Romancing the Space

 

The space between us is like a long soft silk scarf as red as a  Kona sunset.  Sometimes it is white and glittering as snow. Sometimes it is the hue of a clearly defined Hawaiian rainbow.  You can lose yourself in bliss when it is pitch black. 

 

The silk scarf  is slowly swirling  around you. It lightly caresses your skin from the top of your head to your eyes, nose, lips and  down to the very tip of your every toe.  

 

Choose the color of your scarf. Feel it drift all over you. 

 

And enjoy your space.

 

 

 

- Ariel Murphy

 

Please, Not Another War!

Just as the US is preparing to withdraw its military personnel  from Afghanistan, some hawks in Washington are rattling their sabers and urging war with Syria.

The plan is that US military presence in Afghanistan will have been withdrawn or at least kept to a minimum by the end of 2014. 

We have not gotten out of Afghanistan yet and already  some members of Congress would have us involved in another armed conflict.  Senators John McCain. Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham have urged President Barack Obama to intervene in the Syrian Civil War.  The trio claims that Syrian President  Bashar Assad has been using chemical weapons against oppositionists. The Senators want President Obama to stand by a statement the President had allegedly made about the use of weapons of mass destruction as a "red line" that once crossed will have "consequences."

I am still confused about finding a moral justification for war, especially since waging war  exacts an extremely high toll. We pay the price not just in lost limbs, eyes and lives  but also in mangled minds and souls. The cost on our lives is ironic. We may not be victims of bullets and rockets but we are surely victims of deprivation.  Money spent to fight overseas could have instead been expended on our soil to create more jobs, educate our children better, make health care more affordable, maintain peace and order. The list is endless.

Reading a story about a disillusioned war veteran didn't help bring me clarity either.  In the story, the veteran is back home  but no longer the same man who left to fight abroad.  He can no longer walk. His spine is no longer whole. He constantly needs medical attention. Everyday, he slips closer into the grave faster than most of us do. And he is only in his early '20s.

My heart went out to that young man.  Sadly he is only one of thousands who boarded that airplane for Baghdad or Kabul excited and starry-eyed about fighting an enemy only to return  home disillusioned, bitter, angry and maimed in more ways than one.

Why can't we just leave strife-ridden countries alone and let them exercise self-determination?  What are we doing extinguishing fires out there when our own house has so many fire hazards, some of which  are already smoldering?  Wouldn't it be better to use the money expended in other countries on our own soil and  for our own problems?

On the other hand, it does run contrary to humanitarian principles  to be coldly blind  and apathetic to the plight of others; to not intervene  and support an underdog when conflict is heavily skewed in favor of a regime that has lost mass support and only continues to survive on the strength of its arsenal.

But perhaps economics might be able to compel an answer to the question about the moral justification for war. Weighed down by a fragile economy struggling to sustain its fledgling growth, can we still afford to be Watch Dog of the world?

What do you think?

Source: flickr.com (Pink Sherbet Photography)

Here's the link to the dying veteran's story :

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/19/tomas-young-letter-iraq_n_2908335.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=330178,b=facebook

- Ariel Murphy

The Cellphone as a Medical Device + More

Who could have imagined years ago that we could call each other from anywhere via the cellphone? In fact, nowadays we can even see each other via the cellphone, no matter where we are and for as long as the signals are present. What can I say? I'm fortunately in the relatively "untouched" back waters of Hawaii where lack of technology is not necessarily bad.

My friend Pete Haberly sent me an interesting story about how we can now do even more amazing things with our ubiquitous cellphones.   A special application that can be bought for a little under $200 can transform our cellphone into a medical instrument. Through the app, the phone can do heart, blood and saliva tests among others. It can even be hooked up to  devices  and produce  scans, ECGs and ultrasounds.

 

The technology definitely saves money and time.  Medical analyses and screening can be done instantaneously and remotely.  A special sensor can be applied to one's chest, for example, and the phone produces a cardiogram that can be messaged or  emailed to one's doctor. There is no need to visit a lab and wait for the result to be processed. I've been imagining also  how the phone could be of use for pregnancy tests.

Still on the health subject, I was wondering  if one day those  imaginative tech geeks will come up with an app that a girl can use to tell if a love interest is serious or merely stringing her along.

 

Imagine a world with a minimum of  heartbreak and rancor over failed relationships simply because the phone eliminates the fatal danger of making wrong assumptions. Time to make love not war!

For example, the phone would be able to tell through a special sensor attached to a man's chest or wrist  if the dream house boyfriend says he will build  (to impress girlfriend) is really merely a house of cards. The phone could be a handy and convenient lie detector gadget and every girl's best friend. No, it is not enough that your nose extends a bit every time you lie, Pinnochio.

The phone could also be every guy's buddy.  With the help of  a special app and a sensor, a guy could even predict how his evening will turn out based on a digital reading of his partner's "romantic indicators."

Now don't get all excited guys and gals. Be patient with our current smart phones but keep watching. Definitely, "phonedocs" are just around the corner  and, hopefully shortly after,  "lovephones."

Be sure to click on this link to "digital medicine":

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=r13uYs7jglg

Source: dreamstime.com

 - Ariel Murphy

Wish You were Here

 

I rarely see admission of  vulnerability in social networks so I thought I'd dare make one.  While listening last night to a particular song in  Pandora,  I wistfully thought of those in my life who have come and gone and of the impact they've had on me.  Some  of them gave me love. Some made me sad.

 

"It's all good," my late husband  Michael used to say.

 

And it is.

 

Here's a link to "Wish You Were Here."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f3KhR5oDC4

 

 



Photo by Picou Rivedroite

 

- Ariel Murphy
 

Shark Finning

I remember accompanying my parents to  Chinese wedding banquets when I was a child. In Manila a Chinese banquet is called a "lauriat."  I guess any banquet where there are typically 17 to 18 dishes served  one after the other must deserve a special name.

I remember eating my first "century egg" in one of those banquets. For those not in the know, century eggs are  cured and preserved duck eggs. The yolk is creamy and greenish while the white is  a gel-like translucent brown.  The egg has a slight sulfuric smell.

The odorous egg does not bother me. In fact I've developed a taste for it over the years.

What bothers me is the shark-fin soup which is usually served in "lauriats."  I did not realize until I was an adult that I had been an unwitting indirect participant to the cruel killing of sharks. By eating shark fin soup, I was patronizing the dish and encouraging shark finning.

A shark uses its fins to get oxygen from the water. When its fins are detached,  the shark  either slowly bleeds to death or quickly becomes snack or dinner for other predators. Stopsharkfining.net says that 3 sharks die every second so that we can eat shark-fin soup.

Mention the word "shark" and instantaneously we cringe in terror with thoughts of shark attacks, floating bloody legs or arms, or worse decapitated torsos.

Many do not realize that sharks also have an important role in balancing the eco-system. Take away the sharks and you have less shellfish.  Sharks eat other predators like Sting and Manta Rays that feed on shellfish. A low-number of shellfish means a decline in water quality as shellfish act as filters.

Though now banned in many Asian  restaurants and, the canned versions, in stores, shark fin soup is prized  for its alleged invigorating, rejuvenating and aphrodisiac-like qualities.  A bowl can easily cost $100.00.

From what I remember, the soup was nothing spectacular.  The fins were gelatinous and somewhat crunchy. The soup's flavor came from its stock.

Say, as in  a dark  and cold Alfred Hitchcock movie,  we start harvesting human  limbs for  prized human-limb soup, would we start taking "sanctity of life" seriously? 

Over ten thousand shark fins are dried on the rooftop of a factory building in Hong Kong, on January 2, 2013. Local sales of the luxurious gourmet food have fallen in recent years due to its controversial nature, but activists demand a total shark fin ban in the city, labelled by some as the shark fin capital of the world. The fins were shipped from an unknown location and unloaded at a nearby pier to be dried on the rooftop. (Reuters/Bobby Yip) -- Source: theatlantic.com

 A Century Egg

 - Ariel Murphy

Gallery: Photography by Bosso Baron II

Ariel's Note:  Bosso Baron II  is a photographer from the Philippines.  His brother gifted him with a Nikon back in the 1980s. That marked the beginning of Joel D Yonzon’s (also known as Bosso Baron II) entry into the world of photography. He then joined the Asian Institute of Photojournalists (AIJ) to hone his photography skills. His early photos were mostly in black and white, indicative of the influence of his favorite photographer, Ansel Adams. His first photo, a BW entry from the Taal Volcano on-the-spot photo contest hosted by AIJ, won first prize. He has won since then several photo contests and was eventually awarded a silver trophy for Best in Photography by AIJ.

After a 15-year break from photography, Bosso returned to his passion about 5 years ago and explored the digital world of photography.  He dabbled in HDR and Photoshop, which he used to give his photos a “painting-like” effect, or what is called by many as "paintography." His style and  choice of subjects reveal the strong influence of his father, the late painter Hugo C. Yonzon, Jr. One quality that characterizes his photos is that he is able to bring life to mundane or depressing scenes, and share these in an entirely new and exciting perspective.

Click on the link below for more of Bosso Baron's photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jazzyjo814/

NEED

 

A river runs through a friend's 80-acre estate somewhere in California.  I was exploring the place one steamy summer afternoon when I chanced upon the scene on the photo. As I clicked my camera, I  thought  about how each thirsty cell of  those leaves and branches felt the moment water started seeping into it. Did it puff up like a balloon? Were the molecules crazily swirling with joy and dancing like idiots? 

For a brief illuminating instant, did the river and the tree get a sense of being part of it all?  They must have. They drew me to them.

 

I thought I found some good metaphors there for need, oneness, kismet...
 

 

- Ariel Murphy

 

A Confession of Regret

Yesterday as I drove home from work I found myself thinking of Michael.  He has been often on my mind lately.
 

One evening about two months before he passed on, Michael called me from his bed, where he spent most of his days.  He was already having a hard time standing and walking and whenever he attempted to, he would sometimes fall on the floor despite my support.
 

Michael  revealed that he cheated.  He confessed that he kept forbidden  hidden under his pillow.  It was the end of the day and not only was I physically exhausted, I was an emotional mess.   The Oncologist had warned me of the impending end once Michael starts having problems with standing and walking.  Part of me knew I would lose my husband. But an even greater part of me was in-denial. 
 

I reacted to Michael's confession rather stoically. I just did not know what to say.  I could not find it in myself to be upset and deny my husband what little happiness  he could get out of his remaining time, even if only from cigarettes.  So I hid my disappointment and bit my tongue.
 

And then he thanked me for sticking it out with him and began  talking about after he is gone.  

At that point, my stomach started churning.  I  abruptly changed the topic.  I told Michael  that I had to do something in the kitchen.   I could not bear the idea that my husband would no longer be around.
 

We never talked about his "departure" again until that day he passed on when he told me that he will always  be with me.
 

People say that we should never have regrets. But I have them. And they gnaw at my soul.

I regret leaving Michael's room that one particular evening. I regret not having listened to what he wanted to tell me.  I regret having sacrificed  precious time  and my husband's thoughts in favor of my cowardice and inability to face reality.
 

As I write this confession, rain is pouring in the darkness outside my window.

 

Michael Murphy III

  

- Ariel Murphy
 

Online Game Fun

I play Literati, an online game very similar to Scrabble. The game is so addictive I find it hard to wrest myself from playing. Though I play only unrated games, I still feel bad when I lose.  Whenever that happens, I only have to look at the screen names of all the players and I begin to chuckle.  Here are some of the names I found and my comments. What can I say? I couldn't help myself.

okiamheretoplay ---  Duh!

animaluver -- You must be Peter Haberly, DVM

godluvzmemost -- Delusionary?

upforfunguy -- Playtime. Wooohooo!

 

arabswithlove --- I love you guys too!

sweetattitude --  Nope, you couldn't possibly be the sister of someone I know.

pot.lobster -- Yeah and let's eat it too.

guytweety -- Make up your mind honey. Are you guy or are you tweety? Maybe guy by day and tweety by night?

stallion4v -- Is it safe to assume V. is happy?

momofnine2000 -- V. must have been happy.

rideme30 -- I guess he was referring to his bike.

logicalheart -- Yeah right. But I'd say that's a nice oxymoron.

hottalkxxx69 -- He was playing with grandmama012002.

rocketlady - Wow!

donewithwhackos  --- Baby, you ain't got a clue.

 

Here's a link to Literati: http://games.yahoo.com/play/lt&ss=1

 

- Ariel Murphy

Adagio

I wrote this poem as Michael,  my husband,  was dying.

You stopped struggling

And I stood helplessly

As you drowned

Slowly

Your eyes

Beseeching

Stay with me.

Source: evalithimortality.deviantart.com

- Ariel Murphy