The weather has been gorgeous the last couple days, so the idea of sitting at the computer hasn’t been appealing. Plus, it’s occurred to me that I’ve just ended 29 years of sitting at a computer. My original plan was to spend this first retirement month getting solidly back into blogging again, but my brain is rebelling. It would rather just putter around for a while, enjoying life.
I do try to do what the voices in my head tell me. They seem to know what they’re talking about (at least, they’re quite convincing). I have managed to post more this month than any month so far this year, so I’m off to a fine start.
But I’m not going to work at much more this month unless the muse strikes me.
I’ll leave you with a favorite joke.
As you (should) know by now, the nature of consciousness is a fascination of mine and the topic of a number of my posts. Philosopher and mathematician, René Descartes explored this ground.
I mentioned him in my very first post, and he’s a key figure in the second post. His famous phrase, cogito ergo sum, speaks to the one fact we can be absolutely certain is true (because we experience it every waking moment).
What I’ve never told you about is the time he went drinking…
Descartes is hanging out in his neighborhood bar one day. The bartender comes up to him and asks, “Hey, René, would you like another drink?”
“I think not,” answers Descartes.
And vanishes!
Me, too!
Logos con carne 
July 23rd, 2013 at 6:40 pm
Glad to hear you’re enjoying the weather! Hey have you woken up in a panic yet, thinking you’ll be late for work? And if so, how sweet is the moment you remember, ‘oh yeah, I retired?’
July 23rd, 2013 at 8:03 pm
Heh! Actually, no (but that may be more due to that I haven’t worried about getting to work on time in 15 years). A small compensation for working my ass off: keeping my own hours, at least in the sense of when a long day begins and ends.
There have been occasions where I feel like I’m on “weekend time” or “vacation time” that will be over at some point. That’s when I get that sweet moment of, “Oh, yeah! I retired!” But I’m slowly getting used to the idea that Sunday night is just another night!
July 24th, 2013 at 6:33 am
Do fun things. Do meaningful things. Enjoy!
July 24th, 2013 at 7:40 am
That sounds like an outstanding plan!! 😀
July 25th, 2013 at 4:06 am
I like that you are enjoying life, definitely agree, sitting inside with a computer has not been my favorite evening activity after work! I have missed a few posts and sorry that won’t be caught up this a.m. Off to my hot and sweaty place of employment. Take care and glad you are happy, as much as you can be since you have a mind and it has to be serious, too, at times!
July 25th, 2013 at 9:25 am
The weather witches keep saying it’s going to rain, but I think their spells are weak. The weather continues to be wonderful! I’ve found that my sense of humor rarely goes away… I have to be really, really, REALLY depressed and/or unhappy for it to go away completely. A trait that sometimes bites back… the middle of a serious argument is not a good time to make a humorous reference, even in passing… [sigh]
July 27th, 2013 at 11:47 am
Oh, it would lighten my mood, I am able to switch subjects but that may also, drive you batty!
Hey, tonight heading to Cleveland for an Indians’ game, hoping, fingers crossed that the light daylong drizzle will ease up. Some Motown music and fireworks on the schedule. They won in the 11th inning last night! Yeah! Take it easy.
The comment about happiness was sort of joking, that sometimes we all who think a lot may have less to laugh or joke about. It was one someone told me awhile back. It was passing it forward to a much bigger brain-i-ac than I: YOU!
July 27th, 2013 at 11:57 am
I’m not sure that follows… A long time ago, someone asked me if knowing all about how movies were made spoiled watching them for me. The answer is a definite, “No!”
It’s true that knowing about movies gives you a stronger sense of what’s “good” and what’s not, so it can make it harder to enjoy crappy movies (such as Ted, which I recently mentioned here). But usually there are many other elements that are worth watching, elements that require knowing about movies to even notice. It’s like how, even in a baseball game that’s going badly for my team, I can still enjoy watching the pitching or the fielding or whatever. (It’s only when a movie seems like a total piece of crap—like Ted did—that I can’t get through it.)
So, bottom line, thinking more about life may give you more that upsets you, but it can also give you more to enjoy. I know many great things about life that completely escape others, and those things give me great joy at times, so, no, thinking more doesn’t equate (at least for me) to having less to joke about or laugh about. I think it gives me much more!