What would I like to be remembered about me long after I am dead and gone?
I would like it to be remembered that I too often experienced one of life's greatest pleasures: The first mouthful of cold beer on a warm day.
That pleasure will last as long as human beings are human beings, I believe
(Mind you: A Vegemite sandwich when you have a skinfull is nearly as good -- but that is for Australians only)
I am less certain about Bach. The last thing that people will remember about me long after I have gone will probably be: "He liked Bach". Will J.S. Bach continue to inspire people for a thousand years more? I think so. But beyond that I am not sure.
And here is a distinction that will be uncomprehended within a few decades of my death: "He coded FORTRAN with great ease". There are already few who would understand that distinction
Some wisdom
Motto:
As Oscar Wilde may have said: "Life is too important to be taken seriously". But the Hagakure had the idea too: "Matters of great concern should be treated lightly"
Haggis: A primitive peasant food dragged out of obscurity and given eternal life by a poet
"It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good disposition." — Thomas Jefferson, 1785
My favourite scriptures:
But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 19:14)
Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (Eccl. 11:1)
My full name is Dr. John Joseph RAY. I am a former university teacher aged 70 at the time of writing in early 2014. I was born of Australian pioneer stock in 1943 at Innisfail in the State of Queensland in Australia. After an early education at Innisfail State Rural School and Cairns State High School, I taught myself for matriculation. I took my B.A. in Psychology from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. I then moved to Sydney (in New South Wales, Australia) and took my M.A. in psychology from the University of Sydney in 1969 and my Ph.D. from the School of Behavioural Sciences at Macquarie University in 1974. I first tutored in psychology at Macquarie University and then taught sociology at the University of NSW. I am Australian born of working class origins and British ancestry. My doctorate is in psychology but I taught mainly sociology in my 14 years as a university teacher. In High Schools I taught economics. I have taught in both traditional and "progressive" (low discipline) High Schools. Fuller biographical notes here
In the unlikely event that anybody wants to read what I wrote in years past, the archive links at the foot of this column make that easy.
The further back you go, however, the more you will encounter missing pictures. The net is like that. If you are interested in pictures you may therefore find it best to look at the single-page versions of these notes. I find it easier to keep the pictures up to date on them. They are as under:
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