Last weekend when I was in Madison, my girlfriend and I got a huge cinnamon roll to take back to her place to share. She cut it in half and put each half on a plate. Admittedly I don’t think I’ve ever cut a cinnamon roll in half – I’m not much on sharing when it comes to cinnamon rolls. But since we’d already shared a big doughnut at the market, I was acquiescent.
When I looked at my half, I saw Stonehenge. Well, not exactly Stonehenge as it looks now, but the stones that make up the henge. I mentioned it to my friend, who said she could “kind of” see it. She thought it looked more like Legos. Since I’m the traveler and she’s the grandmother, I suppose that makes sense. We see the world through our own filters.
What filter do you look at the world through?
Trail Baboon 
I constantly try to analyze the world. It feels like I choose to do so, but I’m probably compelled by my nature to observe and try to understand things. That’s who I am.
I’ve been told that understanding things often proceeds in two ways: deductive and inductive reasoning. They are often described as “top down” or “bottom up” approaches to analysis. Deductive reasoning starts with premises or hypotheses and tests them for validity. Inductive reasoning involves pondering facts, looking for patterns.
Perhaps if I believed in a god I would be more likely to reason downward from a set of large principles. Instead I’m always looking at facts and seeking patterns. Both styles of reasoning are potentially valid and necessary, I guess.
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It will likely come as no surprise that I tend to view events through a nineteenth century lens, finding precedents and analogies there for things I see and experience now.
I am also by nature a contrarian and tend to distrust easy and popular explanations for why things are the way they are.
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I have never found your contrarianism tedious or annoying, Bill.
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Just the opposite!
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Tritto!
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When I look at the sweet roll in the header photo, I see way too much frosting. That’s one of my filters. That would kill it for me.
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Thank you. I also do not like too much frosting like that which is why I avoid the tradition Midwest Sweet Roll. However, the Caramel Roll. That I love.
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And in my world, no such thing as too much frosting!
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I was gonna say, that’s the best part!
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It’s the snow on Stonehenge after the wind and some melting…
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If I consider people with a psychologist’s eye, I guess I look at those around me to assess how they are doing regarding wellness beneath their exterior presentations.
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There are people who are awkward when meeting socially with a dentist, fearing that that person will be studying their teeth. And, in my experience, their discomfort is often warranted. I guess most folks have things they pick up on. As someone who taught writing, I can’t help noticing how well people express themselves, although I’d never correct anyone who misused language.
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thanks
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I try to look at the world through “humor-colored” lenses. Since the general consensus is that few if any of us truly know the meaning of life (didn’t we have that discussion here recently?), and we haven’t solved the mysteries of the universe or proven without a doubt that there is a God or a higher power or that humans are the ultimate high point of all-time and all existence, it behooves me to find humor in all the efforts we make to figure this stuff out and to better our lives.
My favorite philosopher, who also happens to be one of the funniest men who ever lived, is George Carlin. He had a way of simplifying the world that has resonated with me for decades. So unlike Bill, I do look for simple explanations. However, I agree that the popular explanations (which may or may not be simple but usually are simple) are not to be trusted. It’s far too easy to manipulate an ignorant–or easily swayed by emotion–population with money, fear, greed, or good old fashioned brainwashing (tell a lie often enough, and eventually people will believe it’s true.)
Chris in Owatonna
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Oh, I combine a humorous and a psychologist lens simultaneously. I couldn’t survive if I didn’t.
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I’m looking at the picture of the roll and seeing an x-ray of crooked teeth with infected gums. My root canal is scheduled for this afternoon. I declined braces and implants. Too old and too much money.
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And since I made a comment yesterday referencing Little Shop Of Horrors…
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Good lord, Wes, you are not that old. Go for implants, damn the expense, if you have the money. Hope your root canal went well and took care of the immediate problem.
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go to mexico for implants
they are super cheap
i think i told the story about my son breaking his arm on a cruise ship and the next morning we went ashore to the medical quansit hut and had e rays done
they asked how i would pay cash or credit card and no they didn’t take insurance so i asked how much got the two ex rays the doc on board asked for and the said $37.00 so i paid cash
when i got my wisdom teeth pulled i told the doc i was thinking about having implants done in thailand
he suggested mexico and said it was better cheaper easier
maybe i will pretty soon
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I had an early morning meeting, so I now view my Tuesday through that lens. Lately I find myself viewing life through a COVID lens, as in, “What can I do to participate in life while still protecting my health?” So I signed up for a Master Gardener shift at the State Fair, but I plan to wear a mask and a face shield and hose down everything with hand sanitizer. So unless something changes drastically that is my lens color for now.
Over the weekend I was informed that some cousins held a family reunion, but they did not tell all the family. It was revealed that only those on FB got an invitation, then it was word of mouth from there. My sibs and I never heard about it. Then a cousin sent us a picture depicting what a good time they had. This reinforces my “jaded family lens” that I have developed about that side. Who does this? My decision 10 years ago to opt out of this monkey business just got reinforced.
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I learned about Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky this weekend. He was a Russian chemist and photographer who experimented with color photography long before color film and modern technology were available. He did this by taking black and white photographs using filters in three different colors: red, green and blue. Obviously, it is a whole lot more complicated than that.
Now, I’m neither a chemist nor a photographer, so I have, at best, only a very rudimentary understanding of the process. Because I was intrigued, I asked a friend who is both a chemist and a photographer about it, and he put considerable time and energy into trying to make me understand. Alas, I’m afraid that additive and subtractive color remains a mystery to me.
I may not be able to explain the complexities of light and it’s properties, and how you can manipulate it to reveal color, but I know that how I perceive something is colored by my life experiences so far. I am also keenly aware that other filters have been applied to information revealed to me by others. As an old English major I’ve learned that the narrator can’t always be trusted to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It’s usually a good idea to get your information from more than one source. And I agree with Bill, don’t trust easy and pat answers to complex problems.
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There was an exhibit of his color photos at the Museum of Russian Art a few years ago. Here’s a link to the Library of Congress collection of the work:
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/gorskii.html
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I know, but damn it, I missed it.
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11695 MOUNT CURVE RD
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Sorry I had a big long thing and obviously did something odd that ended up giving an address instead of mine deal
What I was trying to say was that South Pacific was filmed with the idea that they were going to come in after filming and add the three filters to bring the color up and make it big and beautiful and they ran so far over budget at the studio good upset cut them off and shoot the movie without the filters being made a part of it so the coloring was very weird on that movie for a long time I suspect that they have fixed it since then but my first viewings of it we’re colored by that fact no pun intended
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Additive and subtractive color are major parts of lighting / art courses. Don’t feel bad about not understanding from one lecture.
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Cripes, Ben, don’t tell me that you understand about all of that farm machinery, those twirly parts underneath that stop twirling, plus additive and subtractive color? I’m humbled and can’t bear to talk to any of the baboons ever again. If I do, please know that I have no idea what I’m talking about.
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😳not really PJ! 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭
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It’s enough to know that transmitted (light) color has nothing to do with chemistry.
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Don’t try to make me feel better – or worse – Bill. Chemistry, physics, science, it’s all Greek to me.
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Reminds me of Clyde’s comments yesterday(?) about fungi. Imagine what it must have felt like to be a mycologist, and suddenly have yourself yanked from being a subset of botanist to a stand alone something that no one has even heard of. No wonder people don’t believe in vaccines.
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Haha- oh no, I don’t understand all of ANY of it! I know just enough to know I don’t understand it!
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Get another cinnamon roll and this time, instead of having it for breakfast, post it on eBay under the title Stonehenge Cinnamon Roll. A toasted cheese sandwich once sold for $28,000 because it allegedly featured an image of the Virgin Mary.
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because i spend so much time driving these days i have filtered my observations of other drivers
i think about animals in the wild and how they are not all focused the same way
the stupid idiot jerk in front of me or the punk twit who just cut me off are simply are on a different tree branch and approaching the forest in a different way
the people who stuff me or only tip a dollar are the ones jesus was talking about when he said the person who gave one penny gave more than all the others because that’s all she had
it helps me tremendously
my mother in law used to drive me nuts and i would see a blue aura being emitted by her as she emitted her stuff
it only helped a little
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