MENTAL ILLNESS AND BARRIERS TO SOCIALIZATION
Jack Bragen
One stereotype of mentally ill people includes the perception that we lack basic social skills. However, this stereotype is not always inaccurate. There are multiple reasons why persons with mental illness often experience difficulty socializing among “mainstream” or “normal” people.
If you’ve read much of my writing, you have seen me “blame the system” for a lot of things. Well, I am about to do it again. Since mentally ill people are often segregated by virtue of being in a “day program” as well as living in “supported housing” and then looking forward to a step up, which will be “supported employment,” we are often deprived of the opportunity to live alongside anyone in mainstream America, unless they are in a role of supervising us. (And I resent this segregation!)
Secondly, without having a “normal job,” something most people with severe mental illnesses don’t have, we are deprived of the opportunity to learn job etiquette. Job etiquette is so much a part of fitting in with others in society that the lack of a chance to learn this is crippling to someone’s general life skills.
Not having a job, in general, promotes a lack of confidence in a typical “normal” person, and it is no different for the mentally ill. It may be less common, today, for someone to pop the question “what do you do?” because of how bad the economy has become. Yet, should this question be asked, including in some roundabout way, a mentally ill person is often left speechless, or with an answer that instantly brands him or her as a freak.
Paranoia certainly can contribute to difficulty socializing. It is possible for a schizophrenic person to be certain that they are disliked. This is a perception that can be created directly by the disease, and is usually not accurate.
To compound all of this, the mentally ill person may have a lot of shyness to start with. I went through an obnoxious phase in my life that lasted more than one decade, in which I lost touch with the fundamental fact that I am afraid of people. The obnoxiousness was there to cover up the vulnerability that I felt. This obnoxiousness, of course, interfered with my popularity. Much of this abrasive veneer has been stripped away by means of becoming self-aware of how I behave, and I have returned to the baseline of having some amount of social fear.
Because of all of the reasons listed above, it is clear that mainstream society doesn’t bear all of the blame for the difficulty mentally ill people have in adapting and acclimating. Yet it is clear that many people who are not mentally ill have an intolerance of those who are. While there are others who view us through a “stigmatizing” filter; we are being perceived as a child in the body of an adult. Maybe the applicable term is “poster child.”
I try to get out of the house and spend time among the masses of seemingly “normal” people at least once a day. Sometimes I go to places that are frequented by employed “professional” people so that I can be exposed to society and will not lose the possibility of eventually being in some “in” crowd in the world. This is in stark contrast to the times I’ve spent among the down and out, for whom there are far fewer standards of how one should look, act, and speak.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A MEDITATIVE OFFERING
A POWERFUL MEDITATION OPTION
Jack Bragen
The meditation techniques that I will offer here are a toolbox that can be used when the mind inconveniently creates emotional pain and suffering. If you are driving an automobile or operating heavy equipment, it may not be the best idea to try the techniques for the first time, at least until you have observed yourself and are familiar with the effects on you of the techniques.
But first, let me give you some background: I am an amateur meditation practitioner and I teach myself things about the mind through self-observation. I have invented or possibly reinvented several meditation techniques that help me deal with physical and emotional pain. During the last twenty-five years I have been studying my mind, my emotions and my behavior.
When I meditate with these methods for fifteen minutes to a half hour, I can obtain a relief from emotional pain and from some types of vulnerability; and this effect lasts hours. Not only does this technique address emotional pain; it addresses fear, and can make you a more brave person. The effect resembles putting on an invisible “bravery suit.”
It is as if I had created a personal “deflector shield” like the ones in several science fiction stories such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and even in the Dune series of science fiction. All three of those science fiction fables and many others used the idea of a protective shield made of energy. And yet, this was fiction. I am discussing a shield that exists in “reality” and also one that is generated biologically, and not technologically.
The meditation I perform isn’t Zen, although it is partly based on my studies of Buddhism. It came into existence for me shortly after I began to study the inner workings of my mind.
The shielding begins to grow when I visit a place of extreme calm. It is not a physical location, but is a mental location, and I might be able to show you how to go there.
The meditation I will outline will require that you look within, that you discern internal structures, observe those structures in action, and that you create and maintain new internal structures.
Looking within and the creation of maps will require practice over time. This “mapping” includes making sense of the things you see inside yourself, naming these things, and remembering. It allows you to return to a place or to a state of mind that you visited, without having to start from the beginning. Mapping will allow you to pinpoint exactly where it hurts, which is one of the steps that you will take.
The prerequisite, to use this system, is that you create the realization, intellectually, that you don’t have a real “problem.” This means that, on a conceptual basis, you are aware that there isn’t anything to worry about; it is only the stubbornness of your brain and its programming that makes you worried, upset, angry, or hurt. Part of this realization is the acknowledgment that everything is O.K., despite your consciousness portraying otherwise. If you can’t make that intellectual, thought-based leap, then there is no point in trying to proceed. If your situation in life is such that you can’t manage to believe that everything is O.K., then maybe you need to deal with life realities first, before trying meditation.
If the emotion that you are experiencing is so strong that it has command of you, it may be necessary for you to take a timeout, and to forcibly disengage your attention from its focus upon the object of the emotion, and to re-focus your attention upon the internal experience of the emotion. This is the first step toward you having power over yourself.
The second step of this method is to pinpoint exactly where it hurts. This means getting a map of where in your body the painful sensation exists, or where outside the body, perhaps. (Sometimes you may experience a more subtle, “phantom” pain; one that appears to exist in the physical space near, yet outside of the body, and yet which hurts, nevertheless.) This picture of your pain is one form of mapping the inside, which I discussed earlier.
The third part of this exercise, and maybe the hardest to learn and maintain, is the acceptance, or the shift in perception of, the pain or suffering.
Acceptance of suffering is a challenge. You are attempting to override the suffering mechanism, which, due to evolution, is a very ingrained instinct. Look at the pain, and first, tell yourself that it is tolerable, then go further and tell yourself it is acceptable. The other option is to attempt looking at the pain through a nonjudgmental filter. The idea is to remove the “bad” meaning from your experience of your pain.
When you are successful at re-categorizing your suffering into “something else,” you may very well get a physical release. This can be quite pleasant. When this process is used, the energy that was once your pain will be converted into “good energy” that surrounds and protects you. This is your personal “deflector shield.” This good energy may last the rest of the day, or may only last a few hours. At the point where your shield is losing its power, you can merely recharge it by repeating the very same methods, from start to finish, that I have described above.
The midrange of intensity of suffering is easiest to use for this process. If the suffering is too light or too subtle, it can be harder, while using the tools, to pinpoint it and get a grasp of it. It also then contributes a smaller level of power to the shield. If the suffering it too intense or too strong, it tends to spread out its influence in your consciousness and invades the part of the brain that you normally use to enact the techniques.
Once this process is begun, it can be expanded by continuing to add more pieces of pain that you find in your body, or in your consciousness. Simultaneously to adding more pain to the process, you must maintain that change in perception, which will cover the additional material.
This type of meditation can liberate you from suffering.
Do not get discouraged if your methods begin with incomplete, or imperfect results. It can require a great deal of practice to get this meditation to the point where it becomes a highly efficient, on-demand method of protecting yourself.
Sometimes, if the suffering that you experience is actually a component of exhaustion that you have been ignoring, the meditation I have described will put you to sleep. It will be a very pleasant and very restful slumber, and it may happen to you while you continue to sit upright.
This meditation can be used for both emotional pain and for physical pain. The only real difference between these two is that physical pain will not have an “issue” requiring dismissal by the intellect. If your pain is emotional, it will be helpful to identify the issue that has triggered your upset state and to decide that you don’t have to be upset about this. Identifying the exact issue responsible for pain can sometimes require exploration of your innards, especially in the case of free floating anxiety or depression. These emotions tend to be the result of a lot of stuff either getting submerged, or the issues arriving to your consciousness faster and in more quantity than you can track and deal with.
In some cases, since part of this method involves “fooling” your brain, the subconscious mind “catches up” to your attempted meditation and will block the neural route that you have been using to get relief. This just means that the system I am describing will require repeated construction of the same techniques through other, new neural routes.
In other words your subconscious mind, or perhaps your brain, will try to “unlearn” what you have taught it. And you must repeatedly “relearn” the same lessons. This could be due to the fact that you will be undermining the suffering mechanism in the brain, and the brain may not like that. This could also be due to the brain losing its position of command, and the command being handed to your conscious mind. Whomever or whatever is under your hood may resist this perceived loss of power.
The methods I have described have helped me to deal with phobias and to enjoy new and different life experiences that I would have otherwise refused to achieve. When under the influence of this meditation, I can do things that I am otherwise averse to doing, without being uncomfortable.
For example, I went to the County Fair, and while driving there beforehand, used the meditation. It was crowded, loud and hot, three environmental conditions that to me are normally difficult. The other fairgoers were a more adventurous and boisterous crowd than I am used to, and I would normally be intimidated by many of them. While driving there I had used my apprehension as emotional fuel for the shield; and my apprehension was strong enough that by the end of the meditation I had a pretty powerful shield. I was able to get through, and even enjoy my experience of the fair, and didn’t need to leave there before my wife wanted to leave. This is an accomplishment.
When this energy barrier is in place, I feel more capable of defending myself against a physical threat. This confidence is probably apparent to other people.
Unlike one famous meditation practitioner who loves to wash dishes, I usually despise the task. (Although I do like cooking a lot.) However, using this meditation allows me to perform this task without too much bother. Recently, while using the shield to make dishwashing tolerable, I began to look into the bits and pieces of why the task is normally unpleasant for me. I expect that if I continue with this introspection, I might be able to permanently rid myself of my aversion to washing dishes.
This method doesn’t necessarily address other weaknesses that are part of the human condition; it won’t eliminate a problem with substance abuse. I have tried to use this system to quit smoking cigarettes, and in the process have realized I should never have started this awful habit. This method will not eliminate physical diseases, although in limited instances it may speed up the healing process. It may not make you physically healthier, but it may make you more at ease in your body.
Jack Bragen
The meditation techniques that I will offer here are a toolbox that can be used when the mind inconveniently creates emotional pain and suffering. If you are driving an automobile or operating heavy equipment, it may not be the best idea to try the techniques for the first time, at least until you have observed yourself and are familiar with the effects on you of the techniques.
But first, let me give you some background: I am an amateur meditation practitioner and I teach myself things about the mind through self-observation. I have invented or possibly reinvented several meditation techniques that help me deal with physical and emotional pain. During the last twenty-five years I have been studying my mind, my emotions and my behavior.
When I meditate with these methods for fifteen minutes to a half hour, I can obtain a relief from emotional pain and from some types of vulnerability; and this effect lasts hours. Not only does this technique address emotional pain; it addresses fear, and can make you a more brave person. The effect resembles putting on an invisible “bravery suit.”
It is as if I had created a personal “deflector shield” like the ones in several science fiction stories such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and even in the Dune series of science fiction. All three of those science fiction fables and many others used the idea of a protective shield made of energy. And yet, this was fiction. I am discussing a shield that exists in “reality” and also one that is generated biologically, and not technologically.
The meditation I perform isn’t Zen, although it is partly based on my studies of Buddhism. It came into existence for me shortly after I began to study the inner workings of my mind.
The shielding begins to grow when I visit a place of extreme calm. It is not a physical location, but is a mental location, and I might be able to show you how to go there.
The meditation I will outline will require that you look within, that you discern internal structures, observe those structures in action, and that you create and maintain new internal structures.
Looking within and the creation of maps will require practice over time. This “mapping” includes making sense of the things you see inside yourself, naming these things, and remembering. It allows you to return to a place or to a state of mind that you visited, without having to start from the beginning. Mapping will allow you to pinpoint exactly where it hurts, which is one of the steps that you will take.
The prerequisite, to use this system, is that you create the realization, intellectually, that you don’t have a real “problem.” This means that, on a conceptual basis, you are aware that there isn’t anything to worry about; it is only the stubbornness of your brain and its programming that makes you worried, upset, angry, or hurt. Part of this realization is the acknowledgment that everything is O.K., despite your consciousness portraying otherwise. If you can’t make that intellectual, thought-based leap, then there is no point in trying to proceed. If your situation in life is such that you can’t manage to believe that everything is O.K., then maybe you need to deal with life realities first, before trying meditation.
If the emotion that you are experiencing is so strong that it has command of you, it may be necessary for you to take a timeout, and to forcibly disengage your attention from its focus upon the object of the emotion, and to re-focus your attention upon the internal experience of the emotion. This is the first step toward you having power over yourself.
The second step of this method is to pinpoint exactly where it hurts. This means getting a map of where in your body the painful sensation exists, or where outside the body, perhaps. (Sometimes you may experience a more subtle, “phantom” pain; one that appears to exist in the physical space near, yet outside of the body, and yet which hurts, nevertheless.) This picture of your pain is one form of mapping the inside, which I discussed earlier.
The third part of this exercise, and maybe the hardest to learn and maintain, is the acceptance, or the shift in perception of, the pain or suffering.
Acceptance of suffering is a challenge. You are attempting to override the suffering mechanism, which, due to evolution, is a very ingrained instinct. Look at the pain, and first, tell yourself that it is tolerable, then go further and tell yourself it is acceptable. The other option is to attempt looking at the pain through a nonjudgmental filter. The idea is to remove the “bad” meaning from your experience of your pain.
When you are successful at re-categorizing your suffering into “something else,” you may very well get a physical release. This can be quite pleasant. When this process is used, the energy that was once your pain will be converted into “good energy” that surrounds and protects you. This is your personal “deflector shield.” This good energy may last the rest of the day, or may only last a few hours. At the point where your shield is losing its power, you can merely recharge it by repeating the very same methods, from start to finish, that I have described above.
The midrange of intensity of suffering is easiest to use for this process. If the suffering is too light or too subtle, it can be harder, while using the tools, to pinpoint it and get a grasp of it. It also then contributes a smaller level of power to the shield. If the suffering it too intense or too strong, it tends to spread out its influence in your consciousness and invades the part of the brain that you normally use to enact the techniques.
Once this process is begun, it can be expanded by continuing to add more pieces of pain that you find in your body, or in your consciousness. Simultaneously to adding more pain to the process, you must maintain that change in perception, which will cover the additional material.
This type of meditation can liberate you from suffering.
Do not get discouraged if your methods begin with incomplete, or imperfect results. It can require a great deal of practice to get this meditation to the point where it becomes a highly efficient, on-demand method of protecting yourself.
Sometimes, if the suffering that you experience is actually a component of exhaustion that you have been ignoring, the meditation I have described will put you to sleep. It will be a very pleasant and very restful slumber, and it may happen to you while you continue to sit upright.
This meditation can be used for both emotional pain and for physical pain. The only real difference between these two is that physical pain will not have an “issue” requiring dismissal by the intellect. If your pain is emotional, it will be helpful to identify the issue that has triggered your upset state and to decide that you don’t have to be upset about this. Identifying the exact issue responsible for pain can sometimes require exploration of your innards, especially in the case of free floating anxiety or depression. These emotions tend to be the result of a lot of stuff either getting submerged, or the issues arriving to your consciousness faster and in more quantity than you can track and deal with.
In some cases, since part of this method involves “fooling” your brain, the subconscious mind “catches up” to your attempted meditation and will block the neural route that you have been using to get relief. This just means that the system I am describing will require repeated construction of the same techniques through other, new neural routes.
In other words your subconscious mind, or perhaps your brain, will try to “unlearn” what you have taught it. And you must repeatedly “relearn” the same lessons. This could be due to the fact that you will be undermining the suffering mechanism in the brain, and the brain may not like that. This could also be due to the brain losing its position of command, and the command being handed to your conscious mind. Whomever or whatever is under your hood may resist this perceived loss of power.
The methods I have described have helped me to deal with phobias and to enjoy new and different life experiences that I would have otherwise refused to achieve. When under the influence of this meditation, I can do things that I am otherwise averse to doing, without being uncomfortable.
For example, I went to the County Fair, and while driving there beforehand, used the meditation. It was crowded, loud and hot, three environmental conditions that to me are normally difficult. The other fairgoers were a more adventurous and boisterous crowd than I am used to, and I would normally be intimidated by many of them. While driving there I had used my apprehension as emotional fuel for the shield; and my apprehension was strong enough that by the end of the meditation I had a pretty powerful shield. I was able to get through, and even enjoy my experience of the fair, and didn’t need to leave there before my wife wanted to leave. This is an accomplishment.
When this energy barrier is in place, I feel more capable of defending myself against a physical threat. This confidence is probably apparent to other people.
Unlike one famous meditation practitioner who loves to wash dishes, I usually despise the task. (Although I do like cooking a lot.) However, using this meditation allows me to perform this task without too much bother. Recently, while using the shield to make dishwashing tolerable, I began to look into the bits and pieces of why the task is normally unpleasant for me. I expect that if I continue with this introspection, I might be able to permanently rid myself of my aversion to washing dishes.
This method doesn’t necessarily address other weaknesses that are part of the human condition; it won’t eliminate a problem with substance abuse. I have tried to use this system to quit smoking cigarettes, and in the process have realized I should never have started this awful habit. This method will not eliminate physical diseases, although in limited instances it may speed up the healing process. It may not make you physically healthier, but it may make you more at ease in your body.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Don't Throw Away That Broken Appliance!
SURGERY ON A COFFEE MAKER
Jack Bragen
Copyright 2010
We bought a new Hamilton Beach Coffee Maker about a year ago. At one time, maybe fifty years ago, that was a renowned appliance brand, known for being overbuilt and very long lasting. Today, this is a little less so.
Recently when I was using this product, the power switch fell apart. I got the appliance to work temporarily by having what was left of the switch function as "always on." Then, another piece of metal fell out of what was left of the switch. I tried to get it to work by stuffing in a piece of aluminum foil, but it was to no avail.
Since, at one point I was in no hurry and wanted my coffee, I decided to try surgery on the coffee maker. With some difficulty I pried and unscrewed the bottom panel. It required that I use a tool left over from my VCR repair days: a slotted screwdriver. This was because the coffee maker used special tamper resistant screws on its bottom.
Once the bottom was off, I studied the wiring of the coffee maker. The power switch had actually four wires on it because two wires went to a tie point for the opposite side of the circuit, and this also served as a supply for the tiny light that once glowed while the unit was on. The other two wires, of course, were the ones to splice and connect together to create an "always on" state.
I put duct tape around the wires that I had twisted together. And I reminded myself that if the coffee pot caused an electrical fire that would make the apartment building burn down, I would be liable.
I pressed and re-screwed the bottom of the unit back on. I plugged the unit in, and once again I had a working coffee maker. I put more tape on the unit to cover the gap where there had once been the outside of the power switch.
If you need surgery on an appliance, please feel free to contact me.
Jack Bragen
Copyright 2010
We bought a new Hamilton Beach Coffee Maker about a year ago. At one time, maybe fifty years ago, that was a renowned appliance brand, known for being overbuilt and very long lasting. Today, this is a little less so.
Recently when I was using this product, the power switch fell apart. I got the appliance to work temporarily by having what was left of the switch function as "always on." Then, another piece of metal fell out of what was left of the switch. I tried to get it to work by stuffing in a piece of aluminum foil, but it was to no avail.
Since, at one point I was in no hurry and wanted my coffee, I decided to try surgery on the coffee maker. With some difficulty I pried and unscrewed the bottom panel. It required that I use a tool left over from my VCR repair days: a slotted screwdriver. This was because the coffee maker used special tamper resistant screws on its bottom.
Once the bottom was off, I studied the wiring of the coffee maker. The power switch had actually four wires on it because two wires went to a tie point for the opposite side of the circuit, and this also served as a supply for the tiny light that once glowed while the unit was on. The other two wires, of course, were the ones to splice and connect together to create an "always on" state.
I put duct tape around the wires that I had twisted together. And I reminded myself that if the coffee pot caused an electrical fire that would make the apartment building burn down, I would be liable.
I pressed and re-screwed the bottom of the unit back on. I plugged the unit in, and once again I had a working coffee maker. I put more tape on the unit to cover the gap where there had once been the outside of the power switch.
If you need surgery on an appliance, please feel free to contact me.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
SUPER-DUPER LEMON POUND CAKECopyright, 2010; Jack Bragen
½ Cup Whole Milk
½ Cup Lemon Juice
¾ Cup Margarine
1 Cup Sugar
2 Cups flour
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
Preheat Oven to 350 F. Combine milk, lemon juice, margarine and sugar in small saucepan and heat on low until it becomes a consistent liquid. Sugar and margarine will be dissolved and it will become a smooth, opaque liquid. Heat an additional ten minutes for some evaporation. Mix baking powder in with flour in mixing bowl. Add eggs and contents of saucepan. Mix well until smooth with electric egg beaters. Pour into greased pan. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until done.
An enticing and easy meal
This is a photo of rice boiled in a covered pot, on right. On left is chicken that has been boiled in water to defrost; then it has been sliced up, then the water has been replaced with Indian style simmer sauce purchased at an import store. Finally, the chicken with sauce has been allowed to simmer at low heat. Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Here's another fix of sci fi for reading addicts
THE YOUNG GLADIATOR
Jack Bragen
copyright 2010
Probably, I would never have made it as a teenager and then a young adult. The invasion, the ensuing chaos and the reorganization of power took care of that for me. It would never be necessary for me to “fit in” among my peers, to have social skill, to ask a girl out on a date. These were things that seemed to come naturally for the other students, but terrified me. I was afraid of talking to girls, although god knows I wanted to have one. I was a small kid, and so the bullies would pick on me. I was the stereotype of the high school geek. And I probably would have ended up taking my own life, that’s how bad it was.
I mused about this as I put on my boots, my gear, and my helmet. I took a sip of nutri-water and bit on a chew of anti-tobacco. I greased my ears for the earpieces. I put two electrodes on the front of my scalp. Almost ready. Involuntarily, I kept thinking...
Then came them: they had put a fantastic weapon in my hands and showed me how to fight. They had said to me that only one in a hundred thousand young men had the talent to fight like I did. I was made an example, and was so good, they took me off the front line and put me in the arena as a showman.
And now I was preparing to step into this arena once again. But something was different.
I tested my weapon, pointing it idly at a trashcan that should get harmlessly knocked on its side, and then, pulling the trigger. The trash can burst into smithereens, and its pile of remains flamed. The fire suppressor put the inferno out in a few seconds.
So now I was to fight with an enabled weapon. These guys always had a few tricks up their sleeves. It was partly their unpredictability that had enabled them to take us on, beating us at our own game: war.
Before a chance meeting a few light years away, the Alpherians and perhaps much of the rest of the galaxy didn’t know the concept of it. They had got along peacefully and couldn’t conceive of doing things otherwise. War was invented on Earth, and we exported the concept outward to the surrounding star systems. They caught on quickly, so that they were soon better at it than we. Then, they invaded planet Earth, and made slaves of the humans. Slavery was yet another human invention of which the Alpherians had no concept, yet they adopted and excelled at it quickly.
And I too was a slave, albeit a privileged one.
I prepared myself for anything that might happen on the other side of that door. I silently said a prayer, and I gave a signal in front of the video camera indicating that I was ready. The heavy door lifted, and I stepped through.
##
The stadium packed with extraterrestrial spectators had cheered at the spills of blood, and had lispingly, in their shrill voices, chanted my name. I had killed five and maimed one. My head buzzed from the knock of one of their deactivated weapons that had found its mark. Had it been a fair fight, I would now be dead. As it turned out, I had been the only one with an enabled weapon. I wondered if this meant that I was a celebrity, and would from now on have the contests rigged on my behalf like this one was.
A group of humans in shackles and neck-mounted controllers had been in a spectator box close to the arena. I had thought for a moment that one of the humans had resembled…but I couldn’t allow the thought.
Was mom still alive? The question had stuck with me, and I had lost a great deal of sleep over it. I knew the aliens had toasted dad and my two brothers. I had seen that happen and they weren’t coming back. Mom had been hiding in the upstairs bedroom closet, and I had been taken away from that house without knowing if she had been found.
It had, at times, given me nightmares. I dreamt of mom somewhere in the midst of the grouping of middle aged, standing in line to get her experiences taken away.
The middle-aged humans with their vast pool of experience were thought by the Alpherians to be an asset that they ought to mine. After all, what good did that quality do them if it remained between the ears of their conquered enemies? And if they were simply put to death, it would be a shame, like shooting all the buffalo for kicks. No, human experience must be harvested, not wasted.
I began to strip myself of battle gear after the end of tonight’s show. First off were that sweaty helmet, and the irritating electrodes and earpieces that were there to monitor my brain. Then came the knee and elbow protectors, then my uniform. I walked in solitude to the shower and twisted on the hot water. I anticipated the enjoyment of sitting in my apartment, alone, and watching television with a beer. Such simple pleasures had been divested from humanity upon the takeover, but I was allowed it because of the fact that I was privileged, and had fought against my species.
This locker room that had once hosted famous baseball and football teams seemed sometimes to chime with the outraged spirits of past players. Sometimes this locker room gave me the creeps.
I put on street clothes and started down the underground tunnel that had been built for the exit and entrance of football and baseball players who were too famous to be bothered by the public. It was a lengthy and well-lit hallway. I went through an inconspicuous, heavy steel door and was on the street, albeit the Alpherians monitored my location. To the naked eye it might have seemed that I was free to go where I wanted, but this wasn’t so. I was to go to the hotel that was three blocks away, and I was to go there by a specific route, at a specific pace, even displaying a particular manner of walk. There was no freedom.
As I walked, in the corner of my eye I saw other controlled people. To an onlooker who didn’t know what had happened, it might appear that I was living in an absolutely harmonious society, or maybe one in which everyone had received lobotomies. A couple of times, I passed by Alpherian guards, who watched and supervised the humans who crossed their zones. I was conspicuous because there was no controller clamped around my neck. I knew well the price of disobedience as I had seen what happened to those who tried to resist. Besides, my every move was scrutinized, and so an automatic restraint like the neck monitor in my case wasn’t needed. Should I divert from obedience at some future point, death would be quick and merciful. That was the warning I had received, hundreds of times, and it rang through my mind incessantly—a lisping, shrill, menacing, Alpherian voice.
I, as with other humans, could not allow the level of anger and outrage to surface. Such an emotion would result in instantly trying some foolish act of defiance, and then being disintegrated quickly by the Alpherian monitors before being able to make any difference. On the surface, it was completely congenial between species. An observer, at first, might not be able to discern, since everyone appeared to be getting along, that the Alpherians had conquered the humans, and enslaved us.
After reaching my apartment at the hotel, getting a beer from the refrigerator and turning on the television to see myself doing gladiator work, it wasn’t long before I was tired enough to go to bed. I remember thinking, before I fell asleep, that I really ought to watch something other than just coverage of myself…
##
I awoke with a jolt of adrenaline to the sound of muffled speech. I realized an intruder was in the apartment, and I got out of bed as quickly and quietly as I could. I peered through the partway-opened bedroom door, and saw a woman, hunched over in a chair speaking on a cell phone. On the desk, next to her, there was a hypodermic needle filled with clear liquid.
I swung open the door and sprang toward the woman. Quick as I was, she was faster, and picked up the hypo, jabbed her own wrist with it, then pushed the plunger. As I stood there watching, the woman intruder collapsed to the floor.
“Why don’t you try the other side?” she murmured, barely able to speak. Her eyelids fluttered, and she went pale and lifeless. The cell phone carried excited speech from where it had been dropped on the floor. I picked it up.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hello showman. We have a script for you.”
“What?” I said.
The phone line clicked, and the screen said, “Call terminated.” Then smoke emanated from the cell phone and some of the smoke got in my nose. I became drowsy, and stood up, trying to fight it off. By this time my vision was blurred. I tried to walk toward the bathroom, thinking I would take a stimulant; I stumbled and fell to the floor. I remember losing consciousness and thinking of mom.
I was barely conscious and was aware that people were carrying me. I was put on some kind of golf cart that drove down a tunnel with fluorescent lights. The tunnel had to be of human manufacture because the Alpherians never used that type of lighting—it was hard on their eyes.
I ended up in a brightly lit room that had desks, chairs and a chalkboard; I was in a classroom. However, I noticed that this classroom had no windows. I guessed that I was underground. I realized I was regaining consciousness, at this point, and I noticed that my arms and legs were tied to the chair I sat in. A gray haired man with spectacles and a necktie sat on the other side of the classroom and quietly observed me.
He said “Up and running yet?”
“What’s it to ya,” I replied, still groggy.
“How does it feel to have betrayed your species?” the man asked.
“It feels just fine,” I said. “They betrayed me.”
“Did your mom betray you, idiot?” said the man. He had a particular way of saying the word, “idiot,” that sounded like my dad once did.
I was angry enough that I let out a series of expletives and began to thrash in my chair. I managed to get the wood chair to which I was tied broken to pieces, and this meant that there was nothing restraining me any longer. The bespectacled smart aleck man had time to hit a panic button on the wall before I reached him. I was in the process of strangling him, hopefully to death, when six or seven burly men entered the room, grabbed me and restrained me. I let out some more expletives while the men tied me to a chair made of steel, and they also chained it to the leg of a heavy steel table. To my surprise, they did all of this to me without hitting or kicking me, or even causing me undue pain. I had not reciprocated this gentleness.
“You may not ever like me,” said the man, putting his glasses back on and massaging his adam’s apple, “But I’m the one who will deprogram you from alien brainwashing. Someday, if you’re still alive ten years from now, you may thank me in your thoughts.”
“Deprogram me; that is a laugh,” I said. “I’ve joined up with the Alpherians of my free will. I don’t care for people.” I had spat the word, “people,” as though it were a profanity.
“Then you will be brainwashed by us to like people,” said the man. “And you’ll still probably thank me some day.”
“Why would I?”
“Because humans won’t stay on the bottom. We’re going to win this war. And when we do, those who have betrayed us will be punished.”
“You sound like they did,” I said. “Can you tell me what is it that makes humans morally worthy of victory?”
“How did morality enter this conversation?” said the bespectacled man. For an instant I identified with this man, and then when I realized it, I stifled the emotion.
The man spoke into his radio piece. “Get the lady with the needle now please. He’s ripe.”
I was injected with something that made my mind soft and receptive. Over the next few weeks, or at least that’s how long it seemed, they daily injected me with it; afterward, the bespectacled man would speak into my face. This time was partly a blur, as it was my subconscious that was predominant, and I had difficulty forming a coherent memory.
In time, the brainwashing on me was complete, and it was so thorough that I knew I was brainwashed and it didn’t matter to me. They released me, and I went back to my apartment. The video cameras put up by the Alpherians soon discovered that I was at home, and a group of their guards showed up at my door.
“I escaped from the dirty humans,” I said. “They tried to convince me that their way is right, and they were unsuccessful.”
“We were certain you couldn’t be convinced. We expected they would kill you. It is good that you are still alive,” said the head guard. “Can you gladiate tomorrow?”
“Of course I can,” I replied. “Will the Illustrious Leader be in the audience?”
“He/she is your biggest fan and wouldn’t miss your performance,” the Alpherian replied.
##
Sometimes the fighting in the arena took place with various gimmicks. One of these was to provide my opponents and me with propulsion backpacks that allowed for flying around the arena. It often made the fights more exciting when I was in the ring, darting through the air and shooting down my opponents. Tonight was one of these nights.
By chance, their king on this night was in a prominent location to view the action, a location that I could hypothetically reach by flying up into the stands with my propulsion pack. I think the Alpherians assumed that I was too afraid of punishment to try such a bold act.
Immediately after I shot down my three opponents, I did just that; I flew into airspace above the King’s seating and blew him/her to a million smoking pieces with the weapon that was provided for the gladiator show. Then, with a quarter tank of fuel left in my propulsion unit, with the Alpherians in a state of confusion, I flew clear over the seating and all the way out of the stadium, and landed three blocks away where a group of the human underground waited for me.
I had done the precise action that the brainwashing had prepared me to do. The bespectacled brainwash person was among my reception group. He said: “Thank you for a job well done. You are no longer needed, and we will put you out of your misery now.” And he raised a weapon and pointed it at me.
It so happened that my weapon remained in my hand, and I was quick enough to blow away this man before he could fire on me. I was aware that my weapon was now out of shot, and I used the remaining fuel in my propulsion pack to get a block away from the remainder of humans in my receiving group.
I shed the backpack and started to run. I should have known it was futile to do so with the Alpherians patrolling the streets, but I ran, anyway. When an Alpherian guard spotted me, after I had sprinted about ten blocks and was out of wind, the worst he did was to give me a thumbs up. (This involved two Alpherian digits, since the species had two thumbs per hand.) Perhaps these were a people who lived in fear of their leader, and who were now grateful to have him gone.
Not knowing what else to do, I walked back to my apartment, sat down on my sofa with a can of beer, and turned on the television. I saw on the other screen that showed who was at my front door, there were suddenly Alpherians at my door who stood guarding the entrance.
According to television news, the superstar human gladiator had shot the King to death, and a restructuring of power was now in progress. Video was shown of me shooting the king and then flying away over the side of the stadium. The news said that I was being guarded in a secret location; the newsman surmised that I might be given freedom in exchange for liberating the Alpherians from an oppressive and brutal leadership.
Jack Bragen
copyright 2010
Probably, I would never have made it as a teenager and then a young adult. The invasion, the ensuing chaos and the reorganization of power took care of that for me. It would never be necessary for me to “fit in” among my peers, to have social skill, to ask a girl out on a date. These were things that seemed to come naturally for the other students, but terrified me. I was afraid of talking to girls, although god knows I wanted to have one. I was a small kid, and so the bullies would pick on me. I was the stereotype of the high school geek. And I probably would have ended up taking my own life, that’s how bad it was.
I mused about this as I put on my boots, my gear, and my helmet. I took a sip of nutri-water and bit on a chew of anti-tobacco. I greased my ears for the earpieces. I put two electrodes on the front of my scalp. Almost ready. Involuntarily, I kept thinking...
Then came them: they had put a fantastic weapon in my hands and showed me how to fight. They had said to me that only one in a hundred thousand young men had the talent to fight like I did. I was made an example, and was so good, they took me off the front line and put me in the arena as a showman.
And now I was preparing to step into this arena once again. But something was different.
I tested my weapon, pointing it idly at a trashcan that should get harmlessly knocked on its side, and then, pulling the trigger. The trash can burst into smithereens, and its pile of remains flamed. The fire suppressor put the inferno out in a few seconds.
So now I was to fight with an enabled weapon. These guys always had a few tricks up their sleeves. It was partly their unpredictability that had enabled them to take us on, beating us at our own game: war.
Before a chance meeting a few light years away, the Alpherians and perhaps much of the rest of the galaxy didn’t know the concept of it. They had got along peacefully and couldn’t conceive of doing things otherwise. War was invented on Earth, and we exported the concept outward to the surrounding star systems. They caught on quickly, so that they were soon better at it than we. Then, they invaded planet Earth, and made slaves of the humans. Slavery was yet another human invention of which the Alpherians had no concept, yet they adopted and excelled at it quickly.
And I too was a slave, albeit a privileged one.
I prepared myself for anything that might happen on the other side of that door. I silently said a prayer, and I gave a signal in front of the video camera indicating that I was ready. The heavy door lifted, and I stepped through.
##
The stadium packed with extraterrestrial spectators had cheered at the spills of blood, and had lispingly, in their shrill voices, chanted my name. I had killed five and maimed one. My head buzzed from the knock of one of their deactivated weapons that had found its mark. Had it been a fair fight, I would now be dead. As it turned out, I had been the only one with an enabled weapon. I wondered if this meant that I was a celebrity, and would from now on have the contests rigged on my behalf like this one was.
A group of humans in shackles and neck-mounted controllers had been in a spectator box close to the arena. I had thought for a moment that one of the humans had resembled…but I couldn’t allow the thought.
Was mom still alive? The question had stuck with me, and I had lost a great deal of sleep over it. I knew the aliens had toasted dad and my two brothers. I had seen that happen and they weren’t coming back. Mom had been hiding in the upstairs bedroom closet, and I had been taken away from that house without knowing if she had been found.
It had, at times, given me nightmares. I dreamt of mom somewhere in the midst of the grouping of middle aged, standing in line to get her experiences taken away.
The middle-aged humans with their vast pool of experience were thought by the Alpherians to be an asset that they ought to mine. After all, what good did that quality do them if it remained between the ears of their conquered enemies? And if they were simply put to death, it would be a shame, like shooting all the buffalo for kicks. No, human experience must be harvested, not wasted.
I began to strip myself of battle gear after the end of tonight’s show. First off were that sweaty helmet, and the irritating electrodes and earpieces that were there to monitor my brain. Then came the knee and elbow protectors, then my uniform. I walked in solitude to the shower and twisted on the hot water. I anticipated the enjoyment of sitting in my apartment, alone, and watching television with a beer. Such simple pleasures had been divested from humanity upon the takeover, but I was allowed it because of the fact that I was privileged, and had fought against my species.
This locker room that had once hosted famous baseball and football teams seemed sometimes to chime with the outraged spirits of past players. Sometimes this locker room gave me the creeps.
I put on street clothes and started down the underground tunnel that had been built for the exit and entrance of football and baseball players who were too famous to be bothered by the public. It was a lengthy and well-lit hallway. I went through an inconspicuous, heavy steel door and was on the street, albeit the Alpherians monitored my location. To the naked eye it might have seemed that I was free to go where I wanted, but this wasn’t so. I was to go to the hotel that was three blocks away, and I was to go there by a specific route, at a specific pace, even displaying a particular manner of walk. There was no freedom.
As I walked, in the corner of my eye I saw other controlled people. To an onlooker who didn’t know what had happened, it might appear that I was living in an absolutely harmonious society, or maybe one in which everyone had received lobotomies. A couple of times, I passed by Alpherian guards, who watched and supervised the humans who crossed their zones. I was conspicuous because there was no controller clamped around my neck. I knew well the price of disobedience as I had seen what happened to those who tried to resist. Besides, my every move was scrutinized, and so an automatic restraint like the neck monitor in my case wasn’t needed. Should I divert from obedience at some future point, death would be quick and merciful. That was the warning I had received, hundreds of times, and it rang through my mind incessantly—a lisping, shrill, menacing, Alpherian voice.
I, as with other humans, could not allow the level of anger and outrage to surface. Such an emotion would result in instantly trying some foolish act of defiance, and then being disintegrated quickly by the Alpherian monitors before being able to make any difference. On the surface, it was completely congenial between species. An observer, at first, might not be able to discern, since everyone appeared to be getting along, that the Alpherians had conquered the humans, and enslaved us.
After reaching my apartment at the hotel, getting a beer from the refrigerator and turning on the television to see myself doing gladiator work, it wasn’t long before I was tired enough to go to bed. I remember thinking, before I fell asleep, that I really ought to watch something other than just coverage of myself…
##
I awoke with a jolt of adrenaline to the sound of muffled speech. I realized an intruder was in the apartment, and I got out of bed as quickly and quietly as I could. I peered through the partway-opened bedroom door, and saw a woman, hunched over in a chair speaking on a cell phone. On the desk, next to her, there was a hypodermic needle filled with clear liquid.
I swung open the door and sprang toward the woman. Quick as I was, she was faster, and picked up the hypo, jabbed her own wrist with it, then pushed the plunger. As I stood there watching, the woman intruder collapsed to the floor.
“Why don’t you try the other side?” she murmured, barely able to speak. Her eyelids fluttered, and she went pale and lifeless. The cell phone carried excited speech from where it had been dropped on the floor. I picked it up.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hello showman. We have a script for you.”
“What?” I said.
The phone line clicked, and the screen said, “Call terminated.” Then smoke emanated from the cell phone and some of the smoke got in my nose. I became drowsy, and stood up, trying to fight it off. By this time my vision was blurred. I tried to walk toward the bathroom, thinking I would take a stimulant; I stumbled and fell to the floor. I remember losing consciousness and thinking of mom.
I was barely conscious and was aware that people were carrying me. I was put on some kind of golf cart that drove down a tunnel with fluorescent lights. The tunnel had to be of human manufacture because the Alpherians never used that type of lighting—it was hard on their eyes.
I ended up in a brightly lit room that had desks, chairs and a chalkboard; I was in a classroom. However, I noticed that this classroom had no windows. I guessed that I was underground. I realized I was regaining consciousness, at this point, and I noticed that my arms and legs were tied to the chair I sat in. A gray haired man with spectacles and a necktie sat on the other side of the classroom and quietly observed me.
He said “Up and running yet?”
“What’s it to ya,” I replied, still groggy.
“How does it feel to have betrayed your species?” the man asked.
“It feels just fine,” I said. “They betrayed me.”
“Did your mom betray you, idiot?” said the man. He had a particular way of saying the word, “idiot,” that sounded like my dad once did.
I was angry enough that I let out a series of expletives and began to thrash in my chair. I managed to get the wood chair to which I was tied broken to pieces, and this meant that there was nothing restraining me any longer. The bespectacled smart aleck man had time to hit a panic button on the wall before I reached him. I was in the process of strangling him, hopefully to death, when six or seven burly men entered the room, grabbed me and restrained me. I let out some more expletives while the men tied me to a chair made of steel, and they also chained it to the leg of a heavy steel table. To my surprise, they did all of this to me without hitting or kicking me, or even causing me undue pain. I had not reciprocated this gentleness.
“You may not ever like me,” said the man, putting his glasses back on and massaging his adam’s apple, “But I’m the one who will deprogram you from alien brainwashing. Someday, if you’re still alive ten years from now, you may thank me in your thoughts.”
“Deprogram me; that is a laugh,” I said. “I’ve joined up with the Alpherians of my free will. I don’t care for people.” I had spat the word, “people,” as though it were a profanity.
“Then you will be brainwashed by us to like people,” said the man. “And you’ll still probably thank me some day.”
“Why would I?”
“Because humans won’t stay on the bottom. We’re going to win this war. And when we do, those who have betrayed us will be punished.”
“You sound like they did,” I said. “Can you tell me what is it that makes humans morally worthy of victory?”
“How did morality enter this conversation?” said the bespectacled man. For an instant I identified with this man, and then when I realized it, I stifled the emotion.
The man spoke into his radio piece. “Get the lady with the needle now please. He’s ripe.”
I was injected with something that made my mind soft and receptive. Over the next few weeks, or at least that’s how long it seemed, they daily injected me with it; afterward, the bespectacled man would speak into my face. This time was partly a blur, as it was my subconscious that was predominant, and I had difficulty forming a coherent memory.
In time, the brainwashing on me was complete, and it was so thorough that I knew I was brainwashed and it didn’t matter to me. They released me, and I went back to my apartment. The video cameras put up by the Alpherians soon discovered that I was at home, and a group of their guards showed up at my door.
“I escaped from the dirty humans,” I said. “They tried to convince me that their way is right, and they were unsuccessful.”
“We were certain you couldn’t be convinced. We expected they would kill you. It is good that you are still alive,” said the head guard. “Can you gladiate tomorrow?”
“Of course I can,” I replied. “Will the Illustrious Leader be in the audience?”
“He/she is your biggest fan and wouldn’t miss your performance,” the Alpherian replied.
##
Sometimes the fighting in the arena took place with various gimmicks. One of these was to provide my opponents and me with propulsion backpacks that allowed for flying around the arena. It often made the fights more exciting when I was in the ring, darting through the air and shooting down my opponents. Tonight was one of these nights.
By chance, their king on this night was in a prominent location to view the action, a location that I could hypothetically reach by flying up into the stands with my propulsion pack. I think the Alpherians assumed that I was too afraid of punishment to try such a bold act.
Immediately after I shot down my three opponents, I did just that; I flew into airspace above the King’s seating and blew him/her to a million smoking pieces with the weapon that was provided for the gladiator show. Then, with a quarter tank of fuel left in my propulsion unit, with the Alpherians in a state of confusion, I flew clear over the seating and all the way out of the stadium, and landed three blocks away where a group of the human underground waited for me.
I had done the precise action that the brainwashing had prepared me to do. The bespectacled brainwash person was among my reception group. He said: “Thank you for a job well done. You are no longer needed, and we will put you out of your misery now.” And he raised a weapon and pointed it at me.
It so happened that my weapon remained in my hand, and I was quick enough to blow away this man before he could fire on me. I was aware that my weapon was now out of shot, and I used the remaining fuel in my propulsion pack to get a block away from the remainder of humans in my receiving group.
I shed the backpack and started to run. I should have known it was futile to do so with the Alpherians patrolling the streets, but I ran, anyway. When an Alpherian guard spotted me, after I had sprinted about ten blocks and was out of wind, the worst he did was to give me a thumbs up. (This involved two Alpherian digits, since the species had two thumbs per hand.) Perhaps these were a people who lived in fear of their leader, and who were now grateful to have him gone.
Not knowing what else to do, I walked back to my apartment, sat down on my sofa with a can of beer, and turned on the television. I saw on the other screen that showed who was at my front door, there were suddenly Alpherians at my door who stood guarding the entrance.
According to television news, the superstar human gladiator had shot the King to death, and a restructuring of power was now in progress. Video was shown of me shooting the king and then flying away over the side of the stadium. The news said that I was being guarded in a secret location; the newsman surmised that I might be given freedom in exchange for liberating the Alpherians from an oppressive and brutal leadership.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Meat Tips for Beginning Chefs
USING AND DEALING WITH FROZEN MEATS
Jack Bragen
The best way to preserve meat is by freezing it. As long as the meat is at a low enough temperature, bacteria can’t grow in it, and the decay process cannot take place. If you are unsure about a cut of meat, first of all use your sense of smell to determine if massive decay has rotted the piece, and secondly, it can be sterilized by thorough cooking on a stovetop.
If you purchase a large package of meat, and have already frozen the entire thing without first dividing it up to smaller portions, yet you still only want to use some of it, you can defrost it halfway in the microwave oven. Once this is done, you can cut off the amount that you want to use. Then, the part that you’re not using that day can be immediately returned to the freezer. This process could not be done with a gradual defrost, since you have provided the bacteria with the time it needs to grow. The above process is used because you failed to divide up the meat before you froze it in the first place, or because you bought it in a frozen state to begin with.
In order to halfway defrost something in the microwave oven with some amount of accuracy, enter half the weight in pounds and tenths of pounds after you push the button on your microwave that allows defrosting by weight. Most new microwave ovens have this feature.
The freezer doesn’t actually kill bacteria; it puts it into suspended animation. Therefore, freezing, by itself doesn’t prevent you from getting sick from the bacteria in meat. The meat doesn’t have to smell bad to contain a strain of bacteria that can make you ill. Bad smell is an indicator that the bacteria has grown on a massive scale in the meat to the extent that you can never consume it even after cooking. If you were to cook a rotten piece of meat thoroughly, and consume it, you wouldn’t be poisoned by virtue of live bacteria; you would instead be poisoned by the waste products that were produced when the bacteria was growing, that remain in the meat and that also make it smell and taste rotten.
To be poisoned by live bacteria, as can happen by eating a piece of meat that wasn’t completely cooked, it doesn’t require massive bacterial growth. Some strains of bacteria can start growing in your stomach that start with just a few parent cells, or, theoretically, even a single cell.
Pasteurization is named after it’s inventor, Louis Pasteur, who discovered that heat could destroy microbes. When you cook something thoroughly, it becomes pasteurized because the heat has killed all the microbes in it.
Remember to check the expiration date on your meat before buying it and check for “puffiness” in the packaging, which can indicate decay.
Jack Bragen
The best way to preserve meat is by freezing it. As long as the meat is at a low enough temperature, bacteria can’t grow in it, and the decay process cannot take place. If you are unsure about a cut of meat, first of all use your sense of smell to determine if massive decay has rotted the piece, and secondly, it can be sterilized by thorough cooking on a stovetop.
If you purchase a large package of meat, and have already frozen the entire thing without first dividing it up to smaller portions, yet you still only want to use some of it, you can defrost it halfway in the microwave oven. Once this is done, you can cut off the amount that you want to use. Then, the part that you’re not using that day can be immediately returned to the freezer. This process could not be done with a gradual defrost, since you have provided the bacteria with the time it needs to grow. The above process is used because you failed to divide up the meat before you froze it in the first place, or because you bought it in a frozen state to begin with.
In order to halfway defrost something in the microwave oven with some amount of accuracy, enter half the weight in pounds and tenths of pounds after you push the button on your microwave that allows defrosting by weight. Most new microwave ovens have this feature.
The freezer doesn’t actually kill bacteria; it puts it into suspended animation. Therefore, freezing, by itself doesn’t prevent you from getting sick from the bacteria in meat. The meat doesn’t have to smell bad to contain a strain of bacteria that can make you ill. Bad smell is an indicator that the bacteria has grown on a massive scale in the meat to the extent that you can never consume it even after cooking. If you were to cook a rotten piece of meat thoroughly, and consume it, you wouldn’t be poisoned by virtue of live bacteria; you would instead be poisoned by the waste products that were produced when the bacteria was growing, that remain in the meat and that also make it smell and taste rotten.
To be poisoned by live bacteria, as can happen by eating a piece of meat that wasn’t completely cooked, it doesn’t require massive bacterial growth. Some strains of bacteria can start growing in your stomach that start with just a few parent cells, or, theoretically, even a single cell.
Pasteurization is named after it’s inventor, Louis Pasteur, who discovered that heat could destroy microbes. When you cook something thoroughly, it becomes pasteurized because the heat has killed all the microbes in it.
Remember to check the expiration date on your meat before buying it and check for “puffiness” in the packaging, which can indicate decay.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
More Great Recipes from Bragen
Two Wonderful Recipies:
Killer Meatloaf:
2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs
1 onion, freshly chopped
1- 4 oz can tomato sauce
a dollop of ketchup
2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 rounded tablespoons flour or breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put above ingredients into a mixing bowl. Mix extremely well until smooth and homogenous. Form into loaf shape in a baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for one to two hours as needed. Sop up excess grease with paper towels.
Chocolate "around the house" cookies:
2 cups nesquick chocololate powder
or
1 & 1/2 cups sugar plus 1/2 cup Hersheys unsweetened cocoa
1 & 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup canola oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients very thoroughly. Add egg and oil and mix very well until consistent. Spray 8" round baking pan with nonstick spray. Take cookie dough and spread evenly in pan. Don't be afraid to use your hands. Bake approximately fifteen minutes.
Killer Meatloaf:
2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs
1 onion, freshly chopped
1- 4 oz can tomato sauce
a dollop of ketchup
2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 rounded tablespoons flour or breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put above ingredients into a mixing bowl. Mix extremely well until smooth and homogenous. Form into loaf shape in a baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for one to two hours as needed. Sop up excess grease with paper towels.
Chocolate "around the house" cookies:
2 cups nesquick chocololate powder
or
1 & 1/2 cups sugar plus 1/2 cup Hersheys unsweetened cocoa
1 & 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup canola oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients very thoroughly. Add egg and oil and mix very well until consistent. Spray 8" round baking pan with nonstick spray. Take cookie dough and spread evenly in pan. Don't be afraid to use your hands. Bake approximately fifteen minutes.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
"The Golden Rule" applies to consumerism
BEING A RESPECTFUL CONSUMER GETS RESPECT FROM VENDORS
Jack Bragen
To get respect from the vendors of society you must often rely on how you present yourself and not necessarily on being a “big spender.”
For example, at most banks, you get a minimally required level of courtesy. If you’re in business and bringing in a good gross, on the other hand, suddenly you’re best friends with all of the people who work at that branch. And yet at my bank, I am treated well simply because of the fact that I am pleasant toward them. And while my bank balance is lower than many, I am meticulous in how I manage my account.
Many people behind the counter will be nice to you just to be nice, and not because they are going to make some massive amount of money off you. It is by doing this that their job is viable over the long haul, or even enjoyable.
It is important to remember that the person behind the counter, or on the other end of the phone line, or the one waiting on you in a restaurant, is a person, too, and has feelings, and wants to be treated with respect, as well. When you give them this gift, they will usually reciprocate. The exception to this is when they are jerks, or crooks.
At Hertz car rental, at least the one I did business with, the discrimination is clear. You don’t get good treatment there unless you are prepared to put on a show that you are someone “important.” And maybe not then, either. On the other hand, pleasant, dedicated people, unlike at Hertz, staff Enterprise Car Rental and they go out of their way to please you even if you’re not renting to keep your fleet of Rolls Royce’s from getting scratched.
The crooked and incompetent mechanics at a branch of Firestone Tires once tried to charge me a thousand dollars to fix an air conditioning problem that another mechanic was able to resolve by replacing a twenty-dollar relay. When the oxygen sensor on the same car went out, they wanted to do a complete overhaul on the car. They were convenient to pay on a Firestone card, but then, what are you getting for that? When another Firestone tire a couple blocks away sold me tires, I realized a few days later that one of the hubcaps was gone.
At the two auto mechanics who have earned my repeat business on the basis of honesty and competence, I am treated well not because of them making a giant amount of money on me, but because of my pleasant and no nonsense attitude toward them.
The Starbuck’s chain has corporatized the idea of the local coffee shop. In its expansion it has overtaken many of these small and interesting coffee shops and has replaced them with a generic version of a nice place to hang out and have some coffee. The ones that aren’t Starbuck’s might also have books, a sandwich making stand, performances, and open mike nights. Had you gone there, you might’ve made friends with the owners or the regular employees.
The kid at Starbucks used to bother me because of being a repeat swiper with my debit card. I worried that the machine would charge me the four or five times that the kid swiped my card. It was annoying because if he did it right the first time the repetition wouldn’t be needed. When he also neglected to hand over the pastry I had paid for, it made me think he just wasn’t that into being nice to me. This was a long time ago, and for the most part, Starbucks employees have been very nice and very attentive.
At the places I go back to, the employees get to know me, and they can anticipate what I am about to ask for. At the two Starbucks’ I go to, they know in advance what I am about to order, a “venti” iced coffee with no sweetener and no room for cream. I have relatives give me Starbucks cards as my holiday gift, since I gain enjoyment from going there.
There has been improvement in the attitude of various cashiers since the economy went bad. At Lucky supermarket when it was still Albertson’s, there had once been a man who, while attempting to be flirtatious with my wife, made some type of crude remark. Nothing like this has happened again in the last couple of years.
The employees at the pharmacy at Longs Drugs, when it still existed eons ago, were awful to my wife and me. We switched to another pharmacy, and at the new place it took the people about a year to get up to speed—but once they got the hang of filling our prescriptions, they have been very good. As we know, since then, Longs has ceased to exist.
Vendors are helpful people—they are here to sell us the things we need. And although there are a few bad apples, most of them are dedicated, hardworking and courteous. And since I have been an employee of a couple of stores before and have dealt with difficult customers, when I am dealing with cashiers, I try not to lay the criticism or the demanding attitude on too thick.
.
Jack Bragen
To get respect from the vendors of society you must often rely on how you present yourself and not necessarily on being a “big spender.”
For example, at most banks, you get a minimally required level of courtesy. If you’re in business and bringing in a good gross, on the other hand, suddenly you’re best friends with all of the people who work at that branch. And yet at my bank, I am treated well simply because of the fact that I am pleasant toward them. And while my bank balance is lower than many, I am meticulous in how I manage my account.
Many people behind the counter will be nice to you just to be nice, and not because they are going to make some massive amount of money off you. It is by doing this that their job is viable over the long haul, or even enjoyable.
It is important to remember that the person behind the counter, or on the other end of the phone line, or the one waiting on you in a restaurant, is a person, too, and has feelings, and wants to be treated with respect, as well. When you give them this gift, they will usually reciprocate. The exception to this is when they are jerks, or crooks.
At Hertz car rental, at least the one I did business with, the discrimination is clear. You don’t get good treatment there unless you are prepared to put on a show that you are someone “important.” And maybe not then, either. On the other hand, pleasant, dedicated people, unlike at Hertz, staff Enterprise Car Rental and they go out of their way to please you even if you’re not renting to keep your fleet of Rolls Royce’s from getting scratched.
The crooked and incompetent mechanics at a branch of Firestone Tires once tried to charge me a thousand dollars to fix an air conditioning problem that another mechanic was able to resolve by replacing a twenty-dollar relay. When the oxygen sensor on the same car went out, they wanted to do a complete overhaul on the car. They were convenient to pay on a Firestone card, but then, what are you getting for that? When another Firestone tire a couple blocks away sold me tires, I realized a few days later that one of the hubcaps was gone.
At the two auto mechanics who have earned my repeat business on the basis of honesty and competence, I am treated well not because of them making a giant amount of money on me, but because of my pleasant and no nonsense attitude toward them.
The Starbuck’s chain has corporatized the idea of the local coffee shop. In its expansion it has overtaken many of these small and interesting coffee shops and has replaced them with a generic version of a nice place to hang out and have some coffee. The ones that aren’t Starbuck’s might also have books, a sandwich making stand, performances, and open mike nights. Had you gone there, you might’ve made friends with the owners or the regular employees.
The kid at Starbucks used to bother me because of being a repeat swiper with my debit card. I worried that the machine would charge me the four or five times that the kid swiped my card. It was annoying because if he did it right the first time the repetition wouldn’t be needed. When he also neglected to hand over the pastry I had paid for, it made me think he just wasn’t that into being nice to me. This was a long time ago, and for the most part, Starbucks employees have been very nice and very attentive.
At the places I go back to, the employees get to know me, and they can anticipate what I am about to ask for. At the two Starbucks’ I go to, they know in advance what I am about to order, a “venti” iced coffee with no sweetener and no room for cream. I have relatives give me Starbucks cards as my holiday gift, since I gain enjoyment from going there.
There has been improvement in the attitude of various cashiers since the economy went bad. At Lucky supermarket when it was still Albertson’s, there had once been a man who, while attempting to be flirtatious with my wife, made some type of crude remark. Nothing like this has happened again in the last couple of years.
The employees at the pharmacy at Longs Drugs, when it still existed eons ago, were awful to my wife and me. We switched to another pharmacy, and at the new place it took the people about a year to get up to speed—but once they got the hang of filling our prescriptions, they have been very good. As we know, since then, Longs has ceased to exist.
Vendors are helpful people—they are here to sell us the things we need. And although there are a few bad apples, most of them are dedicated, hardworking and courteous. And since I have been an employee of a couple of stores before and have dealt with difficult customers, when I am dealing with cashiers, I try not to lay the criticism or the demanding attitude on too thick.
.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Small Business Truisms
HOW NOT TO FAIL IN SMALL BUSINESS
JACK BRAGEN
Copyright 2010 by Jack Bragen
This piece is a memoir of what could have been done differently, and is not an authoritative guide to success; I have created several small, one person businesses that in the long run failed, have been involved in someone else's small business failure, and have observed a few companies that succeeded.
Of course, my disability (I am schizo-affective) figures into the likelihood of failure at small business, but is not a complete excuse for such failure. And you might ask, "is there anything this guy has succeeded at?" "And if not, why am I bothering to read this guy?" I am successful at other things in life besides small business and employment, and what I write is just as valid as what a supposedly more successful person writes. As it is, I don't lie or make false claims about myself or about my successes in life. Although sometimes the truth can be harder and less glamorous to hear.
The following are a few basic rules you ought to follow in order to have a chance at business success. While these are not the complete answer, they are bases that ought to be covered in addition to having your superlative business concept that you must formulate and that I don't offer here.
Rule No. 1: Don't start out the business unable to pay for all expenses for the first two years. You can not assume instant profitability. It could take two years or longer to discover, implement and fine tune the formula that works. Most companies take at least two years to reach the break even point, and some never do.
Rule No. 2: Don't rent business space in the worst possible location just because the rent is low. If you can not afford to pay for a decent location for your business, you are probably under-capitalized. If you rent in a "bad area" you have to pay more in insurance, as it is likely that you will be robbed at gunpoint. No kidding: I've been held at gunpoint by robbers before, and it's no fun at all. You get to brag about it afterward, but only if they don't shoot you.
Furthermore, it is likely you could get fewer customers, each of which will pay less, because of being in a bad area. If you are in an upscale area, you can get away with charging much more per customer, and yet your rent and other overhead costs are higher. I believe it is best to rent in a moderate area; one that isn't excessively expensive and yet that doesn't have high crime. This gets you an affordable space while at the same time not turning away customers who don't want to travel to a bad area.
Rule No. 3: Very Important! Don't go into business at a service that you are not able to do. If you are in business as a dry cleaner, you had better know all about dry cleaning. If you are in business as a private detective, you must know the ropes of that industry. If your company will be a TV repair service, you had better know how to repair the latest TV's and the old ones as well. Going into a business isn't a learn as you go enterprise--in certain respects, such as knowing your field. If you start out the company not knowing how to perform what's promised, you will quickly develop a bad reputation, and this will destroy your future customer base. Exceptions to the "need to know your field" principle might include selling frozen yogurt, or buying into a well known franchise in which the formulae for succeeding are part of the package.
Rule No. 4: Don't operate your company assuming your customers are stupid. When I go to an establishment and the salesman behaves toward me as though I am their next sucker, I am pretty annoyed. Credit your customers as being of equal intelligence to yourself. This doesn't eliminate the need to explain to the customer your rationale for why things are done a certain way. While customers aren't stupid, they can't read your mind, either.
The two parts of this, again, are: Don't insult your customers' intelligence, and secondly, explain things to them as needed since they likely do not know why you do things the way you do unless you tell them.
Rule No. 5: When starting a small business, be prepared to work. This is perhaps the most important of the prerequisites. I believe if you are prepared to work, if you have sufficient startup capital, and if you have a reliable and affordable way of getting customers, you are very likely to succeed in business.
Rule No. 6: Have a plan and also a couple of backup plans for getting the customers that are needed to support your business. The foremost reason for why a company fails, I believe, is the lack of sufficient customers. Once upon a time, a yellow pages ad would work very well at getting a sufficient number of customers. This has apparently changed with the advent of internet and with the saturation of many fields with competitors. Additional advertizing may be needed, and this will cost money. It may require a bit of doing to get enough advertizing, which must be cost effective, so that your company will have sufficient work.
Rule No. 7: Avoid undercharging and avoid giving things away for free. Charging less than the going rate makes the customer wary that something must be wrong with your product or service. Charging a greater price may imply, whether true or not, that what you're selling is of a better quality compared to that of competitors.
Rule No. 8: Don't hire an employee who can't do the job in order to save money. This isn't to say you can't hire disabled people. When someone has a disability, it doesn't automatically mean he or she can't do the job. There are plenty of disabled people out there who are more conscientious, hardworking and detail oriented than the average employee. No, I'm not advising not to hire the disabled; I'm advising not to hire people who don't want to work. Secondly, hiring someone who is underqualified might mean that he or she will work for a lower wage, but what good is that if they don't know how to do what they were hired for? It is good to hire someone who knows their business, who is willing to do the work, and who doesn't have any hidden agendas. Having a disability or not having one doesn't enter into this question.
Rule No. 9: Don't hire anyone at all until the business's customer base expands enough so that you need the extra help. Prior to hiring anyone, you should be doing the work yourself, along with any business partners you have. Employees cost a lot. They cost even more when they are injured on the job. If you can't afford workmen's compensation, or if you can't afford to contract with a temporary agency that should cover this, you should not yet hire someone.
Rule No. 10: Don't waste company money on fancy stuff, unless this is important for the business. If you can get by with used, surplus, or low end equipment and supplies, you should do so. Getting a bunch of fancy business items might come from an assumption that you're about to make a bundle, and this isn't a valid assumption. However, sometimes it is impossible to accomplish a task when you're working with junk. If you need a quality item to get the job done, you should get it.
Rule No. 11: Be certain to keep personal finances seperate from company finances. If you need to put personal money into the company, you should establish a specific way of doing this, one which you will record. If your company seems to have massive amounts of extra money, then it might be time to issue yourself a paycheck.
There are limitless possibilities for small businesses that can exist. It is possible to tailor the design of your company based on your particular needs. It can be an exciting undertaking, and doesn’t have to be a “corporate” or a “sterile” approach. The point of it is often to have fun at what you’re doing, and not always to make the most possible money.
JACK BRAGEN
Copyright 2010 by Jack Bragen
This piece is a memoir of what could have been done differently, and is not an authoritative guide to success; I have created several small, one person businesses that in the long run failed, have been involved in someone else's small business failure, and have observed a few companies that succeeded.
Of course, my disability (I am schizo-affective) figures into the likelihood of failure at small business, but is not a complete excuse for such failure. And you might ask, "is there anything this guy has succeeded at?" "And if not, why am I bothering to read this guy?" I am successful at other things in life besides small business and employment, and what I write is just as valid as what a supposedly more successful person writes. As it is, I don't lie or make false claims about myself or about my successes in life. Although sometimes the truth can be harder and less glamorous to hear.
The following are a few basic rules you ought to follow in order to have a chance at business success. While these are not the complete answer, they are bases that ought to be covered in addition to having your superlative business concept that you must formulate and that I don't offer here.
Rule No. 1: Don't start out the business unable to pay for all expenses for the first two years. You can not assume instant profitability. It could take two years or longer to discover, implement and fine tune the formula that works. Most companies take at least two years to reach the break even point, and some never do.
Rule No. 2: Don't rent business space in the worst possible location just because the rent is low. If you can not afford to pay for a decent location for your business, you are probably under-capitalized. If you rent in a "bad area" you have to pay more in insurance, as it is likely that you will be robbed at gunpoint. No kidding: I've been held at gunpoint by robbers before, and it's no fun at all. You get to brag about it afterward, but only if they don't shoot you.
Furthermore, it is likely you could get fewer customers, each of which will pay less, because of being in a bad area. If you are in an upscale area, you can get away with charging much more per customer, and yet your rent and other overhead costs are higher. I believe it is best to rent in a moderate area; one that isn't excessively expensive and yet that doesn't have high crime. This gets you an affordable space while at the same time not turning away customers who don't want to travel to a bad area.
Rule No. 3: Very Important! Don't go into business at a service that you are not able to do. If you are in business as a dry cleaner, you had better know all about dry cleaning. If you are in business as a private detective, you must know the ropes of that industry. If your company will be a TV repair service, you had better know how to repair the latest TV's and the old ones as well. Going into a business isn't a learn as you go enterprise--in certain respects, such as knowing your field. If you start out the company not knowing how to perform what's promised, you will quickly develop a bad reputation, and this will destroy your future customer base. Exceptions to the "need to know your field" principle might include selling frozen yogurt, or buying into a well known franchise in which the formulae for succeeding are part of the package.
Rule No. 4: Don't operate your company assuming your customers are stupid. When I go to an establishment and the salesman behaves toward me as though I am their next sucker, I am pretty annoyed. Credit your customers as being of equal intelligence to yourself. This doesn't eliminate the need to explain to the customer your rationale for why things are done a certain way. While customers aren't stupid, they can't read your mind, either.
The two parts of this, again, are: Don't insult your customers' intelligence, and secondly, explain things to them as needed since they likely do not know why you do things the way you do unless you tell them.
Rule No. 5: When starting a small business, be prepared to work. This is perhaps the most important of the prerequisites. I believe if you are prepared to work, if you have sufficient startup capital, and if you have a reliable and affordable way of getting customers, you are very likely to succeed in business.
Rule No. 6: Have a plan and also a couple of backup plans for getting the customers that are needed to support your business. The foremost reason for why a company fails, I believe, is the lack of sufficient customers. Once upon a time, a yellow pages ad would work very well at getting a sufficient number of customers. This has apparently changed with the advent of internet and with the saturation of many fields with competitors. Additional advertizing may be needed, and this will cost money. It may require a bit of doing to get enough advertizing, which must be cost effective, so that your company will have sufficient work.
Rule No. 7: Avoid undercharging and avoid giving things away for free. Charging less than the going rate makes the customer wary that something must be wrong with your product or service. Charging a greater price may imply, whether true or not, that what you're selling is of a better quality compared to that of competitors.
Rule No. 8: Don't hire an employee who can't do the job in order to save money. This isn't to say you can't hire disabled people. When someone has a disability, it doesn't automatically mean he or she can't do the job. There are plenty of disabled people out there who are more conscientious, hardworking and detail oriented than the average employee. No, I'm not advising not to hire the disabled; I'm advising not to hire people who don't want to work. Secondly, hiring someone who is underqualified might mean that he or she will work for a lower wage, but what good is that if they don't know how to do what they were hired for? It is good to hire someone who knows their business, who is willing to do the work, and who doesn't have any hidden agendas. Having a disability or not having one doesn't enter into this question.
Rule No. 9: Don't hire anyone at all until the business's customer base expands enough so that you need the extra help. Prior to hiring anyone, you should be doing the work yourself, along with any business partners you have. Employees cost a lot. They cost even more when they are injured on the job. If you can't afford workmen's compensation, or if you can't afford to contract with a temporary agency that should cover this, you should not yet hire someone.
Rule No. 10: Don't waste company money on fancy stuff, unless this is important for the business. If you can get by with used, surplus, or low end equipment and supplies, you should do so. Getting a bunch of fancy business items might come from an assumption that you're about to make a bundle, and this isn't a valid assumption. However, sometimes it is impossible to accomplish a task when you're working with junk. If you need a quality item to get the job done, you should get it.
Rule No. 11: Be certain to keep personal finances seperate from company finances. If you need to put personal money into the company, you should establish a specific way of doing this, one which you will record. If your company seems to have massive amounts of extra money, then it might be time to issue yourself a paycheck.
There are limitless possibilities for small businesses that can exist. It is possible to tailor the design of your company based on your particular needs. It can be an exciting undertaking, and doesn’t have to be a “corporate” or a “sterile” approach. The point of it is often to have fun at what you’re doing, and not always to make the most possible money.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Obama's Dilemma
THE FORCES THAT LIMIT OBAMA
Jack Bragen
Copyright 2010
To many people's consternation, it seems that no matter who is president, many of the same injustices in the United States seem to persist. Under President Bush, we had an un-winnable war in the Middle East. And now, with President Obama, we are waging war against an even more formidable enemy—still in the Middle East. For those who don't want the U.S. to participate in such military actions, it must create a great deal of distress as well as distrust of the President.
Obama's administration has continued many of the same government bailouts of giant companies, and has refrained from fulfilling his campaign promise that he would redistribute the wealth. These are the same actions and lack of actions that would have happened under the Bush administration.
The biggest difference, it seems, between Bush and Obama is one of style. President Obama clearly has the advantage here, and has a masterful way of speaking and conducting himself. When we heard Bush speak to the public, it was as if we were hearing a pro basketball player, or perhaps a used car salesman—not very presidential.
In his campaign, Obama promised to "rock the boat" and this hasn't happened. President Obama's actions and policies have been middle of the road. Obama's similarities to the behavior of Bush have led me to the conclusion that the world we live in is Asimovian.
In Isaac Asimov's Foundation science fiction series, written many decades ago, there existed a science known as Psychohistory. In those books, the Psychohistorians could predict the destiny of large numbers of humans based upon mathematical formulas. The theory implied that it doesn't matter whom you vote for because human destiny is already mapped out.
The President no matter which person that is, is forced to make certain decisions based upon the pressures that he or she is under, based upon the necessity of avoiding disastrous results, and based upon being in a position of knowing things that individual didn't know prior to becoming President. It seems that it may matter very little who is president, since any person elected will be forced to behave in almost the same way, with a small amount of room for some of their own choices.
In the books, there were certain things that threw human destiny off track, such as one character who had mutated to have mind control powers called "the mule." So, while in those stories human destiny was preordained, there were a few things that could change the game that couldn't be predicted.
If any one of us reaches our potential, with it comes the possibility that we could reshape human destiny.
Jack Bragen
Copyright 2010
To many people's consternation, it seems that no matter who is president, many of the same injustices in the United States seem to persist. Under President Bush, we had an un-winnable war in the Middle East. And now, with President Obama, we are waging war against an even more formidable enemy—still in the Middle East. For those who don't want the U.S. to participate in such military actions, it must create a great deal of distress as well as distrust of the President.
Obama's administration has continued many of the same government bailouts of giant companies, and has refrained from fulfilling his campaign promise that he would redistribute the wealth. These are the same actions and lack of actions that would have happened under the Bush administration.
The biggest difference, it seems, between Bush and Obama is one of style. President Obama clearly has the advantage here, and has a masterful way of speaking and conducting himself. When we heard Bush speak to the public, it was as if we were hearing a pro basketball player, or perhaps a used car salesman—not very presidential.
In his campaign, Obama promised to "rock the boat" and this hasn't happened. President Obama's actions and policies have been middle of the road. Obama's similarities to the behavior of Bush have led me to the conclusion that the world we live in is Asimovian.
In Isaac Asimov's Foundation science fiction series, written many decades ago, there existed a science known as Psychohistory. In those books, the Psychohistorians could predict the destiny of large numbers of humans based upon mathematical formulas. The theory implied that it doesn't matter whom you vote for because human destiny is already mapped out.
The President no matter which person that is, is forced to make certain decisions based upon the pressures that he or she is under, based upon the necessity of avoiding disastrous results, and based upon being in a position of knowing things that individual didn't know prior to becoming President. It seems that it may matter very little who is president, since any person elected will be forced to behave in almost the same way, with a small amount of room for some of their own choices.
In the books, there were certain things that threw human destiny off track, such as one character who had mutated to have mind control powers called "the mule." So, while in those stories human destiny was preordained, there were a few things that could change the game that couldn't be predicted.
If any one of us reaches our potential, with it comes the possibility that we could reshape human destiny.
The Apparent Value of Enlightenment
ENLIGHTENMENT AND ITS LIMITS
Jack Bragen
You may wonder, what could give an unenlightened student of life, such as I, the authority to comment on what enlightenment will and won't do for you? Admittedly, I can't claim to have achieved enlightenment. Yet, based on my studies, I have a pretty good idea of what it is and isn't. Also, I have the maturity many people get when past age 40, and this is its own category of attainment. And since a part of me appears to be transcendent, and this seems to be an increasingly large portion of me, a part of me is always "logged in" to a "higher" mental or spiritual perspective. Together, I believe the above things make me qualified to comment on enlightenment.
While being enlightened won't get you a loaf of bread, it will make you unattached to bread so that during those times when there is no bread, you will not create suffering over it. Although you may be unattached to this bread, you still need to eat, and you need to take the necessary actions that are required to obtain your food. This could range from taking a trip into your kitchen and opening up a pantry or a refrigerator, up to the level of maintaining employment to fund your bread, and driving to the grocery store to buy it. Or if your circumstances dictate it, in order to get your food, you might need to hike for miles on a barren wasteland, brave searing heat, and stand in line for three days at the place where the food is being distributed. In this last scenario of living in impoverished conditions, enlightenment will help you the most, since, while you will physically feel the pain and discomfort of harsh external conditions, this won't affect your peaceful mental state.
Enlightenment could make a person totally happy at nearly all times. When I saw on television the Dalai Lama speaking about things that are not good, I detected incredible sadness. Yet he expressed this as a form of joy, something that might be beyond the comprehension of many viewers. Even the very worst events in life have good aspects, and can be perceived as good. And this appears to be a part of the lesson.
I remember seeing a Karate demonstration in which the Karate instructor said he was helped by this method of self-defense so that now he could "fear no man." Self-defense is fine, but does it truly address your fear? I think not truly. In order to truly be fearless, I believe it is necessary to become enlightened.
Enlightenment won't make your body immune to an attack by a bear, but you won't spend your time uselessly worrying about whether or not a bear will show up.
Not only will enlightenment create fearlessness, it will also allow you to make friends with those who you thought were your enemies. To an enlightened person, everyone is an acceptable person, and no one is shunned on an interpersonal level. If someone misbehaves, they might be asked to leave a temple of meditation, but they will not be expected to feel shame about it.
Our bodies are responsible for our being able to perceive the physical world through the ordinary five senses, and are responsible for our storage of memories, and for the programming in our brains that gives us a personality. Our bodies allow us to interact with the physical universe, and to comment on it to ourselves, and to put down an anchor that gives our consciousness a point of reference. Enlightenment is partly an event that happens to our bodies when we have practiced meditation enough.
Enlightenment doesn't make our bodies immortal. It doesn't change the reality that, in time, our bodies must pass.
Enlightenment changes our attitudes concerning this reality. For someone who is enlightened, the passing away of the body is neither a source of fear nor apprehension.
When enlightened, the perspective of consciousness has changed. The perspective is no longer from within the individual ego capable of suffering through a mere insult or an ingrown toenail. The perspective of an enlightened person has risen beyond the limitations of the body, and thus the fate of the body becomes almost inconsequential.
While the memory and the train of thought of an individual are likely to stop at death, it is thought that consciousness does not stop. From an enlightened perspective, it may make no difference whether the body continues or not.
I have commented on what I believe enlightenment is and is not. For me, my future may not include becoming enlightened, since at least for now, I have chosen another path. Yet the existence of enlightenment is good to know about, and there is a part of me still that would like to go there.
I don't know if enlightenment would make things better for me, or if instead I am better off playing in the sandbox a while longer. I know that for now, no one is throwing sand in my eyes, so I will stay here.
Jack Bragen
You may wonder, what could give an unenlightened student of life, such as I, the authority to comment on what enlightenment will and won't do for you? Admittedly, I can't claim to have achieved enlightenment. Yet, based on my studies, I have a pretty good idea of what it is and isn't. Also, I have the maturity many people get when past age 40, and this is its own category of attainment. And since a part of me appears to be transcendent, and this seems to be an increasingly large portion of me, a part of me is always "logged in" to a "higher" mental or spiritual perspective. Together, I believe the above things make me qualified to comment on enlightenment.
While being enlightened won't get you a loaf of bread, it will make you unattached to bread so that during those times when there is no bread, you will not create suffering over it. Although you may be unattached to this bread, you still need to eat, and you need to take the necessary actions that are required to obtain your food. This could range from taking a trip into your kitchen and opening up a pantry or a refrigerator, up to the level of maintaining employment to fund your bread, and driving to the grocery store to buy it. Or if your circumstances dictate it, in order to get your food, you might need to hike for miles on a barren wasteland, brave searing heat, and stand in line for three days at the place where the food is being distributed. In this last scenario of living in impoverished conditions, enlightenment will help you the most, since, while you will physically feel the pain and discomfort of harsh external conditions, this won't affect your peaceful mental state.
Enlightenment could make a person totally happy at nearly all times. When I saw on television the Dalai Lama speaking about things that are not good, I detected incredible sadness. Yet he expressed this as a form of joy, something that might be beyond the comprehension of many viewers. Even the very worst events in life have good aspects, and can be perceived as good. And this appears to be a part of the lesson.
I remember seeing a Karate demonstration in which the Karate instructor said he was helped by this method of self-defense so that now he could "fear no man." Self-defense is fine, but does it truly address your fear? I think not truly. In order to truly be fearless, I believe it is necessary to become enlightened.
Enlightenment won't make your body immune to an attack by a bear, but you won't spend your time uselessly worrying about whether or not a bear will show up.
Not only will enlightenment create fearlessness, it will also allow you to make friends with those who you thought were your enemies. To an enlightened person, everyone is an acceptable person, and no one is shunned on an interpersonal level. If someone misbehaves, they might be asked to leave a temple of meditation, but they will not be expected to feel shame about it.
Our bodies are responsible for our being able to perceive the physical world through the ordinary five senses, and are responsible for our storage of memories, and for the programming in our brains that gives us a personality. Our bodies allow us to interact with the physical universe, and to comment on it to ourselves, and to put down an anchor that gives our consciousness a point of reference. Enlightenment is partly an event that happens to our bodies when we have practiced meditation enough.
Enlightenment doesn't make our bodies immortal. It doesn't change the reality that, in time, our bodies must pass.
Enlightenment changes our attitudes concerning this reality. For someone who is enlightened, the passing away of the body is neither a source of fear nor apprehension.
When enlightened, the perspective of consciousness has changed. The perspective is no longer from within the individual ego capable of suffering through a mere insult or an ingrown toenail. The perspective of an enlightened person has risen beyond the limitations of the body, and thus the fate of the body becomes almost inconsequential.
While the memory and the train of thought of an individual are likely to stop at death, it is thought that consciousness does not stop. From an enlightened perspective, it may make no difference whether the body continues or not.
I have commented on what I believe enlightenment is and is not. For me, my future may not include becoming enlightened, since at least for now, I have chosen another path. Yet the existence of enlightenment is good to know about, and there is a part of me still that would like to go there.
I don't know if enlightenment would make things better for me, or if instead I am better off playing in the sandbox a while longer. I know that for now, no one is throwing sand in my eyes, so I will stay here.
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