Reading the excellent Young Hegelians by Sol Invictus reminds me of how in the appendices of the Illimunatus! trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson there is an extension of the three parts of the Hegelian Dialectic (thesis, antithesis, synthesis) to round them out to the Erisian standard 5-ness by adding parenthesis and paralysis. While these are good additions, I think that two more could complete the cycle and make a nice 7-part sequence, to go with the days of the week: osmosis and catharsis. These would fit, because what better cure for logical paralysis than some judicious imbibing? And the aftermath on Sunday should by all rights be cathartic. This would also nicely align synthesis with Wednesday, which Mickey Mouse Club viewers will remember was Anything Can Happen Day way back when.
In other news, I played my first round of golf in over two years on Monday, with my Dad. I've been going to the driving range for the last couple of weeks and have had decent results. Now that I'm divorced I have time for such time sink activities. A few years ago I finally bought myself a modern set of irons and a composite-shaft driver, after starting with used clubs that didn't really fit me (I'm left handed, so pickin's were slim on the used market when I started). I then quickly replaced my 3 wood with a modern version, and all of those clubs have been good to me. I've hung on to a couple of fancy, handmade, actual wood fairway woods, a 5 and a 7 that were extras of my Mom's husband's. He's taller than I am, so they don't fit me like the other woods, and they have metal shafts. I could hit them well from time to time, so I've stuck with them, despite their alien feel compared to the driver and 3. They were disastrous on Monday, so I decided to replace them with clubs that have the same feel as my others. I found some today, Pinseekers like the rest of the set - a 5 wood and a 'rescue' 7 wood. Merry Christmas to me. They were great at the driving range just now! I now have actual hope of following decent drives with some distance from the fairway. The 7 is extra wide and has some extra mass, so I'm thinking it will be great from the rough, where I spend a lot of time and lose distance with the old 3 iron. I don't take the game seriously, but there's no sense having my equipment hold me back. I'm really looking forward to our round on Friday morning at Mission Lakes in Desert Hot Springs, where my Dad lives along the 15th fairway. That's a 'middle class' country club (Dad's description) in the windswept town across the valley from Palm Springs. Great in winter, hell in the summer. Still, they've got this huge expanse of green grass off the back patio that they never have to mow!
What little preparations I've had to do for the holiday were done yesterday, so I get to relax for a couple of days, for once, and no credit cards were traumatized, or even involved, for the first time in my adult life. Money isn't abundant, but proper prior planning and complete control over the purse-strings makes a huge difference. Listening to Agnus Dei in the truck yesterday and today has even got me in the mood, to a limited extent. I've been dark and stagnant for many months in the shadow of my marriage failing last spring, and today is one of the best days I've had since. I hope others are finding what joy there is to be had, and are managing to relax or are seeing that they will soon.