Thursday

A wintry morning. strong, biting wind. At least it's dry. I took down the wind chimes, hoping that Pop doesn't make an issue of it. Ash and Sammy are preferring to stay in today. ... ... Douthat's wife is still running with her book on cats, and we have a quote on the uneasy domestication of cats: "We also tended toward animals that had social hierarchies that we could dominate. Dogs and cattle have lead animals, and we can control them by acting the alpha dog or the lead steer. But cats are solitary animals that don’t have social hierarchies. They’re hard to physically control, and they don’t tolerate confinement well." [NYT] ... ... Since happiness is only an illusion, in Schopenhauer's philosophy, he notes the convention of fiction in depicting it: "It conducts its heroes to their goal through a thousand difficulties and dangers; as soon as the goal is reached, it quickly lets the curtain fall. For there would be nothing left for it but to show that the glittering goal, in which the hero imagined he could find happiness, had merely mocked him, and that he was no better after its attainment than before." [The World as Will and Representation] ... What a fortuitous slip: in citing Schopie's book, I first began typing "The World as Will and Illusion". Maybe that might have been a better title, or perhaps a better translation. ... ... Paul Krugman tweets: "Not a surprise that Rs don't care about deficits. Even I am surprised at how few care about free markets. It's class and race all the way." With the Republicans' enthusiastic embrace of Trump and his big government policies, a lot of illusions are cleared. It is also well-noted that Trump is poised to betray the white working-class voters that put him over the top, but Trump's bet seems to be that a few hard racial policies - building that wall and reversing immigration - will be enough to pacify them. It's not a bad bet. ... ... So, they are leaving after all. Pop and Kay. He said that he was going over there, but then he brought her here and they spent the better part of the day here. I was stressing out a little bit. At least they probably kept me from masturbating. Pi says, "The day's not over yet!" And it is my shower day. "God! You should be shot and put out of your misery." I'm kidding. I'm really not in the mood. I'd rather read. Maybe it's the night: my energy level is pretty low, and I'm feeling like a mellow fellow. Maybe we should just watch TV tonight. "Oh, goodie, is there a 'Law & Order' marathon somewhere on the dial?" Ugh, on second thought, I think I will stick with reading. ... ... The astronaut John Glenn died today. Let's get a couple of quotes from him. First: “As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.” Second: “When you're a combat pilot, you believe you're the best in the air. If you do, you're not cocky, you're combat-ready. If you don't, you'd better find another line of work.”