I Enjoy Writing

I enjoy writing. I write stories. I write every day in journals. I write weekly blogs. I write endless emails. I write book and article reviews. I write academic research papers. I have books that I have written both fiction and nonfiction that I have not published. I wrote them because I love to write. But, writing isn't just about enjoyment. It is about organizing your thoughts, reflecting on your life, and communicating ideas to others.

All of us have stuff going on inside of us all the time. There are thoughts, feelings, reactions, insights, hopes, desires, great ideas, misunderstanding, fantasies, paranoid delusions, and so on. If we just let these things ricochet around our psyche our internal condition becomes more like a compose heap than a well defined self.

We like to organize these bits of psychic energy into coherent thoughts and externalize them for the purposes of validation. That is, we want to externalize our internal states so others can look at them and tell us that we are not crazy.

The most common way to do this is simply by talking to others. There is a reason why people like to talk. Some talk on the phone. Some talk face to face to friends. Others pay professionals to talk to them. But, we need to talk. Talking helps us sort through our compost heap we call the self and turn it into a garden we call the persona.

Not everybody likes to talk. Some people wish to pretend they don't have a compost heap. Others find different ways in which to reveal it for validation. Some people do it though art. Some through music. Others will find alternative artistic outlets like crafts or cooking. When you see somebody's art or listen to their music, you are experiencing their internal struggles. And when you eat somebody's cooking... well we don't want to put too fine a point on it.

And, of course, there are those who will choose writing. Some will text or email. Others write notes. Some write journals or diaries, blogs, websites or paper articles. Some will write stories or essays. Others will write books. But, writing is a very special way of sorting ourselves out. It is precise and disciplined. We have to know what we want to say and work it into a recognizable structure. Once something is written it becomes real. It becomes sorted. It starts to make sense. 

So, here are four benefits of writing: 1) It allows you to ventilate, 2) It allows you to organize your thoughts, 3) It allows you communicate with others, and 4) It is a form of creative expression that can be very satisfying.

And that is why I enjoy writing. 

I Like Some Unusual Things for Unusual Reasons

People often like things because they feel that they should. Some people really do like things and don't know why. In this post, and a few subsequent posts, I am going to mention a few of the more unusual things that I like and the unusual reasons why I like them. I will follow up with more detailed explanations in the future posts. In this post I will just provide some teasers.

I enjoy writing. I write every day in journals. I write weekly blogs. I write endless emails. I write book and article reviews. I write academic research papers. But, writing isn't just about enjoyment. It is about organizing your thoughts, reflecting on your life, and communicating ideas to others.

I enjoy listening to recorded books. I am a very slow reader for some reason and having a short attention span, it is difficult to sit for hours to read a book. But, I listen to books while walking, hiking or driving in the car. And in those situations, I can listen for hours.

I spend a lot of time on the C and O Canal. It is good exercise and an opportunity to enjoy nature. But, it is so much more. It is a place where you can get some perspective on life.

I enjoy jigsaw puzzles. They exercise your cognitive abilities for pattern recognition and spatial thinking. They area flow experience. They can be used as a form of meditation. And, when you finish one, they provide a great level of satisfaction.

I enjoy video games. Lately most of my focus has been on World of Warcraft. Not only is it a great deal of fun, but it provide benefits far beyond just being fun. It sharpens your mind, provides the mental exercise necessary to forestall mental decline with age, and you learn a lot of valuable skills such as strategy, decision making, and problem solving that are useful in other aspects of your life.

Lately, I have discovered and become fascinated with graphic novels. This is one of those things that people will snicker about until they wake up one day and realize they have changed the world in significant ways.

The common thread here is that these are all things that one could enjoy just for the sake of enjoyment. But, when something you enjoy also provides important other benefits as well it becomes a double win.

I Like Cooking

Cooking is a great pleasure that is not fully enjoyed by far too many people. Many people just don't have the time or the inclination. Traditionally, lot of men have never learned how to cook; and a lot of women have had to cook creating the sense that cooking is a chore or an obligation rather than a pleasure to pursue. I realize that gender roles are changing and don't wish to reinforce stereotypes here. But the point is that far to few people experience the joys of cooking some for traditional reasons and some for more modern reasons.

Cooking is a design activity and a creative endeavor. You are actually making something. And, you are making something of value. Perhaps you find creative satisfaction in photography, sketching or writing. Getting someone to look at your sketches or read your stories can be a challenge. But, if you create savory dishes, it is no problem finding people to enjoy them.

I think my approach to cooking is a little different from others, although, for all I know, it could be that everybody does it exactly the same. I don't follow recipes. I  try things. I will look at recipes for ideas. But, when it comes right down to it, I just try something and see how it comes out. Some times it does. Rarely is it inedible. So the food rarely goes to waste. But, some times it falls short. It isn't as good as it can be. When that happens, I try to figure out what I did wrong and what I should do differently next time. I call it experimental cooking. And when I am cooking for others, I try to limit the novelty of the experiment.

It is fun to go to a restaurant, find a dish you like, and then try to replicate it at home. It is fun to come up with an idea, try it out and see what happens. I have books on the science of cooking so I can gain a deeper understanding of exactly what is going on and how I can achieve different results.

I think there are three primary benefits to experimental cooking: First, it is a creative outlet which provides the same creative satisfaction that other creative outlets provide. Second, it is an excellent core for social activities. You may not get people to come over to your home to enjoy your sketches. But, invite them for a tasty dinner and they will be there. Third, when you cook things yourself you know exactly what is is going into the food you eat and you have much greater control over your dietary intake.

It is sad that so many people see cooking as a task that you have to do rather than a pleasure that you might want to do.

I Like Single Malt Scotch

Single Malt Scotch is not only a treasure in its own right, but a metaphor for life as well. However, before we get into that, let's first, look at some etymology. Distilled spirits, in the Middle Ages, were referred to as aqua vitae which is Latin for water of life. A little alcohol does make one feel a bit more lively. So, the name is not surprising. As the Romans penetrated into the British Isles, aqua vitae got translated into Celtic as uisge beatha again water (uisge) of life (beatha). Uisge (pronounced, roughly, as oose-gay) came down to us as whiskey. For reasons that may be obvious to some, but are opaque to me, whiskeys in the British Isle took on names from their countries of origin (Irish Whiskey and Scotch Whisky) while American whiskeys are named for ingredients such as Bourbon (corn whiskey) and Rye Whiskey. I also have no idea why there is an 'e' in Irish and American Whiskey but no 'e' in Scotch Whisky. 

As distilling evolved, something happened in Scotland that can only be described as magical. As in the valleys of southern France where soil and weather conditions produced grapes ideal for wine making, the raw materials of Scotland produced peat for roasting barley which made it ideal for making scotch. In fairness, I should point out that ideal conditions are not enough. In France it was the vintner's art applied to the ideal grapes which produces extraordinary wines. And in Scotland, it is the distiller's art applied to peat roasted barley which produces extraordinary scotches. 

Following the wine analogy we can see another parallel with scotch.  wines can be varietals or blends. Varietals are usually named after the grape variety from which they are made. So, a Chardonnay is made from Chardonnay grapes where as Pinot Noir is made from pinot noir grapes. If a wine is not named after a grape, it is usually (although not always) a blend. Varietals tend to bring out the flavor of a specific grape more clearly where as blends allow different flavors to compliment each other. Whether a varietal or blend is a superior wine is difficult to say as there are plenty of extraordinary wines as well as clunkers in both categories. This lack of clarity is not usually the case with scotch. 

Scotch is made from malted barley which produces alcohol much like fermented grapes produce alcohol. The process is a bit different but the result, in both cases, is tasty alcohol. And the tastiness is a result of the ingredients and the fermentation process. Scotches follow the same dichotomy that wines follow in that there are single malt scotches (like varietal wines) and blended scotches (like blended wines). Some of the most successful scotches such as Johnny Walker and Chivas Regal are blends. Blending scotches allows the distiller to compliment flavors from various malts in order to produce a more palatable product. But, connoisseurs of scotch nearly always prefer single malts. Why is that?

Single malts provide more intense, unique flavors. Unlike blended scotches where the various flavors round out each other, the flavors in a single malt and well defined and more pronounced. The down side of this is that one must develop a refined pallet in order to really appreciate a good single malt.

The first time I took a sip of Laphroaig (pronounced Lah-froyg) I almost spit it out. It tasted like somebody had taken a mediocre scotch, thrown in a half dozen used cigar butts and let it sit for a week. I was even angry at the person who had recommended it. But, over time as my pallet became more refined, I began to appreciate the complex symphony of flavors. I like the symphony analogy because it a person who had never heard music were to listen to a symphony they would be over whelmed with what would sound to them like a cacophony of random noises. But, over time, as their ear became more refined, they would begin to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the music.

This is how it is with single malt scotches. It takes work to develop a refined palette. But, once you do, the taste experience can only be understood by some one else who has invested the time to develop the necessary refinement. I think single malt scotches are the finest tasting experience on the planet. Granted, I am not entirely objective. There may well be wines that offer a similar experience. But, if there are, I cannot afford them let alone afford enough to develop the refined pallet necessary to enjoy them. So, for my budget, they simply do not exist.

I also said, at the beginning of this post, that single malts are a metaphor for life. As the tired old saying goes, you get out of it what you put into it. But the underlying metaphorical theme here is that most of the great pleasures in life take great effort and refinement to fully enjoy. Think art, opera, theater, culinary delights, and so on, as examples of things that you might not appreciate at first. But, once you learn to appreciate them, you allow yourself profound experiences of joy that cannot be understood by anyone who has not made the effort.

Lest I sound too elitist here, I would also point out that not everyone experiences the same level of appreciation watching a baseball game, horse race, or golf match. Not everyone gets the same level of enjoyment out of a book or a movie. The more you learn about what is to be appreciated by these things the more you will enjoy them.