On Spelling

The 96th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee has been completed and I didn't win. I should say I couldn't win, never tired and know my limitations in spelling to give it a go. Spelling Bees are those contests elementary school teachers use in their classes to make learning more fun, but I understand there are adult spelling bees also. I think any adult who enters that is probably a masochist. Spelling bees are public announcements of human stupidity, given most of us spell so badly.( I shall make sure to use spell check on this).

The term spelling bee has nothing to do with the insect. It is derived from the Old English word "ben", meaning “a prayer, a favor.” By the late eighteenth century ben was replaced with the word "bee", referring to the joining of neighbors to work on a single activity to help a neighbor in need: sewing bee, quilting bee, etc. So there is the derivation of the term Spelling Bee. I hope I spelled all the words right in that explanation but I won't sear to it.

Why some people are good spellers and some not is perplexing. Often the smartest people are the worst spellers. But then, also stupid people are always bad spellers. I think it must be some combination of a skill involving talent/instinct and language decoding skill and memory. But what do I know? I researched spelling skill and found this definition from someone who knows better than I.  "A good speller is not a person who has successfully memorized the most words, but rather someone who knows ways to figure out the logic of words and can construct them as needed. Spelling is problem solving with letters, sounds, patterns and meanings." (Phenix and Scott Dunne, 1991)

But how come that horned rim glasses wearing nerdish 10 year old spelling bee champ can spell better than the rest of us? It might be that all the components of good spelling work well for the nerd and one or more of them fail in us. So what? Is spelling well so important in this age of computer spell assistance? In practical terms probably not if the person can spelling normally. But those with learning disabilities whose language processing is bad would disagree. Thankfully, for all of us spell check rescues us in time of need.

I guess I am analyzing a talent too much and should just shut up. But before I do I thought I would let you know what the the final word was for the 10 year old Scripps co champ final word in the competition was. It was “Feldenkrais”. Gee, not only can't I spell it. I doubt I can pronounce it.

Post 100 Years

How old is old enough? I refer to your life span. Humans deteriorate so much in the late years it is as much a punishment as a blessing to reach the 100 year old mark. I remember a fellow who was interviewed on his 100th birthday. The interviewer asked him what's the secret to a happy life.  He said, "Die at 80".  Smart or just funny for 100 year old. Why am I mentioning this subject? It's because we had another of the "oldest person alive dies" new stories the other day.

Susannah Jones died in New York City at the age of 116 years. Old Susannah must have inherited the right genes. But Old Susannah's longevity is more common than many think. The United States alone  has the most centenarians with currant estimates as high as 72,000. If the population of centenarians continues to increase at its current rate of expansion there could be close to 1 million people of 100 years of age or more by 2050 residing in the US. 

Could you image the a wait in the grocery store check-out line with two of those in front of you?
Anyway, the people who come up with those statistics say that their current estimates put the figure of total centenarians worldwide at about 450,000. Exact numbers may be difficult to determine, they claim, since many centenarians live in developing or outlying areas, where census data is not often available. What is certain is that there seems to be a maximum life age for all of us. After 110 very few people are still alive and wearing their depends.

The research on super oldies shows that there is no single "age gene" that accounts for their ability to live to such an old age.  But the overall the genes of centenarians allow them to compress the time of greatest sickness and weakness into the very latest part of their lives. Their immune systems are super strong until they weaken  rapidly past age 100. Almost all centenarians have been relatively healthy through their 80’s and into their 90’s. And only later than that started to decline. Researchers say that if you have a strong family history for longevity you probably have some genetic protection, and can afford to indulge a little bit in terms of lifestyle. Go have that greasy burger, fries and ice cream if so. It won't kill you.

Now that the oldie king, old Susannah has left is the new one is from Italy, a lady also 116 years old named Emma Morano.  She is the last known living person born in the 1880s, her birth date being Nov. 29, 1899.  That means that Emma was already 18 years old when World War II ended. She has seen a lot (but let's hope she missed reality TV). I wonder how those experiences changed or shaped her attitudes today? Today Emma lives in a small apartment, which she never leaves, accompanied by a caregiver and two relatives who visit often.  Though she lived a hard life that included physical abuse and long physical work days, Emma says that today she is "fine".

Does this make you want to live beyond 100? I think longevity in itself is not a good barometer to a good life. But then, ask any 99 year old if he or she wants to live to 100 and I suspect that "yes" would be the answer every time

Observing The People

I had an errand day today. You know. It's when you have to shop or complete some other kind of business in public. I don't like venturing out in the public domain because I know I'll meet people who are as weird or worse than I. But life brings obligations, and today I decided to reverse the strategy of ignoring all the crazies and craziness that we call "normal society" and instead observe them all.  When I observe what you and most others probably never notice when  you are out (it helps in maintaining sanity if you ignore the bizarre behaviors) I learn a lot about why the world is doing the mambo while I waltz.

While at a shop I immediately noticed a fellow mumbling to himself and picking areas of his body we aren't supposed to touch in public. He is the kind of guy you never look at directly, and seeing him I wondered if he was crazy or just stupid. So I backed off nd asked myself, How does one tell that a stupid person has dementia?  I bet even their mom's can't tell. It's pretty much the same behavior.

At the local Costco I saw a normal guy and overhead him tell the clerk who asked for a transaction, his date of birth that he was born in 1929. I had to talk to him because the older the person the more interesting is their rhetoric. There is something about longevity that brings wisdom and reminds us that there is an alternative perspective to the madness of the modern age in which we live. This is good for maintaining our sanity in an age of electronic alienation form reality.  I mentioned that he was "doing well for 87 and that I doubted that I would ever be lucky enough to be in a similar situation when 87 years passed since my birth. I told him that if I made it to 87 I would probably be confined to a in a nursing home all day where I would smile and stroke my love muscle. Oh well, maybe I'll be lucky enough to die before I am that old.  The grace and aplomb of that 87 year old was like a shot of enthusiasm that there might be some hope for humanity.

But at a clothing store I glanced forward and saw a "security" person. His t shirt  was emblazoned with the words "Property Loss".  Political correctness has met me face to face! So I asked him if he "found any of that lost property" . The joke was lost on him because PC types really think that changing the language changes reality.  As I walked away he glared at me, surely he suspect I was one who might "lose" the store's property if he didn't keep an eye on me. When I paid for a purchase at that store I made reference to the " property lost" with a sigh that I thought we customers would appreciate more honesty in labeling. Perhaps they should give him a new T shirt, one that says "Watching for Thieves".

Anyway, I had to make a hasty retreat from that clerk because I jokingly said that "I wanted to use a rest room here but haven't decided what sex to declare". She was a PC advocate and only glared at me in derision that I would joke about the crazy bathroom transgender rest room debate in the U.S. these days. Sigh, I should stay home more often....

Dating A Robot

When I was a young man and pursuing dates with "suitable females" used to think the dating pool was thin. But after reading a British survey article today about the same subject I think that I may have been lucky compared to today's young mate seekers. New research has found that one in four young people in the UK would happily date a robot. Wow! Technology is even more addictive than even I suspected. But then, I can remember some dates I had who were colder than a robot and about as bright as the light in those automatic light switches.  Oh...and some dates I had looked worse than Rosie the Robot on those old Jetson TV shows.

The only caveats the respondents in that survey gave, was the robot they dated must look like a real live human being.  According to that survey of 18- to 34-year-olds their android beau must also a "perfect match". Hmmm What is a "perfect match" anyway? Anyway, the role of technology shows in the survey because the proportion of young people who are willing to go on a date with a robot is significantly higher than the overall proportion of British adults. Only 17% of whom were willing. In the millennial world it seems their their identities are more and more defined by their reliance on their technological communication.

The real story of this is not that so many young are disillusioned with real members of the opposite sex, but rather that so many say they are willing to find romance with the virtual. For that segment of the population intimacy as we know it is expanding its boundaries into to the non human, non breathing realm. It's frightening to me how easily humans will abandon the concrete for the imaginary.  But the our technology has already shown us that some humans prefer to live in a virtual world.

But wait! The answer to my observation is what those who want robot romance say. They claim  that robot dating is just another opportunity to experience love and affection beyond the physical and into the virtual.  I don't buy it. What about you?

Losing Luggage

It's time for a positive rant. Yep! It's me, not some sane person who has kidnapped my computer. I know I usually complain about something/everything, so maybe I should see a mental health for a mental health evaluation, because today I come to praise the airlines...sort of. I don't want to go overboard and leave the impression that the U.S. airline conglomerate is doing a good job. They are still torturing us in many ways, with small seats, delays, unfair pricing etc.  But alas!  Reports about airplane baggage handling have come in from a SITA Baggage Report 2016 that say that luggage now has the best chance ever of making it to its destination.

I have never had any of my luggage lost. Therefore, I can't relay any past personal complaints about the subject. You can tell me about your own if you had any lost luggage stories. Too, now that I have come to praise the airlines for their baggage handling it is a near certainty that they will lose my bag when I next fly. There is an unwritten law that those who praise an airline are sure to be punished soon thereafter. I better pack an extra pair of underwear in my carry-on next flight.

Here is what SITA reports. During 2015, the rate of mishandled bags by airlines worldwide was 6.5 bags per thousand passengers. That’s a 10.5% drop in the mishandled bags rate over 2014, when you take into account the increase in the number of passengers (3.5 billion) airlines carried last year. That’s also an all time low in the mishandling rate since 2003, when SITA, an air transport communications and IT company owned by the industry, began tracking and reporting baggage handling trends.

Wow! Maybe the airlines are not trying hard enough to lose our luggage, or is it that they are concentrating with extra efforts to harass us in other ways? Hmmmm My praise of them  has already turned to condemnation. This proves that either I am incapable of seeing the good in huge corporations, or that I am completely delusional. Blame it on those torturous past airline flights I endured if the latter is the case

The New Dark Age

I admit that the world in which we live today is a puzzle to me. What was black is now white. The speculative is turned into accepted truth. Tradition is ridiculed and modernity worshipped, no matter the value of each.  This must be the new Dark Age. Maybe the older humans like me are supposed to feel displaced as we reach our final years.  That way we don't mind leaving life behind. But then, I think of past generations and they did not have so much change, often mindless negative change, occur so suddenly and often. What's different today is that the social order, the folkways and mores don't seem to matter anymore. What matters now is "me".

My observation is that the social media craze has killed culture and replaced it with a mind set of relativism, "if I like it it's right". Thus, we get social trendiness as the driver of behavior. What is trendy today is popular, morality and ethics be dammed. Celebrities and Face book have replaced educational institutions and time tested core values as the source of truth.  Instead of Shakespeare we now have rappers spouting ignorant vulgarity.  Religious worship is gone now, replaced by the faith of "global warming". That's why when most Americans are asked what is the greatest challenge facing mankind the reply is "climate change". Huh? They must be kidding. But even the American president agrees.

Today I read in my newspaper about some of the major "news" stories. The front page included stories about a pastor who is suing a grocery store because it hurt his feelings when allegedly adding a "gay slur' to the cake decoration he placed. Do we really need to read of that? Is there not something that affects our lives better suited for page one? Well, it started on social media and in our degraded society that makes it important. Other front page stories included a report on a football player whose agent fired him, something with the headline "Rainbow colored nooses on campuses disturbing" (I didn't read that one), a story that says our genes tell us when to first have sex, and why someone named Emila Clarke "rules the red carpet." It's garbage for the brain, pabulum.

Social media and technology has degraded the man capacity to understand what is real and what is important. It has discouraged thinking and damaged our ability to reason.  Society has been bought off by its technological addiction. No need for a nuclear bomb to kill us, those cell phones and i pods are already dumbing us down so much that brain deadness is more the norm than the exception. The future looks worse than the past. No wonder I won't be regret my own end when it comes, for the darkness we face at death is merely a mirror of the darkness of our modern Dark Age.

Memories

I had one of those days for remembering the past. Mother's Day and the 20th anniversary of my father's death fell on the same day this year. It jogged my memory of my late parents, something that is good for the soul every so often. It's not good to live in the past, but remembering it on occasion helps us to see the present more clearly. It's a poor memory that only looks backward, for we should always learn from the past and apply those lessons to today, Having old memories and young hopes is the ideal.

What I find odd is the things we remember. I think we have no choice in the matter, but is it not strange that we often than not have a clearer memory of the incidental than of some significant event in our lives? Maybe those visions the trivial have some deeper significance of which we are not consciously aware. Why, for example, do I have a critical clear picture in my head of a big oak tree in the front yard of a childhood house? Yet, I can not remember names and faces of people who were important to me at the same time as I gazed on that oak tree. How and why does our subconscious select that which we remember? Try now to summon five of your oldest memories. I suspect a few will seem trivial.

Our memory is consistent though. We remember public events the same as private ones. Things that happen to people or places for which we are unconnected are remembered in the same way as personal ones. I remember my dad's death clearly because I was present with him when he died. But I remember the death of president Kennedy in 1963 because he was "with me" as president the day he was assassinated. My dad's death represented the loss of one I loved deeply and who loved me the same. Kennedy's death represented the loss of innocence in America for not only me but also for the rest of the nation. I loved my dad but had no feeling for Kennedy. Yet, the memories of those two losses are vivid even today.

It must be that out memories keep us stable, perhaps even sane. The terror of Alzheimer is the loss of memory. It makes us something less than fully human. Just as we must first put one foot in front of the other when taking a step, we must file our memories for recall when needed if we are to move forward in the present. Surely, our memories are what keeps us going mad in our old age. Getting old is not so bad as long as we have a few good memories to age with us. Without memories we wouldn't have roses in December or even a reason to continue to live.