Fryday

I slept in this morning - til 7:15. I'm sure it was due to very late night efforts by F, letting the dogs out late and feeding them snacks. I'm grateful, I needed the sleep.

I'm having a nice quiet morning. I watched a few brief art videos on youtube posted by the Tate Gallery in London. I saw a couple of interesting ones, David Hockney answering questions sent via twitter, Damien Hirst on Francis Bacon, critic review of Rothko exhibit, a view of the Tate Klimt exhibit, an excellent review of the Tate Cy Twombly exhibit.

One of the things I jotted in my journal was the critic's comment about a huge Klimt mural; he described one section as depicting "the enemies of humanity: sickness, madness, and death." The Buddha, as well as hindu vedic scripture, talks about the realities (four noble truths) of man being birth, sickness, old age and death. I think madness would come under the category of sickness, but hearing it singled out rang loud to me.

Madness. The world is overcome with the sufferers of madness, in varying degrees. There's the madness of those who hallucinate and hear voices, and live painful, tortured lives in solitude and despair. There's the madness of serial killers and mass murderers who strike out their mad rage at others. There's the madness of Hitler, Kim Jong Il, Stalin, Idi Amin, and way too many others throughout human history, who instigate and commit genocide. There's the madness of Dick Cheney and G.W. Bush and the havoc they wreaked on our country, Iraq, and the exacerbation of the problems in the middle east. There's the madness of ideas, like: who ever has the most nuclear bombs is the safest, or the strongest are the most moral, or war is worth the sacrifices of others. War is never worth it. You can't fight violence with violence, or hatred with hatred, or madness with madness. Of all the "enemies of humanity" madness is certainly the most lethal. It is more than sickness or disease. It is in a separate category. Klimt was very right about that.

My plan for the rest of the day is - no plan. I want a day with nothing but tasks necessary to the sustenance of my life and the life of my animals. That's it! NOTHING ELSE. The rest will be open to impulse or lack thereof, if that is my state.