“The only variable”
From The New York Times: “The only variable that can explain the high rate of mass shootings in America is its astronomical number of guns.”
Resolution
I’m determined to be resolute in 2018, to not yield to cultural or political despair, to maintain a sense of humor and irreverence as appropriate, to maintain a sense of reverence as appropriate, to speak up and out when the occasion calls for it, and to do what I can in my very limited sphere of influence to make a better world. How about you?
Good advice from Ray Suarez
“All right, who do I want to be at the end of the day: promoted and a jerk, or owning myself and owning the way I want to be in the world and maybe missing out on that promotion?”
“The Lives They Lived”
From The New York Times, a 2017 retrospective.
Happy Thanksgiving, Talia
“Useful, poetic,” &c.
Rachel Peden: “A garden makes me feel useful, poetic, comforted, overworked, justified for living, luxurious.”
Perfectionism and its discontents
From the podcast Innovation Hub : Eugenia Cheng, mathematician, talks about perfectionism and diminishing returns.
“On speaking terms with yourself”
Rachel Peden: “If you’re not on speaking terms with yourself, you need to do something about it.”
Fluke life
“I owe my thirty years of teaching to much more than my own smarts: to the fortunes, good or bad, of other jobseekers at the MLA and in on-campus interviews, to the faculty and administrators who decided to grant someone tenure, to a theory-minded person who took note of my Critical Inquiry acceptance, to the vagaries of business hours and seating arrangements in D.C. restaurants. And to curiosity about Nepali cuisine.”
Shoulders
I had already gone through the airport metal detector when a TSA agent asked to pat down my shoulders.
Goodbye, Smart Trend by Sunglow
Goodbye, Smart Trend by Sunglow dresser, a mid-century modern dresser that long outlived its time.
Talia Ivy Raab
Helping Puerto Rico
The PBS NewsHour lists ways to help hurricane victims in Puerto Rico.
New glasses
New glasses, so a new photograph in the sidebar.
One more Rick Veach story
One more story about Rick, which I just thought of.
Not famous
Emily Esfahani Smith: “We all have a circle of people whose lives we can touch and improve — and we can find our meaning in that.”
Rick Veach (1959–2017)
Rick Veach was our plumber and our heating and cooling specialist through almost all the twenty-seven years we’ve lived in our house. And he was our friend.
Donate to the Red Cross
The Red Cross has a page for donations to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey.
To all those on the Gulf Coast
Stay safe.
Eleanor Roosevelt on maturity
“Not to arrive at a clear understanding of one’s own values is a tragic waste. You have missed the whole point of what life is for.”
Words from Eleanor Roosevelt
“I honor the human race. When it faces life head-on, it can almost remake itself.”
Hortatory pavement
“Let’s Be Better Humans.”
Relationship advice
My son Ben, my newly married son Ben, mentioned a bit of advice that I gave him some time ago: “The wooing phase is never over.”
Wise words on W. 12th
Martin Kornfeld: “If we all do one random act of kindness daily we just might set the world in the right direction.”
Things I learned on my summer vacation
Asphalt “paves the way.”
Wise words on Fulham Road
Barnaby Capel-Dunn writes about wise words on Fulham Road.
A thought for these days
From Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
A very big day
“Once Per Day”
From xkcd.
Lawn mower troubleshooting
If mower fails to start: 1. Attempt to start mower, six, eight, or ten times. 2. Repeat step 1; then proceed to step 3.