Russell Shaw's Brainstorm Central

Ends and Odds

That soft thud you heard was another failed Powerball ticket landing in the trash bucket. But if my $2 purchase pays for a box of paperclips for an inner-city school, my karma ledger is still on the plus side, no?

Ain't No Drag, I Got My Bag

Bag got back. Delivered here by courier yesterday afternoon. OK, another mea culpa for not bringing my camera aboard!

Rove On

The three Whistleblowers named as TIME Magazine's Persons of the Year have achieved well-deserved notoriety for their courageous actions. Still, the work of Enron's Sherron Watkins and WorldCom's Cynthia Cooper in exposing corporate scandals may not have an especially stark impact in the next two years of Republican rule. The Republicans generally seem more amenable to big business athan the Democrats, and historically have been less likely to launch proactive hearings on corporate abuses. For crafting political campaigns and strategies that helped immeasurably to ensure business-friendly Republican dominance of the Senate as well as the House -- and, quite likely, the Supreme Court for at least a decade to come-- master tactician Karl Rove should have been TIME's Person of the Year.

I Remember You, My Darling Friend

My dear friend Mary Ellen Pettigrew left her body six years ago Christmas Eve. She was the wife of Jim Pettigrew, who remains one of my closest and oldest buddies. In her too-short life, Mary Ellen helped me a lot, both personally and professionally. I remember dinner at Coco's in Atlanta on December 30, 1980. Victimized by the rock and roll lifestyle excesses I had indulged in during the late 1970s, I had no money, my lease was up at my apartment, and had nowhere to live. At dinner, Mary Ellen said, "we need to work on getting your life back together." Over the next several years, she was always there with personal advice, as well as professional assistance. Hers was a most nurturing presence, but she was not reluctant to read me the riot act when I deserved it. As the 1980s moved on, we became geographically separated, but stayed in touch. As my public profile began to grow, Mary Ellen often said how proud she was of me. Mary Ellen made me feel safe in this world.

Within five seconds of when I click the "Post & Publish" prompt on BLOGGER, this comment will be available for all the connected world to see. Fascinated by the communications possibilities of the Internet, she would have liked that. When I click that prompt, I will throw a kiss skyward to her blessed memory.

Mary Ellen Pettigrew was an exemplary human being, who touched so many. She lives on in my memory, and my heart. She was my friend, and I loved her. Still do.

Bag Lady Blues

Luggage problems arise again. Home now, minus a lost bag, somewhere in the ether.

Flew from Washington-Dulles back to Portland yesterday. CheapTickets.com found a good schedule and fare that combined a Dulles-Oakland United Airlines flight with a short hop on Alaska between Oakland and home. One bag made the inter-airline bag transfer at Oakland. The other apparently did not. I may be wrong, but I suspect the problem happened at Dulles, where my checked bags underwent extra screening. United's "representative" was supposed to affix destination tags to both bags after they went through. I do remember dealing with a gum-chewing, mumbling dweebess full of attitude, who seemed like she would rather be somewhere else. I told her that her attitude "wasn't professional."

All's I know is, the stray bag contains my digital camera, with more than 280 neat shots from my last trip. Big honkin' mea culpa on not carrying it aboard, but still, the system is supposed to be able to figure out how to handle luggage.

Ain't No Drag, Got My Bags

Bags arrived!!!! United found 'em and sent them here to hotel quicker than you can say "Bill Frist." See "One Costly Leak" thread for explanation.

Overarching lesson: One of the cool experiences in life is when PITA (Pain In The) tribulations heal themselves. I don't care if the healing is accomplished by prayer, hard work from a loyal service employee, or figuring out a new way to juke-step Murphy's Law, but the healing is good.

You've Got Fail

First, the AOL-TW "organization" pisses on Tom Glavine, who gave them 16 years of loyal service.

Then, the AOL service kicked me off after 16 minutes of online time.

This shit keep up, I'm a-goin' to Earthlink.

I'm On The Outside, Looking In

Thread title by Little Anthony and the Imperials; the following lyrics are by Garth Brooks:

"I took a walk in the evenin' wind
To clear my head somehow
But tonight I lie here thinkin'
What's she doin' now

'Cause what she's doin' now is tearin' me apart
Fillin' up my mind and emptying my heart"

A Loser's Online Prayer

I wish I could be more explicit here about the feeling that I know that I am overmatched. I mean, badly overmatched in a certain pursuit. I cannot say for what, but if you wanna send me an e mail to russjourn@attbi.com, I will tell ya. Buy me a beer and we will compare stories. I'm sure you got some doozies, too!

Meanwhile, attempting to get a grip, I sign off with these oft-repeated, but so-wise words: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

Prima Facie

I've been listening to Louis Prima lately. One of the greatest jazz-blues singers, trumpeters and entertainers that ever lived. The man had soul like you wouldn't believe.

One Costly Leak


I flew from San Francisco International to Washington Dulles today. But only one hassle after another. OK where to start? Midwest Express Noon departure delayed till 1:30 by low visibility shutting down one runway. Then we taxi out for a half hour. Then an alert passenger notices a small leak coming from roof-- probably water condensation but enuf to pull plane back to gate and get the mechanics working on it. By that time it would have been too late to get to Milwaukee in time to make last flight of day to Wash Dulles. So they put me on a United non-stop, which was mostly only light to mod turb with a smooth ride from Denver to somewhere in Ohio. Turb wasn't prob. Except for laptop bag, my bags with all my clothes are stuck in Milwaukee and won't make it to my hotel until Friday evening. But I have a bidness appt Fri 2:30...huge shopping mall across the street requires my presence in a.m.. I have a spare shirt, but no toiletries, no u-wear, jeans only, you get the picture...

Trains In Panes

Early this year, I set out with a goal to have pictures from every reasonably regular passenger railroad, tourist railroad, and rail transit line in Oregon and Washington posted to my Photo Gallery page. I decided not to include routes that ran less than six times a year, or are predominantly kiddie rides that run entirely within amusement parks or gardens with no cross-traffic.

I've just posted pictures from the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train. Now, have only one more route to go...the Crooked River Railroad in central Oregon. Might be awhile though; the motor route to that line runs near the base of Mount Hood, and can be snowy and icy this time of year. Plus, photographs of this line are best taken in the daytime. Although this railroad runs year-round, there are not many daytime trips at this time of year. But we'll get 'em...stay tuned!

Thanks, A Lott

Trent Lott didn't say anything that hasn't been uttered in any Southern U.S. Rotary Club, Elks Lodge or country club. What he said was neither unique, nor appropriate. Too bad he didn't utter that stupid remark before the election. Doing so might have stimulated African-American turnout, and kept the Senate in Democratic hands.

Would You Like Viagra With That?

I'm not making this up.

On the way back from a trip to Florida, but too tired to come home and deal with everything waiting for me there, I stayed at the Doubletree Hotel Lloyd Center in Portland Wednesday night.

When I checked in, I asked the desk clerk how business was. He mentioned "two groups coming in tomorrow night." The separate groups he mentioned were urologists and construction workers, both in town for meetings.

I thought of making a crack that both professions work with wood, and have sturdy erections as a common goal. But after a lifetime of people groaning at my jokes, I took a pass.

Instead I am subjecting you to this true story. Thanks for your indulgence.

One Good Man

Philip Berrigan, the patriarch of the Roman Catholic anti-war movement, died tonight. He was 79.

I didn't agree with all of his actions, but I would say that his was a good life, one that defined spirituality within the context of the human potential to recognize wrongs -- and speak of these wrongs with a gallant heart. And to atone for our many failings as a species.

What I Believe

I'm not the first person to appraise personal spiritual philosophy in a Blog. But, with a nod to the season, here's my take -- just in case you are interested:

While I do believe in a higher power, I do not believe the universe is micromanaged, or proactively directed on a consistent basis. I note the position of the brilliant secular humanist and author Michael Shermer, who posits that we are pattern-seeking animals, and are so because of pattern-seeking advantages for survival. We do tend to delegate patterns to pretty much everything we see. I believe in cause-and-effect, but I do think that we are able to realize the difference between cause-and-effect, and speculation about what the effects will be, or what causes the effects now experienced. Here, I think, we must do the delicate dance between recognizing the unity of everything with, and the role of documentation in seeking to quantify understandable patterns in the explicable.

I do believe, however, that a singularity -- a single equation, or whatever one might want to call it, is the engine in the boiler room of the universe, and that occasionally, this singularity spawns patterns of actions and consequences. Some of them are cosmological, and others pertain to the interaction between two living beings -- human or not.

So, I guess what I am saying is that I believe in the causality loop, and that everything is connected. It is a brilliant dance that is at the heart of all that is knowable. While not an atheist, I do not believe the causality loop is managed, or knowable. Rather than that causality loop, and that universal connectivity being part of the job description for a super being some call God, I believe that the universal connectivity *is* what some call God. I believe that when we pray, we tap into that universal connectivity, and that can change things for us. And to me, that truth makes everything just that more sacred.