#ben shee

The snow that fell earlier this week was still hanging around in the Ochils yesterday, and coupled with clear blue skies and crystal clear visibility it made for a memorable jaunt around Glen Sherup. After at least five years of generally wet and mild winters where cold outbreaks have been the exception rather than the norm, this winter really does feel different. Instead of being mild with cooler blips, it has been cool with mild blips. It's the winter that keeps on giving! :)

Geologically the Ochils, which are traditionally viewed as being the lumpy hills that rise between the Firth of Forth and the A9, actually extend eastwards far into Fife before petering out at the Firth of Tay. Seemingly with one foot in the lowlands and one in the highlands, the views from their summits are typically immense :)

Hi all.

 I figured that the blog has been sounding a little impersonal lately, despite my 1st person perspective and constant bracketing of personal thoughts, so I’m going to conduct an interview... with myself, for all the curious folk out there – yes, this is quality narcissism material, please refrain from making jokes about it, or if you are going to make jokes, please make tasteful jokes. 

I guess this is as good an opportunity as any to welcome the readers to let me know what you think, in general, in relation to some specific; perhaps a complaint or maybe what you believe I should rant about. Forewarning though, I often ask myself - "How could I know so little about so much?". That's a caveat to all you intellectuals who would like to troll me. I will probably attempt to write about whatever you suggest, and I will probably butcher it.

Right, let’s get this show on the road. Kindly note that any spelling errors below are either intentional, or due to acute laziness.

  Interviewer enters the room. A tall fella, in clothes that seem a tad too big for him. Funky pants too. Let’s call him… B1 for the moment. B2 is already sitting on the mauve coloured couch.

B1: Oh hi! Sorry I’m late. The trains were packed with people not looking each other in the eye.

B2: No problem. I approve of public transport, it’s a core aspect of a successful city.

B1: Oh yes. Well, a select few of your readers (well, just one, really.)…

B1 mutters his thoughts and qualifying statements under his breathe. It’s an anti-conflict measure. 

B1: … said that they haven’t been appreciating your recent work. What do you say to that?

B2: Well, first off, I’d thank that reader for stopping by at all. I know it’s difficult to find time in our busy schedules to sit down and read something, and even then, why read my musings at all? The fact that he or she is putting in the effort is greatly appreciated.

B1: …

B2: But aside from the obvious fan-service, I think that writings on here are usually done to satiate my own need for clarity and thinking. You see, what happens when I don’t write, is that thoughts become cluttered in my mind. They cling and never become resolved. Writing like this is just my way of venting. It’s merely a useful corollary that others might find entertainment in my thoughts, and that I sometimes use them as a sounding board or motivation to write more.

B1: Excellent. Personally, I love your work. I’ve read all of it.

B2: Why thank you, it’s people like you that make my blog possible.

B1 and B2 share a loud, guttural laughter, which is sometimes mistaken to be a “fake” laughter. It is, however, quite genuine. B1 and B2 are easily amused people.

B1: Continuing on, some readers have expressed a desire to talk about your dating life. How’s that going for you?

B2: It’s …. well…er…

B2 appears to be flustered. B1 notices…

B1: Of course, if you’re not comfortable talking about that, I don’t mind. I write a very un-controversial journal, myself. Would you like to talk about your view on politics, or maybe religion?

B2: Oh yes. I have no strong opinions about politics, especially in Australia. I believe in tactful honestly and integrity, not fanfare and mudslinging. But people say I’m naïve. I’m inclined to agree on that point. As for religion, well, while I am a supposed agnostic atheist, I try not to judge others based on their religion. After all, oftentimes, one cannot avoid the influence of religion on one’s mind, particularly when one is brought up knowing that one religion. The mind is powerful.

B1: Many people would disagree with you. (but nevermind that…) Would you call yourself spiritual?

B2: I don’t even know what that word means.

B1:  …

There is an awkward silence. B2 begins to do a ridiculous looking awkward turtle with his fingers.

B1: Ah yes. Well, what do you enjoy doing in your non-blogging spare time?

B2: I enjoy talking to friends on Facebook. Listening to instrumental or chilled music, although sometimes I dig up some RnB, perhaps Dance music, to liven my mood. I think music has an affect on your music, and effects your mood too, greatly.

B1: How do you feel about people who misuse affect and effect? (chortle chortle)

B2: What?

B1: What about work? What do you do for a living?

B2: I have a desk job at a law place, do it once a week. It’s good fun most of the time, and great for learning. My work ethic is to get things done, preferably in the most efficient way possible.

B1: What’s your philosophy on learning in general?

B2: I think that there’s always room to learn more. I have great deference for my well-read friends, who always offer insight and criticism to my sometimes misguided words. Idealism isn’t an ideal way to live, sadly. Heh, see what I did there?

B1 and B2 share some polite laughter.

B1: That’s great stuff. Now, then readers out there REALLY want to know about your favourite foods and colours. Personally, I think it adds very little value to your knowledge of a person….

B2: I like orange. Chicken is nice.

B1: Orange?

B2: Yeah, orange. That’s an alright colour. Particularly a nice dark shade of orange. Something like the works of one Roboto-Kun... Also, I'm an INTJ on the Myers Briggs test, snake on the Chinese Zodiac and Hermione Granger, according to a recent Harry Potter personality test.

B1: Awesome. Chicken is pretty nice.

B2: Heh. Yeah.

B1 and B2 seem lost in thought. Perhaps about chicken.

B1: Anyway, I guess I’ll wrap things up here. What are we likely to see in the future from your works?

B2: Oh, I’m working on something about social conditioning, maybe a piece of Aural-inspired prose, a short story about a world where God existed and everyone knew.

B1: Awesome. Looking forward to it. Thank you, B2, and to all your good folks out there, may you have a great night! .. (listen, do you wanna get some food? I’m starving..)

Exuent.

Greetings, all. Today I want to consider waste. That vice shared by all who live in wealth and decadence. The thought came to me as I was reading Dune, by Frank Herbert. In the novel, the Fremen who live on the desert planet consider water to be wealth. Water is scarce, and it is such a crucial part of the ecology of the planet, and life in general. One that planet, the water, this incredibly valuable commodity, is recycled through their suits, and they try to lose as little of it as possible to their environment. The fact that they use suits to control their moisture is a bit of an affront to the evolutionary process, but the point remains – and I don’t mean to sound sanctimonious – but we live in world of plenty. Our research, technology is all devoted to the prevention of the need for scarcity, for any kind of suffering at all. I remember once reading about a soldier who was used to taking 2 minute showers, once every two days or so. The Fremen of Dune too, live in military discipline to conserve their water. And I suppose that’s the very nature of discipline, deprivation of something desirable, excess, a reckless abandon of sorts.

But no one would want to live in a society like that. Very few among us, especially those who live in the modern developed world are conscious of the waste we produce. I become conscious of waste, I feel guilty for staying in the shower for more than 5 minutes (which I hear is bad for your skin anyway, especially if it’s a hot shower), simply because what I don’t waste can be used another day.

I am, however, discomforted by the realisation that this supposed revelation is something which, despite prolific campaigning and awareness programs, comes to me only through reading a book. It is not that I live in a state of subconsciousness, but it is that the culture of plenty, of wanting for nothing is so deeply ingrained into society. I once lived with a roommate who would leave the shower on for an hour while he watched TV, simply because he didn’t want to wait the 30 seconds it takes for the water to warm up. And this was in a cold country, where water was expensive to heat. He had no regard for the welfare of the whole, for the planet.

Now, I know I’m starting to sound like a hippy, but this is both economical and ecologically sensible. To conserve, to waste not is to preserve life. The Fremen’s philosophy is that all water is water of the tribe. That which we have in excess should still not be wasted for stupid things which do not bring us any pleasure. I’m not advocating drinking less water, we do live in a relatively abundant world where we can afford to drink water to keep our boties water rich, but I wish that awareness would be more common. That the culture would not be one of waste, but one of rationality, deserving of life.

I know some will say they refuse to concern themselves with little things like this, to restrain themselves for the benefit of society. They don’t want to worry about things which appear to them, to be fundamentally unimportant. And there’s merit in that, something you may call the Prisoner’s Dilemma. The problem is that everyone shares our planets resources, and if some of us waste, then often all of us suffer. So why restrain ourselves at all? The rational decision maker always makes the worst possible choice for the group as a whole. The Prisoner’s Dilemma is cured by communication. By the wishy washy notion of trust. The message may seem insignificant now, maybe your life is devoted to living in intense pleasure. I can only tell you that everything we do counts, every failure to recognise leads to another failure, greater waste and greater folly. That’s how we got here in the first place.

A quote from The Matrix comes to mind: “Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague.” – Agent Smith