Archive for September, 2005
Stupid Bumbling Human Syndrome - and I’m Sorries
Boy, did I make a BIG gaff this afternoon.
A new friend invited me to join her at a meeting for one of the local city council candidates. My friend and I have other plans today, too, and so we are sort of hanging out this afternoon. After the meeting we went to a dress rehearsal for the San Diego Opera’s school education and entertainment program. It was a rehearsal for their cute version of Sleeping Beauty. But that jumps you too far ahead.
As we rounded the room making self-introductions at the politico gathering I made a joke that I thought (notice the italics) was funny. Many people laughed. It was one of those sorts of jokes that was so obviously a joke that it was funny. Or so I…
Bonds on Steroids…and Integrity
Recently, during a press conference, the San Francisco Giants baseball player, Barry Bonds said he thinks Congress is wasting its time investigating the use of steroids by professional baseball players since there are much bigger issues at hand. He cited the reconstruction needs after Hurricane Katrina.
To say that recovering after the major hurricane is more important than baseball is trite, not least because it is so obvious the point hardly needs making. But, Barry Bonds doesn’t understand what is really at stake, or if he does, he doesn’t want us to pay attention to it.
What is at Stake
The idea that “baseball is just a game” misses the larger point of the steroids-in-baseball issue. The issue is about integrity and what is humanly possible. Baseball players who use steroids are…
All Valuable Hearts
I just witnessed something fascinating; during Judge Roberts’ nomination hearings in the US Senate, a senator from South Carolina offered his views about the value of all human hearts.
He’s not a cardiologist. No - he’s talking about the inherent, inalienable value of a person, regardless of their belief system. Regardless of one’s value system, they have a good heart. No small idea, that.
Let ‘er Rip
Often in this kind of exploration someone (a little too) quickly rebuts, “What about Hitler? Did he have a good heart?” That question would move us way beyond what I can share with you in this blog. Plus, it’s an example so far outside what most of us would deal with in our middle- and upper-class lives that I won’t delve into it here. Senator Graham…
Hanging Out with Problems
In my office now sit two large boxes full of Activate Potential note pads. I bought them as promotional items - the useful kind, not the kind you pawn off on your kids or toss in the trash the minute you are out of eye-shot of the dummy who jammed ‘em into your hands.
No, these are useful - and I’m excited to have them so I can give them out. Thing is, I’ve had them for two months. I started with 1000 and now have about 995 left. If I am so excited to give them out, why do I still have almost all of them? Well, because they don’t fit in No. 10 envelopes, of course.
For months these boxes have sat. For months I’ve done nothing with them.
For months…
Out From Behind Our Masks
I have had a terrific weekend. Saturday I took a Norwegian friend out for a day-long trek into the Anza-Borrego Desert in the Jeep. It’s a beautiful place, rugged, remote, expansive, humbling. I find it a tonic for the ceaseless ruminations and pressures of an urban life.
Yesterday and today I worked a lot on school work - many more hours than anticipated. I am not sure if the pre-work for the upcoming course is ridiculous in volume or I’m obsessive in my approach to it.
I received an email with pictures from a past client cum friend who is living her dream out in Maine. Once again she was knee-deep in a whale necropsy - and front and center when releasing rejuvenated seals. What an inspiration.
And, I finished…
