There is a clearing in the clouds the wind pushing them into clumps. A sharp contrast develops from the reflections off of the various surfaces surrounding my journey. The day passed as a series of repetitive studies each with the variable of personality. Young-ish to old and in various states of physical and psychological ability. I managed to charm them into an easy state. 

I had sent out a package a while ago that I hoped would be a surprise instead it sits somewhere. It’s not the present itself but the card I wonder about. It’s Ba(r)be’s birthday. Maybe we’ll have a chance to have a chat when I get back to my flat. In a moment of inspiration I took a selfie something I’ve done more since our relationship began and now spans the globe. There were some nice blooms further on on my journey to the station. I was a few minutes late for my bus trying to finish off the day’s slate. 

There is no rush to get back. The walk is nice giving me a chance to appreciate the sun and to burn off the sedentary caged energy watching the seconds tick away on each acquisition. There was coordination to focus on due to the volume of patients. The focus needs to unwind after such a day. It wasn’t that crazy anyways. I’m continuing to read the online encyclopedia and today I’m continuing to pursue links from the entry on human nature. Got into Romanticism and how it was an antagonist to the Enlightenment that preceded it. With notions of feeling and free expression it overtook the rationality somewhat and reacted to the tumultuous fighting that occupied much of Europe. Subjective experience was valued and much of the writing that was popular explored emotion leading to an explosion of nationalism and sentimental feelings of cultural identity. These feelings fueled much of the subsequent political turmoil and conflict that crescendoed in the first and second world wars. 

There were exploits by some of these personalities most notably Lord Byron whose offspring holds the distinction of being the first computer programmer Ada, Lady Lovelace… It seems like the man had a magnetic personality that attracted both male and female admirers and he indulged in both of their affections. His self assured manner of handling himself and the various contacts that he influenced made him into one of the first “modern” celebrities. His unabashed behavior graced the gossip columns of the day making him admired for his work and titilated by his scandalous behavior. You could almost picture the stiff upper classes gossiping about his brashness and success at seduction. Some of his behavior would have had him in jail these days. Many of the famous people especially some of the artists I read about had proclivities that bordered on the exploitative especially when it concerned sex. It was a different time back then though. “Nasty, brutish, and short.” Lord Byron died in Greece fighting for Greek independence against the Ottoman Empire after being treated with blood letting. It is theorized that he got septicemia from the infection that lead to the blood letting. He was being treated for flu or some kind of that sort of malady. There are statues of him in Greece as well as a statue named after him. It kind of makes me want to read some of his work to see what the big deal is all about 😉.

Many of the old school famous people had a strong sense of self even if there were bouts of anxiety. Their intelligence and their boldness lead them to have some kind of lasting effect on our present day. Some each to us from distant millennia ago in a time when few were able to read and write and they spoke a language no longer spoken in the same way now. The evolution of language proceeded with the evolution of thought and culture. Our reaquaintence with the old thoughts and old notions following the dark ages and the subsequent enlightenment that came with it makes for interesting reading. I started off by researching the trip but now I’ve gone fully into reading about the history of the western world. 

“If you don’t know your past then you don’t know your future.” – PE

Each step that follows another as I walk along the now more familiar streets of this land carries me to a temporary station. Some of these stations have been here for a while and I am just another passenger passing through its gates. The volumes read by those figures of old have been replaced by anonymous figures writing articles and spreading information in bite sized chunks today. It’s the multitude of chunks that overwhelms us now. The vast torrent of info is to vast for any one person or group to comprehend. I don’t think AI would do any better it would only be along particular lines. Society and culture builds on what came before and reacts mirroring at first, before transmuting and reacting by asserting its own view of the world. Each of these cycles expands and focuses on its own characteristics related to life and what this all means. The “hard problem” is something framed in concepts from the past whereas reality in now understood to be shifting depending on wheather or not we are observing it. It’s like a dog chasing its tail. 

Each of these steps are not focused on instead the wonder of my surroundings and the wonder of what the future may bring fills my senses. Where does this new optimism come from? It may be related to the love that I’ve found but it also reinforced the belief long ago that one day I’d be blessed with someone with whom I’d share my abode. This time apart is tough but in my mind we are walking side by side towards a common goal to be physically together exploring the world. These recent developments her acceptance to school in a new place where we can both learn to be together makes me kind of happy. It fills in an unknown and it will give each of us a chance to prepare for that road. We are both mature enough to confront this opportunity and allow it to carry us forward.