For all our efforts

Let me start with this...

Regardless of the popularity of my TWIT posts this isn't one of them although the message may resonate with that subject matter.

A few days ago it was very cold here.  Uncharacteristically cold for the part of the country I live in.  As such anything below 30F makes the local news for days.  

It was night and I went out on my back porch to have a smoke break.  I'm a bit of a neat freak so I don't smoke in the house, car or anywhere else enclosed.  I suppose I suffer for my vices for the sake of my compulsions.

As I stood there in the dark, feeling the chill of the night air permeating all 4 layers of my vain attempts to ignore the cold I heard a strange sound.

There's a pool in the back yard and at night I'm not used to hearing anything related to it except for the sound of the pump.  This night something was different.

I heard what could only be the sound of something thrashing about in the water.  Of course I had to see what it was.

Let me preface my actions with this; I've had stray animals from the feline and feathered variety end up in the pool on multiple occasions.  I can't count how many birds and kittens I've saved from a watery grave.  

I have a respect for living things.  Especially those that don't know any better and end up in peril from a world dominated by man-made hazards nature never prepared them for.

I flipped on the back lights and found a small bird flapping hopelessly near the deep end of the pool.  I knew the water was near freezing being only slightly warmer than the air above it.

I retrieved my leaf net and scooped the little bird out placing him gently on one of the benches near the house.  No longer in danger of drowning and out of sight and easy reach of any of the neighborhood cats, I felt he was safe.

The night air was cutting though and the little bird was wet.  I retrieved a small towel and picked him up briefly to get most of the water off of him.  He let out a soft squawk in protest but gave no further resistance.  

Satisfied that I'd at least gotten him mostly dry without traumatizing him too badly I let him be.  It was below freezing and while I wanted to bring the bird in the house to warm up a bit I could tell it would just traumatize him more so I did the next best thing and made him a little lean-to kind of structure out of an old stiff terry cloth mop head I'd found in a closet.  

I put it over him and he nestled into one side and after a short while went to sleep.

I checked on him throughout the night and in the morning I was happy to find that he had gone.  As in flew away BTW not lifeless on the pavement or a cat's dinner. 

It felt good that maybe I had a hand in saving the little bird.  Left in the pool he wouldn't have lasted much longer and I can't help but think that my discovery of his predicament was no accident.

To do a kindness to the helpless is never in vain but there was another lesson in store for me...

Tonight I walked out on my back porch again and while the air was still cold, it didn't bite quite as much as the night I found that little bird flapping helplessly in the water.

I noticed that against the dim moonlight reflecting on the pool was something out of place.  I'd thought it was just some leaves until I flipped on the lights just as I'd did that night.

If you've guessed that I found the same little bird again you're right but this time I was too late to save him.

He hung in the water lifeless but stoic with wings firm against his tiny body with head held erect as if defying his sad end.

It struck me.

I hadn't saved him at all only delayed what was an inevitable end.

I may have facilitated another day of life but the lesson hadn't been learned.  There he was in the same predicament but this time nobody to save him.

It brought to mind something that I'd been thinking about.  Not so much an epiphany as an affirmation of belief.

That as hard as we may try to influence the fate of others it is ultimately up to them.  Free will is the cornerstone of many belief and societal systems.  That we can do as we please even to our own detriment.  

Sometimes a gift isn't accepted.  Living things have free will regardless of whether we agree with it or not.  

If our moral compass is wrong it's up to us to discover it.  Nobody else can set it right.  

That little bird chose to fly back into the pool.  I can't know the reason but the choice to fly into oblivion was his regardless of my efforts.

We can't truly know the mind of another we can only guess.  

We can't really know if we've had a positive influence on someone else just because of the act of trying to help them.  We can only observe what they do with what we've offered.

It's up to them and only them to use or even ignore the gift.

I won't stop trying to help where I can but in the end I know that all I can do is offer an opinion, an option.  You have to make the decision of how you bear your own crosses and quell your own demons.  Your path is your own.

I'd have liked the little bird to survive but it wasn't my choice.  I'd done what I could do for him.  It was up to him what came next.

Just as it's up to you what you do next.  

Money

"Get a good job with more pay and you're OK"

That's what it's all about.

Money

Solver of all the tribulations of a civilization.

Fame, friends, flattery....

All bought with the stuff.

I lust after it too.  I need things otherwise out of reach without it.

Things needed to continue the chase for it.

I'm denied life in its absence.

I'm judged by my accumulation of it.

My happiness a function of it.

So wrong.

Not a tool, a master...

So many promises, so many possibilities, so easy for some.

Never easy for me.  

Sociopath, Greed, Selfishness,  all kindred to it.

Communist?  Hardly, the stench of the beast without benefit of the struggle.

But the struggle.

My value defined by it. 

My simple desires outstretched by the need to retain my soul.

My idealistic philosophy beaten down by its lack of a listing on the NYSE

Do your best and the rewards come naturally

Naive

The rewards come only to those undeserving, without conscience.

I've known rich people...They give nothing without a profit motive.

More is all that is enough.

Modest desires, modest means, meaningless dividends.

Altruism, humanity, love....

Stained with the prerequisite of liquidity.

Peace of mind never a reality.

Even those with more can never rest.

Those with less never rest for want of more.

My value my own.

Meaningless to the rest.

Something's wrong here.

Generosity of spirit subjugated by generosity of wallet.

That I had riches to transcend us above this petty thing of paper.

That I could bring joy without a profit/loss statement.

That I could be so right but so wrong to survive in this.

That you didn't mock me for the truth.

Money.

Money,

Chains of gold, Diamonds and excrement.

My freedom has a price, so does yours.

We, all of us, commodities...Human resources.

Denial of the truth only at a price.  

What's your soul worth.

Mine, whatever they pay by the hour.

Is this what God intended?

You say no but you can't deny the game all the same.

 

Destination Unknown

  

Destination Unknown...

More fun that way.  I'm not looking for answers or worried about long term plans.  I almost killed my present by letting my past dictate the future.

I was none the wiser...

Take the step and just let the journey unfold.

Things have been strange the past few days having shook up what was my version of normal.  Not that I was that happy with it.  Not that what I've been doing the past few years was that fulfilling.

The more we try to isolate ourselves the more we fail.

I know this...I know nothing about a lot of things and slowly rediscovering that which I'd thought I'd never learned.

Is the Formula fixed? 

No, still on the side of the garage.  Still gonna cost a mint to fix.

Did I get a raise? A cool new job?

Nope, just an opportunity to practice what I preach and I'm glad I could be true to it.

So...

Is anything exactly as I wanted it? No...

But I see evidence of the divine in the way things have unfolded lately.

Credit where its due.  Thank you

I'm finding more reward in loosening the reigns a bit.   The desire is the same but the path is its own concern.  

Let the destination remain unknown.  The journey teaches.  I've been on this path for awhile now I just strayed off it for a bit.

Tomorrow is its own.  

Destination unknown.

Steps.

There is in everything an ebb and flow

A time to embrace and a time to let go

A day remembered, a dream past 

Ripples in time, pebbles long since cast

The waters calm now gently kissing the shore

A path revealed, one step a thousand, one touch a million more

The steps important not the path we tread

We write our own journeys in no other's stead

Moved by the music of a soul in tune

We dance to the rhythms as our hearts do swoon

At peace with gifts found both bitter and sweet

At one with your heart and those we chance meet

 

I Don't Know...and that's OK

So I have this bare spot on my front lawn.  At this point it's become more of a bare "section" right smack dab in the middle where everyone can see it.

It's like walking up to the podium to accept an Oscar with your fly down.

Oh yeah, I know I'm supposed to be watering, seeding, fertilizing and all that stuff but it often seems much of that effort goes to waste.  To me the lawn is just another thing I take little joy in mostly because the returns are minimal.  Water is expensive and so is everything else that it takes to have a perfect green carpet.

Scarce resources demand compromise and there's a lot of that around here.  Although I do a fairly good job of hiding it a trained eye could spot my deception.  Would I like everything to be perfect?  Sure I would and I'll make it that way if I can.  Still, in the end the returns are superficial.  There are things far more important to know and invest myself in.


We can't know everything about everything and it's OK to admit that.  Everyone's different with their own unique talents.  Me, I'm good around cars and basic home repair but I wouldn't say I was an expert in them. 

I'm pretty good with people too but by no means an expert and sometimes I make mistakes.  OK, I make mistakes more than sometimes but that's how we learn.  I'm subject to the same biases and subjective noise as anyone else but I try to stay aware of such things so I can get past them.  No great feat really.  I'm just willing to ignore those things that may be superficially objectionable to find the real person.

The things I know about myself, the things I believe in about me or someone else often have no words.  The things that matter are often that way.  I'd rather show than tell and sometimes it's clumsy or ill-timed.

That's OK too.  So long as it's an honest expression there's no greater gift even if the wrapping is a little messed up.

The most genuine thing you can ever admit to yourself is that you simply don't know.  Hopefully followed up by,  "but I want to learn."

"I Don't Know" isn't an end, it's a beginning...

"NO"

No,

I hear a lot of permutations of the word.

You probably do as well even if you don't notice it at the time.  In fact the word "NO" has probably saved your life.  

What do you think a glowing red stoplight is telling you?  

Simply, NO...

Because of course if we ignored it, chances are we'd probably be involved in some horrendous accident harming ourselves and others and ultimately spurring a flood of negative consequences.  All of them ultimately telling you...NO!

The word will have its due one way or the other.  I suggest the path of least resistance...

So NO can be a good thing.  A guard rail protecting you from a sheer cliff.  An intuition about maybe not taking a stroll down that dark, sketchy street.

NO gets a bad rap for being negative.  Nobody likes to be denied something. Be it a favorite morning danish or tickets to a popular performance the last thing you want to hear is that there's just NO more left.  

There are other kinds of bad NO's too.  

NO, you didn't get the job.
NO, you don't qualify for the loan.
NO, you're not going to be a rock star
NO, she doesn't love you in "that way."

They say the trick to get through this mess we call life is to keep things in perspective.  Sometimes that's hard to do and even in an age of constant communication we can end up feeling alone even though it seems like we're in a crowd.

You may have 10,000 followers on Facebook but one careless quip can make you a pariah.

NO can be a lonely place.

A friend recently told me, "After awhile hearing nothing but 'NO' can take its toll on you."

We were talking about my recent difficulties in supporting myself and while what he said was true I also knew that instead of NO being a wall, I had to keep endeavoring to treat it as little more than a low hurdle.

To be honest, the word hasn't been kind to me lately but then there's that perspective thing again.

It reminds me of that joke that Garrison Keillor (controversy aside) makes about the Lutheran philosophy of life. 

"Things could always be worse..."

Which sounds kind of self-defeating until you realize that it's an admonition to appreciate what you've got.  

I often remind myself that you're never really at the bottom until somebody's throwing dirt on your coffin.

Which, by the way, is why I'm not a fan of zombie movies or Lazarus stories.

Zombies are gross and I'm more inclined to believe that Lazarus was less resurrected than  buried alive...  

Sometimes NO can be a guide.  It can show you the way when reason otherwise fails you.  Take the example of not getting that job you were after.

Of all the possible reasons that could be responsible the only one that matters is: Were you honest with yourself when you went after it?

Was it really what you wanted or just something to continue a lifestyle you weren't that wild about to start with.

NO can be the ultimate "tough love."  It's half of the equation when people talk about what's in their "heart of hearts."  

They say, "The heart wants what it wants." and there's NO denying it NO matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise.

You know my story.  I've always tried to spend my time doing things in harmony with my passions and interests.  Sometimes that works, most of the time it doesn't but it's worth the struggle.

I want to be a writer so I write.  Nobody much cares about my work and I've received no accolades doing it aside from a few kind words from my peers.  

The point is that I continue to do it because NO is a hurdle not a wall.  I believe in what I'm doing and hope it brings some value to someone even if it's only me.

That's the point.  Take the adversity, the denials, the denouncements and use them as tools instead of letting them define you.  

Life doesn't always happen on a convenient schedule as much as we'd like it to.  Bills,commitments and mortgage payments all try to dictate what we're supposed to be.  It becomes far too easy to live according to someone else's expectations.  It knocks us out of sync.

NO wonder everyone is so miserable....

NO can be a good word.  A guidepost that forces you to choose what you're living for.  

There's a natural flow in all things.  Throwing rocks in its path only causes disorder and destruction.  

That may seem a bit Zen but it's the simplest way to express what I'm trying to tell you.

NO is just a tool, not a character assessment, not a valuation, not a condemnation.  

Just a tool....

A passion for the discarded

I've always had a special kind of reverence for old things.  Things discarded, battered and within an inch of being just a pile of scrap.

I'll look at an old car rusting away in some forsaken back lot and think, What was it like when it was new.  What places did it go and whom did it carry there.  What was the world like around it.  No doubt very different from where it is now.

It's a little sad to see such things discarded simply because they've fallen out of favor with their owners.

I feel the same way about anything abandoned, discarded, unloved...

But while I feel a subtle tug at the heart strings I also see potential.  I never believe anything is too far gone so long as someone is willing to take up the challenge to breathe life back into it.

Yes, there are exceptions and some things are just meant to be thrown away but these days it seems we treat everything from the cars we drive to the people we meet the same way.  Disposable when in our estimation they become too cumbersome.

I've been a fan of Science Fiction since I was a kid which is where I first noticed this fascination with the discarded and neglected.  I was a huge fan of Star Trek (the original series) and always watched with intense interest when the good ship Enterprise would visit some derelict spaceship or forgotten world.  

One of my favorite episodes was entitled, "The Doomsday Machine"  Where Kirk and crew set off to discover the fate of their sister ship who had suffered an unfortunate encounter with a world eating mechanized monster.

What fascinated me wasn't the alien device, however.  It was the bruised, battered hulk of a starship hanging helpless in the cold blackness of space.

The destruction was palpable but what thrilled me was when it was brought at least partially back to life ultimately sacrificing itself and providing the vehicle for Kirk to once again save the galaxy.

It was that last gasp of life.  The Phoenix rising from the ashes if not a bit battered in the process but nonetheless once again relevant.

It's taught me a lesson.  Nothing is beyond hope so long as you're willing to try and the rewards can be truly great.  

I have two cars one is over 40 years old and I've owned it more than half of my life.  It's what I call a project car meaning there's always something to be done.  Mind you, many things have been done but part of the joy of owning it is the ever present opportunity to make it a little better.

When I first bought it nobody paid much attention.  20 years later, however, it seems I can't drive it a block without it coaxing a smile or an impromptu conversation.

It seems to bring others more joy than even I get from it.  I can only guess as to why but if I dared to try it's probably this...

It's not disposable.

It's a reminder that with effort,, some patience and a little love anything is within reach even if nobody else thinks it's worth the effort.

That's why I have a special place in my heart for those old, special things. They're a link to a tapestry of memories that can add color to an otherwise mundane present.

It's worth it to bring some of them into our future. 

By the way, I'm not just talking about cars and barns.  Today we live in a society that's far too quick to label everything disposable, even when those things posess a heart and a soul.

Learn to see the value after the luster has faded.  Learn to see the potential in the passed by.

.

Is it cowardice or conformity?

I got hungry...

So being the kind of single guy who doesn't cook anything that doesn't have "tuna" or "ready in minutes" on the label and not really having anything in the house that met that criteria I ventured out.  My destination was of course an experience that always involves the phrase "want fries with that?"

No I don't exclusively dine at restaurants with a drive-thru window; it was just too late and I was too tired. 

I'm also a car guy and I know how bad regular short trips can be on a car.  Considering it cost me $130 for a battery last week because of a car that rarely ventured more than 5 miles from the garage, I  tend to make my errands take the scenic route these days.

My motivation was hunger and a desire to not repeat last week's unscheduled surprise that left me stranded in an intersection for 2 hours. 

So after taking a long leisurely trek around my chosen bedroom community I came to a stop at an intersection. 

This was a special intersection with those nifty Red Light cameras.  I've been aware of them for years and done my utmost to avoid being captured for posterity.  Like most people I'd rather not suffer the cost of that "special moment"

So as I came to a stop awash in the crimson glow of the stop signal I felt a sense of trepidation.  This particular intersection was famous for extracting the contents of many a Mesa citizen's wallet.  Be it fair or foul these camera's offered no quarter to the guilty even if they were innocent.

Knowing this, I proceed through a carefully measured right turn when it happens...

A Flash!

I'm blinded, disoriented....guilty....

Or am I?

I've made this turn a thousand times without incident,  I tend to be overly cautious about such things but still I felt that sense of dread.   I knew I didn't intentionally do anything wrong but instead of the courage of my convictions I instantly felt the cowardice of false guilt.

We all know the stories of how such traffic sentinels are nothing more than revenue generators that prey on a guilty conscience.  Far from the purported catalysts for driver safety they're more like a cash cow for starved local governments looking for an easy buck . 

And they're not alone...

It got me to thinking.  Was this the only time I felt guilty for the sin of nothing? 

It wasn't. 

Think about that time you saw your boss stomping around the office like a charging bull.  You knew to stay out of his way till the storm blew over.  I'd even wager that for a split second your mind leapt to recall what you possibly could have done to cause his tirade.

Never mind that your boss was angry because someone backed into his brand new Lexus in the parking lot.  In that split second you felt false guilt and began devising rationalizations for your defense.

Are these the wages of a civilized society?  What's so civilized about living in fear that can spring forth at any moment over nothing of consequence.  It makes me wonder how the species ever achieved the ability to walk upright considering how much time we spend with our heads down.

Maybe it's because most of us occupy lives that aren't reflections of our true selves but instead walk a delicate balance between survival and peril.   That's just life, right?

I consider myself more rebellious than most people and generally eschew false pretense.  I'm not getting any younger and don't have the time to waste on cloudy nuances.   It's never served me to be enigmatic; in fact it scared people away. 

"For well, you know that it's a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder."  Hey Jude, The Beatles

Still, I'm living in the same condition as everyone else even if I don't agree with it.  Not able to embrace my true self and be confident in my own convictions.  Just like you I don't want to make too many waves and make a difficult life even more so. 

I just can't take any more conflict when everywhere I look I already have more of it than I care for.  I don't profess to be any more encumbered than the rest of you I just know how my encumbrance feels.

That's the problem with flying under the radar like most of us do.  We drown our true selves and embrace the cowardice of complacency.  It's just safer that way, right?

Then we either admire or hate those that seem to have it all.  Funny though, both are actually opposite sides of the same coin.  We just can't accept that the only difference between them and us is that they rolled the dice.  If they lost they just tried again instead of condemning themselves for even making the attempt.

Which brings me back to my burger run.

I'm fairly confident that the 3 cars I vaguely remember blasting through the intersection while it was still bathed in that crimson glow were the likely culprits for the brilliant flash of the electronic accuser.  Still, I felt that doubt and it disturbs me.

I don't advocate suddenly throwing your life into chaos tomorrow by upending your belief system.   I just ask that you start to be a little more honest with yourself.

Are you everything you want to be or is it just good enough to get by.  Not everybody is meant to realize their fantasies but we are meant to be the best "us" we can be.  That can't happen if "getting by" means your better self is compromised for the sake of nothing more than preserving a faulty status quo.

It takes small changes but small changes can reap astonishing rewards.  We're never as productive as when we're in harmony with what we know to be right.  Not what we're "told" to be right but what we know from refusing to be subordinate to the whims of those who don't have our best interests in mind.

A police officer is never as valuable writing a speeding ticket as he is comforting a lost child.  Teachers  never as valuable as when their lessons come from a desire to inform instead of an inadequate curriculum.  

Small changes that come from who you really are can change the world.  That's not fluff, I've seen the proof  but you've got to be stalwart and that's hard. 

Oppressors come in many cloaks some more subtle than others. 

Voter suppression, traffic cameras, mandatory health insurance, H1B visa abuse, student loans, credit scoring practices.  All of them egregious in varying degree but all of them tolerated.  Some for the sake of the "greater good" some only mentioned in passing for a juicy sound bite.   

Look more deeply at any of them, however, and even the seemingly virtuous becomes something less when we find out who their advocates are. 

Yet we accept it assuming that this is just the way of the world.  It's not and it's a questionable society that tolerates the assertion. 

Which makes me question everything.  To do any less is cowardice.

So I wait...

Will I receive an undeserved ticket for an offense I know I didn't commit?  Who knows?  I honestly hope not but that's the coward in me.  The one we're all expected to embrace. 

It doesn't serve anyone to blindly accept the corruption of ideals for the sake of the cowardice of conformity.   What we accept as reality frequently crushes any hint of our ideals.  I can only be aware of it and try to resist the" quick and easy path."

I mean look how Darth Vader ended up!

By the way,  Mesa may be ripping down the Red Light cameras next year due to public outcry and cost concerns. 

Way to go but still such a ways to go.

Consider your perception

Perception...

It's an interesting word and about as ambiguous as they come.  If you've ever heard the old phrase about "rose colored glasses" then you've got the general idea.  Our perceptions color our world and help form our personal biases. 

Let's try an example.

Say you're sitting at a table at your favorite lunch spot when a rather large burly man walks through the door.  He's dressed in biker gear, has a few tattoos and looks like he's been on the road for days.  Other than his appearance he offers no clue to his intentions outside of the possible desire to have lunch.

What's the first thing that comes to your mind?  For most  it would probably be a little fear followed by a mental note to find a new lunch spot.  In the end our opinion probably leans toward a less than favorable view of our hungry friend. 

So what if I told you our burly biker guy was actually an esteemed Superior Court judge who happens to be a motorcycle enthusiast...

Your perceptions are affected by societal norms and anything that goes against them causes us alarm.  Depending on how conservative or liberal your social views are will have a direct relationship to your world view.

The problem with perception is that it's based on faulty logic.  We first apply whatever we accept as societal norms, then our own personal biases and with very little additional information render judgment.  And that's where it gets dangerous. 

Marketing is all about perception whether it's trying to convince you that Coke tastes better than Pepsi or one political view is superior to another.    Create a popular enough advertising campaign and you can effect a change in what society finds acceptable with virtually no credible information to support it.

Remember the Romney presidential campaign and all the rhetoric that swirled around about the "takers?"  Into that group went anyone deemed unworthy due to their reliance on public assistance of any kind.  The circumstance that landed you in that position was irrelevant, only the perception mattered.  For the true believers it was black and white and anything in a gray area was considered black. 

Create a label and you're on your way to influencing perception.  Repeat the label enough and it gains power even if it contains no substance.  So if a message could be crafted to sway public opinion against those branded with your new label you could disenfranchise an entire swath of the population.   Especially useful in silencing groups that expose the flaws in your point of view.

Our lives are cluttered with irrelevant noise.  Even the news isn't particularly informative anymore since it's become an entertainment medium.  Entire nations may be plagued by hunger and disease.  Civil rights curtailed by corporate influence and the efforts of many now benefit a privileged few. 

Hey, who cares?  None of that is as interesting as the latest celebrity gossip or news about an upcoming mobile device.  Rampant consumerism and distilled information rule the day.  Our perception of normal has been co-opted and corrupted with nonsense and it extends to more than just our consumer habits.

And there's the danger.  It's easier to consume than to deliberate, especially with so many seemingly important demands for your attention.  We allow someone else's version of reality to dictate our own without even realizing it. 

So the next time you make a snap judgment take a moment to really consider where your opinion comes from.  You may find a truly uncomfortable truth.  One that could alter your perception.

The need for the impractical

The video is from the last episode of the 2009 season of BBC's Top Gear and it moves me.  It's not that I'm particularly taken with the Aston Martin V12 Vantage but rather about why it's important.

Although I don't reflect it much in these pages I am at heart an incurable gearhead.  I don't look at the automobile as a mere means of conveyance but rather an expression of the soul. 

We live in a world bent on the disposable.  Nothing we own is designed to be held, cherished or valued beyond its immediate purpose.  Our busy lives cluttered with the trappings of a rudimentary survival leave little room for the seemingly impractical.

I understand the need for the purely practical vehicle but it should hold no higher rank than one that evokes the emotions.  We seem to forget that life is a gift meant to be embraced not suffered.  The soul needs as much nourishment as the body but its frequently denied. 

And we suffer.  Our minds trapped in the narrow constraints of our profession.  Our relationships never fully realized, our dreams never known.  A sad construct reinforced by the demands of the mundane.   We tell ourselves that someday we will be able to live our dreams if we just deny ourselves a little longer.  The focus is on the destination but sadly we find ourselves unfulfilled when we get there.  All the time, all the effort for little more than a brutal survival near our inevitable end. 

Practicality has its place but we need to take advantage of all the journey has to offer.

For me, the sight of an early 70's pony car starts my mind racing.  Perhaps it's in sad shape.  Oxidized paint, a cracked taillight or mismatched wheels, it doesn't matter.   My heart doesn't see an impractical jalopy destined for the crusher,  I see a cry for rebirth.

And given the opportunity, I'd gladly play midwife...

Yes compared to a hybrid, it will probably swallow fuel like a drunkard swills cheap wine, it will require constant attention like a young child and will never meet the measure of practicality.  It doesn't matter.  I'll form a connection that feeds my soul and that's its purpose.  

Anything can get me from point A to point B. 

I want to be conscious of the journey and I want the opportunity to make it to continue on.  That can't happen in a Prius.