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Apéritif
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A Word Snapshot of Here and Now. |
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Bullet listing of Favorite Things. |
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Dialog - Shaping a Life Philosophy |
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Professional work history |
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A touch of geneology |
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Stories and Pictures |
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The Long and Short of it
a word picture of the here and now
Back to About Carl
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Name |
Carl A Smith |
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Address |
Smith491@ibm.net |
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Age
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Coming up on half a century. |
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Description
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Gray bearded & bifocaled, I appreciate
good hats and nice canes. Weekdays I don banker pin stripped
banker, but come Saturday I change into my REI look - donning hiking boots, blue
jeans and a jacket (Gortex or Harris Tweed depending on the weather). I'm the one you'll see walking a little slower than the scurrying
shoppers. You might catch at Starbucks updating my planner or
maybe at Border's bookstore across from Westlake Center. If it's
evening look for me atop Queen Anne viewing a Olympic sunset.
Later evening try a Jazz bar, again with the coffee and a notebook. |
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Status |
Unmarried and uninvolved. |
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Home |
The Pacific Northwest. |
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Current Occupation |
File clerk - overqualified,
underutilized, over aggravated, & underpaid |
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Former Occupations |
Carpenter, Industrial Chemist,
Research Chemist, Science Teacher & Vagabond |
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Current Employer |
A major national bank |
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Projects on the Table |
Learning more about the magic of
writing and the expanding my skills as a programmer. Looking for
my next challenge. Enjoying the sunsets. |
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Perspectives Unlimited
Carl A Smith
Back to About Carl
Some years back I was living in a community in which existed limited options
to buy hardware / software. It was a rural town sixty miles from
everywhere and the local merchants had adopted an attitude of 'We've got a
monopoly, we don't have to try harder. To address my own needs and
that of the local senior citizenry, I organized a non-profit reseller and
consulting business. The name I choose for the enterprise was
Perspectives Unlimited - a statement of personal philosophy as much as
anything. Called Futurist or Visionary by others,
I've always worked towards the creation of a better future for myself and others
about me. Perspectives is but example of many such events in my
life.
As best I see it this story begins in the Sputnik era where as a youth
I was set aflame by JFK's inaugural speech phrase, "Ask not what your
country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
This phrase has lived with me to this day. Don't get me wrong,
I'm no evangelist singing to the choir. Quite the opposite
actually. My one serious attempt at public service lead to the
emergency room. I don't care to repeat that episode.
These days pain and anger are the mainstays of my life. Pain and
anger, long considered negative agents, can be used as a driving force to create
positive outcomes. It's not an easy task though.
Believe me.
A second revelatory moment came to me came when, in studying philosophy, I
discovered the teachings of Mohandas K Gandhi. What
Kennedy's speech had started finally came into crystal clear focus. No, I don't expect someone to shoot me from a baloney, but I have found
this philosophical road I walk is paved with cobblestones - big rough ones that
cause one to stumble and occasionally fall.
Like everyone I'd like to believe I make a difference, I made a difference, I
will make a difference - that my Perspectives are indeed
Unlimited. These well may be my sunset years. What if anything I accomplish next is hard to see. I guess
we will just have to wait and see. Won't we?
Carl A Smith
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WHISKERS ON KITTENS
RAINDROPS ON ROSES
. . . my favorite things
Back to About Carl
smell of coffee from a ceramic mug
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Foods
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Starbucks Coffee; Pike Place Market
Spice Tea; Saturday Waffle with Strawberries; Sauvignon Blanc; Apple Pie |
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People
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Strong Willed Women; Intelligent
People of all Persuasions |
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Places
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Rain Swept Streets; Used Bookstores;
Sunset Parks & Mountain Viewpoints |
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Entertainment
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Well Written Stories; Off-Broadway
Musicals; Movies w/ tight scripts; Puzzles & Problems of all kinds; Jazz
& Blues, R&B, Blue Grass |
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Recreation
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Writing short stories; the Athletic
Club; Surfing the net; Sea Kayaks, River Rafting and day hikes these days
(and in yesteryear mountaineering and rock climbing). |
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Software Firm
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Borland or Quarterdeck - Gates
steals his best ideas from them. |
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Word Processor
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Wordstar 1.01 - Your first word processor is like a first love
of whom you always have fond memories.
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ETC
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Pain Free Days; High Tech Toys; the
Creative Spark; Making Bad Puns. |
walking between the raindrops
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Scientist
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Stephan Jay Gould - His theory of
Punctuated Evolution redefined evolutionary thought and his writings on Natural
History do battle with blasphemies like Social Darwinism. |
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American Writer
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John Steinbeck - his understanding
of humanity is surpassed only by his writing skills. From the
light side "Cannery Row" to the dark side "A God Unknown" he is unparalleled. |
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Philosopher
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William James - Clarified Charles
Pierce's thinking on Pragmatism (the American Philosophy) |
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Jazz Artist
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Dave Grusin - Like Steinbeck is to
words, Grusin is to music. |
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Blues Singer
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Billie Holiday - The Lady with the
Satin Voice. Need I say more? |
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Humanitarian
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Mohandas Gandhi - He Created a new
philosophy which roughly stated says one has a social obligation to defy
societal wrongs through non-violent disobedience. |
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Science Thinker
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Albert Einstein - Who hasn't heard of
E = MC2 ? The predictive powers of this scientific
theory continues to exceed expectations. The mark of a great
theory. |
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Futurist
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John F Kennedy - A visionary who advocated
personal service, valued education and began the US space program. These views were to shape my future in a major fashion. |
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Creative Thinker
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Stephen Hawkins - The confines of a wheel chair freed his mind
from the confines of math so he could surpass even Isaac Newton.
If I could do but half as good as him in making my disability an asset I'd be a
lot happier with my life. |
finding the edge of reality
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SciFi Flick
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Blade Runner - an excellent screen
adaptation of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K Dick |
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Fantasy Flick
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Willow - Ron Howard looks at
mythology, I give it a Five Elf rating. I see the mind of Joseph
Campbell shaping Howard's understanding of the role myths play in history. |
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Western Flick
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Quigley Down Under - Laura San
Giacomo's mad woman took this flick beyond the good guy / bad guy formula. |
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SciFi Writer Short Stories
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Robert Sheckley - So many good
writers to pick from, so many bad ones to ignore. In short stories
I'd have to choose Sheckley, though early Larry Niven was excellent too. |
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SciFi Writer
Novels
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Frederik Pohl - An even tougher
choice, but I'd go with his Heechee stories, particularly "Gateway". |
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SciFi Writer Good Science
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Arthur C. Clarke - Outstanding
stories in so many fields of human endeavor. Runner up for me
would be Charles Sheffield. |
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Fantasy Writer
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Robert Asprin - A CPA who turned
into a delightful writer and editor. |
and beyond reality . . . perception . . .
truth
| Money is just another
commodity. If people valued it less, it would be more
affordable. |
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Black, White, Male, Female, Old, Young - we are all humans alike in our
humanity. |
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It does no good to listen if you don't plan to hear. |
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Life is full of risks. Take a risk. Live. |
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There is nothing the human mind can't accomplish, especially in conjunction
with other minds. |
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A truly new idea only comes along maybe twice a century. If (insert CEO of your
choice) tells you otherwise, he's a liar. |
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Love is not the same as lust. Lust is more fun. |
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