Ireland Fragments: Days 2-3

After an exhaustive first day in Dublin, we were still energized for a half day of activity in Dublin (before moving into Northern Ireland).

We woke up and had breakfast at a local diner not far from our Airbnb. This was ideal as it had zero tourists.  I had a full Irish breakfast and felt like I had enough meat to last me for the entire trip. I found the blood sausage to be pretty decent (some folks had warned me about it).

We packed up our stuff and walked down to the Connolly train station to head to Belfast. It wasn't fun dragging our bags into town, but it added to the adventure all the same.

It just so happened that we were in Ireland at the same time as an old friend. We had the opportunity to meet up with JJ for a proper Hobbit-like "Second Breakfast" at a coffee shop near the train station. JJ (the same JJ, I almost died with) was winding his trip down and would be headed back to the States in 2-3 days. It was quite surreal to be chatting it up with an old friend in Dublin, but life is full of weird surprises.

This photo has a lot of blue in it. Enjoy it, fans of blue. 

We caught the train to Belfast and spoke with an old man about his life in Dublin and his travels to the North. The most amazing thing I was beginning to realize was just how many Irish dialects or accents there were in such a small geographic location. In the States, we have accents but they take up large areas, hundreds even thousands of miles of similarity. In Ireland, you'd go to the next town over and hear something very different from the other town.

It was our first view of the countryside and it was quite lovely. We arrived at our Airbnb, which was a whole apartment (which was a relief for just spreading out, as well as privacy). We were near Queens University, so we hiked over the campus and enjoyed the beautiful Belfast Botanic gardens

I had never been in an European Garden before. It had much more of an impact on me than I thought it would. All I can say is that I know why people use the word "lovely" over in the UK/Ireland more than Americans. Everything was just lovely.

I just like this photo.

Queens University - just a pretty place to walk around.

You just walk around and kinda get used to seeing cool stuff like this. It's such an ordinary thing. But here this is, a cool-looking building thing. Just cool things, lovely things everywhere.

We grabbed some grub at Maggie Mays (pretty good dinner - K opted for an Irish stew - LOTS of potatoes, I got a burger) but the dessert was amazing. It made us happy to be alive at this point in the history of the universe.

Holy cow just seeing this again gave me sugar flashbacks. So damn delicious.

We asked our server for recommendations for live music and he recommended Five Points. It was about a half mile down the road and it was also, pretty amazing. We were likely the only tourists there and the guys playing there were awesome. It was as authentic as it gets. I loved it. 

Every time I went to a bar I ended up getting Guinness. I know that's cliché but I started to really appreciate it while I was there and enjoyed it. Besides, ya know, when in Rome....

We had stopped at the market after dinner (and before going to Five Points) and made our own breakfast in the morning. I was pleasantly surprised at the food prices in NI. Cheaper than Dublin and some items cheaper than the US

After breakfast, we caught a taxi to the airport to rent a car and explore the Antrim coast. I was little worried about driving on the "wrong" side of the road but it really wasn't all that bad (of course it helps I had a nice navigator to remind me of what the heck I was doing).

Our plan was to drive north, stopping at various sites along the way. I was excited by the prospect of driving around the Irish country side and seeing what would happen. I knew it could be a perfect little adventure and I have to say that this day was my favorite day of my entire trip.

Green hills and pastures as far as the eyes could see. This particular day was one of hte most misty or "rainy" days of my entire trip. Surprisingly, my whole 3 weeks in Ireland and the UK was pretty dry. There was one or two rainy days and the rest of the days were dry or only had a stray shower or two.

K kept taking photos of the countryside, the only problem was that none of them could really do it justice. The roads were so narrow, I could rarely truly enjoy them as well. Later in the trip I had plenty of opportunity to sit back and enjoy the countryside.

Our first stop was at the Carrickfergus Castle (in Carrickfergus).  It's the not the most impressive Irish castle but visiting a castle was on our "to do" list and it wasn't too far out of the way. We basically mapped this trip out the night before and it made it all the more fun.

 My beauty in front of the castle.

K took this one. I loved these little stairs and the little details like this more than anything else about the visiting old castles, buildings, etc.

Carrickfergus Castle was nice but unless you have a thing of castles or you are in the area (like we were), it's skippable. That said it was fun, quick and cheap. It's set up more for kids than anything else. I don't want to under-sell the experience though, if you have kids with you, a definite thumbs up.


We were only there about an hour and we got back on the road. NI is full of tiny little towns that start with "Bally" (holy smokes, looks like over 30).  Well, in one of them (maybe Ballymoney) we were stopped at a light and saw this sign.

We found it quite funny and unique, so K took a photo of it. Sure enough, just seconds later, we see a "classic" Old Lady (right out of a WB cartoon) crossing the road. Well, we got a photo of her as well!

If it was Ballymoney, this is sign and photo make a whole lot more sense as according to Wikipedia, "The Ballymoney area has the highest life expectancy of any area in Northern Ireland, with the average male life expectancy at birth being 79.9 years and 84.8 years for females in years"

We decided to stop at "The Hedges" which is a few minutes south of Ballycastle. Apparently, it's featured on "Game of Thrones" and some other movies/television programs but we don't watch GoT so it was more just a cool photo-op. It was on our way to Ballycastle, so it wasn't much trouble. If you have a spare 20 minutes, I recommend it. We took some pics and were on our way.

We finally made it to our "destination" which was Ballycastle. I was interested in seeing Ballycastle because about a week later I would be spending most of at the Corrymeela Peace Center for about two weeks. Ballycastle is a lovely little town and I will have much more to say about this town in future blog posts. We had lunch at the hotel that faces the seaside (which, by all means, avoid the restaurant there, as it was disappointing).

We walked a bit around town but because our lunch took longer to arrive and it was already past 1:00 PM, we decided to pick up the pace.

When I would begin to imagine this Ireland-UK trip over a year in advance, I would often imagine the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (about 20 minutes outside of Ballycastle) and sigh. This was the activity I most anticipated for out trip and I knew it could be the highlight of our trip (but I was hoping against hope for rain not to ruin it). While it had sprinkled here and there during the morning, it had remained largely dry (well as dry as NI gets).

The bridge seemed smaller than the photos make it out to be, but it did not disappoint. The walk across the bridge was great but the views the island offered was amazing. 

Edit 2024: I was looking at my drafts and I never finished this post (or even this series to be honest...whoops) but I decided to go ahead and publish because this post was already so long!! 

Truth as an Object / Truth as a Journey

I've written about truth before (from the vantage point of falsifiability) but like most things, my mind has been kicking around some ideas.

I used to think of "the truth" as a treasure to be found. I could think, read, maybe even actually discover what the "right" answers were to life's most perplexing questions, but mainly about God.

I have always wanted to believe, but I have always been dogged by doubt. For every reason to believe there is a reason to doubt. For every yin a yang, for every black a white. I can argue every side inside and out and if you let yourself do that, it's quite exhausting. 

Unknowingly, I had adopted a traditional Western view of the truth. It goes something like this:

There is only one truth and (surprise) it just so happens to align to my beliefs.

In other words, truth is a zero sum game; a science experiment; a mathematical equation to be solved. The truth is singular, definable, and crystal clear. Ignoring the fact that this idea of truth flies in the face of lived human experience and it's utterly convincing and cutting in its logic. Above all, truth is a thing, an object, an idea to find and believe in.

For the most part, I still stand by this idea. That is, the truth is the truth. Facts are facts (and not alternative facts). Science is a great way of understanding the universe (evolution, vaccines, etc.) math is great (yay, bridges)!

Here comes the but....

But the truth is more complicated than only understanding the world and experiences through a reductionist lens.

Simply put, science is critical to creating a better life for humans but science can't tell us how to live or tell us what the meaning of life should be. Science is the blank coloring page, you can't change the outline, but we decide how to color it and embellish it.

Let me clarify, that yes, I am oversimplifying it, and maybe even overstating my argument. For example, evolution has guided our decisions and there is evidence to suggest we have already made a choice for before our brains are even aware of that choice being made. This is not an air-tight argument, it's a blog. So, while I maintain math and science truth as "captial T truth"...I also find this kind of truth alienating on a personal level. Our metaphors for truth don't fit the lived experience of most humans.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about that is unrelated to truth but related to time.

In the west we see time as moving forward and our metaphors for time involved "getting over things", "moving on", etc. However, our lived experience as time do not match the lived experiences (how often a simple memory can take us right back to a trauma). However, other cultures use a metaphor of walking backwards. We can only see the past, not the future we're stumbling into. I find this metaphor much closer to reality.

I've come to believe truth isn't an object but a journey we take, and on that journey, and hopefully, at best, the truth unfolds before you. Of course there is a place for science and math truth, but to force that kind of metaphor into our relationships, religious or spiritual realm, personal choice, art, etc. it doesn't work so well. Maybe I just don't want everything to be explained by science. I prefer the metaphor of a walk. I may wander here a bit, I may get lost, I may even stop for awhile. If I saw it was a zero sum game, maybe I have a personal crisis or breakdown, but if I see truth and life, as one long adventure, I can have the wherewithal to keep going.
 
Last spring I had a rabbi come to our multifaith forum and she shared this story with our panel. I think it's a good place to end.

"The Baal Shem quoted the Psalm, "Truth shall spring out of the earth" (85:12) and asked, "Surely it must be easy to find Truth?" "Indeed it is easy, " he continued, "but no one wants to bend down. No one is willing to stoop to pick up a little Truth..." A popular saying states that one can walk the length and breadth of the whole world with the Truth. The Baal Shem accepted this, since the Truth is knocked about everywhere on earth"

A Passion For Truth - Abraham Joshua Heschel

Confucius Didn't Say That: Funny Edition

There's a common trope in Western culture about "the sad clown".  Of course like many cliches, there's some truth behind it. Who can forget the tragedy of the suicide of Robin Williams?

Well, I might have just brought you down, but good news, my fair reader, it's time to bring you back up with another exciting blog post about another FAKE CONFUCIUS QUOTE. This one comes courtesy of a website called "Goalcast" and it's on their "23 Confucius Quotes to Convert Your Knowledge Into Wisdom" page. 


 "The funniest people are the saddest ones" - Confucius


It's pretty easy to dismiss that Confucius didn't say this as Confucius wasn't the Seinfeld of ancient China. 
  

Hey, Confucian scholar, you probably noticed this is based on 7:37 in the Analects.

This surprisingly strikes at the core of the whole project, as Confucius didn't come up cliched aphorisms, but taught people how to live. In other words, the goal wasn't to describe truth but to live it. Confucius was a teacher first, so when Confucius does describe something, it serves a purpose of making a larger point about our ethics or character.

For example, this is from 8:11:

"The Master said: “Perhaps you could be as handsome and as talented as the Duke of Zhou. But if you are arrogant or stingy, those good qualities will not be noticed.”

You can imagine Confucius breaking into a conversation his students were having about the Duke of Zhou with this ditty. This is classic Confucius, its might sting a little if you were rebuked but his logic and reasoning is spot-on. 

I could not find any instance of Confucius speaking about funny or humorous people. There's no mention of the term "funny" in the Analects, The Great Learning or The Doctrine of the the Mean. There's a few references to Confucius laughing but there are definitely not any sections on laughter, humor or funny people in general. 


I also couldn't find any example of Confucius speaking about sad people either.  There is no mention of the term "sad" or "sadness" and little about crying. There are a few mentions of "mourning" but they relate to how best to mourn or how best we should treat those in mourning like in 7:9: 

"If the Master sat beside a person in mourning, he would not eat to the full. If he had wept on a certain day, he would not sing."


At this point, I can't find the original person who said this quote. I got nothing for ya on this. Most attribute this quote to Confucius or it is left anonymous. 

As for judging if this is a good quote, I am not personally particularly fond of it. Although it can be true in the generic sense, it's too broad and general for my taste. While it's true that many funny people are sad we should also recognize there are lots of other people who aren't funny that are also sad.

I suppose my next question is did someone who was unfunny come up with this quote to feel better about not being funny? Like, "Hey you may be funny, but you're secretly sad and depressed on the inside, so you try to act funny on the outside in hopes of feeling better!"

Mix-Tape #3 - The Concept Album

I wrote an ode to mix tapes a few years ago here and then after I found another track-list, I wrote a follow-up here. Now, it seems like I am finishing up a trilogy of posts about mix tapes with this post.  

I recently re-discovered another mix CD in one of my old CD cases. I had never really forgotten about this mix CD but it's been sitting in its sleeve for years, unloved and un-listened to.  I never had much reason to listen to it after I made it (early 2001). Subsequently, I never really tied this mix into my whole "track down every mix tape/CD" before the world ends blogging activity. 

Between the years of 1997-2002 I was a romantic relationship to friendship to somewhere in between romance and friendship with Marie. It was the typical young love, long-distance, on-and-off again type stuff.  I was committed to making it work, even if that meant giving space, being a friend and generally not moving on with the rest of my life. Don't try that at home, folks.

Eventually, this was finally resolved when I started dating my wife. Some of this is covered in epic fashion here for those suckers interested.

 I titled this mix (in hastily written permanent marker) "Concept Album - Mix 2000-2001".  The CD was created as cathartic exercise in healing from my heartbreak over Marie. Honestly, if you look at the track list I think  you'll agree it was clearly so cathartic that it became over-indulgent.  For heaven's sake, there's 19 songs. It's like eating too much soft-serve ice cream, it ultimately just doesn't sit well. I was in my early twenties, so cut me a break. Here's the track list broken into the themes for the sake of convenience. 


Part I
1. Ash - "Walking Barefoot"
2. The  La's - "There She Goes"
3. Sloan -  "I Can Feel It"
4. James Taylor - "Country Road"
5. Eric Clapton - "You Look Wonderful Tonight"
Part II
6. Green Day - Scattered Pictures
7. Breeders - Do You Love Me Now?
8. Fountains of Wayne - "Troubled Times"
9. Duncan Sheik - "Barely Breathing"
10. Elvis Costello - "Everyday I Write the Book"
Part III
11. Peaches & Herb - "Reunited"
12. Foo Fighters - "Up In Arms"
13.  Tom Petty - "The Wait"
Part IV
14. Everclear - "So Much For the Afterglow"
15. Ben Folds Five - "Evaporated"
16. The Beatles - "I'm Thinking Through You"
17. The Rentals _ "Say Goodbye Forever"
18.Coward - "I Don't Care"
19 Foo Fighters - "M.I.A."

(Insert embarrassing emoji here)

Thinking of this track selection almost twenty years later I find this mix overly earnest and entirely too long.  While I do like the whole idea of theme, rather than collecting the songs that were personally important to me, it looks as though I settled on trying to capture every possible angle on ALL of my feelings. This is what kills the album.

Also, Duncan Sheik? Embarrassing....

Ok, ok, I still kinda like that song....

Ahem....a surprising aspect about this album was that I included Sloan's 'I Can Feel It". This is a song I have long associated with my wife, in fact I had it playing when I proposed to her. It's funny how memory works, as soon as I started blogging on this mix, I uncovered memory of myself singing this song in my dorm room, of course thinking about Marie. But up until this rediscovery, I had convinced myself that my only attachment to this song was through my wife. It seems my brain had conveniently wiped away any associations I had with Marie and this song and dumped them in favor of associations with my wife. 

Finally, I think the mix suffers from too many disparate parts, it feels almost manic-like in its need to catalog "hey, here's a song, oooh, whatabout this song?"  From Green Day to Tom Petty to Peaches and Herb....I just think it's too jarring of a listening experience.  

Because I can't leave good enough alone, I succumbed to my temptations and made a new edit of my concept album. This time I used songs that I associated with Marie at the time (and still do). You might ask yourself, "Why bother?"; and that's a pretty good question. It's just with somethings in life I have to get it just right....and this is one of them.

Notable changes included exchanging Ash's "Walking Barefoot" for Ash's "Oh Yeah".  I had included "Oh Yeah" on Marie's first mix-tape (which just came to me in a flash and is mysteriously missing from my blog post about its creation...???). "Oh Yeah" is a romantic song about a summer love and the chorus repeats, "Oh yeah, she was taking me over and oh yeah, it was the start of the summer". After Marie had heard the tape she asked me, "So, am I taking you over?" That's one of  those lovely little memories that I've retained from that summer.

I also added Jimmy Eat World's heartbreaking "Your House". It fit so well, it's hard to leave it off.

I was also quite smitten with Ben Fold Five's "Emaline" and "Evaporated". They seemed to speak to me in a way that other songs couldn't. They were a big part of my life between 1997-2000.  I decided to keep Peaches and Herb as I find it kinda cute and I remember it vaguely being the inspiration to create my own concept album.

So, here would be my 2018 edit, trimmed and more focused:

1. The La's - "There She Goes"
2. Ash - "Oh Yeah"
3. Ben Folds Five - "Emaline"
4. Breeders - "Do you Love Me Now?"
5. Elvis Costello - "Every Day I Write The Book"
6. Fountains of Wayne - "Troubled Times"
7. Peaches & Herb - "Reunited"
8. Foo Fighters - "Up in Arms"
9. Tom Petty - "The Wait"
10. Beatles - "Looking Through You"
11. Jimmy Eat World - "Your House"
12. Ben Folds Five - Evaporated

So, there ya have it, possibly my last post on mix-tapes. Then again, I am a pack rat, so  you never know!