String Theory by Ray Brimble
A place for writings, ponderings and images about what a gloriously strange place the world is today.
People occasionally ask me why I am so invested in Native American issues, when I am not actually Native American. My answer is: why not, if I can help to address injustice, correct historical inaccuracies, and bring awareness and appreciation for diverse cultural contributions?
When I was in my teens, I learned to read tarot cards, admittedly because it seemed to impress the girls.
To my surprise, I got pretty good at it.
It was just a party trick for me, but I couldn’t help but notice powerful insights in these readings.
La Lucha, Spanish for ‘the struggle’, was a term used by Tejanos to describe the Battle of the Alamo.
Mexican wrestlers, known for their iconic masks, refer to themselves as lucha libres, or luchadores.
Franz Klammer….a name now mostly forgotten by the passage of time. Yet, as I am about to elaborate, he remains the architect of one of the most remarkable moments in sports history, perhaps even in all of history.
“Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart."
-Vaclav Havel
This is my mother, Dora, throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome in 1963.
AI– Artificial Intelligence. Most of us have literally seen that movie. The first Terminator movie was shown in 1984 and Ahnald, the Terminator, said, "I'll be back”.
Tyranny! We are taught to resist it ... at ANY cost.
Yet, virtually all of us have willingly invited it into our own homes.
Within those walls, it lurks, bosses us around every day, offers us untenable choices, plies us with guilt. No, I am not talking about your tw- year-old grandchild dropped off for the weekend by your unappreciative son.
In life, there is medicine in all kinds of things that don’t live in a little rust-colored plastic bottle with a tamper-proof top, and a white label on the side stating, "no refills.”
Today’s remedy comes from an oversized suitcase…
Recently, a friend sent me a book to read, and asked that I pass it along to someone else after reading.
The more I thought about it, the more profound the request seemed.
Reflecting back on the essays posted this year, I can’t help but notice that each piece plays its own unique note, yet contributes to a harmonious whole—a collective symphony of insights that transcends the sum of its parts.
Dive back in or catch up on what you’ve missed, and see if any of these strike a chord…
I’ve often pondered my affinity for a diverse array of interests, whether it be food, culture, art, music, or people. It’s as if I resist committing to a single passion and fully immersing myself in it, owning it and becoming known for it. Instead, I’ve been what might be kindly stated as a "jack of all trades, master of none". Or perhaps to some, an outsider lacking pedigree, or even purity of blood and thought.
Yet, I have managed to be neither this nor that. And at the same time, on a good day, both.
Imagine a mundane, post-war America obsessed with conformity. In this world of mean definitions of perfection, everyone secretly felt their own families were peculiar, if not downright eerie.
Enter Charles Addams, a middle class guy, toiling away in a nameless drab office from an unremarkable little town in New Jersey. Little did he know, within the confines of his mind, he was dreaming up a masterpiece of madness, campiness and dark humor.
If you’re reading this, you already know I have a little problem keeping my big mouth shut.
I'm not talking about reduced fruit preserves here. I’m talking about how we define who we are and what we are into—what makes us feel alive. It’s our jam. And oh, how we love to protect it.
There’s a reason "if it bleeds it leads" works. Coined in the 1890s by William Randolph Hearst during a period when yellow journalism (a reporting style that stooped to new lows) was at an all-time high, the phrase meant sensational, violent stories got prioritized in the evening news.
And it holds true today.
Oops...I may have just lost half of my readers. Who am I referring to? Everyone wrapped up in “hustle culture,” of course.
This is the time of year when we think a lot about time: its passage, how much we have left, what have we done with it, how much we let get away, and what comes next.
Last week, I was on a business trip visiting one of my old haunts—the Marylebone district of London. It was a place that became the center of my business operations for a while. It’s also where I learned that there’s an art to failing.
Some say we are living in the “post-truth” world—an age in which people are making things up right and left. Allow me, dear readers to be brazen; I am tired of all of the nonsense being labeled as “real.”
What’s it like to be a refugee? What exactly is a refugee? What are the struggles associated with immigrating to the United States, and what does it take to help the people who do so to thrive?
There is a special place in my heart for Love Field—and not only because of its name. I love Love Field because it was my point of departure from which I set off to see the rest of this wide world.
Meet Austin urban artist, J Muzacz. His story should be told, not just for his own benefit, but for the benefit of dozens of artists around Austin who have learned from him, worked with him, and been inspired by him.
Greatness knows no gender, no sexual preference, no color, no nationality, no balance in a bank account, no region, no religion. I have been greatly influenced by many women in my life; women I could easily call my heroes. And I believe that my next two heroes, Margaret Mead, and Lucille Ball certainly live up to that spirit of greatness.
Have you ever felt lucky? If you are a human who has lived on this planet their entire life, then you have probably had an encounter with it at some point. But is it actually luck? How do you know?
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who want to hear your story, and those who could not care less. Which kind of person are you?
In my friend's culture, dancing was such a common and natural activity. So, when someone stopped, it was alarming enough to take them to the local healer to search for the cause. So, lately, I’ve been asking myself: Have I stopped dancing? If so, why?
In a normal year, as things wind down, I like to think back on the happenings of the last 12 months and then pack them up and put them away. Well, not this year.
Your Story Goes (HERE) is an interview series aimed at spotlighting the stories of remarkable people and their impactful work, especially those whose contributions may not have received the recognition they should.
Today we feature Austin Together, whose purpose is to strengthen the nonprofit community in Central Texas by enabling sustained collaborations. Host Ray Brimble interviews the Executive Director of Austin Together, Karen LaShelle, and the Board Chair, Rich Smalling.