What a day!

What a day!
Today’s warm weather gave the definite impression that more snow is an absolute impossibility. i walked to work this morning with my raincoat tied ‘round my waist, and it was even more unnecessary when i left work about 5:15.

When the weather’s like this i want to take Sandy on a walk longer than she usually gets, and i was totally in the mood for exactly one beer, and so figured today might be the day to finally check out the Bachelor’s Forum (and their willingness to allow dogs), a gay bar a few blocks away. When we arrived at the door, i told her to SIT, then went inside to where about 8 or 10 guys sat around a bar. Bartender comes over, and i say “i’d like a beer, but i’ve got this .. real BITCH outside, and i wonder if it’s all right if i bring her in.” He says, “well if she’s gonna cause a problem it might be better if she didn’t come in,” and i said, “oh i don’t think she’s gonna cause a problem!” and went to get her. Well the customers were cool and a couple went to pet her, but the bartender just said, “oh i’ll lose my license if they find a dog in here,” which is pretty much what i expected, and we left. It made me realize what a totally cultural thing it is, where we’re allowed to go with our pets, and where we’re not.

Lots of people were out, walking. Other dog-owners whose dogs wanted to check out Sandy, who seemed mostly oblivious except for that Mohawk flare she does from the back of her neck down her spine to her tail. Young couples with toddlers on their way to the little park down the street. Others just out of work or having just left home to sit with a friend in front of Starry night with a fresh cup of coffee. But i was determined to have my beer, so walked across the street to a corner store (called The Corner Store) and bought myself a big ol’ can (26 oz.!) of Foster’s Lager, $2.53 with the tax. And this being the U.S.ofA. i asked the guy for a paper bag so’s i could drink my beer in the leisurely stroll back to my neck o’ the ‘hood. On the way home, me and Sandy were in the middle of throngs of people who were on their way to the Auditorium theatre for a showing of “Chicago.” A man sitting on a low wall next to the sidewalk out front played an accordion for loose change, singing over and over again a few bars from the theme song. People smiled when they saw me and Sandy; a couple guys tried to pet her as we walked past.

When i got home, i noticed that Dave the movie-star handsome guy next door who’s been moving out the past few days was again moving boxes outside, although this time without accompaniment, so i went to .. ahem, offer my services. You know, ‘cause that’s just the kind of guy i am. He was real pleased to have a little help and some company, and i was real pleased just to be in the company of such a sweet-natured down-to-earth kind of a guy. i guess it was a good thing we didn’t get to know each other that well; it would’ve been more of a bummer to see him go. As it is, we only bumped into each other a couple of times outside, as i was going to walk the pooch.

Here's a couple of quotes i liked from what i'm reading now ...
Although born in France in 1596, Rene Descartes lived in Holland for most of his adult life. He decided to settle there (in 1628 or –29), he claimed, because of the richness and variety of the country’s commerce, the innocence of its inhabitants, and the moderation of its climate. "Where else on earth could you find [he wrote], as easily as you do here, all the conveniences of life and all the curiosities you could hope to see? In what other country could you find such complete freedom, or sleep with less anxiety, or find armies at the ready to protect you, or find fewer poisonings, or acts of treason or slander? …In this large town where I live [Amsterdam, ca. 1631], everyone but myself is engaged in trade, and hence is so attentive to his own profit that I could live all my life without ever being noticed by a soul." Spinoza: a life p.111

Because theology has usually – and not without reason – represented God as a perfect man, it is appropriate in theology to say that God desires something, that he finds sorrow in the acts of the Godless and takes pleasure in those of the pious. But in philosophy we understand clearly that to ascribe to God those “attributes” that make a man perfect is as bad as if one wanted to ascribe to man those that make an elephant or an ass perfect. Therefore, speaking philosophically, we cannot say that God desires something, nor that something is pleasing or a cause of sorrow to him. For those are all human “attributes” which have no place in God. Spinoza, p. 217

Books i’ve read or am reading:
1. Energy Medicine, by Donna Eden
2. Spinoza: a life, by Steven Nadler

Thank you Carolanne for sharing with me this website (free stuff, no strings attached). I'll be making use of that when i get out to California. i'd like to get a bike to see those redwood trees upclose and personal.

Craig's List comes to Rochester! But it's also in Amsterdam!

Tim and Dave i still haven't written up about the great night we had 2 Fridays ago .. it's comin'!

Big thanks to Mike Morone and his nephew Ricky for getting me a free computer! You wanna know what kind of guy my buddy Mike is? Read this.

Somebody remind me to include an intensely intriguing passage dealing with submariners from another book i just finished by this guy Chuck Palahniuk, Stranger than Fiction. Highly recommended collection of short, true stories, although there are a couple you could pass up and you wouldn't be missing anything. His piece on castles for instance.