Friday, April 29

          Up very early with my wife to watch the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine in the wonderfully gothic Westminster Abbey.  Must be a thrill to be able to say you were married by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  Inspires me to want to read Chaucer’s, Canterbury Tales and go anglophile.  I was taken in by the pomp and circumstance, does anyone do pageantry better than the British?  Despite intellectually knowing such affairs cost too much money and are unnecessarily lavish, plus royalty is such an ancient relic of a concept, it all hit a primal nerve and I was moved by the precision of the ceremony, red uniforms, sounds of the trumpets and ringing of the bells and weight of history, making sure my daughter watched with us so she could have the kind of memories I still have of watching Charles and Diana marry years ago when about her age. I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast in honor of the festivities and we ate during the spectacle of the traditional first public kiss from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Thursday, April 28

          Marshall McLuhan said, “the medium is the message”.  Andy Warhol said, we will all have 15 minutes of fame.  With the speed of the developing social medias, it makes me think we will all eventually know everyone.  In fact, the speed of this connectivity is so disorienting to me at times that I feel even the present is already past.

Wednesday, April 27

          What if we let up a bit on constantly trying to improve ourselves?  Might that be liberating?  What if we accepted who we are since God made us this way?  Would we then be less focused on “me”?  Might this open us up more to “you” and considering those around us?  What if God will ultimately fix what we need fixed and deliver what we are searching for as long as we stay vigilant to a godly purpose?

Tuesday, April 26

I wish to build something new by asking novel questions and seizing opportunity.  I see myself as a system theorist making unlikely connections by identifying similar patterns or seeing patterns in apparent randomness.

Saturday, April 23

            I am grateful to those who can take complicated ideas and make them understandable by finding the pattern and presenting them under one comprehensive approach.  Samantha Powers’ book on genocide, A Problem from Hell, did this a few years ago by showing that genocide was occurring more than reported and brought the known cases together for study.  The book was especially helpful in allowing one to understand America’s varying approaches to the issue and why it intervenes at times and not at others.  Isn’t all genocide bad?  Shouldn’t all of it be stopped?  Is mass killing harder to deal with and comprehend that a single killing?  

Sunday, April 24

          The book, God’s Brain, by Lionel Tiger and Michael McGuire point out that there are believed to be 4200 distinct faith groups or religions in the world.  This matches up interestingly I think with the reported 6912 languages in the world.

Monday, April 25

          Mike Daisey appeared on C-Span and reminded me that every now and then you are treated to someone who changes your mental paradigm.  There are two things that struck me about him.  One, is that he is a performer of monologues which is somewhat of a niche art form, think of Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain.  Second, his subject matter is current issues.  He brought one to my attention related to his views of the poor working conditions at Foxconn, a gigantic factory in Shenzhen, China that purportedly builds most of our electronics.  His current monologue is called the Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs and its about the juxtaposition of these state of the art devises, iPod, iPhone, iPad that are made in alledged primitive working conditions.

Friday, April 22

            I am grateful to be in the game, to have a chance to compete.  So many never get a chance to get in the game and test themselves.

Thursday, April 21

               What is the proper competitive nature?  One can compete against oneself, more and more push-ups.  One can then look around and see how many push-ups someone else is doing.  Can I do more than them?  One can compete against a standard.  Can I do more than the norm of people my age and weight?  Push-ups are pretty neutral and do not negatively affect others in terms of how you approach getting better.  What about completion in the areas of money, power or sex?  How far will one go beyond preparations that do not affect others like one’s education and training or looks?  I think it is good to want to be better(not intrinsically but at something) than someone else.  It is a great way to keep improving oneself, grow, stretch and see what limit if any you have.  As long as it is done ethically, in my opinion.  But you have to be prepared and accept losing to those willing to stoop to more Machiavellian tactics.  However, it provides the satisfaction of knowing that accomplishments are the result of doing your best and nothing more.

Wednesday, April 20

               Interesting factoid, my law school, Southern Methodist University School of Law, has produced the most Fortune 50 CEOs (three) and the most billionaires (five) of any other law school.  This surprises me at first until I remembered what drew me to Dallas and to SMU in the first place which was the entrepreneurial spirit it exuded.  Today, SMU School of Law is called the Dedman School of Law after its eponym the deceased billionaire Robert Dedman.

Tuesday, April 19

               We had to begrudgingly finally cut down one of our trees.  Last year it was hit by lightening and lost a big limb.  This year its weakened state caused it to lose its other big limb during an unusually heavy wind.  My daughter and I counted its rings or layers and came up with 17.  I believe one layer or ring grows per year.  Therefore, the tree was 17 years old.  

Monday, April 18

               Then something happened.  Not to him: he had not changed, he was still competent, still unhampered and complete.  He seemed merely to have lost or mislaid somewhere, at some point, the old habit or mantle or aura or affinity for almost monotonous success in which he had seemed to move as in his garments, as if not he but his destiny had slowed down, not changed: just slowed down for the time being….even though apparently abandoned by destiny….he had never let his chosen vocation down; and sure enough in his need, the vocation had remembered him.  William Faulkner, A Fable

Saturday, April 16

               Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and begins the Christian holy week that includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  I will begin reading William Faulkner’s, A Fable, his Pulitzer Prize winning novel that is set during holy week.  I purchased it at Square Books a few years ago during a family trip to Oxford, Mississippi after having toured his home Rowan Oak.  I pointed out to the kids the outline of the novel he had written on the wall of his study.  Their reactions were varied from, “it’s cool he was allowed to write on his wall”, which I replied, “when you win the Nobel Prize for literature too then you can too”, to “why would he not just put it on a piece of paper”.  The last question the docent explained to us may have been because of the hot Mississippi summers and his having to work with the windows open and may have tired of his papers blowing around.  I think he just wanted the story to become part of his home and physical existence, an organic expression.

Sunday, April 17

               Irises and Hydrangeas are in bloom.

Friday, April 15

               Sometimes you just have to work against the grain, outside the comfort zones, doing the opposite of what you want in that alternative universe of emotional discomfort.  The outside world does not change but its reaction to you and its effect on you can - using this technique.

Thursday, April 14

               Our neighbor has a portrait of Thomas Jefferson hanging in his dining room.  He attended the University of Virginia and is as big a follower of Jefferson as I am.  He offered to loan me any of his Jefferson related books that I might be interested in which would be all of them.  Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and my neighbor explained that up until the mid-seventies it was still an all male university.  On his dining room table are also coasters from Williamsburg.  Jefferson attended William & Mary in Williamsburg.  We also learned about each other that he attended the University of Michigan about when I was there getting his MBA while I was an undergraduate.  I sleep better at night knowing a Jefferson kindred spirit and Wolverine is nearby.

Wednesday, April 13

denouement  (day-noo-MAHN(the final syllable is nasal) noun: The final resolution of the plot of a story or a complex sequence of events.

beau geste  (bo ZHEST) noun: A gracious, but often meaningless, gesture.

soubrette (soo-BRET) noun:  A maidservant/lady's maid in a play/opera especially one who displays coquetry and engages in intrigue or a young woman regarded as flirtatious.

               The above three words with French origin, many say upwards of 30% of our English words have French origin, which I ran across this week have reminded me to begin my next novel which has an opening seen set in Paris.  The novel is entitled Pink Macaroons.

Tuesday, April 12

               Even more grass roots than the city council is our Homeowners Association.  We met in the conference room of the public library to discuss neighborhood issues like keeping garbage receptacles out of street view for aesthetics and trimming overhanging tree limbs so walkers on sidewalks do not have to dodge your yard(city ordnance requires limbs be trimmed to seven feet  from ground).  Also on the agenda was the new officers’ election coming up, improvements to our web site and updating the resident directory.  Minutes from the last meeting were approved.  This is where the rubber meets the road for getting along with and loving thy neighbor.

Monday, April 11

The Plano City Council meets every other Monday at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Center.  Attending is a good way to watch grass roots politics in action and get a civics reminder that it is up to us as to the government we get.  The meeting starts with an invocation, tonight by a local Methodist minister, then the pledge of allegiance which some may not have recited since grade school.  Next the many volunteers who help Plano get things done while staying under budget are recognized followed by a 25 years of service award for the Police Chief.  This is followed by citizen concerns which are given five minutes each with the council secretary giving the “one minute left” warning.  The issues range from a special use permit for a local tavern to complaints about city/HUD contractors used in a federally funded home rehabilitation program.  Then the council votes on the one agenda item which is to pay $75,000 for the removal of certain railroad ties along an intersection.  There is one abstention due to conflict of interest but the vote passes 7 to 0.  The mayor then adjourns the council which besides the mayor is made up of the City Manager, City Attorney and five councilmen/women.

Sunday, April 10

Pink roses are in bloom along the walkway leading to the chapel where my wife and I were married.  The roses are a contrast to the sandstone and white steepled New England styled church its spire topped by a gold cross against a sunny blue sky.  The crisp bell sounds of the carillon provide a nice accompaniment.

Saturday, April 9

My beloved University of Michigan Wolverines fell to the Minnesota – Duluth Bulldogs in the finals of the men’s NCAA hockey “Frozen Four” national championship in Saint Paul, Minnesota.  This despite my wearing my Wolverine ski band indoors in hot Texas while watching on ESPN.  It was a great game that went into overtime.  Michigan remains the school with the most hockey championships, ten – having last won in 1998 and going to the finals twice since then.  My friend said the loss was due to Michigan’s famous yellow striped helmets not being quite the same yellow shade as their yellow jerseys.  You have to wonder. 

Friday, April 8

Hallie is our newest member of the family.  She is a five year old tricolored (black, brown and white) Beagle we rescued.  Her tail is white at the tip and points straight up whenever she sees the neighborhood squirrels and rabbits which she desperately wants to chase.  I am learning that Beagles were bred to aid hunters and their tails are long and white tipped so as to be seen in tall grass or brush.  She wants to sleep on a bed at night and whines and claws to get on.  Since she is recovering from surgery for a separated hip she had when found by the shelter, we are waiting until she heals so that if she needs to jump off at night or falls off she will not hurt herself more.  Until then, she and I are roommates on the couch.  I have explained to her that once her leg is better she can sleep with my daughter (who can’t wait), as her bed is much lower.  So each night the last couple weeks before lights out Hallie and I review if we have had a good day, by that we mean if we have been nice and helpful to all those we have encountered and if we have smiled and laughed a lot.

Thursday, April 7

There is a public gazebo near our home that provides a wonderful gaze upon the surrounding gardens with their azaleas now in full bloom, red, pink and white.

Wednesday, April 6

               Antonio Damasio is a pioneering neuroscientist at the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California.  

His findings show that a sudden insight is the climax of intense brain states below the level of our awareness.  It seems to involve more neural cells than methodical reasoning.  Our brain may be working hardest when it appears unfocused.

Studies of neural signals reveal that our brain makes up its mind maybe ten seconds before we are aware of it.  Our most creative thoughts may be beyond our conscious control.

Tuesday, April 5

               The Tiki Lounge’s origins go back to California where Don Beach (born Ernest Gantt from New Orleans), opened a lounge after prohibition near Hollywood Boulevard decorated with items he had found scavenging the beach (nets, shells, palms) so as to bring a Polynesian feel to drinking and dining.  He named the place Don the Beachcomber.  Years later many World War Two veterans who had been to the Polynesian islands while serving, welcomed the style and it spread across the country.  Don opened another one in the then relatively unknown Waikiki Beach.  The torches, carved totems and coconut shells were added to the décor.  Don invented the Mai Tai and Zombie along with 82 other drinks.  Rum was the preferred base because it was the cheapest then.  

So now is a  good time to strum your ukulele in your little grass shack and sip the beverage below the umbrella tickling your nose.

Sunday, April 3

               Next week, Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan will be the site of the 3^rd Annual International Conference on Religion, Conflict and Peace, sponsored by the Common Bond Institute.  

I hope that word continues to spread that the world religions share more in common than they share differences.

            

Monday, April 4

               Hymn 707 of the United Methodist Hymnal is called Hymn of Promise.  It speaks of things unrevealed until their season: the flower in the bulb; the apple in the seed; the dawn in the darkness; our coming future in our past; for some things “God alone can see”.  They are beyond the visible.

Friday, April 1

               My sixth grade daughter shared with me that at school today a boy in her science class used ketchup to fake a bloody nose.

Saturday, April 2

               Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields,

And, until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Thursday, March 31

My favorite composers and their pieces I highly recommend:

J.S. Bach , Toccata in D Minor – Is there a better organ solo?

Mozart, Le Nozze Di Figaro -  Saw a great performance of the Marriage of Figaro at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis.

               Beethoven, Ode to Joy – The chorus in his ninth symphony is as uplifting as Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.

               Vivaldi, The Four Seasons – Three sections for each season for a total of twelve.  Love the calendar like symmetry.

               Debussy, Clair De Lune – mathematical perfection

               J. Straus II, An Der Schonen Blauen Donau – As featured in the theme to 2001, A Space Odyssey, the Berlin Philharmonic with Herbert Von Karajan recording.

               Schubert, Ave Maria – very spiritual

               Copland, Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring and Rodeo: Hoe-Down – I cannot think of a more American sound.

               Bernstein, West Side Story – Was stage manager for the University of Michigan production in 1982.

               Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue – I cannot think of a more New York sound.  Woody Allen’s Manhattan filmed in black and white was a tribute to New York and Gershwin’s music.  It came out right after Annie Hall and completed the three film series that included, Play It Again Sam.