Sitting outside and regretting it. Skeeters. After the rains of this week, they rose in clouds to roam the land, skeletonizing small children and squirrels, leaving behind sacks of skin sucked dry. My wife bought some all-natural repellant whose labels assures you it doesn’t contain all these mean nasty chemicals, which is your guarantee that it won’t work at all. Seriously: I sprayed every inch of exposed skin with this stuff, and I am a Golden Corral buffet for these bugs right now.
A pharmacy chain is using Barry Manilow music to discourage vagrants and panhandlers? Let's see if they crank up some Guy Lombardo. People would be running into cars in the parking lot. [I recall hearing about shopping malls that play classical music to drive off teenagers. When I was a teenager I would have been attracted to shopping malls that played classical music.]
One of the small courtesies inadvertently provided by political fanatics: their conduct when they lack power gives us fair warning of what they'd be like if they had power.
There are many towns named Stratford in England, but the one that stood on the banks of the river Avon had special reason to be proud of its native sons. John of Stratford had become Archbishop of Canterbury and lay buried in a tomb of alabaster at the high altar, and Hugh Clopton had gone to the great city of London and ended by becoming its Lord Mayor. - From Shakespeare of London by Marchette Chute
We have read your manuscript with boundless delight. If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of lower standard. And as it is unthinkable that in the next thousand years we shall see its equal, we are, to our regret, compelled to return your divine composition, and to beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity.
- Rejection slip from a Chinese economic journal, quoted in The Financial Times
I was at home and overwhelmed with a series of projects. The dining room table was filled with notes and files. Their details were a font of both assistance and complexity. And then an ancient flip chart came to mind. It was soon out of my back office and into a corner of the dining room. As key points were transferred to one large sheet, clarity and confidence returned. Confession: Some days I find it difficult to see/use the obvious. Which should serve as a reminder of some obvious truths: Obstacles require the right tools. It is hard to connect dots if they are on separate pages. Don't underestimate the power of the visual. There are things we see better with distance.
There was a great Marxist named Lenin Who did two or three million men in. That's a lot to have done in But where he did one in That grand Marxist Stalin did ten in. - Robert Conquest
It is now thirty-five years since I climbed a fence to pick a poppy in an English meadow on which lay the mists of an August morning. The memory of that poppy prompts some questions that are urgent now though they did not seem even relevant thirty-five years ago. - The Fall of Fortresses: A Personal Account of One of the Most Daring - and Deadly - Air Battles of the Second World War by Elmer Bendiner [published in 1981]
It is no secret that organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year. This is quite a profitable sum especially when one considers that the Mafia spends very little for office supplies.
[Photo by Ashley Batz at Unsplash] Anytime we think the problem is ‘out there,’ that thought is the problem. We empower what’s out there to control us.
A hat came skipping down the main street of Long Grass, propelled only by the wind, which was sharp for March. The hat was brown felt and had a narrow brim. - From The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry
The due date was spoken of in hushed tones since to a few it was a quasi-religious commitment and others, equally soft-spoken, said it was a date from hell and that an extension was not just desirable but even damned necessary to avoid disaster but the adherents of the due date refused to budge because the due date had become more than just a spot on the calendar but instead was now a sign of change and hope and new direction and any objections were pushed aside because, as everyone knows, such dates are special and although logic would argue otherwise magic would surely appear.
I think that a part of what to tell one's story in a religious sense means is to affirm that there is a plot to one's life. It's not just incident following incident without any particular direction or purpose, but things are happening in order to take you somewhere. Just the way a story begins and has a middle and an end. Things are somehow wrapped up at the end, and everything in some fashion can be seen to have led to this inevitable conclusion and to have had its own place, however circumstantial and odd and out-of-the-way some of those things that happened may have been. They had their purpose in the overall shape and texture and reality of one's story. - Frederick Buechner, The Remarkable Ordinary
Althouse reports on cyclists who ride on "skinnies" but the story is stolen by the video of an unbelievable bike race in Chile. If any of you participate in the Chile race I expect a full report or, barring that, some information on your hospital.
The first thing you need to understand is that most large organizations in the private sector are run by curmudgeons like me. That statement may not be true of organizations in the entertainment or information technology (IT) industries, which are often filled with senior executives who are either young themselves or trying to be. But it is true of most large for-profit businesses, nonprofits, foundations, law firms, and financial institutions. Academia goes both ways, with many professors who try to be best buddies with their students but a few who are world-class curmudgeons. - From The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead: Do's and Don't's of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life by Charles Murray
It will take just a few minutes to read Charles Krauthammer's 1997 tribute to Isaiah Berlin. An excerpt: And one more thing, he said (in the fourth and final essay of the book): The true heart of the liberal political tradition is the belief that no one has the secret as to what is the ultimate end and goal of life. There are many ends, each deserving respect, and it is out of this very pluribus that we get freedom.
Althouse points to a horrific story about a New Jersey sixth grader who was the victim of bullying. I have two memories related to bullying from when I was an elementary school student. One memory was seeing it on the playground at recess and looking around and not seeing a teacher in sight. Another is much more pleasant, although it would get the school sued today. I was entering a breezeway on my way to the playground when I saw a kid holding another kid in a headlock. He was trying to bash the kid's head against the wall. The Assistant Principal walked up, grabbed the aggressor and flung him so hard across the breezeway that the kid splattered against the opposite wall. It was a cartoon vision brought to real life - splattered! - and I've long cherished it. He then dragged the kid off to the Principal's office so the real punishment could begin. I always liked the Assistant Principal.
Europe, despite its Union, is as divided as ever. Recently, when Italy’s new right-wing government—anxious to prove its credentials—refused to allow a boat carrying 629 African migrants to dock in Italy, Spain’s new left-wing government—equally anxious to do the same—accepted the boat. When the French president, Emmanuel Macron, criticized the Italians for their decision, the Italian government accused the French of hypocrisy, inasmuch as they had refused to take more than 9,000 migrants from Italy that they had previously agreed to accept.
This story is revealing in several aspects. The first is that, whatever attitude governments take to the migrants, no one truly believes that they are more of an asset than a liability. Madrid’s action, for example, was taken on “humanitarian” grounds, rather than because it believed that Spain would benefit from the migrants’ presence. When European leaders discuss the migrant question, it is always in terms of sharing the burden, not the assets, equitably. No one speaks of foreign investment in this way, which suggests that European politicians believe, whether rightly or wrongly, that the free movement of people and capital are different in an important way.
I am briefing a group of seasoned executives today on "Ethical Decision Making." A grand time will be had by all. BTW, my "ethics-related movies" list is in need of updating. It has included Braveheart; The Bridge on the River Kwai; Casablanca; Chariots of Fire; Fiddler On The Roof; Forrest Gump; Friendly Persuasion; Groundhog Day; Harvey; High Noon; It's a Wonderful Life; Key Largo; A Man For All Seasons; Nobody's Fool; Primary Colors; Schindler's List; Saving Private Ryan; Shoah; The Sorrow and the Pity; A Tale of Two Cities; The Third Man; To Kill a Mockingbird; and The Battle of Algiers. Please recommend additions.
You can now spend the rest of the day expunging this song from your brain. "The Freshman" is a weird but fun film. [It also has Bert singing "I Ain't Gonna Work on Maggie's Farm No More."]
The defense of "At least he (or she) did something" is often heard. It is a last ditch defense usually employed after multiple failures to establish that the actions taken were effective or even wise. Doing something, the reasoning goes, is assumed to be superior to doing nothing. Unfortunately, the positives of doing nothing and the negatives of doing a half-baked job are seldom explored. "Doing something" is a very low bar and the fact that something was done does not mean that it did not make matters worse. Action can be seen as a sign of caring while inaction can signal indifference. Certainly, such can be the case, but is it logical to assume that it is always so? Action, especially the weak sort, can simply be a sly effort to craft a defense against allegations of uncaring. Refraining from action may be a form of wisdom and not a sign of indifference, ill-intent or cowardice. An alarm bell should sound at the grand declaration that at least something was done.
[Photo by Alice Donovan Rouse at Unsplash] The task that was to take 15 minutes took more than three hours. The project that had a leisurely pace was suddenly accelerated. There were various emergencies and some minor roadblocks. Phone calls. Emails. An insurance question. A medical matter. A request from a friend. A committee dodged. A car in the shop. News of an upcoming and unexpected presentation to a board. A sudden meeting. Have I neglected someone? I'm certain I have. Oh yes, there is a call to be made but the time is not right. It can be done on Friday. [Beware of slipping too much to Friday.] I'm behind on my reading and some administrative items are nipping at my heels. I've been keeping up with my children via text messages and that's not a good practice. My wife's schedule is hellish. She goes to bed early, rises early, and then goes to work on another planet. My late night reading shifts between history, theology, and science fiction. The dog - sweetness dogified - has become very respectful and only interrupts when it's something important. I've been exercising more and losing weight but the most effective medicine is provided by doctors Bach, Copland, and Handel. In other words, a normal day.
The trip was a failure, as the object of it was to get into prison, and I did not, in fact, get more than forty eight hours in custody; however, I am recording it, as the procedure in the police court etc. was fairly interesting. I am writing this eight months after it happened, so am not certain of any dates, but it all happened a week or ten days before Xmas 1931. - From Clink, an essay in Facing Unpleasant Facts by George Orwell
Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. - Frederick Buechner
There are days when it seems as if political discourse has been infected by the tactics of a sleazy lawyer. Not the kindly and ethical Judge Hardy type, of course, who would occasionally turn to a prospective client and say "You haven't got a case" but the vicious weasels who will say and do anything in the name of being an effective advocate for their cause. Advocacy for advocacy's sake is bad enough but when it is merged with zealotry, standards sink even lower. A basic reminder that is sadly appropriate for our times: In the vast majority of circumstances, the other person isn't ignorant or evil. He or she simply has a different point of view. Rudeness and vilification do little to advance a cause or to clarify an issue.
Photo showing a German Me410 fighter just off the wing of an American B-17 bomber of the U.S. 388th Bomber Group during World War II. My uncle Rensler Pomeroy was a navigator with that group.
[Photo by Joshua Coleman at Unsplash] There are few facial expressions more avoidable, more cruel, and more memorable than a slight smirk. ~ We carefully walk through the jungle, watching for gorillas, and are ambushed by baboons. ~ It is important to know what can go wrong without later making that knowledge an obsession. - Those who shout loudly against a matter may be cloaking their affection for it. ~ As soon as a leader is announced the associates and adversaries have a common question: How does this affect me? ~ There is a big difference between not having good manners and forgetting good manners but the importance of that distinction may be lost upon the victims. ~ One of the regrettable by-products of higher education is the damage it does to our handwriting. ~ In many respects, the translator is the co-author. ~ Front porch swings and open carports are remnants of a more trusting time. ~ Stylish failures seldom hesitate to lecture ill-bred victors. ~ Before dreaming of selling shoes to a million Chinese try selling them to fifty. ~ Three hours of absolute silence should be a weekly, if not a daily, ally. ~ Compare working at an intense and fast pace for 20 minutes with working at an intense but slow pace for 20 minutes. See which achieves the most. ~ The best use of email can be found in the ones with this underlying message: I'm here and you have not been forgotten.
The Telegraph: John Lahr remembers his father Bert Lahr. An excerpt: When you grow up in the household of a star, certain privileges accrue. You get to watch the Macy’s Day Parade from the window of Ethel Merman’s Central Park apartment, to carry Buster Keaton’s ukulele to the train station, to pick up Groucho Marx from the hotel. Your godfather is Eddy Foy Jnr, one of vaudeville’s Seven Little Foys, who, when his wife threatened to leave him, nailed all her clothes to the floor. You learn quickly that these public figures are more complicated than they seem, that there is often a confounding disparity between their perfect poise on stage and their haplessness off it. Inevitably, for my sister and myself, mystery surrounded Dad and the business of show. The performing self and the alchemy of performance – the transition from ordinary to extraordinary, the turning of private torment into public triumph – became an abiding fascination.