Brown Motion

As Covid ravages I sit at home. Sometimes as the sun shines I go and sit in my backyard with a camera. What I saw through the lens was a variety of wildlife making its way as if nothing had changed.  And to them it had not.  Perhaps an unusual stillness had descended with the goofy H sapiens sapiens not making an appearance as often.  These noisy creatures with their large mechanical smoke belchers had suddenly and magically stopped wandering.  So many a winged life buzzed, or chirped and others circled. The turkey vulture pictured below scanned its food supply chain down below and ... ..eyed the little guy sunning himself ... as he in turn kept a wary eye or two on its newly minted offspring pictured below..

Modern day life has brought many a convenience to us humans.   A toaster to toast a piece of bread by merely pressing a button or a steaming cup of caffeine with the press of another button.   And that is just to start our day. Our entire existence now has become subject to multiple button pressing activity, least of which is the incessant banter between two or more individuals of our species using the manifold tech available to us. Communication therefore has transformed from what used to be a difficult exercise in millennia past and now more so become central to our (perceived) success as a civilization occupying this rock. I would argue how and what we choose to communicate in today’s day and age are immensely important to our future survival.   The POTUS presenting a point of view about a deadly pathogen and its impact to society vs a trained immunologist articulating what we as a society need to do for self-preservation brings it home to many of us. ...

This phrase has often made headlines in these extraordinary times. Viewing our planet and its occupants as one entity in the universe.  Devoid of class and socio economic barriers, and without the lens of our otherwise jaded views on gun control, pro life or not, same sex or otherwise, cultural biases et al. From the Dalai Lama to the otherwise rebellious folk; from milk lovers to the lactose intolerant; Republican to Democrat, we all realized that it is critical to view this as more than a passing issue. A small organism of which we seem to know little has threatened the way of life.  No not way of life. But LIFE. It is crunch time.  The species slowly but surely awoke.  Outliers exist but largely we get it. It has also put a sensitive and debate topic to the forefront of whether socialist or capitalist models work best in case of such an unprecedented event. Time will tell.  I have no idea.  There are merits to each model and some Scandinavia...

It is said one must focus on what one likes and have a positive outlook about life in general.  I say its worth trying.  In the spirit of that concept below I will share some of my simple joys that I can partake as I go through life. These also tend to actually improve the quality of my life.  In no particular order these are things I see, read or do.  Food or Drink I consume or people I meet.  I must say the latter is a relatively low percentage in attributing to quality of life but that's just me. I am sure people can figure out a similar matrix for themselves and figure out how to boost the engagement with things that matter to them most.  Perhaps we will all be happy that way! Humor is a big part of my life and I seek it out in many ways - sometimes it just happens to be in your face when you least expect it... While Bourdain is gone he left an amazing legacy behind.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching him delve into a new frontier using a...

I was led to believe that I was born about this time of year over four decades or so ago.  There is this moment in time when one gets to ponder what their life has been and that day is their birthday.  That if memory serves can be an interesting exercise esp not knowing what the future holds because - 1.  No one knows what is round the corner; 2.  What is round the corner or at an angle from the corner may or may not be as exciting or worthwhile as what already has been. Now I am told that I was extracted from my mother's womb by an aunt who specialized in such matters and assigned a name which in Sanskrit (language) translates to the "Dawning".  A lot of things true to that nomenclature are still dawning on me so all is well there. While it can be said that the first two decades I was growing up I was in India the latter couple plus to date were in America, where I continued growing except laterally.  I plan to address that as part of the coming fe...

Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become graduates . The procedures and traditions surrounding academic graduation ceremonies differ around the world. Whereas in most countries a graduation usually only occurs at university level, in the United States graduations often occur at high schools where no higher education qualifications are conferred upon the graduates . In a graduation ceremony the students dress up in special graduation caps and clothing that are made just for this purpose. So it was last week where all across America students graduated from kindergarten all the way to college.  As with word usage and ceremony the local culture plays a key role in what defines a term.  America is well known for capitalizing on any idea and milking it even if it is a bull (pun intended). Take graduation for example. I literally saw small children the size of a gnome holding ...

Yeah right! Catchy title though don't you think?  In organizations big and small, from third world to first world, from government to privately run the scourge and perhaps a form of entertainment to an extent is the phenomenon of office politics. It is as omnipresent as staplers.  Or people with BO.   Or this misguided notion of work life balance.  It is just there.  It is part of the psyche or the fabric of the organization.  It is mostly a result of lack of trust amidst the employee pool within and across organization boundaries.  It is what becomes a source of anxiety for many, to the point it affects morale and also productivity and therefore profitability. Could it be possible to end office politics? It is like saying can people always be held to a high standard and be guided by a moral compass? Not possible!  Deal with it.   Many a cartoon strip (Dogbert et al) and TV shows have made an appearance t...

While Latin is not my forte I got to thinking if the origin of certain words had to do with the date in history when Julius Caesar was a victim of Homicide. This month - specifically around the Ides  (perhaps it happens each month - just that I happen to have time to watch the idiot box) I noticed we have quite a collection of and conversations about - Homicides  - someone murders someone else Suicides - someone murders themselves Infanticides - someone kills an infant Genocides - large group killings While I think these phrases are used by the media to sensationalize stories I think our human brain has still not evolved beyond basic hunting and gathering across the board or globe. The human brain weighs in at less than 2% of total body weight but is capable of doing amazing things.  Murdering others included. The size of the human brain in contrast to a chimp's which weighs five times more seems to be adapted to doing things smarter, what with ANOT...

We watched 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' over the long Memorial Holiday weekend in the US.  Then we bookended the weekend with an old spy film called 'The Good Shepherd' directed by Robert De Niro. This weekend we remember the soldiers that lost lives over the many wars America fought.   Rightly it is about honoring the unquestionable courage and sacrifice that men and women provided in serving their country.  Another blog might perhaps cover the nuances of whether all wars were worth fighting, but as Dr. Fredericks in 'The Good Shepherd' tells Wilson (Matt Damon), "we are all bootmakers to the kings". Another quote from De Niro's character says, "After all is said and done we are all clerks too".  All these embedded lines in movies sometimes highlight the real world a lot of us live in where we do not get a chance to explore the unknown or speak freely of our ideas, however democratic our institutions might appear to be - marriag...