A Personal Note from my friend Stan

Received this recently from my friend Stan. The stream of consciousness style is usually not to my personal taste, yet this has power and heart and he asked me to post it here, for which I am greatful.

It is titled: Unerring Hearts at 14

My beautiful and bright Leah.
Be bright! Vote for Goodman.
Smack in love at first sight.
A wonderful smart discerning love.
Our meeting a perfect image.
Our unerring hearts given in that moment.
Who knew? Me, She, Us, Them, All?
Yes! Proud of our unerring hearts!


Each day, each afternoon our math class.

Jammed-close rows of school desks.
We, desk-front to chair-back.

Awakening moment by shared moment.
Her rich earth brown hair flipping and curling.
Her back, neck, and shoulders.
So close to my fingertips and nose.
Her sweet smell, smart eye, and voice.
Quick and ready her smile and laugh.
Every inconceivably precious afternoon.
I worked hard to reach that chair at her back
and she knew it.
Again proud of our discerning hearts.

Incredibly! In her home. Invited one day.
Mom, Brothers, a TV, hooked rugs, eating dinner.
Leah's canopy bed and pillow glimpsed
As mom gathered up a night gown.
Protecting innocent gaze and modesty.

Left together in her bedroom.
Why? To find a book.
Saved at the foot of her bed
Kneeling to the bottom shelf.
She selected with care and speed.
Rising up before me now
face to face she opened it.
bowed to read to me.
I listened entranced
by the top of her head.

Oh! lets walk outside.
We need air and sun.
Orange trees in rows.
Opaque green leaves
fat jewels in drooping bracelets
draping leafy arms
spreading before us.
Accolades of light
splash our shoes and faces.
Side by side almost touching
sometimes bushing sweetly.
We floated from step to step
in lush summer grass.
You could be a radiologist!
She told me.
Oh! dear young woman.
Oh! dear young man.
It's your soul's wedding day.
No other to be.

Soon came that hateful spell
cast upon us, unexpectedly lasting.
Having a strange sickening durability.
Again and again coursed apart
The years of cursed elusiveness.
She in some other place.
Some unreachable distant life
fully involved and committed.

And now, incredibly,
I find her insane and alone,
living not miles away.
Where she is perfectly safe
from my gentile kisses.

Damn those who feared me
and my molecular genetics.
(Gee Dr. Goodman, I’ll change that right away!)
Why were those people,
that circle of adults so brutal?
Was our innocence so horrifying?
Is cruelty in short supply?

Oh, how they feared and talked.
No-one told this young man about hate.

Das Boot Kamp for Content Creators

Steven Oracle's Das boot kamp for content creators.
Lesson 4: Harsh awakenings and peaceful interludes.

Okay aspiring writers how're you doin' ?
Have you finished reading The Elements of Style?
Have you finished reading Stephen King's On Writing ?

Good.

Now you know something about writing. Something like the answer to the Q.s: How many parts of speech are there? Or, which of them must every sentence contain? Yes, those things you now know.

However, you are no Joseph Conrad, nor are you likely to be. Reality, though harsh on tender egos, must be faced. You, the aspiring content creator, are not likely to become a great writer.

No one is Joseph Conrad, nor is anyone Mozart. They are not of this earth. Both have ascended to the content-creator's Pantheon leaving only certain holy treasures in our keeping.

On the other hand, you are yet of this earth. And being of this earth, it is appropriate, from time to time, to take up the task of appreciation. Let us do so now.

So, what does good writing look like? Seen any good writing lately? You've seen some if you did your homework. Snippets of same in TEOS and SKOW. Did you like it? Nice, huh?

So, what if any good news do I have for you? Well, the good news is that you too can become a good writer. Yes you! We all can properly aspire to create content by means of good writing practices. Let this be your goal. Modesty and determination in acolytes is fitting and proper.

So much on good writing, for the moment.

Now, you are probably thinking: “If there is good, what of the enemies of the good, namely the better or the best?”

Fair enough that you should wonder. What then does apex-sine-qua-non-super-genius-nee-plus-ultra writing look like? Many aspiring acolytes ask this question, in one form or the other. Some don't and end up reading Finnegan's Wake.

To answer those who do ask sincerely we cite the author widely viewed, by those with any sense, as the Mozart of prose, P. G. Wodehouse.
This Wodehouse fellow (pronounced Woodhouse, not Boathouse as my dictation software had it) had a way with words that was Mozartian. Anyone can appreciate Mozart‘s music, but no one can write it. Likewise, no one writes like Wodehouse-- nobody does it better, that‘s who, nobody. Capiche?

Without further intro., we present the following excerpt from a classic Wodehouse masterpiece, "Right Ho, Jeeves."

Chapter one

"Jeeves," I said, "may I speak frankly?"
"Certainly, sir.”
"What I have to say may wound you."
"Not at all, sir."
"Well, then --"
No -- wait. Hold the line a minute. I've gone off the rails.

I don't know if you have had the same experience, but the snag I always come up against when I'm telling a story is this dashed difficult problem of
where to begin it. It's a thing you don't want to go wrong over, because one false step and you're sunk. I mean, if you fool about too long at the start, trying to establish atmosphere, as they call it, and all that sort of rot, you fail to grip and the customers walk out on you.

Get off the mark, on the other hand, like a scalded cat, and your public is at a loss. It simply raises its eyebrows, and can't make out what you're talking about.

And in opening my report of the complex case of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeline Bassett, my Cousin Angela, my Aunt Dahlia, my Uncle Thomas, young Tuppy Gossip, and the cook, Anatole, with the above spot of dialogue, I see that I've made the second of these two floaters.

I shall have to hark back a bit. And taking it for all in all, and weighing this against that, I suppose the affair may be said to have had its inception, if inception is the word I want, with the visit of mine to Cannes. If I hadn't gone to Cannes, I shouldn't have met the Bassett or bought that white mess jacket, and Angela wouldn't have met her shark, and Aunt Dahlia wouldn't have played baccarat.

Yes, most decidedly, Cannes is the point d'appui.

Right ho, then. Let me marshal my facts.

I went to Cannes -- leaving Jeeves behind, he having intimated that he did not wish to miss Ascot -- round about the beginning of June. With me traveled my Aunt Dahlia and her daughter Angela. Tuppy Gossip, Angela's betrothed, was to have been in the party, but at the last moment couldn't get away. Uncle Tom, Aunt Dahlia's husband remained at home, because he can't stick the south of France at any price.

So there you have the layout -- Aunt Daliah, Cousin Angela, and self off to Cannes about the beginning of June.

All pretty clear so far, what?

We stayed at Cannes about two months, and except for the fact that Aunt Dahlia lost her shirt at baccarat and Angela nearly got inhaled by a shark while aqua planing, a pleasant time was had by all.

On July the 25th, looking bronzed and fit, I accompanied aunt and child back to London. At 7:00 PM on July the 26th we alighted at Victoria. And at seven-twenty or thereabouts we parted with mutual expressions of esteem -- they shoved off in Aunt Dahlia's car to Brinkley Court, her place in Worcestershire, where they were expecting to entertain Tuppy in a day or two; I had to go to the flat, drop my luggage, clean up a bit, and put on the soup and fish preparatory to pushing around to the Drones for a bite of dinner.

And it was while I was at the flat, toweling the torso after a much needed rinse, that Jeeves, as we chatted of this and that -- picking up the threads, as it were -- suddenly brought the name of Gussy Fink-Nottle into the conversation.

As I recall it, the dialog ran something as follows:
Self: Well, Jeeves, here we are, what?
Jeeves: Yes, sir.
Self: I mean to say, home again.
Jeeves: Precisely, sir.
Self: Seems ages since I went away.
Jeeves: Yes, sir.
Self: Have a good time at Ascot?
Jeeves: Most agreeable, sir.
Self: Win anything,?
Jeeves: Quite as satisfactory sum, thank you, sir.
Self: Good. Well, Jeeves, what news on the Rialto?
Anybody been phoning or calling or anything during my abs.?
Jeeves: Mr. Fink-Nottle, sir, has been a frequent caller.

I stared. Indeed, it would not be too much to say that I gaped.
"Mr. Fink-Nottle?"
"Yes, sir."
"You don't mean Mr. Fink-Nottle? "
"Yes, sir. "
"But Mr. Fink-Nottle's not in London? "
"Yes, sir. "
"Well, I'm blowed. "

And I'll tell you why I was blowed. I found it scarcely possible to give credence to his statement. This Fink-Nottle, you see, was one of those freaks you come across from time to time during life's journey who can't stand London. He lived year in and year out, covered with moss, in a remote village down in Lincolnshire, never even coming up for the Eaton and Harrow match. And when I asked him once if he didn't find the time hung a bit heavy on his hands, he said, no, because he had a pond in his garden and studied the habits of newts.

I couldn't imagine what could have brought the chap up to the great city. I would have been prepared to bet that as long as the supply of newts didn't give out, nothing could have shifted him from that village of his.

"Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir."
"You got the name correctly? Fink-Nottle?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, it's the most extraordinary thing. It must be five years since he was
in London. He makes no secret of the fact that the place gives him the
pip. Until now, he has always stayed glued to the country, completely
surrounded by newts."

"Sir?"
"Newts, Jeeves. Mr. Fink-Nottle has a strong newt complex. You must
have heard of newts. Those little sort of lizard things that charge about in
ponds."
"Oh, yes, sir. The aquatic members of the family Salamandridae which
constitute the genus Molge. "
"That's right. Well, Gussie has always been a slave to them. He used to
keep them at school. "
"I believe young gentleman frequently do sir."

*********

Quiz:
1. Why were “Aunt Dahlia and Cousin Angela” capitalized while “aunt” and “daughter” sometimes not? Which TEOS rules apply? Give an example of a well placed adverb that you admire in the passage.

2. Note the skillful use of grammar and punctuation. Choose a favorite sentence and explain why you like its style. Favoritism is a virtue, so pick one you like. What is elegant, expressive, humorous, riveting, and otherwise interesting about it?

3. Though not mentioned by name, the above was written from the point of view (or POV) of Bertie Wooster, the traveler to Cannes and resident of the London flat. Use of POV is a powerful tool when skillfully applied. Explain how the Author informs the reader about the story’s characters and their setting by writing from Bertie’s POV. Hint: The ongoing conversation with the reader from Bertie‘s POV is particularly useful in advancing the story.

4. Summarize what was imparted to the reader about Bertie, his friends and family, and about Jeeves. How were story elements such as plot, character, conflict, heart, hope, etc. advanced by the passage?

5. Did you laugh from time to time as you read? If so, how many times? Which is your favorite laugh line ? What was funny about it? Did imagery contribute?

6. Finally, about the use of context clues. The passage luxuriates in context clues. Let’s try a few. Guessing the answer is ok, but explain your guess.
What do you suppose the Drones is? What is Victoria? and who was Victoria? What are Eaton and Harrow? Are they rivals? Long-time rivals? What do you think point d’appui means? And what language is it? Pick three more informative context clues and explain what you gleaned therefrom.

Gentle student, do not attempt to get the correct answer, only think, write, and explain your answers. I will tell you later if you are right or wrong, and why.

FLASH NEWS: Obama Presidential Campaign Ads a Hoax.
_________________________________________________

“Just a publicity stunt”...“Advertising for a new Cable TV series”...“It was just a publicity stunt that got out of control.” Cable TV's Cartoon Network Adult Swim spokesman explained.
_________________________________________________

Daily Variety headlines... “OBAMA STUNT OBOMBS”
_________________________________________________

.....interviewed acting Cartoon Network exec. offers apology to US Presidential candidates, American People, for the “out-of-control publicity stunt” for our new Adult Swim series Futurbama.
_________________________________________________

......Sez Prez: “We're deeply sorry for the flap and have fired the agency.” Expressing confidence in the new cable series “We believe our young, hip audience will be open to FUTURBAMA” Futurbama is set to air this fall on ADULT SWIM, (now a mullet-free zone.)

***************************
In a press conference earlier today at Cartoon Network ( a cable based television channel) headquarters in New York, a network spokesperson revealed that the Barak Obama Presidential Campaign is part of an elaborate advertising stunt for a new cable TV series. The Network offers its apologies to the American People and News Media and anyone who might have been mislead by “Obama Campaign” ads, adding “Of course, all “Obama Campaign” contributions we received will be donated to charity.”
Adult Swim senior officials are quoted as saying: “It was meant to be a harmless publicity stunt to introduce the Adult Swim audience to a new animated series FUTURBAMA.”

Slated to air this fall, FUTURBAMA, is a take-off of the popular Matt Groening-David Cohen animated series FUTURAMA. The creators of FUTURBAMA say that indeed there is a BARAK OBAMA-like character, ROBOTOBAMA, in the series.

******************

FUTURBAMA follows exploits of a 21st century politician who, in a freakish accident, is quick frozen only to be re-animated a thousand years later in the future world of the year 3008 as ROBOTOBAMA.

ROBOTOBAMA is a lovable, articulate, and attractive half-robot, half-human, half-white, half-black character with the head of a reanimated 21st century politician from a small mid-western town, and the body of a 31st century Japanese-Chinese robot.

The plot-line of the first episode of FUTURBAMA has the 21st century politician being accidentally caught in a climatic accident of global warming induced sudden glaciation and quick frozen for a thousand years.

Reanimated in the 31st century with a robotic body and human head, Robotobama makes his way into the world of 31st century politics, eventually to become the presidential nominee of the GREENORSOMETHING party, formed to combat the 31st century worldwide crisis of Global Worming.

If elected Robotobama would become the first half-human, half-robot,

half-black, half-white, President of Earth.

Futurbama creator Steven Oracle says “We pitched Futurbama as a sort of Futurama meets West Wing thing.”

Not to reveal too much, but the second episode of Futurbama has the newly nominated Robotobama in a meeting with party honchos who are feeling some reservations about the questionable background of their candidate.

Revealing a gritty dark side to his personality, Robotobama tells the group,

“As your newly elected leader I am open to criticism and suggestions about any course of action I have decided upon.“

“I want you all to feel that you can freely express anything you think, on any topic, EXCEPT ONE, my qualifications and background. "

“If any of you bas***ds ever bring up my half-black half-white half-American half-Chinese-half-Japanese, half-human, half-robot background as a negative, then ..... I collect your head.” says Robotobama drawing his robotic samurai sword and in a horrifying instant, deftly and dramatically slices off the head of Global Warming Chicken, the Greenorsomething party's science policy advisor.

Resheathing his robotic sword he looks darkly at the assemblage only to ask “Any questions? I didn't think so....” fade out.

********************************

The critics seem to like what they have seen so far:

...“Awesome...awesome to the max”, said an unnamed human critic after viewing the first episode of FUTURBAMA.

....“Clean cut and articulate” and “Something for everyone or something.” said another.

.... “Ready for safe fun? Then you'll love Robotobama in Futurbama,” said a third.

________________________________________________
© OracleNewMedia
Futurbama, Robotobama, the Global Warming Chicken, and Owl Gore are copyrighted character names © Steven Oracle and OracleNewMedia Corp.

THE MAP OF HUMAN EMOTIONS

Part 1
This essay concerns my personal efforts to provide concrete descriptions and quantifications of the human emotional experience. It is based on various sources of information including practiced introspection, discussions with friends and acquaintances, published literature, and my own expertise in mathematical and physical models and model building. Here I am referring to the practice of theoretical physics and the application of predictive mathematical models to describe the physical world of human experiences in quantitative ways. For example, the mathematics of Newtonian mechanics, the mechanics of motion, quantifies and predicts our experience with moving bodies, a falling hammer or the orbital motions of the moon and stars. By analogy we will asking the question: Is there a mechanics of emotion?
The point of view of this discussion will be qualitative, quantitative, and constructive. The goal being the construction of a model. By model I mean a geometrical-mathematical representation of the state-space of the human emotional world, measures of the emotional state under given circumstances at a given time, and perhaps predictive methods that would follow the evolution of emotions and feelings with the passage of time and the accumulation of experience.
The experience of emotion in our lives is a time dependent cognitive phenomenon. As such, it can be described verbally by individuals. We, if asked, can usually describe our awareness of a collection of qualitatively distinct emotions, and an intensity of feeling associated with a given emotion. Here we must distinguish emotion and feeling. We experience emotions in both mental and physiological ways. For example, when we experience the emotion of desire we can experience an associated collection of physiological symptoms. Change of heart rate, muscular tension in the chest and abdominal region, changes in the endocrine system’s function, nervous system activity resulting in sensations in various parts of the body, especially in dermal and sub-dermal tissues, are all symptoms of our mental emotional state and its evolution.
The various bodily sensations, or physiological symptoms associated with a specific emotional state are our feelings. The distinction is that emotion is experienced in the mental world as a mental state, and our associated physical feelings are bodily manifestations of that mental state. Thus we can experience a burning desire as a concrete and intense collection of physiological responses whose magnitude is one measure of the intensity of our emotion, desire. Thus emotions and feelings though distinct are so intimately connected that the distinction may be difficult or unnecessary to perceive in our day to day experience.
Generally, the state of our emotions can be regarded as the cause and the associated physical feelings the response. Because of the close interconnection of emotion and feeling as we describe them here, one can ask if the cause-effect relationship can operate in the reverse direction. The answer is yes. We will discuss this further below. Suffice it to say that the Buddhist concept of the oneness of mind and body has validity in the context of our discussion.
Now we can proceed to the description of the dimensions, or elements, of the human emotional state. The dimensions of the emotional world are the individual distinct emotions. The collection of all possible emotions that we can experience is then a multi-dimensional space. How many distinct emotions are there? Three, eight, eleven, infinity, or what? The answer gives us the number of dimensions in the emotional universe. What are their names? Do we all experience them and do we experience them all? These are some of the questions that we must answer in this section.
First let us collect the various emotions by name. I have often asked professional therapists or other experts, how many emotions are there anyway? And can we name all of the emotions? Though we all experience many of them on a daily basis, it is very interesting and significant that our ability to access cognitive awareness and verbalize this experience can be surprisingly difficult. Nevertheless, it is straightforward to start to collect them.
In the following we will list the words that are attached to particular distinct human emotions.
But before reading on, I would ask the reader to take a moment and a sheet of paper and write down all the emotions you can think of. See how many you can come up with in a few minutes.
Ok, do you have your pen and paper, or an open blank Word document ready? Here is a hint, emotions often come in pairs of polar opposites. Good, now you can start. I shall wait for you here a this paragraph break.
…waiting …. Hmmm ummm da da …. Oook well…. And ….time is up… put your pencils down…
How many did you list? Did you find it difficult, or not?
As I am writing this, I have done the same as I asked of you, gentle reader. Here it is.
My quick stream-of-consciousness list including some duplication and overlap:
QUICK LIST: Love, hate, happiness, sadness, anger, gladness, desire, epiphany, compassion, mercy, caring, joy, horror, treasuring, courage, cowardice, determination, weakness, strength, anxiety, fear, avarice, covetousness, jealousy, rage, serenity, peace, pleasure, pain, empathy, hostility, loneliness, companionship, terror, astonishment, surprise, domination, submission, fulfillment, disappointment, loss, pride, shame, and so on.
A total of 43 words describing particular emotions. I find it difficult to get started, after the first few items I tend to go blank, then more come and so on. Was your experience like mine? Do tell me in this blog section.
And now back to work…
This is a first cut at the problem, almost a guess, as to the composition of a sufficiently exhaustive collection of distinct human emotions. It represents simply a place to start. Ultimately we will need an exhaustive yet minimal list of main distinct emotions to serve as basis dimensions in our model of the human emotional state.

In the following post we will discuss the connection between language, grammar, and the emotional world. In the context of our listing exercise, the dictionary will be helpful in our efforts to refine and extend the quick list above.
I will stop here in my narrative…its time for lunch.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Thursday May 3, 2007

Physicists are from Mars, Mathematicians are from Venus

Physicists are from Mars, Mathematicians are from Venus

Mathematicians care if their infinite series converge.
Physicists are happy if the first term is finite.

Physicists have more viewgraphs.
Mathematicians have more dimensions.


Physicists now know the number of dimensions in the universe to be:

3 dimensions,
oops 4 dimensions,
or well umm 11 or 20
or wait 10! Is it 10?

Umm..well it's something...

uh (E) none of the above?

Well, let me get back to you on that.



Physicists think that Fields Medal is a conducting alloy.
Mathematicians know it implies tenure.


Physicists forget zero or 10^-23 are finite.

As in “The effects of finite amplitude perturbations on
oceanic haline flows.” and “Finite probability of
conduction electron barrier penetration in
metallic nano-scale structures.”
By finite, physicists often mean non-zero or really non-infinitesimal.

Finite is physics slang for non-zero.

Mathematicians know that a zero amplitude perturbation is finite.
And in this case they get the last word.

Synthetic Information

Synthetic Information

FAQ:
What is it?

What's it good for?

Where can I get it?

Who is Steven Oracle anyway?


In the coming days and weeks, months and years, we will explore and clarify.

To the gifted student, the curious minded, the gently enquiring natured, and to sleeping minds seeking to awake, welcome.

- Steven Oracle