On Top of the Bull at Cold Spring Upstate New York

We're told there was ice a week ago when they were here; winter is slowly saying its goodbye for now.

A section of the Hudson River in Cold Spring; Beacon (the next town) is toward the right side of the picture

one of the many ponds we saw along the trail

West Point is where that island-like land formation shown in this picture

Jeff E & myself; Jeff's the one who shared the pictures here from his phonecamera

sleepy, tired me!

I finally made it with other members of Sundance Outdoor Adventure Society again one weekend  and this time it's at Mt Taurus in Cold Spring. With 8 others in that trip, I felt safe and confident that I would complete the day hike even if I barely slept the night before because I had to be in a farewell party at a friend's house in Queens. I managed to wake up early enough and was soon waiting for my friend Jeff E (who shared all the pictures I've in this blog posting) whose reminder text to me the night before I only got to read at the Grand Central Terminal. I was soon chatting earnestly with another Sundance member, Robert (who I learned later, had been to the Philippines) as we waited for other members to arrive.

Thankfully, the hike was uneventful in the sense that nothing untoward happened. My state of mind during the hike was sluggish (it must be the red wine, the good food, the ecstatic singing, the company I had the pleasure of sharing the previous night). I was even telling Jeff E that I felt like I was attracting some bad elements that I feared would in turn hurt me--I felt no confidence in crossing one of the streams we faced along the trail and had my left shoe getting wet. I then proceeded to say my usual personal invocations to myself, and thankfully nothing as or more worst came about.

We were soon at the spot close to the peak before noon where we gathered and had lunch together. I delighted at the exchange and the chance to listen to mini-stories from others who joined the hike as we rested, and took time to enjoy the marvelous 360-degree view before us. I heard from someone that the island-like land formation along the Hudson River belongs to the famous West Point Military Academy site. I also took notice of a number of other hikers, some of whom had their huge dogs joining and playing with them.

We were also figuring out the outlines of NYC's familiar skyline of tall structures--I do hope then that we were correct with what our eyes could figure out. A powerful pair of binoculars would have easily confirmed this. The rest of the trail leading to the descent after lunch time could be considered easy, relatively. This can be particularly true if one's used to hiking on many occasions before (which I did myself when I was younger) and still relatively fit and healthy. I also recall having a kinda lengthy chat with Ron, who's a theater teacher, while the group's pursuing the trail, which gave me the opportunity to practice ideas that have been churning in my mind lately about my other works.

Most of us joined an early dinner at the Depot, which I understand used to be the train station in Cold Spring. The conversation flowed in wonderfully amidst the rolling of huge trains every now and then at least 8 feet away from the table where our group was gathered. The temperature was soon dropping and I felt chilly. As we walked back to the train station, I promised myself I'll join another trip with these enthusiastic fellows as soon as my schedule will allow it.

Asserting Myself as I Order "Large Coffee" in NYC Coffeehouses

Lately, I've experienced at least 3 times being misheard for ordering "large coffee", and the barista would give me 'iced coffee,' instead. The last time this happened, I flared up a bit and heightened the tone of my voice so everybody within 5 feet distance from me would hear what I wanted to say.

"I said, 'large coffee', not iced coffee. Is there something wrong with the way I pronounce it?" and in exasperation, "I'm sorry, I have a different accent," as I tried changing my tone in an instant (laughing somewhat in my mind and imagining how amusing I must have looked before them).

But the barista already apologized to me by quickly saying "I'm sorry. It's OK, I'll get you what you ordered" (or words to that effect), and in a few steps and less than 5 seconds, handed me my 'large coffee.'

And myself, being annoyed, said aloud "It's getting to be disturbing; this has happened to me at least twice." And I noticed one of the owners (or probably a manager) gave a me a look, but smilingly said "We're sorry (again, 'words to that effect' as I would not want to hear anymore words from them)." I just wanted to leave the  place as soon as possible, or else, I would be saying something more ugly to create an effect.

I just wanted to make a point. I can only imagine why they would mis-hear me. I hope I'm wrong but maybe because I look different from their usual customers in the area. Even those 2 guys in suits standing at my side paid attention to me when I asserted myself. Or most of them in that coffee shop must have thought I'm hispanic or something similar, just like those 2 or 3 guys I noticed helping inside the kitchen. Or is it just me imagining these probabilities with implications because I've got my own set of biases and prejudices, too? Whatever; I know I'm fine and happy having my cup of coffee as I switched my mood. It can happen to anyone here in NYC, I suppose.  I can only wish most would be exposed to other kinds of people in every moment of their lives here so they'd know how to listen and listen very well. And there would be no need to tire oneself over such a seemingly petty but really important matter when one is in business as serving coffee.

Read Stephen Greenblatt's 'The Swerve: How The World Became Modern' & Be Compelled to Endure Reading Lucretius Carus' 'De Rerum Natura'

This book continues to bring ideas to my mind on how precious books had been to people who lived a long time ago, and even to my tastes on books after I've finished reading it; it's actually worth your book reading time if you're into culture, books, history. It even gave me ideas on pursuing Latin language studies so that I'll be able to read the original 'De Rerum Natura' in Latin, which authors, including the author of this book, have been talking about for its wonderful writing from Lucretius Carus. I was surprised to read a lot about killings (legal executions) of persons who have lived at least 500 years ago because they've come to read contents of 'De Rerum Natura' which Greenblatt's book talked about in his narrative. Very disturbing. I wonder how I would have fared during those periods---but I'm glad I'm alive today and able to pursue my interests. And I have to give credit to the efforts of those very brave individuals who lived before me so that I'll enjoy freedoms in today's period. Some of them died, and were not given any chances to think differently. Similar situations continue somewhere right this minute---I'm saying a prayer so that change continues to take place that will allow nature to take its natural course. 

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I never heard about this book before I saw it on the NYT's list, and decided soon that I have to find time to read this one on my Kindle reader. It led to my discovering of Lucretius Carus' "De Rerum Natura," which I'm still reading as of this writing ('it's not an easy poem to read, by the way'). I even have its prose version in English from my online bookstore, which I'll read one of these days. And earlier, I read about this book's winning a National Book Award (non-fiction category), which totally delighted me.

What I like most about this book has been the curious, very intriguing narrative it shared that provided the context on how books (that include the mind boggling 'De Rerum Natura', which is a looong poem at that!) dangerously go about changing people's way of thinking and subsequent behaviors. And this book has got me into thinking that elites (at least, those members of society's elites who find time to read and write, of which there are so many kinds, depending on wealth and knowledge they have access to in their respective lifetime) make use of books, in general plus among other tools, to overhaul structures in society. And I suppose this continues to this day, although not many have been aware of the intriguing process because so many take book reading for granted, plus given distractions of all kinds these days that compete on people's attention.

I got very curious in discovering from this book how the fabled Alexandrian Library went down and gone in a matter of a few generations after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine, which political development resulted to the eventual out-lawing of other forms of religions in the Western World, including those considered under 'paganism' (which was really an evolved mockery term for something considered not Christian). And I felt bad about how a very progressive female mathematician/philosopher/scientist, who happened to be pagan, was murdered by the extremist members of Christianity then. This kind of event actually happens eerily up to these days, although not in exact forms. You see and read about them from extremists among the Muslims, Jewish, Christians, Hindus, etc (not necessarily in that order---extremists are everywhere these days and they behave hysterically because they can't tolerate change, which, by the way, is among the main topics of 'De Rerum Natura').

Actually, and also based on what I've read so far about 'De Rerum Natura,' the world-changing ideas covered in this book that discussed Lucretius Carus' only known surviving work (as most of the books prior to destruction of the Alexandrian Library are now considered mostly 'remnants') are nowadays so-common. You'd wonder 'what's the fuss all about?' And why write about a book that's very difficult to read, in the first place? But note that in those years before 'De Rerum Natura' was brought to light again, those ideas were considered subversive. And espousing those ideas would even cost you your dear life as what happened to so many pioneering individuals who could not be tolerated by elites and their followers who felt their very lifestyles were being changed and threatened (which they would soon discover that they can't go against with, because that's part of nature, as 'De Rerum Natura' expounds).

Among these ideas include the mortality of soul, which 'De Rerum Natura' explains 'will die as soon as the mortal body dies.' And that there's 'no life after death.' And that religions espouse cruelty, the most disturbing example has been the practice of sacrificing one's own children for religious reasons. Also, it talked about atoms, which we learned from school or even watch on TV shows. Plus, the main purpose of life is seek pleasure, which implies, among other things, watching from a pleasurable distance how your co-humans suffer in the absurd forms of their fears and unhappy existence. Go figure the implications of these ideas out now. We've probably gone far, but we're never sure if the same is true with some groups of people. And disturbingly, we discover that a lot among our midst have yet to be reached by the light that came from 'De Rerum Nostra' (among other books) when it showed up again during Renaissance time centuries ago.


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Recalling My Reading Experience of Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood'

If there's a book that you'd like to spend reading on a long weekend, Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' should be among your choices. Its cool matter-of-fact narrative will make you think about those daily dose of crime shows you have on TV & on paper these days. It's got understated reporting of details ('controlled sensationalism', if you may allow it) by including views from the murderers themselves,  thus making you think if they've done something morally right in the process in the court of public opinion. And I'm thinking it's Capote's book that strongly inspired today's writers to tell their crime stories as if they happen every minute of the time, and we all just move on with our lives, despite the horrifying experiences we gain, sooner or later.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book many years ago while still in high school (I got curious about the title, i.e., why the 'cold blood' description, which to my mind brought nasty thoughts about warm, icky blood droplets). And this book created an early memorable impact to my efforts to get into writing works and in choosing my reading preferences, and would make me wonder how I could write in a style similar to Capote's (his name, incidentally, means 'raincoat' --if I recall my Spanish now). I would even go researching about and reading on Capote's other works. All these years, I've yet to watch its movie version (I heard about it from other reviewers here).

What continues to catch my interest even after so many years had passed since I read this has been about its being considered a non-fiction work. With this book, there seems to be a thin line that separates fiction from what's considered non-fiction, which got into my thoughts when I read this book with relish. The quality of writing Capote has shown in this book is uniquely his own from start to finish, although it almost reads like a very well-written extended police report (i.e., minutely factual, almost-cold blooded in tone, and as if written by someone who's very literate, well read and very comfortable in dealing with the details of a bloody crime). And the creative process he followed in coming up with this work becomes more intriguing because Capote wrote, too, in other genres using distinctive styles (read his "Music For Chameleons; Other Voices, Other Rooms") you seldom experience in reading other well-known writers.

I had even doubts if Capote added elements that he thought would make the book more elaborately understated in narrating what's usually and expected to be violent and over-the-edge when written works like this are made into movies. Murder is murder from any angle you view it, directly or indirectly, which give your thoughts about violence, dying and blood. Capote must have done (and had fun doing) so many interviews until he was satisfied that he had enough materials with him to write a book. The narration of the murders was not as violent as your initial thoughts were, which was the case with me.

Capote did so well in researching for what details should be included in this book. And with this book, I felt like I was watching any of those mind-boggling crime shows typically found on cable TV nowadays. It's not the strength of the underlying story itself that got me into finishing this book -- it's the elegant, direct but unpretentious (i.e. 'look at me, I'm writing good!') style Capote used to narrate his take on those murders that took place many years ago somewhere in MidWest USA.



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