After all have finished you walk about the room to see all the drawings. Though impressed with the accuracy with which they have rendered the bowl of fruit you can’t but help noticing the fact that no two drawings are identical. In fact, the longer you look the more unique and different each drawing seems from another, while at the same time still “accurately” capturing a relative photo of the bowl of fruit.

There are many reasons for these differences. First in even a simple pencil line drawing there are numerable subtleties in each pencil stroke in terms of width, darkness, and interface with the next line. There is also slight differences of focal point of the picture where your eye is drawn to see as the true center of the drawing. There are variances in the play of light and shadow, in what is highlighted and what is more background.

The list of variances of drawings in a single class could fill up pages in a book. While some of these variances are due to slight differences in motor skills and physiology of each individual artist, there are also differences caused by the individuality of each artist experience of the bowl of fruit.

Each artist is occupying a unique position in the room and with it a unique vantage point of the fruit bowl. This causes slight changes of perspective in the view and perception of the bowl. This unique perspective not only influences the angle and focus of the drawing, but also makes significant alterations in the play of light and shadow.

An artist who is attempting to truly draw what he is seeing in terms of shapes and lines will render the scene much differently than an artist who is drawing a bowl of fruit. The one drawing a bowl of fruit will be influenced by the preconceptions of banana, apple and orange. The one drawing lines and shadows rendering may look more abstract in that the fruit may not immediately maximize its apple-ness or orange-ness, but rather look and feel more like geometric shapes than pieces of fruit.

The emotional state and the feelings evoked by the bowl of fruit will also be part of the artist’s end product. One who is bored or neutral to the scene will draw a much different portrait than one who is hungry or finds the scene nostalgic or fascinating. Likewise a happy artist draws even the most simple line differently than the mantic or depressed one.

Many of the variables which cause each drawing to be different and unique are also changing during the time spent drawing the bowl of fruit. Often times the play of light and shadow are changing, any shift in position or body posture of the artist changes the perception of the scene, and at every moment the artists emotional and psychic experience of the bowl of fruit is in flux. In many ways the artist is changing at each and every moment and so, therefore, each finished drawing is a composite of different artists (the same person at different points in time).

The differences between line drawing are minor compared to the differences that arise when colors and different mediums are introduced. A fruit bowl rendered through charcoal, oils, water colors, or clay will be dramatically different than through a pencil line drawing. The relatively infinite variety is found everywhere from brush strokes, to density, to pixels.

The amount of shade or brightness will greatly affect the shade of green or red of the apple in the fruit bowl. Even whiteness will be altered by the contrast induced by the neighboring fruits and open spaces. Yet, despite the myriad of differences the experience of the same bowl of fruit persists.

Our life experience could be looked at as an innumerable number of snap shots of our life world. Each and every moment we are the artist taking note and documenting his perception of his environment. Like the still life drawings, we are all seeing the same things but our individual experiences and perceptions are unique and different from each other and from our past experiences of the same object.

Who hasn’t read a book or viewed a movie a second time and been struck with how different the experience was the second time? A favorite book I read as a teenager or young adult is not the same book as the one I read now in my fifties. In each reading I perceive and take away something different from the previous one.

This potential of human growth, change and development is not an exhaustible resource. As long as we are a living and sentient being we are always capable of new and significant perceptions and experiences. In fact we are incapable of ever truly duplicating any life experience, for each and every moment we are a slightly different person with a new history and emotional perspective.

Yet, the inevitability of human change in all aspects of perception, thought and experience does present some challenges. It does make it obvious that no one can truly experience what we do and that we are always alone in the universe. It also tends to put limits on how much certainty and finality we can have in terms of self and worldly knowledge. Yet, that is the cost of being a truly unique and individual person who is able to grow and change.

Though our experiences and perceptions are always redefining and composing ourselves it does not mean that we and our lives are random, chaotic or meaningless. What it does mean is that our sense of self and life experience is an ongoing process. While some might view a sense of certainty as reassuring and secure, it also is very limiting and opposed to the way we experience life.

The uniqueness of our every experience and our never ending sense of who we are should not be a threat to our ability to share with others and feel apart of the world. Likewise, our ability to feel connected and to love others should not dampen our ability to feel unique and special.

As humans we have both a need to belong and a need to be a unique individual. The built in irony to this is the fact that we need others to validate and appreciate our uniqueness. So even our ability to feel unique is dependent on the validation we receive from others.

The good news is that our needs fit in with our very experience of life. Though no one can truly duplicate our thoughts, feelings and perceptions we all see the same bowl of fruit. In general we all see and feel the same world, we all sense that others have similar feelings and reactions to the way others behave and conduct themselves.

We can see joy, fear, concern and love in the eyes of others, and in the way they act even if they do not speak the same language as us, or live in a culture very different from ours. We can see we have many of the same needs and concerns and can derive great joy from making others feel good about themselves and safe in the world.

We can all enjoy looking at the renderings of others while still not detracting from our own view of the fruit bowl. We can hear and appreciate the articulations of others on how they view the world without it detracting from our experience.

Even when we are drawing a still life, it is still life.

I enjoy the opportunity afforded me through this website to articulate my individuality as well as hopefully render our shared reality. I feel very fortunate to be a human being, and aspire to help others get to a place in their life where they can appreciate the beauties and wonder of human existence.

Humanity is a composite of all of our individual perceptions and feelings. Sometimes our desire for certainty and truth blinds us to the true beauty and wonder of human experience. Instead of providing all with a pencil and paper and let them draw and express who they are and what they feel we hold up the official painting of reality for all to agree to and revere.

Certainty is dangerous because it is so foreign to how we actually experience life.

Jim Guido

The first part of the poem focuses on the incredible vastness of the universe. The next theme is how rare and precious life is in this vast and generally empty universe. Even more rare and precious than life is conscious life, or life being conscious of itself. It is this capability which makes it possible for the awesomeness of life and the vastness of the universe to be perceived and appreciated.

Only recently through the inventions of telescopes, space probes and radio wave technology have we been able to get a glimpse into just how vast and complex is the universe. Us conscious human beings have grown and developed to the point where we are beginning to understand the inner working of ourselves and the universe. If our current theories and observations are correct the time that humans have been conscious and self aware is an infinitesimal moment in the life of the universe.

Organic cellular life itself seems to be a relative babe in comparison to the existence of planets which are babes in terms of suns which are babes in terms of the theoretical beginning of the universe. Yet, without conscious life there is no awe, appreciation or understanding of our vast and ancient universe.

Though human life and consciousness are as incredible if not more incredible as our vast universe, we have a tendency to denigrate conscious life and to deem things outside of us as being more important and amazing. In man’s early history we totally denied our consciousness and often attributed our thoughts and feelings to gifts from the gods.

It seems highly unlikely that one day we decided to think, perceive. use language or feel emotions. These capabilities seem to be hard wired into our being human. This is not to say that our basic humanity hasn’t grown, evolved and developed, but only to point out that there is no reason to believe that we just one day decided to become conscious and have an awareness of self.

Yet, just because we didn’t create our own ability to be conscious doesn’t make our self awareness any less amazing. It also doesn’t make it necessary for us to create theories or beliefs regarding who or what created our consciousness. Though very few species show any signs of self-awareness approaching human kind, we are quick to imbue other entities with a superior level of awareness, motivation and intentionality.

Instead of simply appreciating the mystery and awe of being that rare form of life that is self aware, we have to supplicate ourselves before a higher power that not only is superior and more aware than us, but whose very definition negates all that makes up our perceptual and experiential world.

These superior entities always have an awareness, ability and intentionality far superior to ours. We ascribe and attribute to these entities oxymorons such as infinite and eternal being. Whether the concept be god, spirit, supreme being, nature or the creator the message is still the same, that something or someone is in charge and ultimately answers the question of ultimate beginnings and authority.

When it comes to our own consciousness and sense of self we similarly have a need to denigrate our own talents and attribute a superiority to an outside entity or source. We even downplay our abilities to perceive, think, and feel by focusing on our limitations and posing purities outside of ourselves. This is evident in the way we talk about the unconscious, ideals and Truth.

Our sense of self, the ego, is so often portrayed in a negative light. We are quick to point out how often our perceptions are inaccurate or incomplete, and how often we are unconscious of something important.

Tough it is certainly true that we are finite and imperfect, it is absurd to think it could be any other way. Life, experience and human consciousness is an endless process. We learn, grow and develop, yet who would want it any other way.

If we knew everything, or had no errors what would be the point and joy of day-to-day life. Experience itself is only possible through our sensorial and mental limitations. An all seeing person would see no thing (nothing). The same could be said of any other sense or thought, feeling, etc. At each moment we are selecting what to pay attention to and to anticipate next from a whole slew of sensorial input. What we see, feel, smell, hear, taste and cogitate is a selection process.

Without the selection process we would be perpetually inundated and overwhelmed. We would have no sense of meaning let alone an experience of present, past and future. Our sense of self, history and personal meaning are all acquired through the wonder of choice and limitation.

Those who focus on human limitations in a negative way are themselves misperceiving the process. Errors in misperception are rectified by another perception. The way we know that the earth isn’t flat, or that the earth isn’t the center of the universe is through an additional observation and perception. Perception, observation and experience are the only means of correcting misperceptions.

Likewise, modern psychology is often fond of talking about the unconscious, as if it were a thing. One speaks of the unconscious speaking to the conscious, as if the unconscious was superior and had an intentionality. Often times it seems as if the unconscious has become some kind of oracle or god trying to speak to us.

Yet, even if you want to believe this to be the case, the simple fact is that any previous unconscious memory that becomes conscious does so through an act of consciousness not an act of unconsciousness.

What we know best is that which we can sense, perceive and experience. Yet, what we perceive, observe and experience often losses out to what we believe. Being finite beings that live and die and that are full of limitations our lives are not capable of certainty. We do not know everything or even anything for certain.

I am fairly certain that the sun will greet me in the morning tomorrow as it has for every day I can remember, but I cannot say with 100% certainty that it has and alway will “rise” forever. I can say with a high sense of confidence that if I were to deprive another human being of oxygen they will die, yet I cannot say that humans always have nor always will need oxygen. In a finite temporal world of human experience there are possibilities and probabilities but few if any certainties.

There are some mysteries of life that have a high probability of finding an answer to, yet there are many mysteries that have a very low probability of being solved. What is fascinating about us humans is how often we forsake the things we have the most certainty of such as experience, observation and perception for that which we have the least certainty for which is what we believe.

We denigrate our feelings and perceptions while exalting those things which are beyond our comprehension or frame of reference such as God and Nature. Often times those who believe in God treat agnosticism or atheism as an act of egotism. They will often ask don’t you believe in a higher power, or something or someone greater than yourself.

My general response is that in such a vast and diverse universe it is hard for me to imagine that we are the only intelligent life or that there is no one or nothing more developed or powerful than humans. Yet, I’m not so egotistical as to think that anything greater or more conscious than myself has to be God or a supreme being.

Yet, any concept of an infinite, absolute being is beyond my comprehension. Everything I can imagine and logically understand is finite. By definition there can be only one infinite. Therefore no creator could be infinite. For a creator would have to create something, therefore, there would have to be both a creator and its creation. This makes two things hence the creator would not be infinite. Secondly, creating is an action, and an action takes place at a specific moment at a specific place which also conflicts with the concept of the infinite.

When I was young I went to a Catholic school and the nuns were fond of telling us of all the wonderful qualities of God. God was all loving, omniscient, omnipotent, all seeing, eternal, omnipresent and all forgiving.

What I could not wrap my head around is the simple fact that there could be only one infinite. So either God would have only one quality or he would not be infinite. What I did point out to the nuns was that if God existed he could not be infinite for to exist he must have a form and be in space and therefore he would be finite. The nuns responded that this is was just one of the great mysteries.

With that we were in agreement. How, when and why we were created seemed to me to be unanswerable questions. Yes, these were mysteries. So, why not leave them be mysteries rather than claiming with certainty that God exists and he loves, punishes, wants us to believe, etc.

Part of the awe regarding the universe and for our rare and precious self-consciousness is that many parts of it are and will most likely remain mysteries.

Science like religion has been very fond of certainty of finding unchanging laws and Truth. Yet, over the last century a healthy amount of doubt and mystery have been seeping in. In both religion and science everything seemed to be fated. Since God was all knowing nothing could happen that he didn’t already know, therefore, all is predestined. Though we had free choice, God already knew what choices we’d make. Likewise, science said that for every action there was a predictable and predetermined reaction and therefore, everything played out the way it is destined to play out following all the rules of motion.

Yet, when Einstein pointed out that Time is not absolute but is altered by perspective and that each individuals experience of time is different from anyone else’s he opened the door for true individual human experience and choice. Time experienced in a spaceship the speed of light differed from that of one on a plane, walking or sitting still. In addition time for a person changed with the amount of gravity they were experiencing.

A further blow to scientific certainty and its unpleasant counterpart of predestination was delivered by quantum mechanics when it was observed that light could be both a particle or a wave, or later that a particle could be two places at the same time. This branch of science went further went it noted that experiments showed that a given particle had options and choices and the best one could do is predict the probability of its movement.

It will be interesting to see if the scientific community will embrace choice and probability or once again try to make finite existence follow absolute laws, which do not match our internal experience of ourselves or of our environment.

I’d like to offer one more observation of those who claim its arrogance on my part which has me question the existence of god or a higher power. I enjoy being human, of being life becoming conscious of itself. I enjoy the lack of certainty, and relish in the opportunity to learn, grow and develop.

It seems to me that the person who tries to make certain that which is unknowable is more an act of arrogance. The false humility and modesty is no more apparent than in terms such as “the chosen people” or the faithful, who by there very title are given a special status or reward. Isn’t it interesting that to admit ignorance and embrace mystery is a sign of arrogance and egotism while professing that one knows with certainty the existence of the supreme being and what he wants us to do is a sign of humility.

As the poem says,

Is life a gift a miracle?
Perhaps,
yet there is no denying
it is the rarest of opportunities

The opportunity to live,
and be conscious of being alive

Jim Guido

The universe we live in is vast
The universe is amazingly vast
The universe is surprisingly vast
The universe is unimaginably vast

Stars are incredibly hot
Yet they are but small random specs in the vast cold universe
Massive telescopes and space probes
Look through space and time
Radio wave technology
Seeks for evidence of intelligent life
Yet we have yet to find any other life conscious of itself

We are indeed rare us living and conscious beings
Though stars be small specs in vast space
There are far more stars than conscious beings

At the base of our personal universe
We lie in bed in gentle embrace
Silently greeting the day
We are two hearts beating warmth into a cold and lifeless universe
Our lungs are breathing life into a empty and sterile universe
How rare life is in this vast universe

Each day we wake and know we are alive
We accomplish the rarest of feats in the entire universe
We are in deed fortunate to live and breathe
To have experience and personal history

We are surrounded and cradles by life
Our teeming planet
A small oasis in an endless desert of space

We are so rare, so precious
So incalculably fortunate
Is life a gift a miracle?
Perhaps,
yet there is no denying
it is the rarest of opportunities

The opportunity to live
and be conscious of being alive

Jim Guido

Peace, Love and Dignity 5/3/2010

I want to feel your smile
I want to breathe in your joy
I want to touch your dreams
I want to listen to your feet

For time moves with or without heat
And I live within each heartbeat

I want to taste your words
Till I can no longer eat
I want to sip on your emotions
The bitter and the sweet

Our tongues feel more than we can speak
Our minds hold more than we can seek

I sang this song before I had a notion
I was a man before I knew me
Such is the beauty of living without knowing
Such is the wonder of human beings

Falling into the stream
Loving our history

I sang this song before I had a notion
I was a man before I knew me
Such is the beauty of living without knowing
Such is the wonder of you and me

Winters come and summers go
Each time has its beauty
Some things change and others grow
Whether liquid or sturdy
I want to share my life
Of that I am certain
I want to learn from life
I am its student


All of you fashion me
thru words and reactions
I hope my words unfold you
Validate, spawn satisfaction
Through you all I know me
I am your project
What is now and what will be
Gives life its passion

John Lennon and Yoko
Had a lovely message
Peace, love and dignity
for every person
Peace love and dignity
What a lovely message
Peace love and dignity
for every person

Life Fills My Days 6/15/10

We are all masters of illusion
Forging certainty from a handful of clues
Whether it be science or religion
We forsake what is
for eternal Truth
it’s what we do

Never satisfied with what is real
With our hands, eyes nor ears
Even the desire to be in the moment
We get beyond oneself
to cosmic union
into the blue

I’ve always lingered in fascination
Simple pleasures are my fuel
I never tire of the landscape
Every sensation draws me to you

Each and every day that passes
Ripens some low hanging fruit
Drinking in all of their juices
Breathing in the aroma
of morning dew
is my form of truth

I’ll swim awhile in your ocean
I’ll lie and rest on your soggy shores
Feel wet sand cool my backside
As evening rays warm my core

Life fills my days
In sweet subtle ways
Life fills my days

——————————————————

Well I guess I am learning how to purr after all.

As always you are invited to listen to my songs and read my lyrics by clicking on to the music tab above.

Jim Guido

PS I should have a topical blog up some time this weekend. Enjoy!

Those of you who regularly visit this site know that on a handful of occasions I’ve commented on the stock market. I enjoy numbers, patterns and sociological observation and, therefore the stock market is appealing. Also due to my love of numbers and patterns I’ve become a little of an amateur technical analyst.

According to a lot of technical indicators and longer term historical patterns I’ve been anticipating the market beginning a significant decline beginning by mid August and lasting at least through the middle of October. I see a lot of parallels between now and the same time frame in 2008 when I successfully called a similar decline.

Yet, due to the activity of the last month and the last two weeks in particular I feel that the decline may start earlier than I had been anticipating.

In fact, if the market starts up strong tomorrow the high may be reached during the day and the market may begin its fall before the close. If the market starts down and closes at its high or has a relatively steady climb up it may end the day at an important high.

My indicators point to a possibility of a steep fall either on Monday or towards the end of next week. I could very well be wrong, but the possibilities seem dire enough to warrant a warning and for anyone in the stock market to exit for the short term.

I strongly urge caution right now.

The wide swings in market action of the last month are often an early indicator of a change in trend or a big quick move. Now, the move could be up, but the risks appear too great for most people to take that gamble. Even if there is an initial strong up move I still am fairly confident that the averages will be lower in the fall.

This is more of a warning than a prediction. I’m only writing this because so many people I know got hammered two years ago when I saw the same thing occurring in the charts. Well, as they always say on Wall Street maybe “this time it’s different”.

Again I want to emphasize that I am an amateur and I’m not recommending any specific action. I’m only suggesting to those in the market to be vigilant right now and only wager what you’re willing to lose.

If anything happens to change my viewpoint I will write a market update. Otherwise I have a couple of other posts in the process of being written that are more in the general tenor of this site.

Jim Guido

Yet, while we want to be able to live our own lives and be a unique and free individual we also want to belong and be appreciated by others. It would be rare to find a person who does not enjoy being recognized for their unique gifts and talents. Most people want their lives to stick out a little. A life without individuality is for the most part a life bereft of meaning.

Yet, it takes others to recognize and appreciate us. No matter how small our community of friends or kindred spirits are, it still is a community. The only way we know our uniqueness is through our comparing and contrasting ourselves to others. While we yearn to be unique and free we also need to be noticed, validated and belong. Thus the statement that “no man is an island”.

No man is cut off and totally separated from the community of man, yet in other ways we are always islands. No matter how well somebody knows and empathizes with us they still cannot truly feel and live our experiences. No matter how close people come to us they will always be out there.

Our separateness and individuality is both a source of joy and a source of anxiety and fear. The human condition is such that we long both for individuality and community. A fulfilled life is one where someone finds their personal balance between community and individuality.

Our society touts itself as a free one. In fact it is self entitled the land of freedom. Now one could make a case that we aren’t and never have been a truly free society. Yet, the bigger question would be do we really want a free society? What is gained through freedom and what is lost?

If it is human nature to want to be a free individual yet also to belong to a community then wouldn’t a society based solely on freedom be blind to the fact that it is a society and therefore a community which people belong to? Is the designation “free society” a conflict in terms in which the idea of society gets overwhelmed in the ideal of personal freedom.

Is a society based on personal freedom in denial of its role as validator, and cate taker of each other? Is a free society one in which the bulk of its members lack a sense of belonging to and being an essential part of the body politic? The high incidence of depression might seen to indicate that this is the case, so might be the fact that free societies often foster the largest and most drastic disparities between the have and have nots.

I personally am grateful to live in a society that is not overtly oppressive and allows me to largely become the person I want to be. Yet, I am embarrassed to be a part of a society that does not provide the basic needs of life to its citizens.

I do not feel that my level of intelligence, energy and drive makes me a better person than others and entitles me to a quality of life superior to those who have a so called lower level of intelligence and energy.

I would gladly sacrifice a little of my so called freedom to insure that others have a good life. It appears obvious to me that any good society should provide a basic level of food, shelter, clothing, medical care and information for all its citizens. One in which suffering would be minimized and quality of life is maximized.

Our system of free market capitalism almost dictates the fact that a good portion of foods and goods are left to spoil, be thrown away, discarded or destroyed. As I’ve pointed out in a number of previous posts, waste and profit are inextricably linked.

In a profit based economy disparity is a necessary and logical outcome. At any given moment in time wealth is determined by the portion of the total pie a person has, any increase in proportion of one person causes a decrease in relative wealth of at least one other person. Stored wealth (capital) decreases the functional wealth of many other individuals.

An empire can disguise this reality while it is in its expansion phase of using and pirating the wealth and resources of other nations. In this expansion phase the quality of life of even the lowest people in a society get a relatively smaller lift, giving the false impression that the economic system benefits all and is the cause of the improvements in quality of life. In reality the economic system is the beneficiary of empire not the cause of wealth expansion.

We currently have enough food to feed the planet, but we do not have enough jobs for everyone on the planet. More specifically we do not have the type of jobs which a profit based economy is able to produce which protects the profit margins of the employer class.

In a profit based economy expansion almost requires an escalating disparity for how else is the necessary capital for expansion acquired. Likewise why would a wealthy businessman expand his business if his relative wealth were not expanding and if his relative wealth were expanding then the wealth of the general populace must be decreasing.
Yet, if we wanted to play this game of earning and competing for financial gain we could still do so in a caring and free society. If all people were provided with a basic standard of living including medical care, housing and a healthy diet, any increase above this base could be acquired through a profit based system of competitive free enterprise.

In such a dual layer system we could honor our moral ideals of providing all with a basic quality of life while minimizing suffering and providing an opportunity for all to engage in the “pursuit of happiness”. While at the same time encouraging and rewarding those who yearn to outperform their contemporaries, or want to amass wealth and possessions the means to do so without contributing to the suffering of others or indirectly reducing the possibility for others to acquire their basic needs.

A free society should honor both words (freedom and society). Individuals should be free from oppression and should be given an opportunity to create rewarding and healthy lives. Yet, if at all possible their freedom should not hinder or reduce the ability of others in the community from having their basic needs provided for them. A lack of abilities or ambition should not preclude someone, or their children, from basics such as food, shelter and medical care.

Jim Guido

On my post entitled Health Care Hullabaloo penned May 28th of this year I quoted reports on the health care bill and offered a little help in reading through the spin. In this post I want to address some of the loose ends left from that post.

This past weekend I read an article which used a version of the above headline and expounded on why we are last in the survey for the countries analyzed. The short answer was we are too expensive for what we actually provide and that we rank last in terms of customer satisfaction. The lack of customer satisfaction basically blew away the myth that US citizens health care is delivered quicker and with higher quality. The reality of the situation is that our waits to receive services are often longer and mistakes regarding medication and procedures lead the world.

In my Health Care Hullabaloo post I noted how insurance companies and hospitals were actually going to fiscally benefit by the proposed health care reform bill. Specifically in the fact that insurance companies were going to be free to raise rates with almost complete freedom. While being told they could not drop a client for a preexisting condition or due to cost, they could just raise a clients premiums to protect their profit margins.

In addition the personal responsibility of having insurance supersedes the responsibility of providing health insurance. What this means is that in the upcoming health care reform citizens not having health insurance will be fined if they do not have health insurance. So, the person who use to be dropped by an insurance company will now face escalating insurance costs and when unable to pay their bills and insurance premiums will then be fined for their inability to keep their insurance.

The official response to this scenario is that the reform bill includes subsidies to help those who cannot afford health insurance. Yet, all this means is that the tax payer through government subsidies will be paying the over inflated health bill costs of those who get economically forced out of their health insurance.

In such a scenario the insurance companies are able to actually inflate their profit margins by passing on costs and responsibility to the tax payer via government subsidies. Thereby allowing wealthy capitalists (insurance companies, pharmaceuticals) to avoid the hardship of social responsibility while at the same time passing on responsibility to the general public.

Yet, despite this win-win situation for those currently milking our health care system for every penny it can get, we will surely hear insurance and pharmaceutical companies bemoan the fact that the inherent socialism embedded in the health care reform are handcuffing them and impeding their ability to provide US citizens with the quality health care they have been accustomed to receiving. Isn’t it amazing that those with the most wealth and power in our society are so often obsessed with convincing us that they are the real victims in a given situation?

The true weakness of not only our health care system but so many other aspects of society is the primacy of profit. When profit is primary, by definition, every thing else is secondary.

The cost of poor health can be very harmful to an economy, the long prolonged costs of cancer as it was dealt with in the 70’s thru the 90’s became highly damaging to profit margins for health insurance companies which probably is what allowed our society to start to take on the tobacco industry. Big Tobacco had to adapt to Big Insurance.

Yet, good health and real cure is bad for profits of health care, insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Profits are maximized when symptoms are controlled but not cured. We need people in almost constant need of interventions, procedures, medications and endless tests. When profit is primary health is something to consume but never quite reach.

Like all industries in an advanced capitalistic society the primary goal is never ending expanding profit and wealth for the industry. In this sense the economic health of insurance and pharmaceutical companies is more essential than the physical and mental health of the American citizenry. In fact there are many aspects of physical health which are in direct conflict with the fiscal health of all industries which make their living on the public’s consumption of health care services and products.

This is not to say that profit is the root of all evil, but any solution offered in today’s world which does not take into consideration the reality of our economic system is at best blind and at worst totally lost and unrealistic.

Jim Guido

Imagine if you could truly create your ideal mate. If the entire database of your wants, likes and desires were to be matched with another person. Imagine if this ideal mate was malleable enough to instantly respond to your changing moods and almost read your needs and feelings at any given moment. Imagine a mate who was there truly for you, who talked when you wanted to, left you alone when you desired it, and met your every sexual desire almost as soon as you recognized it.

This ideal mate is still a fantasy but the day is coming when it will be a reality. Soon cyborgs and robots will have skin which both pleases and is pleased by our touch. Soon we will have programmable partners who can be as orgasmic as we wish and who are devoted to pleasing us at our beckon call.

The programming possibilities are endless. You could make slight alterations to everything from their physique, eye and skin tone and personality to their accent, hair style and conversation topics on a daily basis. You could even create a little conflict and tension if you find harmonious bliss too boring.

It is hard to imagine a sexual relationship with a normal human being even coming close to the amount of ecstasy and pleasure of a personal cyborg. The potential of physical pleasure and heightened orgasm from a cyborg will definitely out strip anything that a normal human could provide you. Aging processes such as wrinkles, sagging, etc. would be totally optional and reversed or increased with little effort.

Those of you who think that getting cyborgs to have sensual skin is far in the future may be in for a surprise. Forget the competition from artificial reality and cyber space fantasy, the real deal may happen in many of our life times.

Satisfying human sexual relationships housed in matrimony are already an endangered species due to affairs, fantasy, porn, cyber-sex and the like. What chance will it have with artificial reality and erotic cyborgs?

What a cyborg won’t be able to provide until they become autonomous experiencing beings is another sentient beings perspective? They will never truly validate our perceptions or offer different perspectives based on their experiences. They will also not challenge us to grow and develop.

Yet, what percentage of the population has that or even desires that in their sexual mates. Already many people get more pleasure and are more bonded to pets, friends and therapists than their avowed mate.

Without significant changes and improvements occurring in human relationships the truly monogamous relationship will soon become extinct, and only practiced by those who are staying monogamous for the cause rather than for personal happiness and sexual satiation.

I’ve written many blogs on gender issues and the male sex drive in particular and they provide many ideas which could help save human to human relationships as are my posts on intimacy and my book Exploring Intimacy which can be read in the words section of this site. Only a more realistic appreciation of human sexuality and our drive towards intimacy could salvage the primacy of human to human relationships.

Yet, maybe I’m just resisting the inevitable and potentially blocking myself from experiencing life in a fuller and more meaningful fashion. Only time will tell. Yet, in the mean time I will continue to explore and discuss ways in which we can make our lives and relationships more rewarding and meaningful.

Life and human experience is truly amazing, and we have barely scratched the surface of understanding and unfolding our potential and joy.

Jim Guido

Frankly, I’m so glad I’m not a young hormone ridden adolescent trying to start up a relationship. I had my first substantial relationship when I was in 7th grade. The relationship lasted about 6 or 7 months, thereby making it a rather successful venture. Yet, the main reason it lasted so long had a lot to do with the sparseness of contact.

Other than eating lunch together we had little opportunity to talk at school. Living in a home with only one land line we spoke on the phone less than an hour a week. Not having any access to a car made it hard to see her at her home or out in public. I would guess that maybe we saw each other a dozen times outside of school over the 6 months.

I seldom go to the malls, but my wife and I try to visit a few times a year just to keep in touch with local pop culture. The last few visits have been dominated by watching little pods of girls huddled together texting each other and guys. After a few minutes they walk and migrate a bit before settling in for another text fest.

In another part of the mall you see little pods of adolescent boys texting girls. In both pods you see kids sharing their texts with their friends. The girls squeal or say “ew” in response to many a shared text a girl receives from a boy, while the boy pods often try to goad each other into sending outrageous texts to a girl or try to dare the girl to send them some bawdy text or pic.

When I look back to my early adolescents I remember a time of intense emotions. It was a time full of awkward moments, when I often felt embarrassed by something I said or did. I remember great anxiety and nervousness when making a first phone call, or trying to push a relationship to the next stage. I also remember moments of intense exhilaration when a girl gave me the impression she wanted to be my girlfriend.

Feeling awkward or undesirable was more common than feeling confident and attractive. When I liked a girl I wanted to spend all my time with her, and I ached when we were apart. In times away from her I would mull over endlessly the next thing I would say to her, or imagine how I would act the next time I saw her.

I tremble when I think of my early adolescents if I would have had today’s immediate forms of communication such as email, cell phone, texts, etc. I can remember so many disasters I avoided by having time to think and prepare my words.

It is very rare that two people enter a relationship with the same amount of investment. I think this disparity is even more pronounced in adolescents. In young love it is common for one person to be infatuated and convinced they are in love and the other be just flattered or curious. In today’s world it is hard for the smitten person not to perpetually stay in close communication with their beloved.

This makes me consider the following question, What is the difference today between dating (courting) and stalking?

Modern technology just increases the likelihood that one person will consistently feel suffocated while the other is feeling rejected or frustrated. The lover will have so many opportunities to electronically court (badger?) their beloved. Their moments of angst and worry will most likely spur them to perpetually text, call and email their beloved. Without enforced time away from their beloved the lover will even more often say and do the wrong thing due to feelings of panic and hormonal desire.

Even for those able to show a little restraint, they may fall prey to the unusual pressure provided by the modern text world I’ve witnessed at the malls. Many of the relationships I had in adolescents were terminated by her “best” friends or her peer group in general. Our relationship could have been going along relatively smoothly but could terminate quite suddenly if one or a few of her friends made fun of me, or considered me uncool.

Most girls would move you into the category of “just friends” when faced with the prospect of having your relationship cause her to be excluded by her friends or lose her status in the group. In the modern text groups it is hard to imagine a boy going very long before one of the girls in her girlfriends entourage going “ew” or “gross” or making some official pronouncement of disgust over what he has texted her.

Heck, my first relationship in 7th grade probably would have lasted less than two days rather than 6 months with that type of scrutiny and pressure to perform.

The post has listed a few of the concerns I have regarding modern technologies impact on the length of young relationships as well as the added pressure it places on people to perpetually perform. Along with this I’ve mentioned the increased likelihood that the ease and pervasiveness of immediate communication will cause the lover to behave like a stalker when wooing the beloved.

Another subject for a later post might be the lack of depth relationships might foster when communication is instant and constant. So much depth and understanding of a relationship is born during times of reflection due to time spent away from your beloved. The majority of my love songs were created during extended periods away from my beloved, when I was allowed an opportunity to savor and appreciate what we had, and time to consider ways on how to improve and hone the beauty of our relationship.

Jim Guido

I’m always confused on the exact number of readers I have on any given day because so few nations URL’s are ever listed. So, lets say on a given day my stats show I had 30 visits. If I click on the visits I may find almost all of the hits show up in 3 or 4 nations yet the stats indicate a large percentage of recent visits are coming from a nation that isn’t represented. In fact, often times I find countries such as Germany, China, Italy, Indonesia, India, Israel, Spain and Iran listed as high visitors yet I have never found a single individual URL from any of those nations. Just as a point of interest, additional countries that are frequent visitors to this site are Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, Britain and Ghana. If I didn’t mention your nation, well tell your friends so that you can get into my top 10.

Recently I thought it would be fun to Google some key words based on blog titles and subject matter to see if any of my posts were listed. To my amazement I not only found many listed, but a sizable portion were listed in the first few pages. In just 10 minutes of typing in some key words I found about 6 or 7 of my posts ranked number one on Google. I’m not exactly sure what this means, but it definitely makes me feel like I’m being read a bit.

Though the bulk of visits to my site are listed as views of posts a growing number of people are reading my lyrics, listening to the music and reading my books. I really am excited by the prospect of more people getting some exposure to my art.

The number of comments left on posts remains scant which I find disappointing. I love and long for fruitful dialogue. I also yearn for feedback to help me hone some of my ideas and see how my words are being interpreted.

Yet, overall I’m amazed how such a simple site with no bells or whistles run by a complete technological incompetent has attracted an audience.

Let me know if there is anything an old school guy such as myself can do to make this site more attractive and interesting for you.

In the meantime I’ll still be trying to write stimulating and thought provoking stuff on a variety of topics including politics, economics, ecology, philosophy, psychology and popular culture.

Oh, by the way go Italia in the World Cup.

Jim Guido