Only a few days after writing about where it all began, I ran into the Feldy who's name I was trying to remember.  His name is Keith Johnson, and he was at the Gesundheit! Institute for 8 years or so.  He was pleased to know that his mission of doing some outreach while there at least had an effect on me.  He also remembered us juggling fire while we were there.  Remember that, kids, as much as I like to be a snooty juggler — all about skills and none about flash — people remember the flash.



I also happened to run into my first sensei from middle school — Mr. Minkel.



These people were both in the same place - the Eastern Regional meeting of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America, of which I am also a member.  I am in good company.



Adding to the cavalcade of old acquaintance, James Holland sent me a link to his YouTube music video that he was working on back when I was in Boston.  It pains me to watch it on YouTube, as the special effects are quite sharp as I remember, and now they're all granulated and glitchy.  But, if it weren't for YouTube, maybe I couldn't see it at all.

I'd just flown in for my second grad school interview, this time at the

University of Oregon.  Sliding into a schoolroom desk chair in Straub Hall, I

directed a compliment towards a girl with a mowhawk.  Her reasons for the

mowhawk were revealed to be of the "hippy gender protest" type.  When she in

turn inquired after my handlebar mustache, I responded with a seeming

non-sequitor: "I ran into Patch Adams in the airport on the way over here."

Doubts were expressed all around, but it's true; I did.



I found Patch's Gesundheit! Institute during my second year of college, in 1996.

Feeling an incredible affinity for his message, I called him on the phone, and

asked his advice for what I should do with the University of Maryland Juggling

Club (which I had recently founded) and if there were ways that I could

contribute to his cause.  After asking me a few questions, he concluded that I

should continue what I was doing and then wished me well.  He may have suggested

that I visit the Institute, though I honestly can't remember.  In any case, I

organized a trip, and 5 of us from the club took the trip out to West Virginia

for a week of service and relaxation.



The trip was pretty spectacular.  I was introduced to the ideas of Permaculture,

Intentional Communities, on-demand hot-water heaters and Macrobiotics.  The

people there were dyed-in-the-wool hippies, and I'd never experienced anything

like that.  In addition to the main crew, who were responsible for maintaining

the land and buildings and performing improvements, there was a man Patch had

invited to stay on the land while he built him a robotic skeleton.  This man was

also training to be a Feldenkrais Practitioner somewhere in Europe.



One day, my fellow juggler, Ryan, sprained his ankle while working out in the

field.  The Feldy Roboticist was eager to try and help.  We were all entirely

mystified by how this guy expected to help Ryan by moving his knees and hips

around.  A sprain hurts when you walk on it.  They heal with time, and faster if

you leave them alone.  But Ryan was open to the idea.  It probably couldn't hurt

anyway.



After all was said and done, we asked Ryan if his ankle felt better.  I think

his answer was something like, "maybe."  We remained unconvinced.  And with so

much else going on, the Feldenkrais Method didn't come up again on that trip.  Much more memorable for me was the folk tune "Old Joe Clark," which remains one of my favorites to this day.  We sang it to people who were old, and would perhaps never again see the outside of a hospital.  For me, the take home message was that medicine should be about making people feel better.  This meant that anyone could practice medicine, because anyone can help someone else feel better (though I hasten to add that laparoscopic surgery is best left to the experts).



Patch advocates in particular the use of clowning, and I suspect that this

suggestion has found a place among my most deeply held values.  Certainly, the

seeds were there, but Patch and the folks at Gesundheit! spread some extra

organic compost around on those seeds.  But while I've certainly endeavored to

use things like face-paint and general silliness to improve a number of

situations, the rationale for all of that had faded over time.  I'd gotten more

serious, which is an easy thing to do.



And it happened that when I came back to the Feldenkrais Method, almost 10 years

later, I didn't know where I'd heard about it.  It was as if it were a genetic

memory or something learned by osmosis from the strange company I kept as a

graduate student.  But happily, all the pieces seem to be clicking into place

recently.  I've found a way to satisfy all of my values which is

remarkably like the path I was on at MIT.  The main difference being that my life at MIT completely failed to satisfy many of my

values.  Part of what will make this time different, I suspect, will be a

handlebar mustache.  Or maybe clown pants.  Or something like that.

Dug and I shot this video extemporaneously.  In it, we attempt to capture, ironically, the net spirit of uninteresting YouTube video posts by people who seem like they might be talented.  By maximizing irony, enjoyment and apathy interchange in ones mind in a form of emotional hysteresis.  See what I'm talking about here.

First, a quick word - this essay should be considered at best a rough draft for now... I'm trying to put ideas together, and I'm dragging my feet.  But, I want to share these ideas with at least a few people to get some dialogue going.  A sister essay / wiki is located here.  Probably more polished versions of these ideas will end up there.

—

I've been talking with a number of people recently about the kinds of things that we'd like to see happen with content management systems.  As I see it there are two large segments that are currently underserved, and which could be treated with superficially different, but deeply similar techniques.  I've made some small progress on each of these issues, but there's plenty of road left to tread.

O.J. Simpson has written this book: "If I did it..."  It's described in the press here.

I have little to add, apart from this being the most potentially shocking thing I've ever seen.  I look at it as a litmus test.  Are we really serious, as Americans, about this whole "Don't Kill People" thing?  The ratings will hold the answer!