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Separate

Merriam-Webster says:

Main Entry: 1. sep·a·rate
Pronunciation: 'se-p(&-)"rAt
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -rat·ed; -rat·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin separatus, past participle of separare, from se- apart + parare to prepare, procure -- more at SECEDE, PARE
Date: 15th century
transitive senses
1 a : to set or keep apart : DISCONNECT, SEVER b : to make a distinction between : DISCRIMINATE, DISTINGUISH <separate religion from magic> c : SORT <separate mail> d : to disperse in space or time : SCATTER separated homesteads>
2 archaic : to set aside for a special purpose : CHOOSE, DEDICATE
3 : to part by a legal separation : a : to sever conjugal ties with b : to sever contractual relations with : DISCHARGE
4 : to block off : SEGREGATE
5 a : to isolate from a mixture : EXTRACT <separate cream from milk> b : to divide into constituent parts
6 : to dislocate (as a shoulder) especially in sports
intransitive senses
1 : to become divided or detached
2 a : to sever an association : WITHDRAW b : to cease to live together as a married couple
3 : to go in different directions
4 : to become isolated from a mixture
synonyms SEPARATE, PART, DIVIDE, SEVER, SUNDER, DIVORCE mean to become or cause to become disunited or disjointed. SEPARATE may imply any of several causes such as dispersion, removal of one from others, or presence of an intervening thing <separated her personal life from her career>. PART implies the separating of things or persons in close union or association part>. DIVIDE implies separating into pieces or sections by cutting or breaking divided the nation>. SEVER implies violence especially in the removal of a part or member severed limb>. SUNDER suggests violent rending or wrenching apart sundered by racial conflict>. DIVORCE implies separating two things that commonly interact and belong together divorce scientific research from moral responsibility>.

Main Entry: 2. sep·a·rate
Pronunciation: 'se-p(&-)r&t
Function: adjective
Date: 15th century
1 a : set or kept apart : DETACHED b archaic : SOLITARY, SECLUDED c : IMMATERIAL, DISEMBODIED
2 a : not shared with another : INDIVIDUAL <separate rooms> b often capitalized : estranged from a parent body <separate churches>
3 a : existing by itself : AUTONOMOUS b : dissimilar in nature or identity
synonym see DISTINCT
- sep·a·rate·ly /-p(&-)r&t-lE, 'se-p&rt-lE/ adverb
- sep·a·rate·ness /-n&s/ noun

How do you interpret it? When you say "separate," does it come out naturally as a verb, or as an adjective?

sorted, scattered
lives separate (v), lives separate (adj)
separate (v) lives, but love
how it exists separately, separate (v) from
life, my own, ours, what's yours is/was/shall be/shall never be
mine, ours
isolated from a mixture
driving to work, your scent in my blood
a flock of geese flies to somewhere
if they're smart, they'll keep flying
never touch down, never stop
bridges, bridges to cross
the other side, we must
go, but hate it, knowing/not knowing
what we want to be, what we think we see
on the other side
transitive senses
the other side
how can the other side not be connected to this one?
there is a bridge, there was a bridge
it has not fallen
like my heart
it has not fallen apart
it has not separated
does life separate?
don't be like me, a stupid goose
never touch down, stupid geese
keep flying
fly over the bridge
and beneath you i will cross
beneath you, my love,
the wood of my bridges, of my cross

Endless Tape Loop

I'm not sure what anyone else is thinking, nor if I have any true sense of what's going on, what's happened, what's happening now, what will happen soon. I do know that people are uncertain, unsure and nagged by a steady low current of chronic anxiety. It's like a steady undercurrent, a buzz, and not the kind any of us with any sense seek.

How it looks to me: The only sensible spin, for me, is this -- The Administration has gotten philosophical. A scary thought, given the general consensus that if you give the Government anything, it'll find a way to mess it up in royal fashion. Philosophy is no exception, and this is a case of taking the long view, as they say. The long view, at present, seems to me to take this form: The Middle East is a political mine field, no pun intended, and has been for thousands of years. The Administration believes, or would like to believe, or has of late embraced the belief that there is no hope for any real peaceful resolution to the so-called Mid-East conflict, no hope for any semblance of political stability, no hope of anything ever approaching comprehensive democracy. This being said, it remains a major source of good old black gold, oil, that is, economic fuel. So, while one side of the Adminstration's mouth pays lip service to such quaint notions as environmentally friendly fuel cells, the other side of the mouth is screwed up into an expression of determination, and that determination is to take over the area, topple the evil dictator(s) and run the show. The sense that this humble citizen gets is that -- regardless of the protests of the hundreds of thousands of citizens of America and other nations against the aggressive policies currently in play -- The Administration has made a decision. That decision appears to be that America is going to the Middle East with a goal of taking control, which it believes will be best for everyone in the long run. Best for America, of course -- American economic interests, to be exact -- because it will clear the way for the US to control a major source of oil, thereby stabilizing the economy, somewhat, and appeasing, somewhat, the populace, which is burdened by unemployment, failed school levies, crumbling city infrastructures, increasingly high costs of basic needs (housing, education, healthcare), in short, the continued demise of whatever may be left of that 1940's fantasy known as "The American Dream." Not to mention that microwave ovens and VCRs and, now, cell phones are *still* not interchangeable. But I digress.

Looks to me like a decision has been made to take control of "the problem" by force. To dip back into the days of manifest destiny.

"Let's have a war / we need the space." - Fear

Deal with the hell of the short term (read: War on Iraq) to get to the relative economic and political stability of the long-term (read: US control of foreign resources).

That's what I see happening. That's what it feels like to me. You don't move tons of equipment and thousands of troops just to make a point.

My fiancee asked me the other day if I thought we were going to war, and I said yes. "Doesn't that piss you off?" she asked.

Yes, I said. Yes, it does. It really does. Equally, it saddens me.

But it does seem to be happening, regardless.

I hope I'm wrong.

Holiday Wishes

Merriest of Christmases to you, visitor -- or whatever seasonal wishes best put the wind in the sails of your little schooner. And prayers for a healthier, happier, peacier New Year in ought-three.

Namaste.

Enjoy the musical stylings of T-Bone Bell.

New Solution for War

Send WalMart and McDonald's to war-torn, volatile areas. Build major retail distribution centers, complete with warehouses and surrounded by company town-type Section 8 style housing. Provide sites with military protection. Staff stores entirely with locals, pay them standard American wages, and house them locally. See how long it takes for everyone to suddenly stop fighting and, instead, put on a few needless pounds, which they'd then work-off by bargain-hunting for senseless jewelry and tacky domestic decorative items.

Peace.

Missed it again

I should SO much be here: Mind States Jamaica.

How about you?

A Prayer for Peace

I know you'll never forget where you were or what you were doing, when it happened, when things changed. For all of us.

Today, we remember the victims and their families, the survivors and the witnesses. Though we are all, today, witnesses, to some extent.

This is a prayer for peace.

At 8:46 am this morning, with the national anthem playing on my car stereo, I left a NYC subway token at the May 4th Memorial at Kent State University. I wonder what others are doing, what other small, quiet, personal acts of remembrance are taking place, around the country and around the world.

If you're reading this, and you have a minute, please post to the message board. We're interested in hearing how you've remembered that day.

God bless our nation, our principles and our way of life. May we never stop trying to do it in a better way, a way that is better for all nations, and all people.

Morning Misadventures

It is always the smallest things that remind us of how early we are in our own path to enlightenment.

This morning's attempt to leave the house for the workday: The door closed behind me and the "click" instantly was translated into "My keys!!!!!" So, Your Humble Chronicler spent a good hour and a half attempting to defeat the simple catch. The initiaI 95% of my time was distributed among:

• trying to trip the latch with plastic credit-card type things in my wallet -- which bent and crumbled;
  
• climbing up to peer into the garage attic space, to see if it was an open space that may have led to another crawl space that would allow me into the house (no);
  
• checking to see if any windows were let unlocked (none);
  
• cursing at the cat, who was inside and was, of course, totally useless;
  
• calling my landlord's nearby office to see if he could run over and let me in (out of office);
  
• calling landlord's wife at home for same reason (answering machine);
  
• calling fiancee in a desperate quest to see if she, perhaps, had hidden a spare house key anywhere outside (out of the office and no);
  
• reattempting the credit-card trick (failed);
  
• attempting to pick the lock with miscellaneous pieces of scrap metal and a small screwdriver (failed);
  
• attempting to slide the latch open with an empty plastic windshield wiper fluid bottle which I cut with a pair of pruning chears to suit the task (failed).

Finally, I almost gave up. Just as I uttered to myself a final "I'm just screwed," I spied my trusty old PA license plate, which was still in a fruit crate in the garage. Figured what the hell -- pulled it out, aimed it at the latch -- "click" -- open. That simple.

The moral: Really explore the problem before you even attempt what may seem like a simple or obvious solution.

Where I failed: Had I studied the way the door and the latch were set, I might have had better luck from the start.

Where I succeeded: Tenacity -- never quite gave up, fully.

There ya go.

Interesting Sites

Interactive metaphor, from Entropy8 and zuper.

And some from Superbad.

The long-in-the-works Museum of Sex.

The conceptual photography of Misha Gordin. Be simple.
 

The latest black art -- creative terrorism.

More nakedstates.

Cool. It's spring, get naked.



Melbourne 2, 2001 by Spencer Tunick

Believe it.....or Not!

Self-styled Sasquatch enthusiast Richard J. La Monica, Sr. says, "I think if you believe in something, you should fight for it!" For it's part, TBH -- ever enthusiastic supporters of the "To Each His/Her Own" dictum -- says, what the hell -- jump in -- distraction is good. (Here's an interview that even includes a mention of one of our favorite white trash lunch joints, which has been the setting for a couple previous posts in these very pages!)

Feeling inspired? If so, consider taking a junket to Newcomerstown, Ohio, this weekend.

You be the judge.

Excuse me! So sorry! Pardon me!

The Band says fuck this shit, man.

Have a great day!!!!!

{*grin*}

Separated at Birth II

   
Spence.        Katie.

You be the judge. Who came first, the Anchor or the Slayer?

Humility

Had the opportunity to see Archibishop Desmond M. Tutu give a somewhat impromptu lecture -- covered everything from why terrorism will never end until all people have access to safe and reliable housing, to effective medical care, to quality education. "Human beings were created to be free," said Tutu. Amazing human. Found it incredible to find myself in such close physical proximity to this true leader.

CNN.com - Catholic paper: Is priestly celibacy tied to sex abuse? - March 15, 2002

The Ides of March

Beware, beware, beware, the ides of March. The ides have it, they do.

So, like, beware.

Separately, it's that time of year again -- time for the ever-popular, terribly twisted Peeps page.

Hmm. Yes. Not for the squeamish.

Today's White-Trash Quote, Overheard While Lunching

"You should avoid difficult and vexatious people. For they are a vexation to the spirit." (This said by a middle-aged manual labor-type to his partner? niece? cousin? -- hard to tell -- white-trash, remember??)

Yep -- really said it just that way. Two sentences, with the biblical phrasing. Fortunately, nothing was said about vivacious or voluptuous people, though. So, it's all good. Whew.