Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
Table of Contents:
Autobiographical
Born to Sing
A wonderful early evening walk in Springtime around the neighborhood, a nice opportunity to work out a bit with my hand-held dumbbells, chat with my dearest Allee, and delight in the “Shiva” thin crescent moon she pointed out. Then there was the song of my totem animal, the mockingbird (mimus polyglottos) in a passing tree. […]
Both Sides Now
I heard a song back in 1968 or thereabouts, with that title and have enjoyed singing it—it’s by Joni Mitchell, written in 1967, re-sung by Judy Collins the next year or so. It begins, singing about clouds, “Bows and flows of angel’s hair…” I was just writing to a friend back where I used to […]
Brahma-Hurta: Spirit of Mid-Night Inspiration
Some of these musings emerge from mid-sleep—a time in the South Asian yogic tradition called “brahma-hurta” (I think that’s how it’s spelled)—when awakening between dreams, at 2 -4 in the morning, certain ideas intrude and begin to elaborate on each other, building an impulse to get up and write. It’s a mixture of inspiration and […]
Broad “Roots” in the Present
One type of root system for people feeling that they really belong in the world is through genetics—who your biological ancestors and relatives are. Genealogy is a “thing” in my community and age group, assisted by computer technology, more people are probing their family roots many generations back. Alas for me, I don’t have much […]
Bucket List
What do I want to have done, achieved, experienced, before I “kick the bucket”? This is the “Bucket List.” It becomes ever-more relevant for some and less so for others. My wife, not relevant. Me? A bit. A cousin as part of his Christmas greeting sent me a picture of his holding the New Zealand […]
Cartoons from Medical School (First Year)
When I went to med school at the University of California at San Francisco (class for 1963) — they have a big ol’ medical center there up on Parnassus Heights just southeast of Golden Gate Park—I would sometimes cartoon during lectures. Sort of multi-tasking. These came to be included in a yearbook we did for […]
Cartoons from Medical School (Fourth Year)
These are cartoons drawn during classes and included in our yearbook for the class of 1963 at the University of California Medical Center. Rotations in various specialties—Ob-Gyn; ENT; Internal Medicine (Joking with Dr. John Carbone), wrote letters to the referring docs, etc. (click to enlarge) See: 1st year in medical school For 2nd year For […]
Cartoons from Medical School (Second Year)
(Click to enlarge) See: 1st year in medical school For 3rd Year For 4th year.
Cartoons from Medical School (Third Year)
These are cartoons drawn during classes and included in our yearbook for the class of 1963 at the University of California Medical Center. In the third year, we learned surgical techniques in dog surgery, worked doing “scut work” for the interns at San Francicsco General Hospital, rotated in Pediatrics, at some clinics. (click to enlarge) […]
Celebrating Your Diversity
“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself! I am great! I contain multitudes!” wrote the American poet, Walt Whitman, in the mid-19th century (in a poem, “Song of Myself”). This blog post is a re-affirmation of the glory and necessity of individuality. The notion that we have to bring it all together […]
Changing Computers!
I amth in the complex challenge of changing computers and hope to be in contact again in a few weeks. I’m going to get another windows, but I found out from my son, who is a big shot in desktop publishing, that my Wordperfect desktop publishing program has dropped back in the competition. He doesn’t […]
Chaos Amidst Order
This mandala hints at the swirling process of individuation. It’s never done. Mystically and poetically, God can’t help but to do through you. Manifestation is thus a continually evolving and shifting adventure. Stated another way, I have all these parts that re-combine in unique ways, involving temperament, talents, limitations, karmic residues, social roles, epigenetic influences… […]
Chariots of the Angels
In the late 1960s a book was published titled “Chariots of the Gods,” and its truthfulness was doubted by many. Still, it’s a great title, and if we shift from polytheism to a modified monotheism that includes many orders of angels, well, what do they get around in? It would be too easy to assume […]
Check Out My Website
If you think this stuff is fun, you might find you enjoy even more a variety of topics addressed on my website: Serious psychology, psychological literacy, psychotherapy, psychodrama and its related topics of role theory and sociometry, various types of philosophy and I slip into rank speculation and fantasy at the bottom. For those who […]
Christmas Contemplation
Going along with the cultural thrust, hearing somewhat religious songs at our local Unitarian Church, I enjoy the Holiday Lights. Religion is no big deal for me. While I used to be an atheist in relation to literal beliefs, I am now a true believer in the operation of the cosmos, which is well-beyond the […]
Christmas Holiday Greetings 1979
In 1978 we moved from Menlo Park to Santa Rosa and found a cute home there at 3173 Idaho Court slightly east of Montgomery Village and east of mid-town. During that “sabbatical” year, Allee (who then spelled it Ali as an informal shortening of her earlier name of Alice) encouraged me to write, think, enjoy […]
Christmas Holiday Greetings 1980
In 1980, we moved again from 3173 Idaho Drive to 1538 Leonard Avenue, a slightly larger home closer to the private practice office I had opened on 114 Sotoyome Drive. I also worked part-time at the Sonoma County Mental Health Clinic. A little grey kitten “Poomie” adopted us this fall, which helped with the loss […]
Circuses Without Animals
Reading the July/August 2017 Smithsonian, it has an article about changes in circuses: A century or so ago, through to when I was a lad in the 1940s, circuses exploited captured animals—bareback riders, lion- and tiger-tamers, tricks with elephants , but in the early 21st Century acts that featured animals were phased out. Acts that […]
Clowning
I’m 13.2% clown. I just made that up. Clowns seem to do that—not use percentages, but rather make things up. I’ve learned the hard way not to clown on the job, even slightly. But it’s sorta-kinda true that I have a fondness for the wacky, and Allee and I clown around in our marriage, in […]
Clutterbugging
I’ve been in a phase of going through my cartoon-doodles and realizing that they offer a wealth of diagrams for my pixilated mind and its philosophical meanderings. This cartoon expresses some trends that I hope to forestall, but it’s not easy. By the great cartoonist, George Booth, the old lady is saying, “There’s more inside.” […]
CoCreating My Living
I have created my living, and I wrote a book about it—privately published—called “Creating Your Living”—and I’m planning on revising it some day. But. I just now realized that my “higher self” of which I only know the tippy-tip and then through its effects—yes, that higher self!— “It” has been living me, more or less. […]
Compelling Songs and Stuff
I’m getting older, have topped out, noticing that young people are taking things in may new directions. I’m older, wiser, or at least wise enough to notice my past follies and contemplate my present degrees of ignorance. There are still many, many things I want to do, but I am also realizing that there are […]
Complexoids
On occasion I dare imagine elves and faeries and the like, just for fun. Looking over my cartoons I imagine there’s a “race” or category of lil’beings that are similar resonant energy fields, expressing various complexes. Just as if there’s a spirit of this tree or that rock, so too aspects of mind can generate […]
Confidence or Arrogance?
Many people think they know, or they give out to others the attitude that they believe completely in what they’re saying or doing. Examining history, it’s clear to me that nobody ever should be fully confident, because humans cannot know the full extent of the impact of their actions. A measure of at least 10% […]
Considering Other Dimensions
My latest theory is that although our bodies (as far as we know) are mainly three-dimensional, our minds are able to conceive of many dimensions, though not able to get the proper perspective on them all. Mind penetrates and transcends dimen-sions, but only somewhat. I have been blessed by reading science -fiction, which was directed […]