happy 2019!

I hope everyone reading this has the happiest new year possible. I hope you're warm, too, wherever you are. Here down under in Sydney, most days this time of year are sunny and in the mid-eighties.

As the calendar turns from the old to the new, I often think about some of the most important decisions I have made in my life and how much different things would be if I had made a different choice. What would I be doing if I had not come to Australia with my then-newish boyfriend who would later become my husband? I don't think I would be anywhere near as happy as I am now.

Happy 2019 and may you have many more.

the gadfly

In the course of reading various political websites and following several political groups on Reddit, I've seen plenty of coverage about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was elected to Congress in November 2018 and who will be seated in a few days.

She strikes me as an annoying gadfly. She's apparently never met a TV camera or microphone that she didn't like and gives what seem like deliberately provocative commentaries about other elected officials, including many on her side of the aisle, in order to generate headlines. Google her name and you'll see what I mean.

During the first day of freshman orientation for new members of Congress, she held a protest outside the leadership office. Now she's picked a fight with a retiring Senator, again from her side of the aisle.

Her politics are far to the left of mainstream America but she apparently thinks -- I'd say wrongly -- that America wants to go there. At best, America is a moderate nation. National elections are won and lost in the middle, not the far left or right.

I would not be surprised if Ocasio-Cortez introduces a lot of legislation but nearly all of it will be dead on arrival. Then she will take to the airwaves and bitch and moan about how her measures aren't even being considered by House committees.

I thought at first she was angling for a presidential run in 2020, but at barely thirty, she won't meet the age requirement in the constitution, which is 35. She will, however, be old enough in 2024, and that may be where she's set her sights.

While she obviously has some fans, I imagine there's a larger group of Americans who just wish she would put a sock in it. You can count me in that latter group.

common-sense logic

Earlier this year, I wrote an entry about how the so-called Fermi Paradox was bogus because it relied on logical conclusions that were nothing short of guesses because of an absence of facts. For those not in the know, the Fermi Paradox is a thought exercise about the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets.

I was therefore pleased to see an article written for laypersons by an astrophysics professor who critiqued the Drake Equation and said that it, too, was bogus because its proponents came to conclusions without any actual facts. The Drake Equation, like the Fermi Paradox, deals with the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets.

Now I highly doubt the astrophysics professor read my blog and adapted it to critique another theory, but it's nice to see I wasn't full of beans, considering I didn't even graduate from high school.

Both of these theorems lack common-sense logic. Then again, academics aren't always long on common sense.

the frugal millionaire

If you need a heartwarming story, this should lift your spirits: an extraordinarily frugal lifelong bachelor who wore duct-taped shoes and bought his clothes at the supermarket left an estate worth a surprising $11 million to children's charities.

Some might have thought he was miserly in his lifetime, but he had good reason: he was holding on to as much money as possible so he could give it away.

I wonder how he felt knowing he had so much money but never let anyone know. I wouldn't be surprised if someone looked down their nose at him that he secretly laughed inside.

What a really wonderful man. It's because of him I want to believe that heaven is real.

glass bacteria

I think these are both beautiful and fascinating. They're giant bacteria and virus cells hand-rendered as sculptures in blown glass.

They're designed by a British artist named Luke Jerram, and he calls the collection "Glass Microbiology." If you follow the link above, you can click on each photo, which in turn opens more photos of that particular bacterium or virus.

Most of mankind's most infamous microbes are represented: HIV, malaria, Zika, E coli, Ebola, salmonella, smallpox, and more. Some non-dangerous single-cell friends are also in attendance, including sperm cells.

If you displayed one of the glass microbes on a table in your home, what percentage of your visitors recognize unprompted what they represented? I suspect the number would be very small.

Pictured below is the E coli sculpture being polished by artist Jerram (enlargement).

royal enemas

Last night, I finished reading Gulp, an often disgusting yet nonetheless fascinating book about the human digestive system. The short book is filled with all sorts of scientific oddities and historical anecdotes relating to our alimentary canal, the system from mouth to anus.

In a chapter about constipation, author Mary Roach describes various celebrated names in recent history who have had colon disorders. She also describes how King Louis XIV of France received 2,000 enemas in his lifetime. Many of these were administered as part of his official court duties, with guests and ambassadors calling and, at times, the king himself eating while being cleansed.

The historical record is silent as to why the king had so many enemas -- was it simply because he believed it a healthy practice or because of chronic constipation?

Whatever the answer, the practice was not threatening to the royal health. The king lived to be almost eighty, which was an uncommonly old age for the era.

the better films of 2018

The husband and I have been working through the big box of screeners that my Hollywood writer friend sent to me. I thought I'd do a post of what stood out for us. At the same time, none of these completely blew our socks off in terms of story but some did have very notable performances.

So presented in alphabetical order, we thought these were worthy of a viewing:

BlacKkKlansman I'm not really a Spike Lee fan because I think most of his movies are somewhat heavy-handed, but this is a refreshing exception. He still goes over the top at times but it's arguably one of his best films.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? The script and directing are uneven at times, but Melissa McCarthy's performance is so outstanding that this film should not be missed. She seems guaranteed to snag an Oscar nomination.

First Man A polished, highly watchable film about Neil Armstrong's quiet quest to be the first man to walk on the moon. The film really is gripping at certain moments even though everyone watching knows how the story turns out. Ryan Gosling does an outstanding job playing a character who keeps everything tamped down inside, and Claire Foy perfectly accompanies him with a stellar performance. Expect Oscar noms for both.

First Reformed Downbeat and grim, like all of Paul Schrader's films, the movie nonetheless is compelling because of Ethan Hawke's outstanding performance which will surely garner Oscar attention. I would not be surprised if this is also nominated for best picture, and I expect Schrader will pick up nominations for writer and/or director.

Leave No Trace This is a small character film about a damaged father and daughter and beautifully done. The leads, played by Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie, are exceptionally strong. I suspect this film will receive some Oscar attention, but given the talent is not "A-list," I expect nominations but no wins, as often seems to happen with independent films.

Roma A beautiful film from writer/director Alfonso Cuarón. It feels a bit pokey at times, but that's to be expected for a non-studio film. I would not be surprised if this wins the best picture Oscar.

We still have about thirty screeners left in the box that we haven't yet watched, so this list is by no means complete.

merry christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone reading this. I hope your day is special and memorable.

Although this is also our tenth wedding anniversary today -- yay! -- we don't have anything special planned. At least I'm not aware of anything. We'll spend morning at home with the children opening gifts and then the afternoon and evening with James's family.

Have a great day. And if you can't be good be careful!

the last fighter

I think this man was an extraordinary individual -- he was Simcha Rotem, believed to be the last surviving fighter from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 and also one of the last surviving fighters from the Warsaw Uprising a year later.

Facing certain death in liquidation camps like Treblinka, Rotem and his fellow fighters chose instead to resist, knowing they would almost certainly be killed for trying. Rotem nonetheless survived and helped lead fellow survivors to safety through the Warsaw sewers during the final hours of the uprising.

Sometime thereafter he returned to Warsaw and, later, fought alongside the Polish resistance in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.

How many of us would have done what he did if we were in his shoes? There's no way of knowing, but I'm sure most of us would hope we would fight back, too.

May he rest in peace.

The period photograph below (enlarged) shows resistance fighters captured during the uprising in 1943. They were executed shortly after this image was taken.

do you fear robots?

According to a recent survey, 72 percent of Americans are at least somewhat worried about a near future where robots will perform many tasks now being done by real people.

Well I'm not one of them. I'm fine with robots as long as they don't put me or my loved ones in danger. What's the point of technology if you don't realize it to its full potential?

I have to imagine that a future filled with robots will lead to some frustrations. Anyone who has battled with a voicemail system can attest to that. And then there are the YouTube videos of robot vacuums spinning nonsensically in a room.

If you're youngish now, by the time you become elderly, robots will be ubiquitous and helping older folks. That sounds like a very good thing IMHO.

reading faster

When it comes to reading speed, I think I'm pretty average. I've know people who read much faster than I do and some who are slower, too.

Nonetheless, I think I'm reading faster than I used to. I guess with time my reading has become faster because I do a lot of reading now.

My electronic library record shows for 2018 I will have read about 125 books, or two-and-a-half books a week. Now parts of some of these books I listened to as audiobooks, so that probably means I actually read the print form of about a hundred books. Still, that's more books per year than I've ever read before.

All in all, the only value in reading faster is that you can read more. I would never want to read so fast that it's not enjoyable, but speedier reading is preferred, if possible.

FWIW, I've never been much of a "comfy chair" reader. When I read, it's at a table or desk with the book laid on the surface before me. If I try the comfy chair approach, I sometimes fall asleep.

I read somewhere not too long ago that heavy readers in life are far less likely to develop dementia in their later years. I certainly hope that's true. I've been a big reader all my life and hopefully will be so the rest of my life.

Just as long as I don't die with a book half finished. Then again, heaven hopefully is a huge library so maybe it doesn't really matter.

sober advice

I was fixing lunch for the children yesterday when Baby Three decided to kick up a storm. I sat in a chair so the boys could feel their little brother in action.

At five, Joey had more practical questions. Does it hurt? Why is he kicking? Can he hear us talking?

At nearly three, Tombo had more surreal inquiries. What is he playing? Is he trying to come out? How come he's our brother?

Joey has a picture book about pregnancy that shows a baby growing inside his mother at different stages during the nine months. I brought that out and explained what the baby was doing inside me and why.

Tombo looked at me very seriously and said, "Careful. He might fall out."

roots ignorance

I spoke via Skype with one of my cousins earlier in the week. I mentioned an elderly great uncle we share. My cousin then said something like "how are we related to him again?"

I was surprised. I explained that he was the youngest of our grandfather's five brothers and the next to youngest of the eleven children. My cousin then went on to say he had no idea our grandfather had so many siblings.

Now this cousin is almost my age -- he's a little over a year younger than I am. He grew up in the same Pennsylvania county where most of my grandfather's extended family was located. I grew up three states and nearly a thousand miles away.

How did he not know all this? Not only do I know all my grandfather's siblings names, I know their birth order. I also know their parents names and grandparents names and, for one of those grandparents, all the names back to our six-times great grandfather who was the sibling of a Revolutionary War notable.

I know my cousin is not alone in this roots ignorance. Lots of people are that way. My husband is like I am -- he knows his family history back to before his ancestors were transported to Australia. A lot of my family's history came via my late grandfather. I can now share that with my children when they're older.

(A little aside here: many Australian natives are descended from British prisoners who were transported here as part of their sentence. A good number of those were political prisoners and not criminals.)

History is interesting and particularly so when it intersects with your own family's past. Knowing that family history renders overall historical knowledge much more interesting.

Know your roots, because you never know what's back there until you find out.

an incredibly bad idea

There's a movement gaining strength in Russia to bring back monarchism and have Vladimir Putin crowned Czar for life. What a really, really bad idea.

Less than two decades ago, Russia was moving toward democracy. But now it's moving backwards and flirting with a monarchy.

In reality, as a quasi-dictator, Putin acts much like a czar in an absolute monarchy. Formalizing that with a crown on his head, however, would legitimize his extreme corruption and cruelty.

I'm of firm belief that an honest, open democracy is the highest form of government known to mankind. Moving backwards to crown someone like Putin would be a grave mistake and a blemish on Russia's history for all time.