Muse? What muse?

Well, that sure was short-lived.

It's interesting reading the 'Why Muse?' post. Especially since I have left the wife, grandkids and commotion of that life and started my life anew.

Life is much simpler now. And much, much more enjoyable.

More details to come. In the meantime, let me leave you with my New Year's Resolutions for 2014:

1. Have fun
2. Survive until 2015

(See? Much simpler)

Political Press Coverage Sucks

As we enter the full blown political season to elect our next President, I am struck by the terrible way we are served by the press - especially on television - by their coverage of the candidates. So much of the coverage sounds like a gaggle of teenage girls ... "OMG! I can not believe he just said that! Did you hear that? He is *so* wrong!" The message from the political camp mouthpieces, designed for television, is just as bad; talking points designed to convey an image.

Where is the substance? Where are the detailed policies? Where are the face-to-face discussions that expose the strengths and weaknesses? I hope the McCain-Obama town hall style, Douglas-Lincoln debate style events really happen. But they never will as long as the 'average' American has no desire to listen. The 'average' American is would rather hear:

"OMG! I can not believe he just said that!" "He's so old" "He's an Islamic terrorist" "Shut the fuck up!" "Fuck you" "Bitch!" "OMG, I am so not voting for you!"

Why muse?

Now that I have created a pleasing (to me) design and confirmed that I understand all the workings of Blogger, let me set forth my goals for this blog.

My work life is full of exact statements of programming code designed to accomplish various work goals or terse documents that fully describe the end result of those exact statements. While the work does fulfill me and keeps me sharp, it leaves me filling empty at times - no one can appreciate the beauty of my work, the completeness of my solution, the wizardry contained therein.

My home life is full of wife, mother-in-law, children and grandchildren, clamoring for my attention. Children who should have been out of the house years ago steal attention from those who deserve and require my attention now. Grandchildren whose rearing should be attended to by their parents instead come to their grandparents. Conflicts between spouses that should be handled in the privacy of their own homes are screamed out loud for all to hear. A wife who should have, and deserves, my complete attention suffers from inattention as I seek to escape the pandemonium.

My escape has involved acquiring new toys, my Kindle and iPhone, or playing with new technology such as the virtual world of Second Life (SL). During my escapes, when I read something like The Gathering by Anne Enright, wander through my old favorite The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, listen to The Body Is A Stairway Of Skin by Over the Rhine or create a new landscape in SL and view it at sunset, I begin yearning to more completely express what I think; expression void of terse statements, expression that is not guarded, expression that exposes the beauty, mundane and horror around me.

This blog will be my attempt at expressing what I think and feel. As much as possible it will be edited only to bring out the beauty of language. It may offend. It may inspire. It will expose my mind and heart to you.

Start

This is just a start to see how this appears. More blogging to come ....