Losing my addiction

I drink about four cups of black tea a day (five maximum); that is too much as I seem to have a dependance on it. When I wake in the morning, I have tea right away to activate my brain and body. What I would like to do when I wake up is meditate; but I must have tea first. Of course, I have the tea, read the paper…check e-mail….by the time I’ve completed all that, my mind is filled with matters of the day and not in meditation mode.
This morning, I thought I would have a somewhat less strong cup in the morning and one in the afternoon. By about noon I was very not…functional. I just had a strong cup of Irish Breakfast so I could have the energy to pick up the laptop and press down on the keys. So I think I’ll try strong in the morning and afternoon and work my way down from there.

Several years ago, I had some major surgery that hurt. (It really really hurt; I had a 36cm steel bar inserted under my ribcage). After that I was on several narcotics. I had a doctor specifically for the pain; we had this whole plan for my gradually coming off the medications in order to reduce withdrawal. I basically just stopped cold; it was awful for about a day then seemed to pass. However, if I don’t have tea, my body protests vehemently. This makes me wonder about the whole classification and regulation of drugs; I can start and stop morphine without issue but can’t just cease drinking tea. Tea is something I can purchase at any grocery store, but morphine is a controlled substance (though, granted, narcotics have significant side effects and don’t really help one wake up in the morning. I think it would be probably about the worst idea ever if Starbucks starting selling narcotics to folk on the morning commute—however, that might reduce incidents of road rage).

The Book of the Unconscious


When C.G. Jung was in his late 30’s, he passed through what he called his creative illness. During this time, he composed a book concerning the content of his dreams. He mentions this book in his writings, but very few people have ever seen it; after his death, the family locked it in a vault…and so it has been under wraps for nearly 100 years.

redbook.jpg

However, for whatever reason, they’ve decided to release it to the public! This is the diary of one of the fathers of psychology as he passes through a psychological illness (he realised what an opportunity it was that he was able to observe the process and record it). The book itself is fantastic; it’s bound in red leather (he called it The Red Book) and looks like someone cross-bred Blake and Tolkien.

See a NYT article on the book and its release here or here is another shorter article

In Memorium

I just found out that my audio recorder is, alas, dead (and will cost most of the price of a replacement to fix). Unfortunately, as with seemingly everything electronic, this means that I’ll not have it repaired but get something new.
Oh, HHB MDP-500 Portadisc recorder,
You travelled with me around the world and back.
So many hours of interviews and lectures
You dutifully recorded.
You took in various dodgy electrical voltages
And ran without complaint in heat or ice.
You rode in the back seat on washed out roads
And were with me that time in the Cessna
In the DRC
When the pilot told us about the pistol
In the compartment
In case the plane went down.
Those were the days; I knew you had no fear.
Remember when that careless customs official
Broke your original leatherette carrier?
I bought you a sturdy Porta-Brace case
Made in Vermont
So you would be safe.
You used a funky storage format that is now
Nearly forgotten
And you’ve been surpassed by your solid state brethren.
You did so much good in your short life,
Recording all that material for various Not-for-Profit organisations.
I hope,
In whatever existence you have in the Beyond,
You are justly rewarded.
I shall remember you fondly.
Yet still I must ask…
How my equipment built thirty years ago still plugs along
And everything from the past ten
Is a bit iffy?
But, of course, the field recorder from thirty years ago
Weighs as much as a small motorcycle
And cannot also play my .mp3 files.

Synchronous Afghan Lake

This morning I was reading about using Bolex cameras for travel documentary work; I came across a story from a filmmaker who visited Afghanistan in 1969 and lost his camera over a waterfall at a remote mountain lake (he later retrieved it and it was reparable…Bolex are incredibly tough). He noted in the story that hardly anyone outside the country knew of this area.
So, of course, this evening I turn on BBC news and there is a story about how the Afghan government is attempting to promote tourism in this lake area. Some of the pictures in the report looked like shots from this fellow’s visit in 1969. I think the probably showed the same waterfall.

Somebody please tell me what the odds are of my stumbling across this random story on the internet and then seeing a BBC report on the same place the same day.

Update (a sort of pathetic update that reveals my taste in humour): I checked to see if there was a new Strongbad today and, par for the Synchronicity course, it’s about independent films and includes an animated representation of a Bolex.