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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MJ who wrote (223885)	10/13/2007 11:43:38 AM
From: ManyMoose	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794379

MJ, my friends never have to apologize for jumping in on my conversations. They add so much to them. I appreciate your recommendations and thoughtful comments very much. Your relationship with mathematics and music is interesting. The two are hardly separable, or to say it another way, they are different expressions of the same entity. In 1965 I worked the summer with a fellow who was a little older than I was, and somewhat of a scalawag. That summer he spent a weekend or two in jail, as I recall, and also told some pretty naughty stories about himself and women that he encountered. Anyway, he saw me attempting to play the guitar I had learned to strum a few chords on three summers before when I was a fire lookout. He started talking about the mathematical relationships between the chords -- how G7 is different from G for example. I had no idea what he was talking about, but that's where I learned that music and mathematics are basically equivalent. The man had a genius level IQ, I'm positive of that. I've always wondered whether he ever amounted to anything or just died of his misadventures. I knew two other guys older than myself, both mule packers, who did just that. One played the bagpipes and the other played in a country western band on weekends. They both died of their misadventures, but they were unforgettable characters that could have stepped right out of a Larry McMurtry novel. If I have my way, they will step out of my own novel. My mother had all the musical genes in our family. She had a beautiful trained voice and probably would have gone on stage if she hadn't met the handsome Marine who became my father. She always sang at church and for pay at weddings and funerals. All I inherited was a love for music -- no basic talent. The two years of piano I had as a kid did not take. I am satisfied with that, although I do hope I can learn the fiddle someday. I find a lot of satisfaction in writing, which is probably why I waste so much time on SI. It's really just practice for me. My alma mater, the University of Montana, has one of the finest creative writing programs in the country. I wonder whether I should take that in my old age, or would it just ruin whatever native talent I have? Some times creative writing people are too liberal for me. I got involved in a writer's group once and was nearly tossed bodily out of the room because of a perceived objection to what I was about to say. After they let me stay, my composure was so shattered I could hardly read my piece. I've found that many liberal-minded people are in general more likable than some conservatives that I agree with, but also more intolerant of ideas that don't square with their own world view. With that, I return to topic, Politics for Pros, hoping that LindyBill won't toss me out too.