My younger daughter coined a new phrase:
"When life hands you lemons...
throw them back at it, and make IT have a bad day."
How's this for an observation:
"Self-discipline is the art of telling yourself that you really have NO alternative."
Now if I can only think of a pithy saying to characterize self-control. That's much harder.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
That Dubai Ports Contract Debate
I have been hearing so many versions of what's going on with the sale of US ports administration to a UAE (Dubai) company that I want to point out to people one confusing point. The ports themselves will not be sold to Dubai - this is no reverse Louisiana Purchase, here. The stevedoreing, scheduling, and other administrative arrangements of the ports in question are currently being run by a British firm. The British firm has arranged to sell its contract to a Dubai, UAE firm. Security will still be performed as it is currently by the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs office. We will still own the land, and the same entities who know the ports and the routines will still be protecting us. I am not troubled by who will monitor and administer the contracts - I would like it to be done by a well-experienced group, which this Dubai firm is. So next time you hear someone protesting that "We've gone and SOLD our ports to Dubai", you'll know better. Even if we could control a private British company sale (which I don't know that we have the authority to do so) it's just the paperwork burden that is being sold, not the land rights nor the responsibility to implement security measures. There. I feel better now.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Birthday Party Haiku
Saturday was my eldest's 11th birthday so we got 2 rooms at a nearby hotel (how decadent of us!) - one for 6 girls and 1 adjoining room for the parents -- it's a great arrangement, enabling us to monitor the excitement and not get in the way (until circumstances might warrant). However, the plan of swimming until 11:00 and carrying the sleepy, wet girls off to bed did not materialize because there was something wrong with the pool heating system - it might as well have been outside, it was so cold. But a few girls and I braved it, even so.
After the pizza and cake, the girls were bored in the unscheduled non-swimming time so I had them write Haiku - three girls independently think of 5 syllables, 7 syllables and then another 5 syllables -- now this part is important - without consulting each other. Then they recite the Haiku in its proper order. The resulting poetry from chaos is amazing! I had them write about the time we spent swimming:
Dipping tiny toes
Fun games at the swimming pool
They said the heat worked
After the pizza and cake, the girls were bored in the unscheduled non-swimming time so I had them write Haiku - three girls independently think of 5 syllables, 7 syllables and then another 5 syllables -- now this part is important - without consulting each other. Then they recite the Haiku in its proper order. The resulting poetry from chaos is amazing! I had them write about the time we spent swimming:
Dipping tiny toes
Fun games at the swimming pool
They said the heat worked
Sunday, February 19, 2006
The Cartoons That Corrupted Hadleyburg
Since everyone else is commenting about (and protesting and defending) these offensive cartoons, I thought I'd put in my two pence: This event (with its regretful aftermath of the loss of several people's lives) illustrates that the flip side of the freedomsTO DO something is the freedom NOT TO DO IT. The presence of the first freedom gives meaning to the second as a conscious, deliberate act.
In Mark Twain's short story "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg" - the kind of goodness that exists in vacuum and is untested, is only a veneer of goodness, suitable only for bean-counters. When wrong is actually done in such a vacuum, there is no route to sorrow and forgiveness - it is a hell of sorts.
It can now be recognized that restraint in political cartooning is a conscious demonstration of respect, and has not (and was not) avoided in the past because it was verboten. It is perhaps more clear that people can be defined by what they do not do, as well as by their actions. British Muslims held a peaceful protest march - we should commend that for the thoughtful act that it was.
"Patience protects agains Error, as Clothes Protect against the Cold" - Da Vinci
My 6 year-old daughter's interpretation of the Da Vinci quotation: "If you think about it first, you might not get it wrong."
In Mark Twain's short story "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg" - the kind of goodness that exists in vacuum and is untested, is only a veneer of goodness, suitable only for bean-counters. When wrong is actually done in such a vacuum, there is no route to sorrow and forgiveness - it is a hell of sorts.
It can now be recognized that restraint in political cartooning is a conscious demonstration of respect, and has not (and was not) avoided in the past because it was verboten. It is perhaps more clear that people can be defined by what they do not do, as well as by their actions. British Muslims held a peaceful protest march - we should commend that for the thoughtful act that it was.
"Patience protects agains Error, as Clothes Protect against the Cold" - Da Vinci
My 6 year-old daughter's interpretation of the Da Vinci quotation: "If you think about it first, you might not get it wrong."
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