Liberation

Song of the Day: 15 Step - Radiohead

Quote of the Day: "Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired...You've always got to make the mind take over and keep going." --George S. Patton

Thought of the Day: Music, art, and philosophy merge: This morning got up determined to run 10 miles. The Charlottesville 10 miler is in 2 weeks, and I wanted to make sure I'm ready. Sweewawa and I watched Patton a couple of nights ago, and I was impresed with the strength of mind and body he displayed in the film and the way he was able to inspire this strength in his worn-out soliders. I did my run today thinking that it was nothing compared to marching through Germany in the winter with a heavy pack on dodging bullets and shells. And it turns out 10 miles wasn't actually that hard once you get your mind past it.

The run was also made easier by the choice of some quality music -- started off with a little Belding Principle (my old band), moved on to Dream Theater, and then listened to Radiohead's In Rainbows. In Rainbows is one of my favorite albums of all time and is one I'll never forget in that it got me through a long period of studying for USMLE Step 2. The Song of the Day is the 1st track from the album, a song particularly funny to listen to while running around a circular track as it laments "How come I end up where I started?"

Back home I enjoyed the afternoon / evening by continuing my reading of Hofstadter's book Godel, Escher, Bach. Encountered in it the beautiful work Liberation by M.C. Escher. The transition region between geometric figures and free-flying birds is really intriguing . . . perhaps the process of our inner-most thoughts percolating out and translating into actions and words is a little like his drawing.

Cheers, Dr. Kowawa