Beginning, Middle, or End?

Beginning, middle, or end?

It was nearly a year ago that I began working as an analyst at Freedonia Custom Research. I had just graduated from the Masters Program in Economics at Cleveland State. The excitement of beginning work as an economist thrilled me. My wife was four months pregnant. My oldest son celebrated his first birthday a month earlier.
So was this the beginning, middle, or end? An even better question, the beginning, middle, or end of what?
One Saturday afternoon, my wife suggested we call our trusty sitter so that we could "go on a date."  Luckily our sitter was available...
My wife and I ordered twin medium cappucino's and settled in at one of the tables in our local coffee shop. She pulled out two index cards and handed me one. "On one side write your dreams accomplished, and on the other side write dreamss you still want to accomplish." Her eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief.
My list of dreams accomplished looked like this...
                                             finish my book
                                             have a great family
                                             go on a world trip/adventure and connect with people
                                                            (blog here... http://tourdeflor.travellerspoint.com/toc/
                                              have a great marriage
                                              find a job
                                             be dedicated to my spiritual life

My list of  dreams to be accomplished looked like this...
                                              Publish my book
                                              have more adventures with my family
                                              start my own business
                                              stay in closer contact with my extended family
                                               play more
                                               see a stage of the Tour de France.

Over the last year, my wife and I have begun having more adventures with the family. Substantial progress has been made on this dream. We took the boys tent camping for the first time. We visited the Toledo Zoo with my Aunt Lauren and Uncle Fred. FYI, the hippoquarium is a winner!  We  have also been visiting the Catholic Churches for the Diocese of Cleveland pilgrimmage.  more on this to come and will be appearing here...http://florethusa.travellerspoint.com/

Another dream I am well on my way to accomplishing is to play more. My son is constant reminder to be present and play with him. His little voice constantly pipes up, "Daddy, come play." "Daddy, over here." "Daddy, play cars." "Daddy, come this way." are just a few variations on the theme. Now his little brother at around six months has joined the chorus. The smiles and giggles are unmistakeable...the time to play with him has arrived as well.

I am trying to breathe a little more, eat a little less, enjoy a little more and worry a little less. The priest at mass last weekend had a great reminder for me. He was what I could only describe as wizened. His gray hair was thinning where it remained and tousled where it was thinning. His neck rose gauntly from the large billowy vestments.  "Why should you worry if you are moving into a future filled with God and his mercy."

Indeed, why should I worry.

Data Vision

Not to be too dramatic, but just trying to connect with the deeper meaning and connections behind every day work. Enjoy.

Select. Copy and Paste. Sift through data and label it. Separate the data by year and total it. Compile totals for regions. Look for blips. Look for trends.

Searches sift through news.  News yields names and events. Events point to dates that shift the path of time. Social networks and keywords yield positions and people.  Data  stars shine from the constellation of truth from a distance. Long travelling starlight strikes the eye and a spark moves from the retina to the constellation of cells that are mind. Starlight marks positions that have long since been abandoned and the laws science predict  their present even as the present fades away.  From the laws we know and the light that strikes our eye we try to trace the arc.

Significant historical events wed to the numbers that reflect their passing yet their passing shadow affects other disparate elements.  Effect is not limited to proximity nor is proximity limited to the spatial dimensions. A glimmer of “God vision” bids understanding come forth.

                Create a pattern in your mind to transform standard into custom. Create a macro to transform the pattern into reality. Pages of indicators must yield their secrets. Search for commands and learn the syntax. Record the subtle dance of addition and subtraction.  Science still seeks clumsily to capture the interplay that makes us human. Surprise and crisis  lurk, unleashing undetected forces and invention and corruption governed by laws, as of yet, still to be formalized.  Dark matter and imputed particles fill in the gaps of our theories.  Is faith in that which we cannot see so different?

Insight explodes from the universe of data. Another year of data, lightly crunched connects with a constellation of data points. Secondary and primary meld. Intermittent regional crises explain massive swings in capital equipment.  A coherent picture fills the center of the frame. Edges remain out of focus, but the dominant themes shine clearly.

                Numerical representation of realities shifting across the globe. Homes and babies, pallets and pocketbooks painted in Arabic representation undergirded by machine precision of binary architecture. Van Gogh in black and white. Impressions high above Arles of countries and times that are past and yet to come. The promise that more data will yield to knowledge is forced through the prism of mind and subjected to the limits of collection, connection, and causation. Correlation tricks the uninitiated into gauzy certainty. Synthesized order must not shatter the reality of chaos. Mystery, equilibrium, growth, decay, and the cost of it all beg numbers to put on their human raiment.