Episode # 72 of the NOTEFLIX production of “Troubles in the Garden”: Whoa! Suddenly our cast of Stuffed Animals does not know whether they can protest or not. Rumors abound that they may be swept off the Piazza if they persist in demanding their rights (Rites?) See? Some of them are looking at you for guidance. Should they accept what was NORMAL? Or should they go forward and change things?
The picture below reveals the disorder Scarlet’s little demonstration has brought to the Piazza. These critters cannot break windows, and such; but they can cause pedestrian traffic problems. No wonder the Establishment is concerned. Of course, ‘Things’ should change for the better; but not right now.” ‘The Establishment says.
…AND NOW THIS:
Having coffee this morning with a new acquaintance, I was asked, “Are you an Optimist, or a Pessimist?” I referred to the Country Western song/line that opines “We never get out f this world alive! ” and I made a few other cute observations. The truth is I am an optimist about my getting through the day on good terms. I’m not so sure about a lot of the world’s population doing the same. And as for the future – right now, I don’t want to go there. As for the present, there are many interesting topics being bandied about – to hold my sense of interest – and: wonderment – in this, the best of all possible world’s. To wit:
- AVE CAESAR, MORITURI TE SALUTAMUS: (“Hail Ceaser, Those of us who are about to die, salute you.” This is what the gladiators used to say in the Colosseum before the Thumbs up, Thumbs down battles played out for the thirst of the fans; back when Roma was “Rome”. If history does not always repeat itself, it seems to spiral back as a metaphor: Our football players (Pro and Amateur) are being asked by our Caesar, and some of our fans, to risk their lives by playing today, during the Pandemic, for our pleasure. TE SALUTAMUS! ( as of this posting 53of the 130 College bowl teams have said “No” to CEASAR. I’m somewhere between being an OPTIMIST and a PESSIMIST on this one.
- THE NEW ABNORMAL (-cem): A term I coined because so many people are referring to the NEW NORMAL when I think what was NORMAL before was not so much NORMAL as much as it was simply in Common Practice – and it was pretty ABNORMAL, if you ask me. Me? I think, if we move on from where we are, we should not go back to what was NORMAL before; but we should try something different – because the old NORMAL did not work so well. (What with our involvent in: Climate Change, the polluted waters, animal extinctions, Rising tides. etc.) We can change all that in the NEW ABNORMAL. Call me an OPTIMIST.
- I read studies show that people remember Fake News stories better and longer than they do Real News stories. Even worse, I read that our memories morph and build on what we have stored in there…and the Fake News stories grow and become faker even, than when they came into our so-called brains. It seems Fake News is protected by the U.S. Constitution under the concept of ‘Free Speech’. When I was a child, I lied from time to time. It seemed a NORMAL thing to do – and I was caught as often as not. I wish I had known then that I was protected by the U.S. Constitution in my behavior. That would have told my parents a thing or two. Call me a PESSIMIST on the possibility of Fake News receding in the near NEW ABNORMAL
- In the NEW ABNORMAL I will never again be asked to click on all the pictures that have a traffic light in them. Or the ones that have a crosswalk in them. I will never again be asked what my father’s first name was and when /I tell them – they tell me I’m wrong. That sort of thing will never happen again tin the NEW ABNORMAL. Call me a naive OPTIMIST regarding the online security procedures.
- China is in the news, these days, day in and day out – if you read past our election thing. It is said they have 6,000,000 new college grads that do not have jobs. You better hope they don’t speak English. Some reports say we are losing out to the Chinese on may fronts. I read, somewhere, that years ago, the Brits attempted to addict the Chinese to opium in an effort to balance their trade. What can we do? what are we trying? I also read the Chinese consume 1 barrel of oil per person a year. We consume 30 barrels per…but there are 6 times as many of them…still, you do the math…If they start acting like us, and they are, where are we going to get the oil from? and who is going to pay for it? Of course, we could use windmills for some of our energy; but I’ve heard windmills cause cancer. That has stuck in my mind. Call me a NEW ABNORMAL.
A few well thought out words:
- “An OPTIMIST is one who makes the best of it when he hets the worst of it.” -Laurence J. Peter
- “The majority of men…are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and…are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.” – A Schopenhauer. If he is right, call me a PESSIMIST in the upcoming NEW ABNORMAL
- “The place where OPTIMISM most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.” – Havelock Ellis
Enjoy,
REMEMBER (Not Fake NEWS…): The TEDDIES are coming! You will be able to vote early & often…Cast your votes for your favorite characters, or actors, or whatever they are. Soon you will be told how to swing the elections your way. …Also, COMING SOON: Mathuzala will become an ongoing Contributing Editor to the Notes From The Room Of Wonder. Look for his first column. We congratulate him on this honor!
