Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
Table of Contents:
Autobiographical
No More Psychiatry for Me
I became a physician because it fascinated me. It was wonder-full—really! Biology is one of the shining sources of wonder for my mind, and I’m privileged to have studied enough to know that what I learned was only the beginning! But I turned 80 recently and I sort of retired 20 years ago—but now I’ve […]
Nostalgia (Mild)
Slight currents of missing this or that, elements of our old home in Sun City, Texas, the singers’ concert, memories of those who we left behind. Nostalgia, slightly. We’re really very happy, but I was reminded of washes of mild emotionality, like lapping waves—noticeable, but not unsettling—of times, places, groups of bygone times. Some were […]
Not Knowing My Own “Strength”
On reflection, I’ve realized that a source of trouble in my life has been that I truly have not realized that I’m so smart that I confuse people. I haven’t meant to do this, but I really didn’t know. I was bewildered by the responses. I remembered the movie, “Of Mice and Men,” in which […]
Not Limited to a ‘Rational’ Philosophy
And now a venture into contemplation—for I am, of course, a “contemplateur.” I have realized that rational philosophy cannot achieve what it seeks. There is too much in living that transcends rationality, that partakes of play, non-rationality, sensuality, poetry, imagery, paradox, feelings that resist articulation. I call this “nibbling at the ineffable,” the word ineffable […]
Not So Hot
Sometimes I’m hot (good), but sometimes, not so much. So here are some further autobiographical notes that acknowledge the frailty of memory, the natural tendency to fill in the gaps, the unconscious forces that make us paint a picture of whatever we deeply emotionally want it to be. Autobiography is to some degree fiction, someone […]
Not-Really-Effortless Writing
It’s true that writing comes easier to me than many people, but it’s not as easy as it seems. What I write is at times flowing, but I have tendencies to digress (in case you hadn’t noticed), and on re-reading from a new reader’s perspective, I think I would lose part of my audience. So […]
Off The Deep End
I have indeed gone off the deep end. To someone in the shallow end, this is insanely nuts. To those who swim well, well, that’s where the swimming is best. One cannot readily say that “higher” consciousness is “better,” because in ignorance there is bliss. No, that’s somewhat elitist. Actually, certain advantages accrue to those […]
On Idiosyncrasies
An idiosyncrasy is a personal and seemingly odd notion, ritual, habit, obsession, etc. How do bright people come up with such a startling variety of notions? Provisional answer: All our powers of reason cannot penetrate the screen of bias, the thick layers of rationalization generated by our “amplifying unconscious.” The powers of rationalized mythmaking are […]
One of Adam Blatner’s Brain Cells
Zordak visited recently and I asked him about those, "you know, probes?" and he said, oh, yeah, so? I said, "well, did you ever, you know, ‘probe’ me?’ and he goes, "Not necessary. You sort of let it hang out.” ‘n I said, "what’s it feel like?" n he said, “Depends on who’s doing it. […]
Opening Frontiers of Knowledge
Consider that we live at the surface of existence, and are learning to partake of increasing “depth” through successive expansions in many directions, including some of the following: During the 15th and 16th century, the Renaissance, Western culture expanded to reconnect with its own pre-medieval past, the classic Graeco-Roman civilization, along with the spiritual traditions […]
Over-Load Eluded
One of the challenges of the postmodern era is that we become aware—no, we are gently assaulted—with a range of interesting and compelling possibilities, and also calls to action from seemingly noble causes. This morning I was reminded of someone who says the Navy’s sonar testing is hurting the whales and inhibiting their own emission […]
Overcoming a Handicap
I has congenital megacolon, also known as Hirshprung’s Disease. (It was also what Elvis Presley had!) I couldn’t pass my bowels and it piled up. Doctors said it felt like a rock. They took me to a doctor when I was one year old (or earlies) and they did a bilateral sympathectomy, because the disorder […]
Passover Reflections
My Jewish heritage comes up at this time of year as people wish me a happy Passover. It’s awkward, because although I’ve enjoyed elements of the culture—jokes, history, some philosophy, cultural sociology—I am not affiliated with the religion per se. I’m more like the philosopher Spinoza (who actually was excommunicated by his congregation in Amsterdam […]
Peace and Quiet
Ahh. In another dimension I’m a sort of hermit. (My wife Allee is too.) In this cartoon, if we were to put on an international hermit’s conference and not tell anyone where and when it was, that’s okay with us. Ha ha!
Peace and Quiet
Ahhh. We have disguised our little withdrawal space as an inoffensive bedroom within a little seemingly ordinary house on a suburban street in a nondescript section of an ordinary town in a quiet and stable region of a relatively peaceful country on an ecologically stable (for now) planet in a solar system in mid-process—neither beginning […]
Peeking Out
The picture above on my new blog post. Cartoon characters I did as fillers for the University of California newspaper, the Daily Cal, starting in my late Freshman year, around 1956. Looking back, this was a continuation of sketches, and the beginnings of a repertoire of characters who gradually accumulated backstories, qualities of who their […]
People’s Lives
I continue to marvel as I become increasingly aware of the sheer complexity of people’s lives. Of course I know all this, perhaps better than most; but the point is that I continue to “get” more deeply the sheer number of stories—threads of becoming—that weave together. I’ve been a little more into the theme of […]
Peter Rabbit: A Critical Analysis
[Explanation: In October, 2009, played the role of “Linus” in a community production of the late 1960s Broadway Musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” based on Charles Schulz’ comic strip, “Peanuts.” I played the part of a rather precocious intellectual child who at the same time was caught up in an infatuation with my […]
Philosophy & Depth Psychology
I’m pretty sure these two categories cannot be adequately separated. I’m not talking about the distortions of recognized mental illness, but rather the distortions and illusions imposed by pretty healthy folks who are moderately introspective and somewhat philosophical. As we have learned more about the prevalence of illusion and how compelling this is, it becomes […]
Play With Son
A snippet of correspondence between my son David and myself, to illustrate the quality of our interchange: A few days ago, he quoted a limerick told to him by his friend Kris Coppieters.: A doctor in Gastroenterology In charades drew the word entomology But no-one could guess And his act was […]
Playing with Mythic Meanings
Oh, sure, one part of life generates meaning, at first unconsciously, then more consciously. What is fun, though, is to add extras—all the possible stories that never were or are. I play many parts, some more real and serious, some more imaginal. For millennia we had stories that were sort of believed. The degree to […]
Popular Songs (1940-1980 plus or minus)
I realize that I have not kept up with modern music, with a few exceptions. I’ve found the lyrics before that period a bit insipid and after that interval bewildering. That means I’m dated, I fear. I’m reconciled to that, though I am always open to being invited to reconsider a piece. I was looking […]
Popularity
Three items on this blog: First, about popularity. When I grew up in the olden days, in the early 1950s, I had a sense that I should become popular. Something about making friends. I read books about it. “How to Make Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie was a key—but it addressed salesmanship, and […]
Postage and Online Journals
I received a link to a foreign e-journal—it’s in Roman type as well as in the foreign language. But the point is that I am impressed with the idea of an e-journal itself, which may easily outstrip the idea of the printed journal within a decade. In some ways I regret this, because I was […]
Pre-Hallowe’en (2017)
It’s late September and already I saw displays of spooky sculptures and candy and such at the local drug store! It’s a time to be something other than who most people think you are. Your dark side—just kidding! But it’s true that the mind is multi-dimensional and evil as well as good is accessible and […]