Fools

The Old Man is buying an historic building in Downtown Ottawa, Kansas.

The two story purple, yellow, and orange building was built in 1887. The colors are atrocious, a poor attempt to recreate Van Gogh's painting, Cafe Terrace at Night. but with too much purple and the wrong shades of yellow and salmon. The undersized green awning has no function or purpose.

The Old Man asked for a lot of advice before jumping into this one - the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker. Everyone told him not to do it, most assuredly family members who were happy with the status quo. The Old Man stuck it out and negotiated a big, big, big reduction in the price. Even then, the Old Man knows that it all comes down to income and expenses. And still, everyone said that the Old Man is a fool to buy the building.


The Old Man's decision, right or wrong, reminds him of the phrase, "Fools rush in where angles fear to tread." 'Fools rush in...' has a precise derivation - it is a quotation from English poet Alexander Pope's An essay on criticism, 1709. Pope was discussing the annoying habit of critics to criticize:

... All Books he reads, and all he reads assails,
From Dryden's Fables down to Durfey's Tales.
With him, most Authors steal their Works, or buy;
Garth did not write his own Dispensary.
Name a new Play, and he's the Poet's Friend,
Nay show'd his Faults - but when wou'd Poets mend?
No Place so Sacred from such Fops is barr'd,
Nor is Paul's Church more safe than Paul's Church-yard:
Nay, fly to Altars; there they'll talk you dead;
For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.

The phrase has been picked up over the years by authors and artists, its meaning a metaphor for "the rash or inexperienced will attempt things that wiser people are more cautious of."

The Old Man is not rash nor inexperienced, and hopes that the wisdom of the decision becomes clear.

Fear and Conscience

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all...

Hamlet, Act III, scene i (58–90).

Poor Hamlet, his uncle murders his father, the King, and marries his mother, the Queen. Hamlet beset by his father's ghost frets on what course of action he should take. Hamlet soliloquizes - "To be or not to be, ..." what makes action impossible. 'Tis “conscience [that] does make cowards of us all . . . thus the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.”

Shakespeare's Hamlet was concerned with the question of morality. Can the murder of his uncle appease the murder of his father? What then is to become of his mother? What part in the deed does she play?

What of those who are amoral, those who have no conscience? For them, the Old Man thinks that fear itself makes us cowards. It is the fear of uncertainty. What consequences do our actions engender? "Ay, there is the rub," for who knows what may come.

The Old Man is not alone to be amazed by Shakespeare's wisdom. Wisdom suggests experience. Maybe the idea for the words are created in The George Inn, 77 Borough High Street, Borough, London, one of London's oldest pubs and situated near the London Bridge. It is the Winter of 1599, Shakespeare is sitting at a table with his best friend Richard Burbage for whom he wrote many of the parts of his plays including Hamlet. The two of them have a decision to make, their theater lease is up and a new location has been found across the river. But they lack the funds to purchase the lumber for a new theater. One of them poses the suggestion, that they dismantle the theater that they currently lease, one that they built with their own funds and haul the lumber across the Thames over the ice and though the snow to the new location.

Does fear of the law, uncertainty of the legality of their act, cross their minds. Surely, it does. Fortified in the choice by a pint of bitter, was it William Shakespeare or Richard Burbage who said, "Fie on the consequences, let's do it." They did and the Globe Theater was built.

The Old Man must make a decision, indeed he makes many decisions every day whose consequences may be uncertain. This decision seems a simple one, for The Old Man is updating the web pages for Traditions Furniture. Simple as it may seem, the Old Man knows that the coding involved is extensive. Multiple pages will be added. New links and new images will be uploaded. Mistakes can be costly. Google, the monolithic god that determines search placement may not smile on the new changes.

Still, like Hamlet, the Old Man must march ahead, for to not act is to act. It is to choose the same course of action in a world that moves on. By not acting, we fall behind.

Check out the changes on Traditions Furniture and tell the Old Man if he was right.

Anne Boleyn Again

The Old Man knows that one thing often leads to another.

Take Anne Bolyen and her marriage to Henry VIII for example. Anne Boleyn had a pivotal effect on English history. She deposed a Queen, Catherine of Aragon, cause a schism in the English Church and a split with the Roman Pope, started a war with Spain that ended with the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and brought forth into the world a bastard child, Elizabeth, who unwanted and ignored for most of her life would become England's most famous Queen Bess.

The Old Man wonders what kind of woman was Anne. There is the rumor that Anne had 6 fingers and 3 breast along with assorted moles all over her body. But that is silly, King Henry VIII, himself a good looking man, would not have been attracted to someone so bizarre.

The Venetian Ambassador to the English Court said she was 'not one of the handsomest women in the world...'.  Physically, she had dark, olive-colored skin, thick dark brown hair and piercing eyes dark brown which often appeared black.  She was of average height, had small breasts, and a long, elegant neck.

Anne Boleyn image from Wikipedia

Anne Boleyn was one to inspire poetry, even if not all of it was flattery. Sir Thomas Wyatt, another suitor wrote this unflattering poem after her marriage to Henry in 1533.

Ye old mule that think yourself so fair,
Leave off with craft your beauty to repair,
For it is true, without any fable,
No man setteth more by riding in your saddle.
Too much travail so do your train appair.
     Ye old mule
With false savour though you deceive th'air,
Whoso taste you shall well perceive your lair...

Read the full poem at English History

Anne's coronation, we know from the prior post, was Whitsunday, June 1, 1533. Anne gave birth to Elizabeth on September the 7th, 68 days after her coronation as Queen Anne for those who are counting. Anne was expected to give birth to a male heir, but failed. She tried again, or should we say Henry did. By January of 1634, she was again pregnant, but the child was stillborn. She was again pregnant, but by January of 1635, the child was stillborn.

For Henry, it was apparently three strikes and you are out. The queen was tried for treason - the charges were incest, adultery and plotting Henry's death. Enough witnesses were found to condemn her and she was executed by beheading on Monday, May 15, 1536.

If we know nothing else about Anne, we know that she was a forgiving person. Her final speech before the stroke that delivered her head from her body was recorded and saved. Here it is:

ANNE BOLEYN'S SPEECH AT HER EXECUTION 
MAY 19, 1536, 8 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING 

Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.

The sword that was to do the deed was hidden in the straw on the scaffold were she was executed. After being blindfolded and kneeling at the block, she repeated several times:

To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesus receive my soul.

Contrast Anne's quiet demeanor with Henry's actions.

On the morning of Anne's execution, Henry, attired for a chase and attended by his huntsmen, waited near Richmond, and when he heard the boom of the signal gun, which was to assure him that Anne breathed no more, exclaimed in exultation, "Uncouple the hounds, and away!" Paying no regard to the game, he galloped off at full speed to Wolf Hall where Jane Seymour was staying. The next morning, Saturday, May 20th, 1536, he led Jane Seymour to the altar of Tottenham church.

Anne Boleyn

The Old Man likes history and on this day in history, June 1st, 1533, Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen Consort of England.

Anne Boleyn, image from Wikipedia

Like so many other affairs of the heart, this one started in the work place. Anne was lady in waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon, queen to Henry VIII. Catherine was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. Yes, they were that Ferdinand and Isabella who completed the Reconquista, united Spain, and sent Christopher Columbus across the ocean blue. But back to Anne and Henry. Henry was smitten with Anne. But, first he had to annul his marriage to the devoutly Catholic Catherine. She was not in agreement and neither was the Pope. Henry worked his way around that by splitting from the Catholic Church, declaring himself to be Head of a new Anglican Church and then divorcing himself from Catherine. Catherine was sent to a nunnery, the Pope excommunicated Henry, and Spain spent the next 75 years trying to invade England and bring Anglican England back into the Catholic fold.



Anne enjoyed three years as the wife of Henry VIII and as Queen of England. She bore one child, Elizabeth, who would one day become Queen Regent.

By January 1536, Catherine of Aragon died, rumored by poisoning. Anne was pregnant with a male child, but the child was stillborn. This was the beginning of Anne's end. Within a few months, Henry had Anne investigated for high treason. On the 2nd of May 1536, she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London, where she was tried on trumped up charges of incest and adultery before a jury of peers - which included Henry Percy, her former betrothed and even her own uncle. She was convicted and sentence to death. On May 19th she was executed by beheading. To receive the blow of the blade, she knelt upright, in the French style of executions and one swift blow did the trick.

To the end Anne would maintain to Henry that she was, "Your most loyal and ever faithful wife." Others agreed including Sir Thomas More, Erasmus, and even Martin Luther.

Anne might have been a home wrecker, but Henry was certainly a philander and worse. He would marry four more times, one more time relying on execution to remove an unwanted wife. Anne's only revenge was that Elizabeth, her daughter by Henry, would become one day Queen Elizabeth I.

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, is to be celebrated in 2012. The present day Elizabeth was, by blood line, a Windsor . Elizabeth I, daughter of Anne and Henry, was the last of the Tudors.

Really

The Cranky Old Man asked his young daughter what she thought of the post Reality Distortion Fields (last post). She told the Old Man that, in actual truth, she didn't get it. Such honesty. The Old Man then brought up the subject with his teenage son. He phased out and left the room without answering.  So, the Old Man thought - Was the Star Trek reference that off-putting, or is reality really only one person's point of view? Reality to the young daughter - she has graduated from college and has her first real job. That's a lot to handle. The young son is off to college this fall. That's really cool.

The Old Man understands that Star Trek is a bit nerdy. And the young daughter doesn't want to join the nerd group. The young son, as all sons do, wants to chart his own course in life. Maybe, that is it. Or just maybe it is really hard to see life from any point of view other than your own.

Really. Take the word really, we use the word to death, but we do so, to express how I see it; and you should see it that way too. The online dictionary defines really as, "In actual truth or fact." The difficulty is what is actually true? What is a fact? On those two points we all have a point of view; and who is to decide who is right and who is wrong?

The daughter has a good point. Reality distortion fields are really confusing.

All this leads the Old Man to Is That All There Is?", a song written by American songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s. It became a big hit for Peggy Lee in 1969. Now the Old Man is dating himself, something he doesn't like to do. Bette Midler remade the song later. if that helps.

The lyrics take us through several events in a girls life which all end tragically. If you will remember from the last post, life can really suck. The repeating refrain from the chorus goes like this:

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

Really, I am not trying to confuse the kids. They just can't see an Old Man's point of view. Really. So, Peggy Lee has got it right. Quit worrying about distortion fields, tragedy and enjoy life. Have a ball, but keep the boozing down kids.

Reality Distortion Field

Is Summer really here? Not quite, but it seems like it. School is out for the kids. The weather is unseasonably warm. Cranky Old Man's grass is already turning brown despite his best efforts to keep it watered. The hot dry Kansas wind turns the yard into a virtual Gobi Desert - dry and dusty.

Summer is really a great time to pick up a book; and among the books Cranky Old Man is reading is Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs is most famously known as the creator of the Apple computer, along with Steve Wozniak. But there is a lot more to Jobs than that. Famously fired from Apple, he went on to create NeXT, fund Pixar, and then recreate Apple when it was on its death throws.

Personally, Steve Jobs came across to those he came in contact with as an arrogant assoholic. Isaacson in his biography tries to tell why. In the process Isaacson gives us a unique look at how Steve Jobs saw the world.

Steve Jobs was adopted. For most of his life he did not know his biological parents and when he did find out later in life, he had nothing to do with his father. His abandonment by his parents is the one significant psychologically factor that defines his personality.  Rejected by his biological parents, he was alone in the world. Thus, it is not surprising that he would be, at the same time, both controlling and suspicious in all his relationships.

Chapter 11 of the book is titled The Reality Distortion Field, Playing by his Own Set of Rules. Isaacson defines this through Jobs' co-workers as the ability to conform reality to your own means. One co-worker explained, "In his presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything. It wears off when he's not around ..."

So, what about those tinted sunglasses? If you wear a blue pair of sunglasses, does that really make the world somber and blue?

The name reality distortion field comes from a Star Trek episode in which the aliens create their own world through sheer mental force. But the idea is not unique to Star Trek's writers. Albert Einstein observed,“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”  Douglas Adams similarly speculated, “Everything you see or hear or experience in any way at all is specific to you. You create a universe by perceiving it, so everything in the universe you perceive is specific to you.” And one can go back to Socrates and Descartes for the same idea - We create the world around us. We are what we think we are, even if we aren't.

It is a confusing idea, but not if you accept it.Your perception is your reality. "I think therefore I am." Descartes says. And the Old Man would reply, I am what I think. Don't like who you are? Change your story, change your perception, change your life.

We distort reality to make the world seem a little more pleasant place in which to live. Objective reality sucks. The world is full of crime, betrayal, and misery along with the beauty, love and hope. Why not focus on the good and not the bad, the beauty and not the ugliness? Be a positive force for change and not a Negative Nancy.

Cranky Old Man likes this idea. After all, it is at the heart of all self-help books. To make something happen, you first have to believe it yourself. Then, it will come true. So whether it is a new way of making a computer, or a new health regimen, a job, or a relationship, you have to set your mind to the task and do it in spite of everyone else. Steve Jobs in 1985, fired from Apple and wondering what he was to do next in life while standing on a bridge in Paris with his girlfriend commented, "I am a reflection of what I do." The Old Man fashions himself a writer.

"The problem" Cranky Old Man thinks, "is that reality distortion can become impractical and harmful." Take schizophrenics for example, their reality is a paranoid delusion. That is hell on relationships. Instead, we need the ability to go back and forth between our personal reality field and what is really happening out there. You have to get off the bench to play in the game, but you can't see the game unless you are sitting on the sidelines.

Image is reproduced from the cover of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It has been digitally modified to create an inverse image as background. The image is used under the Fair Use Doctrine of 17 U.S.C 107. 

How do we see the world as it really is? Or, should we say, How do we see the world as others do? The Old Man thinks this requires the empathy gene. You have got to walk in someone else's shoes, see the world through their eyes, feel their pain. Cliches, boring as hell, still help us to understand something that is outside our own reality. But most people would acknowledge that Steve Jobs was not a caring understanding soul. No something else drove him. And this was his ability to see the final end product. Success drove Steve Jobs to see what needed to be done. Success is, in a way, like the Law of Natural Selection, what works stays, failures are soon forgotten.

Maybe, the Old man thinks, reality is what works.

The Cranky Old Man is reading  A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, 1599, by James Shapiro.

The season is Summer. Summer in England in 1599 is a year of uncertainty. England is embroiled in a war in Ireland that is not going well, Spain threatens a repeat of the Spanish Armada, and the Queen, now old and frail, is uncertain in what to do.

Shakespeare has been plagiarized. A new book of poems, The Passionate Pilgrim, supposedly written by Shakespeare, has come out. The book is a commercial success, but Shakespeare does not share in the profits. He is certainly the author of some of the poems, but not all. The law being what it is in 1599, does not offer protection to the author for his works. Shakespeare, understood the vagaries of the law for he commented in 1591, "The first thing we do," said the character in Shakespeare's Henry VI, is "kill all the lawyers."

One of Shakespeare's plagiarized poems is When My Love Swears. At this point, Shakespeare had kept most of his poems for private distribution among friends. The commercial success of the plagiarized version caused him to re-issue the poem with some nuanced changes.

William Shakespeare -  When My Love Swears

When my love swears that she is made of truth
 I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,

Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:

Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.

Shakespeare's changes are subtle. Line six changes "I know" to "she knows" suggesting a psychological understanding of the female mind. The following line is changed from " I, smiling" to "Simply" again implying a wisdom of the ways of lovers that only comes with experience. This follows with a revision of multiple lies to just one lie apiece each lover shares. Finally, Shakespeare changes the last line from "Since that our faults in love thus smothered be," to the simpler and less judgmental, "And in our faults by lies we flattered be."

Love is forgiving. It is not to be condemning or judgmental. We may lie in our efforts not to offend, but we must remember that at the end of the day, "I'll lie with her and she with me."

William Shakespeare was 35 in 1599. His revision of the sonnet took place some time between 1599 and 1609, when he was 45. Either way, Shakespeare was wise beyond his years in understanding the dynamics of love. The poem, written years earlier, is changed in perspective by the older, wiser Shakespeare to reflect an understanding that relationships are, after all, a matter of compromise and respect.

And a few scattered lies.