inkbluesky

This photo of Marilyn on the beach during the summer may have been part of the series that Look magazine did in 1961, but I'm not sure. Rounding up, what was going on about fifty years ago? (a larger version is on flickr tagged monroe)

The DNA molecule is first photographed, 1956. (mapping of the complete human genome was mostly complete in April 2003.)

John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage" was published.

Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.03 (no e-mail)

U.S. Population: 168,903,031, life expectancy: 69.7 years ( today Pop. approx 340 million, life expectancy: about 75)

U.S. tests the first aerial hydrogen bomb over Namu islet, Bikini Atoll with the force of 10 million tons TNT

Autherine Lucy, the first black student at the University of Alabama, is suspended after riots (March 1). 

World Series: NY Yankees defeat Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3)

Physics, Nobel Prize: William Shockley, Walter H. Brattain, and John Bardeen (all US), for developing electronic transistor  

Workers' uprising against Communist rule in Poland is crushed (June 28-30).

Artist Jackson Pollock dies 1956.

Someone has put up a site where simply moving your cursor around creates an instant Pollock painting. 

There are quite a few social networking sites, public calenders, social/shared bookmarking, various ways to communicate including Skype, various messengers, and e-mail, but what about solitude? Solitude doesn't really fit into Web 2.0.  There is a lot to be said for being away from the net, cell phones, and mass media and taking time to gether one's thoughts. Though this idea goes against the grain of much of what we see on the net and all the books published about relationships. There was a book published some years back called Solitude: A Return to the Self

In Solitude: A Return to the Self, Storr takes a look at some names we all know like Newton,Goya, Kafka and talks about how valuable solitude was in sorting out their thoughts. he actually burst some modern perceptions about the need to constantly be around others,

 "Many human beings make so with relationships which cannot be regarded as especially close, and not all such human beings are ill or particularly unhappy."

"Some of the most profound and healing psychological experiences individuals encounter take place internally, and are distantly related, if at all, to interaction with other human beings."

"The capacity to be alone is a sign of inner security rather than an expression of a withdrawn state."

Admittedly that last one can be tricky. Some people with emotional problems do withdraw from society as a sign of emotional distress. The point is not an advocacy of being alone as much just something to be mindful of. I think some people call it "me time". Where you get a chance to sort out thoughts, think through a project or paper, or a relationship. To step back and get a little perspective.

The Worst: Stupid Engineering Mistakes