and more attention to the individual worker.” “The Norden personality emphasizes privacy, restraint, respect and equality.... The dominantly Lutheran religious culture emphasizes private faith over public evangelism. Showoffs are not appreciated.” Helgoe highlights the career of Alfred Nobel, a well-known introvert, stating that he had 350 patents and controlled factories and laboratories in twenty countries, was fluent in five languages, and wrote novels, poetry and plays. About the long, dark winters, there are “light cafes” in Norway, where your seat is served by a therapeutic light box. Light boxes light that can be bought on the Amazon website and other sites on the Net. The downside is that the taxes and the cost of running a business are very high.

“Japan: Manners Over Mouth” – Helgoe is most impressed with the tea garden, a place that is made very beautifully, not for a large group, but for an individual, and in which the sitter can meditate. Zen Buddhism, she said, is very popular in Japan. In meeting a new person for the first time, the Japanese consider holding out your hand and introducing yourself to be “intrusive,” preferring instead “holding back” or “enryo” to give the other person time to “size up the situation,” thus you wouldn't learn the name on first acquaintance. I see that gives you a chance to learn a little about the other person, and then be ready to receive their name.

I have a difficult time remembering names on first acquaintance, and do better if I talk a little first. I always want to know a little of the inner self when I am meeting a new person, so I can know if I am gravitating toward them or away from them. The name “clicks” better for me that way. My main problem is with first names, and many people when they introduce someone they only give the first name. I have a much fuller picture of the new person if I get their last name, too, since I like to guess the language and country where their family came from. According to Emily Post, when introducing people you are supposed to tell each of them something about the other. This can be demanding at a party where you may not know the people that well, but it does help that first name to stick in my mind.

The term “honorable” is used in personal interactions, showing a “reverence”, as is the bow. The following sign was put up by the owner of a narrow driveway: “We're sorry, but we must respectfully request that owners of honorable cars not connected to this household cooperate by refraining from parking in front of our humble driveway.” I can't see Americans ever going to that extent to be polite. I would feel very restricted in such a society. Maybe that is because I am only introverted to a certain extent, and can be extroverted at times. When I am feeling in a good mood, I have a good deal of energy and I want the freedom to stride confidently forward with life. I want to be gentle, but not invisible.

The result shows up in the difference between Japanese and American crime statistics. Murders in the US are 8 times more common, rapes are 25 times more common, aggravated assault 81 times, and robbery 146 times more common. On top of this, they only have 1/3 as many police, 1/5 as many judges, and 1/20 as many jail cells as we do in the US. The Japanese prize restraint, harmony and spiritual practice (over religion, per se), and the result is a safer society. According to the author, safety is very highly prized by introverts. It's necessary, really, if you are going to go by yourself and take a quiet walk in the woods. That is something that I used to do every day as a child. I came home from school, put on my slacks and tee shirt, and took my dog down in the woods behind our house to give her some exercise. That was a very safe time and place. No sexual predators ever waited there for me.

Japan, unfortunately, has one of the highest suicide rates of industrialized countries. So do the Nordic countries. In the far north it is thought to be because of the dark winters, but in Japan I would think it would be because of the suppression of natural tendencies and individualism. According to this book, the Myers Briggs test has been given in Japan, too, as well as a number of other countries, and there are about a 50 percent division of the populations worldwide between introverts and extroverts. I suspect it may be an inherited factor, from thinking about my own family. However, the extroverts in Japan must be bordering on depressed all the time, or very angry. The Japanese phrase, which I've heard before this book, is “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down,” whereas the American phrase is “It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.”

There is a trend in Japanese society toward a practice called “hikikomori,” which is the withdrawal, usually by a boy, out of society and into his room for six months or longer. One such boy had been shamed and bullied by his classmates because he had a God-given talent for baseball which made him show up his teammates, who though they tried, couldn't do as well. This is a polar opposite from American society. I wouldn't want to live in a completely introverted society. I have too much enthusiasm in my own nature to want to cope with the constant “hammering down.” Humility and gentleness is a good thing, but for a whole society to be suppressed isn't good. I would just like for Americans to be more thoughtful, polite and gentle, as some of them certainly are.

5:45 Supper and news now.

Monday, September 16, 2013

9:40 Instead of the news, I am watching an old tape I made from the TV in 2000 of a documentary called “Raising The Mammoth,” which is the story of an expedition to excavate and carry a frozen mammoth (of which there are quite a few in Siberia) to a laboratory. It is done in the autumn to keep it from thawing and therefore rotting. The scientists enlist the help of the Dolgans, a reindeer herding people of Siberia. The Dolgans often find mammoth tusks and know where to look for them. The scientists are using ground penetrating radar to find anomalies under the soil. They find a mammoth buried in the permafrost except for the tusks, which are protruding out above ground, and dig it out, carrying it by helicopter. The scientists' goal is to use the cells from the mammoth to implant their DNA in an Asian elephant's egg and produce a living cross-breed, to be used over a series of generations to develop a pure mammoth. I looked up this kind of experiment on the Internet and got an article from Wikipedia. It will probably take 5 years, and have a 1% to 5% chance of success. The mammoth DNA that is available to scientists is fractured into short pieces. According to the Wikipedia article, there were mammoths as late as 3,800 years ago on the small Russian island of Wrengel. Most, in their original range of Africa, Asia, North America, Central America and Europe, were extinct by about 7,600 years BP. Theories about their extinction include a large meteor that changed the climate and simple extermination by human hunters.

I was just thinking of Lannie, my first college roommate. I lost touch with her in the 1980's, and was hoping to find some hits on the Internet for either her or her husband, but neither shows up. She is one person I used to be close to, but as time passed I didn't write or communicate and now I can't. I was never one to write very often to anybody. I didn't like to sit down with pen and paper and do it. It seemed like a difficult task. Emails are much easier, and there is almost instant gratification since the message goes through so fast. I feel much more in touch now. I hope I never have to give up the Internet.

11:22 Finishing my mystery now. Done – It was a satisfying finish, with the lead character Kathryn Dance making the correct decision between two men with whom she was having a borderline romantic interaction without any sexual involvement yet. She chose the man who was free of entanglements, and who represented a new direction for her. Dance has been in a number of Deaver's books, so I have followed her. She was half in love with a married police officer with whom she worked frequently, and he showed no sign of leaving his wife, but didn't distance himself from Dance. That kind of thing is bothersome to me. It can't go forward, and keeps people bound into the situation, but unsatisfied. Better to just avoid the situation. Being “in love” can happen again with a more appropriate partner.

12:13 PM news – A major shooting has occurred at the DC Washington Navy Yard, with 4 killed and 10 injured. There are thought to be two shooters, whose identity and background has not been given, but one was black and the other was white. They were wearing “military style” uniforms. According to the TV at noon, one of the shooters has been killed. I'll keep track of this as the day goes on.

1:22 PM I'm starting one of the two non-fiction books that I got recently. Neither is all that fascinating, but they were the best that I spotted the other day. This one is called Introvert Power, by Laurie Helgoe, a PhD psychologist and part-time actor and model. She is quite pretty. She has written other books, including The Complete Idiots Guide To Raising Boys, The Anxiety Answer Book, and an article in Psychology Today called “The Revenge Of The Introverts.” Her advice comes from her own life, as she is herself an introvert. Introverts make up 57% of the population, rather than the 30% that psychologists formerly thought, and are no longer assumed to be maladjusted. This book is a serious study rather than just another self-help book, and her work is well-known and referenced by other authors. Let's see what she has to say. The following quotation from Buddha is in the front of the book: “Believe nothing. No matter where you read it, Or who said it, Even if I have said it, Unless it agrees with your own reason And your own common sense.” I don't think he is advocating self-centered self-satisfaction, but thoroughly and boldly thinking for oneself to come to our “beliefs.” I couldn't agree more with the statement. I don't think God gave us a critical and incisive brain to require us then not to use it, or run the risk of a fearsome Hell. We do have to make a life habit of keeping in sight the fact that our thoughts and observations could be wrong, and therefore opening our mind to new viewpoints and information. That is what I call humility, and is the counter-balance to overly developed self-confidence. Given that, I'll try to learn something from this book.

First, introverts and extroverts are very different in the way they think, make decisions and learn. In the introvert the person's brain works more effectively when they are left alone to develop their thoughts. They will solve problems, come to new understandings and absorb new information better in a quiet mode than in a loud and exciting or competitive group interaction session. According to the author, studies have been done of brain activity, and the introvert's brain is more constantly active than the extrovert's. Maybe because of this, they are subject to over-stimulation, causing the need to get to a quiet place and think for awhile. The group problem solving method that is often considered superior is not as effective for them. Unfortunately most school classrooms are geared to group interaction. So is American society in general. Japan is contrasted, with a gentler and less competitive emphasis.

The “secretive” or less expressive introvert may be suspected by extroverts as being subversive or otherwise dangerous, or even snobbish. They don't slap each other on the back because they are more reserved. They don't get a kick out of listening to gossip, because it is either threatening or simply not as interesting as ideas are. The introvert is less likely to go along with the group direction no matter where it is leading, so they are more prone to object to group excesses or just be a “wet blanket” and keep others from having fun. The introvert is harder to convince of any dogma or sales spiel, because they are more mentally “aroused.”

The author argues against introversion as indicating mental illness or maladjustment, because there are differences in the way the introvert's brain works. She doesn't consider them to be “anti-social” (having a lack of empathy and conscience), “asocial” (not interested in social interactions), or “snobbish.” Extroverts respond to external stimulation and introverts to internal. All people, according to the Myers Briggs test, are mixtures of introverted and extroverted. I gather most of the modern thought about introversion and extroversion is based on this test, which divides people roughly into groups according to how they answer questions about their preferences.

The author talks about alienation, comparing it with mere “aloneness”, in which the person may feel basically “connected” or “recognized” and is therefore comfortable The alienated person does not feel recognized or understood. Alienation is connected with more problematic psychiatric conditions than simple introversion. “As adults, we see ourselves as being empowered or understood when we see our values reflected in society.” One can be alienated from society (social alienation) or from oneself (self-alienation). “Some introverts … embrace alienation from society … drop out of the mainstream. These are the Shadow Dwellers … keep a low profile or become openly hostile.” The author goes on to describe those who look on the outside like an extrovert, achieving through great effort social success, but not “having fun” or fulfilled This self-alienation... can lead to depression.”

Ending on page 27. News now.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Bad news – A public library has opened up in Texas which has no books –- only Ebooks and computers. In Fairfax, VA the library system has decided to go all digital and was destroying books until charitable organizations and ordinary citizens complained loudly. They have stopped the destruction until the community organizations get to go through the discarded books and choose which they would like to keep for homeless shelters, hospitals, etc. I doubt that Jacksonville will do it soon, but it is being done in response to ever more restricted city budgets like ours. Ebooks are cheaper. The libraries are also getting rid of their professional library staff and hiring only library aides and other less professional workers, even for the head librarian positions. One librarian at the Texas library said that they may not have all the titles that are being sought. I think there are fewer titles that are out as Ebooks, probably. Either that or the goals of public libraries will be less lofty in the future, with the library no longer being an indispensable tool of an educated populace. People like me will be at a loss for what to do with our time. I hate this. We'll go back to the days when people had to buy books to read them, if publishers will still be printing books. I'm reminded of the “bookleggers” in A Canticle For Leibowitz. I no longer have my copy of that, I don't think. I wonder if I could find it on the Internet?

News – There is a Dengue fever outbreak in Florida at Jensen Beach. Martin County officials are going door to door to take blood, in an attempt to find out how widespread it is. Dengue fever is something I connect with other countries, but of course, south Florida is tropical. Looking on Wikipedia. It occurs in Africa, Asia and North America, and was first identified and named in 1779. The hemorrhagic fever which can develop with it is often fatal. It is characterized by high fever and intense bodily pain. Florida had 198 cases 2010, with others in Texas and Hawaii. This year there have been two cases in Florida so far.

More news – Dreaming In Cuban is on the list of recommended reading for high school students along with classics like A Farewell To Arms. A parent complained when her tenth grade student began reading the book that it was pornographic. She pointed out the page, on which was a very intense and graphic sex scene. The school immediately pulled the text from the curriculum. The author Christina Garcia defended her book, saying “students shouldn't be deprived of a broader cultural experience.” She went on to say that “many works, not just mine are misinterpreted or misguidedly banned because of the limitations and short-sightedness of a few.” The school curriculum director said the books on the list are recommended as examples of an appropriate reading level, not necessarily for purchasing. The book had been praised by a Pulitzer Prize winning author, so the Core Curriculum committee assumed it was good for the age group. The school superintendent said that they had “learned a lesson,” and that they would put steps in action to prevent its occurring again. I hope one of the steps will be for someone on the school staff to read the books, if they are not true classics like A Farewell To Arms. One reason I tend not to read modern novels that are not mysteries is that you never know what kind of story you will get, they differ so much from each other. There are often extended sex scenes in modern works, or the story may just drift around from one minor event or interaction to another without having any cohesive idea or anything resembling a “plot.” That's why I stopped reading Loose Change last week. I lost patience with it. It didn't have any sex scenes in it, however, though the women did have lovers or boyfriends. They also didn't have important events in their lives, or anything to build interest. Part of the trouble with the book was that it consisted of a series of chapters named for the women one at a time, and concerning only that woman, within each chapter. The result was an uncoordinated series of segments which didn't develop toward anything, and didn't show the relationships between the women very much. I would have preferred for the author to take one of the women and develop a story for her, carrying it to a conclusion in which she develops as a person, while also showing the interactions between them for variety.

Back to my mystery. 7:01 I'm almost finished with Deaver's book. I thought he had lost the story line for the teenaged boy, but it turned out he did have a plan, and to my relief, the attacker in the story turned out to be someone else. I just have one chapter left. I'll finish that tomorrow.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

News from last night – Dan Gorske has set a world record, eating a Big Mac or two every day since May 17, 1972. In 1911 he hit a total of 25,000 and in 2013 26,000. One article on him said that his taste buds don't work well. It also said that he has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – he has also kept every receipt he received when he bought the Big Macs. His blood cholesterol is under 200, and he is not overweight. That's the only food he eats. It didn't say whether he takes vitamins or not. He published a book of his life in 2008. I wonder if I could get a copy. It's probably not at the public library.

Two days ago Vladimir Putin published an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times with the help of an American public relations firm called Ketchum, which has been doing work for the Russian Federation since 2006. According to this article there are a number of American firms working for foreign governments, including Syria. The world is too complicated to keep up with and follow the news without dropping the ball, much less reading every viewpoint expressed. This Putin publication seemed too bold (to put it politely) to ignore, so I have copied his article in a Washington Post version with commentary and fact-checking by Max Fisher into a file on my computer to keep. Fisher defends the American stance on foreign affairs. Senator John McCain has stated that he will write an answer to Putin within the next few days. I am curious to see what Putin has to say and the general tone of his comments. I think Putin's move was disrespectful of American boundaries, but he stated that he wanted to speak to the American people. It seems possible that he is genuinely concerned about the possibility of American strikes on Syria, and the state of world peace. I must admit, I think we intervene too frequently in the affairs of other countries, all in the name of democracy. Some peoples don't want democracy, and consider America to be an aggressor. The world is too big for the US to rule and dominate totally, and when we think we are so very good and great we are being blind and arrogant. In my opinion we are in over our heads now, with Afghanistan still going on. I fear that we may lose our leader status by pushing the envelope too far, maybe even starting World War III. Our economic problems are partly due to our high level of spending on foreign enterprises, while things like public education and healthcare at home are slighted.

According to Fisher, though Putin has a number of compelling points, his writing is hypocritical and dishonest in some places. Fisher does a line by line criticism of the writing, with Putin's words in bold text and his own in plain. I have just read Putin's comments. The tone is mild and seeks consensus, though that is part of what Fisher calls hypocrisy. He does not attack Obama, except to express concern that his recent speech described the US as being “exceptional,” which I, too, think we do as a society too often. It's as though we have a right to take aggressive stances because we are better than others. That viewpoint has been prevalent in our society since World War II, when our entering the fight made a difference between Hitler's winning and losing, and anyone disagreeing with the extreme nationalism that was rampant in this country, was in for a fight, especially in the 1950's and 60's. We should remember that hatred against Jews and blacks is still too commonplace in our society as is the great disparity between the rich and the poor here, so how is it that we are so virtuous? I think we should have some humility.

Fisher, who has a Masters Degree in security studies and is the Post's foreign affairs blogger, conceded that Putin has a number of compelling and valid points, but shows hypocrisy and dishonesty in others. He also voices doubt that Putin actually wrote the piece without the help of his Public Relations firm Ketchum. Putin defends the veto power by leading nations within the United Nations as being wise, helping to maintain the stability of relations between the major nations. Fisher doesn't think it's so wise, just inevitable to get the UN on its feet in the beginning, and states that the US and Russia both use their veto power too frequently, thus making the UN less powerful. He states that Putin's fear that the UN won't survive US strikes on Syria is unrealistic. He also thinks that a US strike on Syria would be less important than Putin says, given the state of civil war currently going on. I did see on the news a Syrian militant saying that he would welcome a US strike against Assad – it would be a case of his enemy fighting his enemy, and thus be good fortune for the rebels. Fisher stresses the hypocrisy of Russia criticizing American interference, since Russia has been giving Assad weapons. Putin also, according to Fisher, has not been promoting peaceful dialogue in Syria, but instead supporting them in an all out victory over the rebel forces. Putin has also blocked efforts in the UN to censure Syria for use of chemical weapons, while saying that he proposed peace through the UN. Putin claims that the rebels were the ones to use chemical weapons, while Fisher says that there is “strong circumstantial evidence” to the contrary. I, like many others, can't forget the strong US claim that Iraq had chemical weapons, only to find that if they had had them at one time, they had already destroyed them, so our pretext for the Iraq War was a false one. Finally, Putin says that Syria has become willing to place its stockpiles of chemical weapons under international supervision to destroy them. Fisher states that this seems to contradict Putin's argument that Assad wasn't the one who used the chemicals. Also it is an attempt to portray Russia as a peacemaker, rather than an involved party in the Syrian war.

I wonder what stance McClain will take – hawkish on the issue of attacks on Syria, or trying to cover up US embarrassment over Putin's daring to issue the op-ed. The boldness of it must be troubling to Obama, as it constitutes a loss of face. The White House reportedly responded that Russia's actions internationally show the US to be indeed an “exceptional” nation, and said that our freedom of speech is evidenced in his freedom to put opposing comments in the Times, which would not have been allowed in Russia.

The relationship between Obama and Putin has been in the news. A satirist on the New York Post wrote a report of Obama calling Putin a jackass, and going on to say lots more highly inflammatory remarks against him. It was untrue, but it hit the Internet and went viral, with many people thinking it actually happened. They don't get along well, though, and have had conflicts that may have been unnecessary, making it hard to interact peacefully. Obama did say that Putin looks like a rebellious teenager at the back of the class, referring to his body language. We don't need a “pissing contest” between heads of state. It can't be helpful.

1:48 PM I went past my lunch hour again. I'm hungry!

3:19 I just got back from the grocery store, carrying a heavy load with two bags in each hand, and noticed that I was having labored breathing. I'll have to do some walking with the ankle weights to tone myself up and get some cardiovascular exercise. I need to be stronger. Of course my bronchial tubes are tight, too, from my recent allergy trouble. I have some congestion in there, more than usual. I took Claritin this morning, but it isn't as effective as it was the last few days. Maybe the pollen is worse.

Reading my mystery now. 6:28 It's getting really good. I have about another hundred pages to go.