sanjuro55's Open Salon Blog

My Kindle 2 Arrived Today!

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:02:56 -0500

I read, I read a lot. And I love electronic gizmos and gadgets. So I’m a natural target for the Amazon Kindle e-book reader. Which probably explains why I was so upset when Amazon fell so far behind in fulfilling orders at the end of 2008. Since I had decided that I wanted to try the Kindle, I wanted it now! I was tired of having to wait for books to arrive after ordering them and tired of trying to find increasingly scarce shelf space to keep them on. In short, I was ready to convert to electronic books.

Instead, I waited (but not patiently) for Amazon to announce their new version – the Kindle 2. As soon as they did, I ordered one. And what do you know? My Kindle 2 arrived today!

I walked home, opened the screen door, and the Amazon box tipped over and fell on the welcome mat. I looked in surprise – as I didn’t remember ordering a book from Amazon lately, picked it up, opened my front door, and thought “Surely this isn’t the Kindle – it’s such a small package.” (Note my glasses on the box to provide some sense of scale.)

The cardboard box had a pull off strip with the words “Once upon a time…” printed on it. I pulled it off and opened the box to see a black box with another pull off strip – which also had the words “Once upon a time…” printed on it. Nice packaging! Surely this must be the Kindle! I opened the wrapper and there it was.

Amazon’s “New Wireless Reading Device” is amazingly light, easy to operate, and comfortable to use. In less than a minute I had it plugged in to charge it and was reading the personalized letter from Jeff Bezos that came already installed. Yes, each Kindle 2 is personalized for the buyer (if they have an Amazon.com account and are not purchasing it as a gift).

I read the on-line “how to” manual which was well written and thorough and then went to the on-line Kindle Store and downloaded a free sample chapter from Malcolm Gladwell’s new book “Outliers.” The download was essentially instantaneous – as soon as I selected the book and pressed the sample chapter button, I went back to the menu and it was already downloaded on the Kindle. I read it too. All in all a half hour of reading zipped by with effortless ease. No tired eyes, no tired hands, no problems operating it.

The Kindle 2 design seems so good initially that you would not be surprised to see it labelled with a Mac Apple logo – it’s that good! As an example, note the power cord in the following photo. It consists of a USB cable that you can use to connect the Kindle to your PC to transfer files and etc. and an adapter that allows you to plug the same cord into an electrical outlet to charge the Kindle. One cord instead of two – and it’s built so that it works in foreign countries with the proper plug adapter – it handles the different voltages automatically.

Yes, the design features are very good - except. Except for two irritating problems. Using the Kindle’s advanced features involve using their “5-way controller”. You can see it in the first photo as the small square button on the lower right of the device just to the right of the keyboard. You slide this button from the side in four directions (up, down, left, and right) to highlight the preferred menu option, and then push the button to select it. It’s cumbersome and awkward.

The other annoying feature is due to the “electronic paper” technology that makes the Kindle so easy to read. Every time you page forward or backward, the screen temporarily goes dark, and then the new page displays. To its credit, it does this quickly, but there’s still the irritating sequence: press the page button, the screen flashes dark, and the new screen pops up. It’s at this point that the obvious book analogy that makes the Kindle 2 so attractive fails. When you turn the page of a book, there’s no black flash. I found that this got more irritating over time, not less.

The Kindle 2 does a number of other things satisfactorily. It plays MP3s and it does non-graphically intense Internet browsing. It allows you to copy passages and transfer them to your PC. It allows you to annotate and make notes using the all-thumbs keyboard. And Amazon.com makes an archive of every book you download, with notes and annotations, as well as the last seven issues of any periodicals you subscribe to on the Kindle so that if you have to replace the unit, you still have all your electronic materials.

I have been waiting for the Kindle 2 for a long time and am really quite impressed with the device overall. But it comes with a 30 day return period and at this point I don’t know if I’ll keep it or not. The screen is very readable but rather small – smaller than a typical paperback. And that means a lot of paging and that means a lot of dark flashes. I guess there are still advantages to real books after all.

Death Of A Rebbe

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:01:06 -0500

My rebbe died recently. Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield of blessed memory, of Portland, Oregon was 65 and died while vacationing in Mexico.

I’ve found it difficult to describe to people what it means to have one’s rebbe die. It’s true that he was the spiritual leader of our congregation – so in that sense he served the same role as a priest or minister does in a church, at least as I understand it. He was also a good friend, a spiritual mentor, and an inspiring personality.

But he was more than that too – and nothing I’ve said about him this month to my family, friends, and co-workers, somehow describes the large hole his death has created in my life.

“Rebbe” is the Yiddish word for “Rabbi.” “Rabbi” is a Hebrew word meaning “teacher” or “my Master” and is similar to the Japanese word “Sensei” in that way. “Guru” in India, or “Lama” in Tibet, is a similar word for a spiritual teacher. The word “guru” has some negative connotations in the U.S. where it is sometimes applied to leaders of cults who expect unquestioned obedience to their authority.

In the U.S., “rabbi” often refers to someone who graduated from a seminary and so might be used in the same way that we refer to ministers as “Reverend.” “Rebbe,” however, carries additional connotations because it is the term used by Hasidic communities for their spiritual leaders. The Lubavitchers refer to their last Rebbe, the late Rabbi Schneerson, of blessed memory, as “The Rebbe.” Rebbes provide spiritual guidance to their followers, not just rulings about Jewish law or leading services. And their followers often have close emotional connections with their rebbes.

So my rebbe was a righteous man, a talented songwriter and singer, a wonderful teacher, and an inspiring leader. He was my spiritual mentor and friend. I think it is also important to mention that he was a perfectly ordinary human being too. Someone who got impatient and angry, who had trouble juggling his busy schedule, and who could be frustrating (and frustrated) during committee meetings. But in all the activities of daily life, he brought a fierce energy to doing things mindfully and to feeling things deeply. He was always challenging himself, and us, to go beyond our self-limitations, our stuck places, our comfort levels.

Perhaps the best way to describe him is not through the traditional Jewish language after all, but through the Jungian language of individuation. In Jungian psychology individuation is a process of psychological differentiation, having for its goal the development of the individual’s personality.

"In general, it is the process by which individual beings are formed and differentiated; in particular, it is the development of the psychological individual as a being distinct from the general, collective psychology." (C.G. Jung. Psychological Types. Collected Works Vol.6., par. 757)

As I think of it, individuation is the process of becoming as fully ourselves as possible. This involves listening to what our soul wants and acting on it – even, especially, when our soul asks us to do things that are uncomfortable, that make us fearful, and that ignore our desires for comfort and security.

Rabbi Hirschfield was a rebbe for me, and many other people, because he confronted his shadow side, he acted in the face of his fears, and he became a wonderful role model and example of what an individuated person can accomplish in this world by becoming more and more of himself.

Looking at my own life now in the reflection of his, I see how far I have to go before I become who I really am, rather than the rather haphazard collection of roles given to me by my society, my culture, my family, and self-limiting choices. I know now that it is possible to do better than I have in developing my own true self.

Or at least I know this part of the time. I forget. I get tired and discouraged. I am both inspired and saddened, celebrating and grieving, laughing and crying.

If you’ve ever known an individuated person, you know that they are rare and precious. I feel humbled to have known such a person, and I am bereft.

May we all be blessed to have such people in our lives, spurring us on to doing whatever it is we need to do in this precious, precarious, lifetime.

My 25 Things

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:12:22 -0500

1. This somewhat doctored photo of me is actually a pretty good likeness - I live in my head, my nose is crooked, and my once beautiful brown hair is now mostly white.

2. I'm a 4th generation Oregonian who longs to live in a nice city like New York or London.

3. I visit the family plot at a cemetery in Forest Grove, Oregon, at least a couple of times a year. Several generations of my family are there - my father's grave is the most recent - and you can look around at the remaining plots and make a pretty fair guess at which one you'll occupy one day.

4. I like old pioneer cemeteries. I like walking around, looking at the different engraving styles, and calculating how long people lived.

5. My best friend for the last 46 years (but who's counting?) is also on OS. We met in grade school and he invited me to come play at his house - where his dog, a gigantic full size poodle inappropriately named "Cuddles," promptly bit me.

6. I've been married twice - once unhappily for about 7 years and the current time quite happily for about 23 years.

7. My mother taught me to play piano and read music at such an early age that I quite literally can not remember ever not reading music. More than 50 years later my mother still plays the piano quite well and certainly better than I can.

8. I love music and in addition to piano, have played trombone, guitar, and didgeridoo more or less seriously, but still not well.

9. I play lots of games, like chess, go, bridge, European board games, WOW, and anything else I can. If I had to play just one game, it would be bridge.

10. I am a serious reader and keep a log of all books I read as well as a reader's diary of especially interesting quotes/thoughts. Most years I finish at least one book a week; due to a special effort this year to eliminate some of my backlog I have finished something over 100 books.

11. My favorite book, for reasons that have nothing to do with its literary quality, is Will Cuppy's How To Be a Hermit.

12. I love all things Japanese - or at least those of a romanticized 19th century Japan.

13. I have a modest collection of fountain pens, with italic nibs, and love writing thank you notes.

14. I was a member of a Sherlock Holmes club for many years.

15. I make my living as a CIO (Chief Information Officer).

16. I did graduate work in Psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Think statistics and research methods rather than clinical psychology.

17. I have lately discovered a passionate yearning to play golf - perhaps a genetic inheritance from my golf-playing grandfather and father? - though I am by no means even a weekend athlete.

18. One of my most treasured possessions is a pocket knife given to me by my maternal grandfather 45 years ago.

19. My wife and son were both born in Ohio - a state where I've never even been.

20. I converted to Judaism over 30 years ago and remain one of the most observant atheistic Jews I've ever met.

21. I am a serious meditator, of the insight variety, and rarely miss a day's practice.

22. I know a great many people but have few close friends. I do, however, keep friends for life.

23. I'm an ENFP.

24. I don't have an entrepreneurial bone in my body - but wish I did.

25. I do overtone singing - like the Tuvaans, sort of.

The Other Woman

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:12:31 -0500

My wife was happy - relieved I think - when I told her about the other woman in my life.

I love my wife and we’ve been together for almost 25 mostly happy years, but her interests and mine have been diverging lately. Take mornings for example. I’m an early riser and my wife sleeps in, so the early morning, before work, is the perfect time for me to leave the house (quietly), and go to the other woman’s place. After 30 minutes or so of hot, sweaty action, I go back home, take a shower, change into my suit and tie, and go to the office – all while my wife is still asleep.

Let me be clear that this is an adult, consensual relationship. The other woman does it for money, I’m doing it because I want to, and it’s nothing my wife wants to do anyway. But it nags at me. I hate hiding something from the woman I love. I don’t like hiding this from my friends and worrying about which friends or co-workers I’ll run into in this small town while I’m out in the mornings. And then there’s the money, about $500 a month, not an inconsiderable amount for the 3 times a week I visit her.

She’s young, reasonably good looking, and in incredible shape – I doubt there’s an extra pound on her taut, athletic frame.

So I recently sat down with my wife and told her the news. At first she was frankly skeptical.

“You’ve joined an athletic club and hired a personal trainer?!” she said skeptically, with a nasty twisted emphasis on the “You” as in “You wouldn’t dream of doing something healthy like that!”

“Yes,” I said, “I figured it was finally time to try to lose some weight and get into some sort of shape other than round.” You should know that I’ve managed, at age 55, to retain my boyish figure, but only because my boyish figure was ball-shaped.

“I think that’s great!” she said. “Good for you!”

And so ended my life of duplicity. It felt good.

Which is more than I can say about I how I feel after going to the gym every morning (I go in and do aerobic exercises, like the tread mill or elliptical machine, on mornings when I don’t meet my personal trainer). I stagger out, sore, sweaty, and worn-out.

So why, after so many years of inactive obesity, have I suddenly decided to subject myself to such a routine? I think it’s my revenge against all those horrible gym teachers I had in Junior High and High School.

They were a miserable lot. Ex-military men who kept their crew cuts and coached various athletic teams and taught health classes. I’ve always assumed that they did gym classes because they were such bad teachers that they couldn’t be trusted to teach anything else, but perhaps a few of them chose to teach gym because of their low IQS. I don’t know.

Those six years of gym class were awful,. No instruction, no attempt to develop skills, just go out and engage in various masochistic exercises while the coaches stood around and cursed. The shower part after the class where we were herded naked into the showers and then given tiny towels that reeked of bleach was humiliating. And so any interest I had in being active (which wasn’t much) was burned into an ashen pile by my adolescent resentment.

I was quite surprised to realize one day, not too long ago, that I was still carrying around that resentment, still avoiding physical activity, and allowing those gym-teaching-bastards to control my life 40 years later. That made me mad enough that I decided to join an athletic club and hire someone who could actually teach me something about physical exercise.

I like to think that this is a healthier way to get revenge and it frequently motivates me to get up early on a cold morning and go walk on the treadmill. And though I’m not quite ready to admit this to myself, I think that I may actually learn to like it. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, the other woman sends me an e-mail, reminding me that I’m meeting her at the club at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Another hot sweaty start to a cold wintry week.

Tom Swifties

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:11:29 -0500

My father as a boy in the 1920’s read a series of not-very-good science fiction adventures for young lads featuring the exploits of Tom Swift. This was a series done by the Stratemeyer syndicate that also produced the better-known Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series. In this series, the young scientist hero, Tom Swift, underwent adventures involving rocket ships, ray-guns and other things he had invented. You can read all about the books at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift

A type of pun, called Tom Swifties, developed based on the writing style of the books. For more information about Tom Swifties see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swifties

My father enjoyed telling and hearing Tom Swifties the rest of his life and few family gatherings were free from the compulsory round of Tom Swifty punning.

Here follow a quick dozen of some my personal favorites.

“I wonder what Freud would make of that?” asked Tom dreamily.

“I like bells,” Tom intoned.

“Fresh coffee anyone?” Tom asked perkily.

“Not so loud,” Tom said quietly.

“Drop that gun!” Tom said disarmingly.

“What beautiful evergreen trees,” Tom opined.

“Lets make some hamburger,” Tom chuckled.

“Nice shoulders,” Tom shrugged.

“What a lightning storm!” Tom thundered.

“Let’s go help out at the soup kitchen,” Tom volunteered.

“I love making baskets!” Tom said craftily.

“I like generic goods.” Tom said.

“Out of curiosity, did any of you grow up with Tom Swifties in the house? “ Tom asked openly in the salon.