Brain Food & Other Diversions

My son, who is infinitely brighter than I, sent me a puzzle (ostensibly to occupy my time when I've had my fill of sudoku . . ) I have yet to solve it, so I'll let you give it a shot.

(btw: the counter shows I've had 157 hits on this site, but only one comment. "lurking is fine if it suits you, but I'd suggest reading your local newspaper's "comment" page might be just as rewarding. If you've been here more than once, it's time to add your voice. Jump in, the water's fine!)

So - the puzzle.

Molly buys 16 rose bushes and considers a planting pattern that would please her. Because she has a thing about "rows of four" she lays out her bushes in four rows of four, because that is actually 10 rows of four: 4 rows across, 4 rows vertically, and 2 diagonally (the X) as follows:
. # # # #
. # # # #
. # # # #
. # # # #

But Molly wanted more, so she worked with her layout until she had 15 rows of four!
What was her layout?
(It took my son a week to solve this, so here's one clue: no row will have more than 4 bushes.)Have fun - if you get it, feel free to post your solution here!

Powder

Just Keep Looking

I live in a beautiful place - wild, remote and soul-reviving, with not more than a couple hundred other hardy souls (summer tourists not counting.)
Unfortunately, most of those fellow residents aren't people I care for. No; I care for many of them; perhaps I mean "enjoy." We have little in common, and less to discuss. As a rule, I don't like to ask them questions about themselves or their lives, because I usually could not care less about the answers.
How nice, then, to meet a new neighbor who is bright, interesting, and promises to be fun to talk to. I traded a quilt I made (and he admired) for a book he wrote. We'll see if it was a win-win.

How Do We Fix This?

Imagine giving your money - and the right to influence your life, to an organization which has these employees:

7 have been arrested for fraud,
8 have been arrested for shoplifting,
3 have served time for assault,
19 have been accused of writing bad checks,
14 have been arrested on drug charges,
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits,
29 have been accused of spousal abuse,
117 have directly or indirectly put at least two businesses into bankruptcy,
71 cannot get a credit card because of bad credit,
and
84 have been arrested for DUI just in the past year.

Sad to say, this stellar group are members of
the United States Congress.

So Who Am I?

The article, in a reasonably-respected, mainstream journal, began, "Americans are overweight, overspent, deep in credit card debt, and mired in their disoganized, cluttered lives."
Put differently, I might have agreed with it.
However; I am not overweight, do not carry credit card debt, have no debts except my home mortgage (with savings nearly equal to it) and have no need for hoarding, so have no clutter (at least not material clutter) in my life.

Am I not, then, an American?

Why must the media insist on treating us all as one? Did the author forget to begin "Too many . . ." or is it just so much more fun to lump us into one hapless, hopeless blob of humanity?

Or so much more controlling?

Life is not a journey to the grave

with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and

well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside,

thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming

"Wow, what a ride!"

Powder?

Powder keg - powder puff. Not at all related, but perfect opposites in nature. One pale, innocuous fluff, the other hard, black and potentially explosive. Some of my posts will be one, some the other.

Powder? powder room, powder horn, powdered sugar, gun powder, powder burn, face powder, baking powder, talcum powder, powder snow, powder monkey, powder blue, take a powder. . .

Press Power

I doubt our founding fathers ever anticipated a free press driven, not by the desire to inform the populace, but driven primarily by the desire for profit. Today's "Press" (now popularly expanded to all forms of information dissemination, and called "Media") is the true Power Behind the Throne. (Oh, you thought we live in a Democracy?)

Do you ever wonder why it takes 150 photographers to record one congressional hearing? Or 40 rabid reporters thrusting microphones into the face of some hapless "person of interest" asking incredibly stupid questions? Couldn't have anything to do with personal gain, could it?

Find old tapes of interviews, or, better, of early Presidential press conferences, and you'll immediately notice that the reporters weren't the stars of the event. While you heard them voice their questions, the camera stayed on the object of the interview! How novel!

Pay attention to the TV newsreaders when they are forced to ad lib. Not too articulate, are they. So who is writing the words they're reading? Shouldn't we know that?

Are you dismayed when you're told "Americans think . . ."? I have trouble finding three other people who agree with what I think, let alone the entire country. Or, how about turning off your TV because you are sick and tired of the endless babel over Michael Jackson's trial, or some other media-hyped event - Then, when it's over, one of those hypers turns to a fellow hyper and says, "Why is it that America was spellbound by this trial?" (Maybe they were referring to a friend who happened to be named America??) Not.

Do you ever wish you could find balanced information about something you consider newsworthy - instead of only hearing about what "Media" has decided is newsworthy? Is there any doubt why we turn to the internet for information (even though newsreaders will be quick to warn us that the information is "unsubstantiated")?

The internet. What a blessing. Sure, there are those who abuse it or misuse it, but, for the first time in human history, we have an incredibly powerful communication tool, that is truly controlled by The People. I wonder when and how They will figure out how to take it away from us?

Welcome

Welcome to my thoughts. We should begin with a few useful tips, in the event you choose to join in.
1. These are my opinions, beliefs and convictions.
No point in telling me I'm "wrong" - this isn't about right or wrong.
But feel free to disagree with me.
2. If you don't like what I say, go away. Nobody invited you here, after all.
3. I won't talk about my dog, my cat, or what I had for breakfast.
I don't care about yours, either.
4. Who I am is not important - this is only about what I think.
Same goes for you.

Okay - now the fun starts.