2009 is here and in the long-running “good versus evil” tilt, evil is still winning. I have a quasi-theory about the journey of man along a singular plane. One direction is our good and the other is well, not good. Since the beginning of time, the human race has sprinted in each direction with many of us pursuing both paths simultaneously.
As I walked the floors of the Portland Museum of Art on Saturday with my brother and son, reward was a few gems in their closing Impressionist show, the attached and historic McClellan House, and the discovery of Lynne Drexler’s (1928 – 1999) work.
There was beauty everywhere and my family enjoyed the immersion. Kyle asked several times, “What is that, Dad?” Each time my response was “anything you want it to be.”
At the same time on the other side of the world, Israel was reaping massive retaliation on Palestinians in Gaza. Most of the world was calling for a cease-fire, but my country blocked a UN Security Council effort to demand one. A short war isn’t good for business, you know, and our “defense” focused corporations like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and General Dynamics, just to name a few of the 185,000, have numbers to meet…
“You’re an interesting species. An interesting mix. You’re capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you’re not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”
From Carl Sagan’s “Contact,” 1997
Nice.
-Your daughter.