Below are the 12 most recent journal entries recorded in exolinguist's LiveJournal:

Sunday, September 10th, 2006
10:36 pm	I see that I didn't write anything in August. Not surprising, since my father passed away on the 16th of the month, which was a busy one. Even without the complication of external events, I seem to find far too many ways to keep myself busy. Sandy and I have made a couple of trips to Astoria recently, and are thinking that we may eventually buy a house and relocate there. It's a sweet little town, and actually reminds us of San Francisco. I'm starting to get a little bit into my instrument repairing again, and sold a couple of guitars at a recent flea market at our Unitarian church. BY the way, it was nice to see Leif there today, though he isn't currently a member. My Almensk project (constructed language) is moving forward again. I've recently revised the grammar a bit, to make it more flexible and amenable to colloquial usage, and the dictionary now has 6,700 words. Je skal skriva delar av denna LJ dagbok, eler blog, po almensk. Moske je skal skriva de mer privat delar po almensk. For jer, min audiense, det mo vara motivasjon at lera jej det! Je hob' at det skal vara so. More soon. (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 9th, 2006
2:35 pm	Yesterday Sandy and I went over to Vancouver to see Al Gore's new documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. I think it's really excellent, and it left a deep impression on both of us. A friend who had seen it a couple of days earlier said that she thought there was too much of Al Gore in it. But the truth is, this has been his issue for more than twenty years. He's beat the drum for it in Congress and in over a thousand talks, all over the world. He's very committed, and he's very well-informed. He's also a convincing speaker. Before I get too much deeper into this, I think it's important to dispose of the myth that global warming is "only a theory," about which scientists are still divided. As pointed out in the documentary, a careful study was done of the conclusions reached in over 900 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The number that disagreed with the threat and its seriousness was . . . 0. That's right, zero. Among reputable scientists, there is NO DISAGREEMENT. And yet, when they sudied over 600 articles on the subject in the popular press, they found that 53% came to the conclusion that we couldn't really know for sure whether there was a problem. How can we explain this discrepancy? Well, money talks, and lobbyists and PR companies are working very hard. Unfortunately, they're working very hard in the wrong direction, and so is the current administration. There are a lot of people who don't want you to know about the problem, because they believe that any solution will be "bad for business." Well, how bad for business would it be to lose the planet, allowing it to become incapable of supporting human life. Ten of the hottest years in the last 600,000 years have occurred in the last 14 years. Does that not seem worthy of note? The huge storms that we had last year, and the floods and droughts happening all over the world are exactly predicted, not by the Old Testament, not by the Book of Revelation, but scientific studies of global warming. Nothing happening these days, including Hurricane Katrina, should surprise us. That storm, by the way, was only a "1" when it first made landfall in Florida. The heat of the waters of the gulf brought it to a "5." The melting of the polar icecaps, if the trend is not stopped, will obliterate the Netherlands, New Orleans, much of coastal Florida, many Pacific Islands, and many other places in the world. POlar bears are drowning (something never seen before) because they can't find solid ice that will support their weight. They swim as much as 60 miles in the search, and end up drowning. To ignore this situation, let alone mislead anyone about it, would be unethical. It's the most important issue that will come up during our lifetimes. Let's start doing something about it. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 3rd, 2006
10:09 pm	Yesterday Sandy and I were at the Sunday service at our little Unitarian fellowship. The subject for the day was, appropriately, patriotism. Several members of the congragation had prepared talks, which they read, and these were impressive. Parts were emotional, as we talked about a country that we love very much, and those who would take away those things that we most love about it. At places the speakers were clearly angry, as they spoke of the redefining of the word "patriotism" to mean support for the neocon agenda, for Bush administration policies, for a misguided war, and for an over-reaching law that threatens some of the most basic and important parts of our Constitution. The thing that sticks in my mind most, though was one of the definitions of true patriotism that were given (quoting someone named Abby or Abbey, I didn't catch the whole name): "Patriotism is protecting your country from its government." Sad, but true. Things are really bad, guys. We're in trouble when the country is being led by someone so ignorant that he claims that global warming is "the cruelest lie ever told to the American people." Yep, we're in deep doo-doo. There may be a way out, though. Our friend Nancy sent Sandy one of those things that get forwarded around the Internet. It was a photograph of a woman at a demnostration, and the sign she was carrying. The sign said, "Somebody give Bush a blowjob, so we can impeach him." (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 17th, 2006
10:03 pm	Don't know how it happened, but five onths have gone by since my last entry. In February we had a great week at Capistrano Beach with some very dear friends (Jim, Hilde, Patty, Natalia, Ursula). Right after that, Sandy and I made a quick trip to Lemon Grove. I was very conscious that it might be the last time I would see my mother, and indeed it was. She passed away on April 18. I knew when she died, and my sibs who were there confirmed it, basically to the minute. Somehow I don't feel very comfortable talking about telepathy, though everyone in my family pretty much takes it for granted. Sandy and I spent the whole month of May travelling (or traveling, if you prefer). We went to Miami, Linden VA, DC, Charlotte, Brevard NC, Hendersonville NC. We rented a little apartment for our week in Brevard, which was great. While there, we saw too many friends to name them all, nore people than we know even in the Bay Area. We listened to a lot of Bluegrass music and even got to pick and grin with our friends Wanda and Zach in Waynesville (where they say "you uns" instead of "y'all--it's near the famous Cold Mountain). The last part of the trip was a visit to friends in the Bay Area (SF, Pinole, and Antioch). Naturally, there wasn't enough time to see everybody, but it was great anyway. The trip told me several things. I was really ready to get back home, so I guess I don't just live to travel. As you get older, it gets to be harder work. I know now that I could live in several other places, including Florida and Brevard. Actually, being in Brevard really made me want to live there again. Aside from the many people we know, I really miss the music. Anyway, we're definitely back to reality. On June 6 Sandy had knee-replacement surgery. Since then I've been nurse and housekeeper, cook, shopper, and whatever. She's doing very well, and I'm barely managing to keep up with everything. Still, I'm making it a point to use the hot tub and do some yoga every other morning, which helps to keep me healthy both mentally and physically. The interest I seem to be concentrating on these days is the research into WS and his circle. I've learned some interesting things, and each new discovery seems to lead to others. One thing I like about it is discovering some fascinating authors that I really didn't know before. There are some very interesting people from the first few decades of the twentieth century, many now mostly forgotten except by bibliophiles (yep, I guess that would be me). I'm not really looking forward to the time when Sandy sees all of the book charges on the credit card. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 17th, 2006
2:41 pm	I seem to have some catching up to do. Sandy and I travelled a lot of the time in December, though not exactly by choice. In early December we went to the memorial service of our good friend Chris Noyes, in the Bay Area. While there, we caught a hell of a cold. From the tenth to Xmas day, we were in Southern California (Lemon Grove), trying to help my mother to transition to living alone for the first time since WWII. Just before that, my father was placed in an Alzheimer's facility. My mother has memory problems, too. Sandy and I have been struck, recently, by news reports that indicate that exercise may be a very important factor in avoiding Alzheimer's. Accordingly, I'm doing my yoga more regularly and using my pull-up bar. Sandy and I are talking about joining a health club. I've added a new learning curve to my life: massage. About nine months ago we bought a massage table, but so far it's only been used for Sandy to get massages from a professional massage therapist who lives in our marina. I have a lot of massage books, and it's something I've wanted to learn for a long time, so I'm finally doing it. The style I'm learning is Holistic/Intuitive, which is a form of traditional western oil massage. By the time I update this journal again, I should have a report. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 15th, 2005
8:42 am	I am currently in "guitar-landia," occupied with reparing junk guitars that I find in thrift stores. This all started while we were still in California and I found an Epiphone with a hole bashed into the side of the box. I bought it for $15, patched it with resin, put new strings on it, and set up the action, and when we left I sold it for $50. Of course, that didn't compensate me for the many hours I spent working on it. That is still true now, with a no-name steel-string Korean guitar and a nylon-string Paracho from Mexico. I'm also working on a Tara ukulele from Taiwan, for which I made a nut out of a wood pencil. I'll probably keep the uke, which I like better than the brand new Indonesian one that I got rid of when we left California. Anyway, the point is that the work is it's own reward--in my opinion, it's the most fun you can have with your pants on. (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 22nd, 2005
11:04 am	Sandy and I went to a concert of chamber music at the Broderick Gallery last night. We popped in about an hour early to get tickets and leave an article of clothing draped over a couple of chairs in the front row. Then we went for dinner (just tapas) at Fernando's. Guess I shouldn't tell everybody about this trick, because it'll stop working. The group performing was the Florestan Trio (Janet Guggenheim, piano, Carol Sindell, violin, and Hamilton Cheifetz, cello. They were great. The program consisted of Beethoven's Sonata No. 1 in D Major for Violin and Piano, Opus 12, No. 1; Debussy's Sonata in D Minor for Cello and Piano; and Mendelssohn's Trio No. 1 in D Minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Opus 49. I especially liked the Beethoven, since I tend to like the early sonatas a lot. The Debussy was interesting, but not really our cup of tea. For me the surprise of the evening was the Mendelssohn. I usually tend to think of his music as overdone and melodramatic, but I would characterize this Trio as lush and sensuous. We complimented George on one of his own paintings, which he had hanging unobtrusively in the back part of the gallery (Girl in the Window). It's very humorous and trippy. We'll be watching for some modifications that he's planning to make to it to lead the eye to the rest of the painting. Right now, all you really look at is an oversized window and girl, who looks a lot like Audrey Tautou (sp?) and has a look on her face that's so goofy that it is hypnotic. It may be George Broderick's Mona Lisa. On a complete other wavelength: As I write this, I'm listening to disc 2 of Lucinda Williams' Live @ The Fillmore. (Yes, I know, how can a classical music fan and a LW fan inhabit the same body--but it happens.) Anyway, although there are no new songs on it (I have all of her CDs), it's a great album. She redoes all of the songs, even the early ones, in the style that characterized her World Without Tears CD, which I guess is just the way she sings now. Some of the guitar work from her backup group is astounding, and to me it's in places very reminiscent of the old days at the Fillmore. Dynamite stuff, and I highly recommend it, like all of Lucinda's work. The version of World Without Tears is better than the already wonderful one on the original CD. Go get it. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 18th, 2005
3:21 pm	Lo romanyol es una lingua molt fàcil. Todas las personas que ja parlan una lingua romànica poden aprender e parlar romanyol. Lo romanyol ten tambè una bellesa singular. Per què no juntar-te con lo grup? Esta es l'estaciòn del anyo, e ora es lo temp. --Don http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romanyol (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 15th, 2005
5:38 am	We've recently seen tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. The death toll from the recent earthquake in Pakistan has now reached 40,000. Tens of thousands of people in the mountains of Pakistan and Kashmir are without any help or refuge, and it's starting to snow. What will the next catastophe be? It seems to us that nature is punishing us. The worst thing is that, to a certain degree, we deserve it. Today I was reading the words of an Occitan poet (Leon Còrdas), concerning the struggle for equality (or at least survival) for minority regional languages. What he said was approximately this: "Your language is worth as much as mine. Let us each make of ours an intrument of liberation." In light of recent events, I'm moved to change the words a little bit: Your life is worth as much as mine. Let us each make of ours an instrument of liberation, of peace, and of the survival of the planet. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
8:13 am	Our recent trip was great. The first leg, from Portland to Eureka, was a bit too long for us (eight hours). We stopped in Ukiah just to time our grand entrance into San Francisco. It was nice to see old friends there, as well as in our other Bay Area stopping places: Pinole, Antioch, and Oakland. I had a great birthday dinner at Café de la Paz in Berkeley on the last night before we hit the road again. Great to see Nubez and Tom in LA. The San Diego (Lemon Grove) part of the trip had its hard parts, as we had expected, but it was good to see Mom and Dad and some sibs. The low point was undoubtedly Dad's fall while we were there. The bright spot every morning was breakfast at the Food Factory, a very friendly neighborhood place. Best of all was a special birthday purchase at La Casa de Empeño (which sounds a lot better, I think, than Lemon Grove Pawnbrokers). On the way back we stopped in Fresno and Sacramento (great to see Cindy and Elaine), and Medford (where we crossed with Mairen coming the other way, but did not know it at the time). The last leg into Portland was uneventful, except for a downpour we went through. It felt really good to get back home. (Comment on this)
Monday, September 5th, 2005
10:54 pm	I feel the need to say something about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and the tragedy brought about by the inexcusably and inexplicably slow response to it. I'm too pained, stunned, and speechless to say more than that I've never been so ashamed of my own government. It is a government that exists for the Halliburtons of the world, not for us. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 18th, 2005
10:06 pm	Sandy and I had a nice time gallery hopping today. We found a new gallery that we like (Gottlieb, which is now between 2nd and 3rd on a cross street around Morrison or Yamhill). We also visited our friend at Wené (1307 SW 1st). Best of all, we found the Broderick Gallery again (I think it's the 800 block of SW 1st). George Broderick, at 71 years, is quite a guy. He had a lot of interesting things to tell us about his trips to Cuba (that's a trip I'd like to take, too). He has an artist that we absolutely love, Crawfurd Adamson. The way the guy handles light and shadow with different-colored swatches of paint is just amazing. There is one nude that we particularly like, and which we also admired last time we were there, several months ago. Only $4,800. :-( It would be nice to be able to buy some of the stuff that we can only admire. All in all, it was a lovely day. Lunch at Tom's Bento was good, and someday we'll have a drink outside at the Veritable Quandary (referred to by folks in the neighborhood as VQ). We also discovered what looks like a great Spanish restaurant--Fernando's Hideaway, also on 1st. Portland seems to have everything we need (except for a few friends who haven't yet seen fit to move here). (Comment on this)