The Emerald Rose

Funny how time flies, and things keep going on,…I guess that’s life, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

I literally need about six weeks of complete isolation, a few meager meals, some fantastic Merlot, a comfortable chair, and my books. I need to just give the grey matter an immersion course in synapse gratification. Sound a little crazy,….yup, and that’s where it really isn’t if you think about it.

For example, about six weeks ago I decided I wanted to do some comparative religion studies and become an “armchair expert”,…besides I’m a curious fellow to begin with. I began tracking a number of leads and as I was accumulating data I realized I was woefully ignorant with regard Islam, and some fo the other “Eastern” religions. So I opted to study Islam first. I rounded up an old college text of mine, reread what it had to say, picked up a copy of a hypothetical conversation between an Imam, Caliph and a Catholic Bishop dating to the 9th century which was the doctoral presentation of a Jesuit priest I know. I also got hold of another work by a world renown Jesuit called “111 Questions on Islam”, and another book called “The Koran unveiled”. So here I am all dressed up and nowhere to go, as the old expression goes. This is not light material, and it bears reading, thinking, critical thinking, and some degree of depth. Not something I can squeeze in while I do three miles on the treadmill at the gym,….time seems to be my nemesis. So if anyone has a spare Dacha on the Black Sea with ma servant or two, or perhaps an isolated hut on a Pacific Island, with a cold keg of Guinness on tap, a small desk and comfortable chair under an umbrella with a live in housekeeper maid, and ….no, I don’t have access to these, but I could be an “expert in residence” would graciously attend several of your cocktail parties, mingle, exude scholarly wisdom and tidbits and otherwise make you look good while I read and relaxed on your Nichol. But alas no one has called or is beating down my door, (sigh!).

Oh also my computer guru is coming tomorrow to minimize my severe case of Redmond Syndrome, a very rare and oft undiagnosed ailment highlighted by a bi-polar relationship with Microsoft software and the sneaky little “automatic update” which screw up you life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness every Wednesday morning when I sit down to work on m,y computer and it tells me it must be restarted because it has been updated. “A pox on thee!” says I and hits restart to see what pain in the but little “glitch” is going to ruin my week, force me to call my Geek guru, and write him a check for watching his nimble little fingers just whiz around my keyboard and twenty minutes later say ,”There you go, it’s all fixed!”

I run my computer just like my actual desktop, cluttered with “stuff” all over it. But I know where that “stuff”is when I need it. Oh well tomorrow I will feel the joy and extascy of a victory over Mr. Gates of the Hogwarthe School of Sorcery and Windows.

Sorry it’s a short one today, gotta go to the gym, do a couple miles, work out on the Nautilus machines to make sure my Arnold Swatzenneger shape is maintained, and the women at the rest home I go to down the line will line up and drool to have me as a gin rummy partner!!

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“..a democracy is two wolves and a small lamb voting on what toi have for dinner. Freedom under a Republic is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.” – Benjamin Franklin