Adam Blatner

Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner

August, 2015

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 […]

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All Over the Internet

What does it mean that my friend Russell Williams in Southern California has been writing about me and inviting me to write about my ideas? I’m present at more than one place on the internet! Wow! http://passkeys.org/author/russell-williams/page/6/ http://blogs.ocmetro.com/1979-adam-blatner/ http://blogs.ocmetro.com/a-lively-curiosity/ Perhaps you too will find yourself thus publicized as time goes on. Perhaps it is not […]

Posted in Current Events, Foolin Around, Whassup? | No Comments »

A Personal Greeting

Good morning. This posting is aimed at you. Yes, you! Ah, what a weird world: I don’t even know your name. I don’t know to whom I’m writing, or who I’m writing to (to use more common but technically incorrect grammar). By the way, my mind tends to fly off into eddies like that, parenthetical […]

Posted in Current Events, Play and Spontaneity, Whassup? | 1 Comment »

The Minions of Mild Villainy

I was reminded of this archetype also in this summer’s Computer-Graphic Cartoon movie, Minions.  I liked the theme that simple minded folks (the cute lil’ Minions) happen to love the energy put out by someone who exhibits a strong sense of triumphant malevolence. A good villain is appealing in a weird way. In my childhood, […]

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Helping Others Feel Better

In the aforementioned Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. book, “Cat’s Cradle,” there is another quote that asserts the priority of encounter, human help, over mere, dry, facts as we believe them to be. One of the characters, a Doctor von Koenigswald, in Chapter 98, page 148, says, “I am a very bad scientist. I will do anything […]

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God Made Mud

I must confess that this passage from Chapter 99, page 149, of Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s  1973 novel, “Cat’s Cradle” appeals to me. I’d like to have it read at my funeral. It’s from his imaginary religion of “Bokononism,” which says that all religions are based on lies. I am a flagrant myth-maker, who nevertheless aligns […]

Posted in Autobiographical, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | 1 Comment »

Prioritizing

My guardian angels are reminding me through many channels that I’m gonna die. My days are numbered. Maybe 4, maybe 4,000, maybe 40,000. So consequently—there’s a word I haven’t used for a good long while—I need to prioritize. In other words, what’s my bucket list? Not easy, but not that hard, either. First, keep on […]

Posted in Autobiographical, Mind-Spectrums, Wisdom-ing | 1 Comment »

The Communi-cube as Oracle

My friend John Casson in England created an instrument to get people communi-cating: The communicube. They communicate more articulately to themselves. You can see it on his website. My wife has used it in her spirituality group to get the small number of people involved to reflect more on their lives. She’s used it several […]

Posted in Art (Mandalas, Doodles, Scripts), My Favorite Things, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry, Wisdom-ing | No Comments »

Divesting

What a word: I need to begin to divest myself of too much stuff. (My book collections are strong examples of too much stuff.) George Carlin, the late comedian, has a wonderful bit he does about “stuff.” I’m beginning to look at all my books that way—not much, but it’s a beginning. So did I […]

Posted in Autobiographical, Follies, Play and Spontaneity, Psychology | No Comments »

Teasing: Another Spectrum

Teasing can range from mild joshing to outright sadism, really nasty mean. The other extreme has nothing indirect,  just people being kind, tactful, appreciative. There’s a good deal of communication that’s in-between. Some people feel anxious about being perceived as being “soft” by others. Others are are coarser: they interact by introducing an an edge […]

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