meditations of Bread

Have you ever tried reaching out to the other side.  I never imagined songs from Bread would be so contemplative.  A clear sunrise orange wisps of thinning clouds disappear, cool mornings are still here thanks be to everyone involved.  I am thankful for all else even when I don’t know what that is at the moment. 

No matter how injurious discourse can be between siblings bad news is still disheartening and what is there I can do, I don’t know.  I would give everything I own just to have you back again.  Of course in context the next line is, just to touch you once again, which means David Gates was singing to a woman, I think.  But that’s what we do, a line from a 70’s song, a verse from an ancient text, we make it our own and at any given moment it is relevant. 

My border pass expires tomorrow so I have one last chance to go to mass tonight or wait until it is renewed and I have started that process.  Yesterday I went to the Jimi Mall in Al-Ain for a Herfy burger, bought a head lamp for my eight day Sri Lankan excursion next month, and finished with a sour cream donut and weak Tim Hortons coffee before stocking up on Chobani yogurts and smoked salmon at Lulus. 

Eating baby lamb I sat a person away from our secular director who said big changes were coming next semester. “We’ll have no coordinators” which sounds like one individual, at least, will be asked to coordinate the three levels which will be ok, I guess.  I enjoyed teaching fewer hours but one wonders what our leader has up his sleeve. “We have so much freedom here, we will do big changes, we have a copy machine.”  I am always suspicious of sales pitches coming from Iraqi leaders and reminded him of the immortal words from Peter Parker’s uncle, ‘with great power comes great responsibilities.’ 

I am feeling inclined to suck it up and remain here another year though my ear is pressed to the sand, listening for ripples from the south.  I don’t want to go to the job fair but for pete's sake I’m not that old and this year has been very productive, I am, perhaps, at my academic peak though writing academic papers still don't attract, but they should, and this is a great idea says a colleague, look at the impact technology has on this culture, one in which for its entire history has relied on the oral tradition and which is being usurped by smartphones.  Are they in danger of losing a most beautiful and natural way of communicating? 

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity”  John Muir

Dateline London:  It’s a dance of demons.  Fundamentalist Islamists hate modernism, right wing Germans hate multi culturalism, they want to return to something that isn’t going to return.  A paradox indeed. 

France and Belgium are secular countries and they fought for this separation of church and state, religious people move in and don’t understand how their freedom to believe is protected and so is the others right to mock that belief.  Life in the paradox isn’t that difficult if you understood your holy books a little better, shabobs.

Saudi Arabia is the big ugly elephant thanks for saying what I've been saying for a while, because of oil and its ‘assumed’ importance.  Not anymore, dudes.  What to do about them?  Western countries have to speak out against the Saudis and Qataris who are supporting ISIS.  Boycott their oil unless it goes on your salad.   

It’s been a Joan Baez evening, strange I’ve known the name all my life but never saw her before and when I googled her I thought, she's from Calcutta!  No, idiot, she’s from Dhaka, idiot again, she was born on Staten Island, her father is from Mexico and her mother was from Scotland.  I feel stupid but her music is relevant two generations later.  Thanks for the education, Joan. 

Rain is coming, by the end of tomorrow and for the next three days we are expecting some serious amounts so says the BBC boys.  Well, if this is the case the students who may have considered coming will not come and what will their chances be of doing better on the exam?  I’m tempted to revise it, dumb it down just a little. 

And I can sort of clean the terrace of its thick pigeon shit.  Come on rain!!  Meanwhile I just listened to Coldplay's new album.  They still believe.