On being merely mortal

The thing about being mortal, (as most everyone I know is) is that most of us don't spend a whole lot of time considering the fact of our mortality . Illness or circumstances (such as a brush with, or the threat of death) may cause you to consider it, but for the most part it is just too hard on our heads and hearts to think on one day simply not being here any more.

I am not dying , fear not. Reading thoughts on the purpose of  the gravestone  advanced by Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden got me thinking. He was musing on how gravesites serve their purpose as long as those who truly remember the departed still live. It struck a nerve, in that I can still remember GG (my father's grandmother) , but am likely the only of my father's children who really does.  I also clearly remember all of my grandparents. My children never knew my father's parents, and don't really remember my mother's all that well.

I don't know if my children will have children. If you asked them now, they might say no. It struck me how easily I might be forgotten after only one generation's time. How little an impression or expression of any wisdom I might leave behind me. I like to believe I have an immortal soul, but the immortal don't truck much with those they leave behind, unless they annoy John Edward into passing on their messages.

It is surely my ego whining here, but I like the idea of the gen after my children having some idea of what a hoot I was. I wouldn't want my children to have children if they don't want them, but I kinda sorta wish they wanted them. I can (selfishly) hope that my niece and nephew have kids, as they like me and would like having me around their kids...so maybe I can be remembered by Gen Next as Great Aunt Elise..(GAE? TiaLise? ) who was funny and loving and good to have around.

No one wants to just vanish from memory.  I am not sure I have a lot of control over that, but it nonetheless came to mind.

I guess I want to mean something. I think I know that I do in the short run, but am not so sure in the long run. Hell,  I wonder how long it would take for me to be a distant memory if I (willingly or not) left my current job, let alone well down the road when I am merely an ( I hope) amusing old lady.

As I said, we mortals do not spend a whole lot of time considering  that fact.  With good reason. Better to go blithely on our way as if we will never die, and to go on trying to make ourselves memorable as if we will never be forgotten.

self examination

is highly overrated.

Do nice guys finish last?

I suppose that it depends on the finishing line in question. In the court of public opinion , or at least one's  immediate public, the answer might well be no. Not last in the hearts of those you have worked with,for and in the best interest of. Steadfastness,loyalty, responsiveness , advocacy, are all valued.  However, they are not enough. Being MLP ( Most Loved Player) is not the same as MVP. In the end, the numbers matter. Too bad that scoring assists, like they do in basketball, does not have the same value in the business world. You gotta score your own, or you will finish out of the money.  Or be traded.

Finishing first ( or at least not last) and also happening to be a nice guy means you can look yourself in the mirror, and not just be proud of your success, but satisfied with your true worth.  So, I suppose,that knowing your true worth is not truly finishing last, but I do wish it was enough.

When all is said and done, nice is nice, but it isn't enough. Less than nice is OK by most, if you produce the desired numbers.

The "radicalization" of the OC Register

The opinion section of the above named newspaper never fails to amuse. The new owners have been giving somewhat greater space to other than the oh so right of right opinions of the paper's history. A few more left of center letters in the letters section, even actual opinion pieces, heaven help us. I have seen my own opinion reflected there, which is that of relief of seeing a few more positions closer to my own. I also have seen those letters which state that if the reader wanted to see "that kind" of opinion or coverage, they could read the LA Times, and thereby threaten to stop subscribing. That is the part that amuses, since I have more than once thought I should cancel the Register, if only for the sake of my blood pressure. 

Now that they have actually begun to balance their coverage, Lord knows we can't tolerate that sort of thing, right?