I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t try to preserve important treasures from our past.  Indeed, such links to ancient worlds have much to teach us.  At the same time, though, it’s useful to ask how long we can preserve those links and at what cost.  Will the new techniques, especially genetically engineering new microbes, create more problems than they solve?  Is it possible that developing some new microbial “antidotes” to the damage caused by other microbes will unleash harmful biological agents into the environment that will damage plant and animal life?

The article quotes biologist Ralph Mitchell:

“Our heritage is disappearing.  Whether it’s Angkor Wat or the Mayan sites in Mexico or the Native American archaeological sites in the West of this country, they are all under threat. And the question is, can we preserve them?”

I agree that whether we can preserve those sites is a question, but not necessarily the question.  We also need to be asking whether we ought to preserve them.

Humans are creating new products of culture every day, all over the world.  I don’t think we can preserve all of them.  Every day, some artifacts are likely to slip into a state in which we can no longer view, or perhaps even recognize, them.  Is that necessarily a problem?  I suppose it’s only a problem if we decide to make it one.  Our desire to preserve everything seems rather silly when we consider the sheer enormity of the task.  The more we create, the more there will be to preserve, and the more matter and energy we will need to preserve it all.  Adding to that problem the need to race against time to fight the inevitable decay and erosion of those artifacts suggests to me that we’re fighting a losing battle.

The poet Shelley wrote movingly of this impossible battle in his sonnet “Ozymandias.”

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

In a delicious irony, in just a few centuries, “Ozymandias” itself will be unintelligible in its original language to anyone but a small number of scholars who specialize in studying what we now call “Modern English.”  Poetry doesn’t generally port well from one language to another.  A well-crafted sonnet like “Ozymandias” will lose the beauty of its iambic pentameter–a poetic meter so common in Modern English–and its charming rhyme scheme with all its subtlety.  I don’t know what the successor to Modern English will be, but if the past is an accurate predictor of the future, speakers of that later language will not read “Ozymandias” with the same appreciation we have when we read it today.

Of course, the new tongue–let’s call it “Post-modern English”–will have its own subtleties and beauties that would probably escape any of us who could see it now, if we could see it now.  But that’s precisely the point.  The full appreciation of products of human culture is tied to living in that culture, in its particular time and place.  Any other appreciation is an approximation whose accuracy and rich meaning seem inevitably to diminish as one moves further away from the original time and place of the artifact’s creation.

Is there a lesson lurking in all of this?  I believe so.  The lesson is: enjoy it to the fullest here and now! Like everything else in our world, those cultural treasures are changing; they won’t always be with us in their current forms, so make the most of them today.  Our universe is marked by impermanence.  We may be able to preserve the treasures of the past a little longer through human effort, but we won’t be able to preserve them forever.  The ancient phrase, carpe diem, captures this sentiment pithily; the urgency is real.  Enjoy!  Don’t wait!

Jean,

Although I have been monitoring this forum, from time to time, ever since some of your fellow citizens told me about it, I have not spoken up here before.  However, now I think the time is right for me to say something because I do not want any of the good people of Madison, Indiana to be hurt.

I think you are very wise not to give any money to David K. Landau (formerly David C. Hornstein).  I’ll even say you would be wise not to have anything to do with him.  He still owes me $4,234.00 and, although I probably won’t see a penny of it, I can and will warn people about him.

I have asked David K. Landau to pay me, but he refuses to do so.  Worse, when I most recently asked him for payment, he became abusive and began making threats, even threatening to file a bar complaint against me in Illinois, if I did not remove from the Internet the copy of the letter that I had sent to the Attorney General of Illinois about his previous business.  My response to him is this: “Bring it, Landau.”

Everything I said in that letter is true, so I am not removing anything.  Here’s the link.

http://www.stevesmidlifecrisis.com/docs/lag20050701.pdf

As part of his misadventures in Illinois, David K. Landau harmed several good, honest people.  I am one of them.  I explained to Landau that I had been experiencing some financial difficulties (and I still am), and requested payment in full.  His arrogant, uncaring, and condescending attitude and refusal to take any responsibility for the harm he caused to me and to others is why I am speaking up now.

Despite all the flowery language you will see on the “River Mill Resort” Web site, I don’t believe a word of it.  I have no idea what he is up to in Madison, but I strongly encourage you and the other fine people of your fine city to please be extremely careful.  I wouldn’t trust David Landau for anything.

He crossed a line when he became abusive to me and made threats.  I am a generous, reasonable, and compassionate man, but I will not tolerate such abuse from David Landau or from anyone.  Posting my letter online serves a valuable purpose by informing   you, the hard-working citizens of Madison, about my unfortunate experience with Mr. Landau.

As I said, I do not know what he is doing in Madison.  I see inconsistent claims and plans (hotel described on his Web site versus condominiums offered for sale at various local classified ads sites).  All I can say is, based on my unfortunate experiences of dealing with him, I implore you to be very careful.  Trusting him was a serious, and quite costly, error in judgment on my part.

Best regards,

Steve Imparl

I don’t see any food or water for those horses.  They are being made to walk long distances on hard, hot asphalt.  It’s all to offer the rich and powerful and the less-rich and less-powerful the chance to take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, a quaint old relic of earlier days that doesn’t belong in modern cities with so much pollution and such hard walking surfaces.  Somehow, it seems very wrong to see horses working so hard under such inhospitable conditions.  They have no labor union to speak for them.  They must simply work their long hours in silence.  They look unhappy.  Looking at them makes me unhappy.

I believe this is the sort of thing he had in mind.  Environmentally-friendly bombs?  Who knew?

Let’s not allow these extended military actions to be forgotten.  Regardless of how we feel about the war, let’s remember those working in our armed forces, far from home and separated from their loved ones.  This Memorial Day, this holiday dating back to the War Between the States, let us remember all of them, especially those who have paid the ultimate price in all of the USA’s wars.  May they rest in peace and may their loved ones be consoled.

This story makes me angry.

That anyone is homeless in the United States of America in the twenty-first century is scandalous.

Many of you know that I am a guest blogger and regular contributor at the JD Bliss Blog. I’m thrilled to post this announcement about Carolyn Elefant’s upcoming webinar.

JD Bliss is proud to announce a new webinar on Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 12:30 PM EST:

From BigLaw to YourLaw: The Secrets of Starting and Growing a Successful Solo Law Practice

with

Carolyn Elefant, Esq.
Attorney, Author, Blogger and Consultant

During this 60-minute webinar, Carolyn Elefant, Esq., successful solo attorney, author of Solo by Choice, and publisher of the popular MyShingle blog for solo lawyers, will cover the nuts and bolts of starting up and growing your own successful solo law practice.

Attendees will learn:

• The 9 reasons lawyers leave law firms to start their own practices
• How to evaluate whether starting your own law firm is the right choice for you
• How to write a business plan for your new firm
• Techniques to identify potential clients and markets
• 3 easy marketing tools to help build your reputation
• How to negotiate an amicable departure from your current firm without “burning bridges”
• And much more. . . . . .

Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 12:30 pm EST

Location: Participate remotely from the comfort of your own office or conference room via a webex connection!

We look forward to greeting you!

I’m reading Carolyn’s new book, Solo by Choice, and am thoroughly enjoying it. I recommend that you read the book and attend her webinar on June 3 to take advantages of these opportunities to learn about solo practice from Carolyn’s extensive experience and clear, practical, and interesting way of presenting information about this exciting sector of our profession.

For my DHH readers, here are the lyrics to the song playing in the background.

(Source:  http://music.yahoo.com/Bobby-Day/Rockin%27-Robin/lyrics/22448465#lyricstop © LEON RENE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP)

He rocks in the tree-top all a day long
Hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and a-singin’ the song
All the little birds on J-Bird St
Love to hear the robin goin’ tweet tweet tweet

Rockin’ robin (tweet tweet tweet)
Rockin’ robin (tweet tweet tweet)
Oh rockin’ robin well you really gonna rock tonight

Every little swallow, every chickadee
Every little bird in the tall oak tree
The wise old owl, the big black crow
Flapping them wings sayin’ go bird go

Rockin’ robin (tweet tweet tweet)
Rockin’ robin (tweet tweet tweet)
Oh rockin’ robin well you really gonna rock tonight

A wordy little raven at the bird’s first dance
Taught him how to do the bop and it was grand
He started goin’ steady and bless my soul
He out popped the buzzard and the oriole

He rocks in the tree-top all a day long
Hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and a-singin’ the song
All the little birds on J-Bird St
Love to hear the robin goin’ tweet tweet tweet

Rockin’ robin (tweet tweet tweet)
Rockin’ robin (tweet tweet tweet)
Oh rockin’ robin well you really gonna rock tonight

I’m listening to a charming rendition of “Across the Wide Missouri” by the Kingston Trio.  It’s a bittersweet song, to be sure, and the ‘Trio gives it the respect it deserves.  I first became intimately acquainted with that haunting folk song, also known as “Oh Shenandoah,” when I sang a barbershop harmony arrangement of it at the Illinois District Academy of Harmony.  Good old IDAH has clearly seen better days, but perhaps they’ll return someday.  That sight-singing of the arrangement in the notoriously difficult baritone baritone part and harmonizing with the other three voice parts was during a time that was itself bittersweet.  That was back in the day when I was on the receiving end of a stunning one-two punch: some serious shit had just earlier hit the fan, followed by some painful memories of childhood abuse I had endured outside my family that rocked my world.

Nevertheless, as always, I was resilient; I kept going.

For anyone who might not know where the Corn Belt in the USA is located, a map appears below.

Public domain map courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin, modified (by • Benc • 00:30, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)) to highlight regions.

Game 7 will be Tuesday, May 13.  The Wolves and Icehogs are tied 3-3 in the series.  Here’s to another good game.   Let’s go, Wolves!