There are many ways to celebrate and honor the true purpose of Memorial Day in the Los Angeles area. I suggest a simple drive to reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day. Drive Sepulveda Boulevard between Ventura and Wilshire. This short drive passes three important landmarks.
Los Angeles National Cemetary: On Memorial Day, flags are placed on every grave site. Veterans have been buried here from 1889 to 1973. There is no better place to reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day.
The Getty Center: One of the foundations of American Culture is to give to the greater good. What the Getty Foundation started and has developed is one of the great art institutions in the world. American Military sacrifices have been made to protect American Culture and way of life.
Skirball Cultural Center: Not only is the Skirball a major cultural institution in Los Angeles, it has the primary goal to focus on Jewish Culture and History. American involvement in World War II helped prevent further horrors of the Holocaust.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
1945 National Geographic--Borneo Housewife
I came across this interesting book, Mark Jenkins, editor, Worlds to Explore: Classic Tales of Travel & Adventure from National Geographic (Washington, National Geographic Society, 2006). It is a collection of articles in National Geographic Magazine, including Theodore Roosevelt on Africa in 1911, Edmund Hillary on Everest in 1954, and Anne Morrow Lindbergh on North Atlantic Flight in 1934, among other adventurers.
One article that caught my attention immediate was "Keeping House in Borneo" by Virginia Hamilton (a.k.a. Mrs. Gerrit Middelberg) in September 1945. She gives a great account of living in Borneo by someone who lived there full time. The beauty and challenges of the wildlife as well as the diversity of the plants.
One quote caused me to laugh: "Four inch centipedes were at home in the dampness under potted plants, making gardening not always pleasant. Wooly spiders and black scorpions sometimes found their way indoors. But when I found five young cobras in three days sunning themselves on the doorsill and realized tht the parents must be near by, I nearly moved out . . . "
One article that caught my attention immediate was "Keeping House in Borneo" by Virginia Hamilton (a.k.a. Mrs. Gerrit Middelberg) in September 1945. She gives a great account of living in Borneo by someone who lived there full time. The beauty and challenges of the wildlife as well as the diversity of the plants.
One quote caused me to laugh: "Four inch centipedes were at home in the dampness under potted plants, making gardening not always pleasant. Wooly spiders and black scorpions sometimes found their way indoors. But when I found five young cobras in three days sunning themselves on the doorsill and realized tht the parents must be near by, I nearly moved out . . . "
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Group Artist Demonstration at Autry; California Art Club
A link to the Art Club Event is here: http://www.californiaartclub.org/2012/02/paint-outsculpt-out-at-the-autry/
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Og Mandino on Self-Esteem
From The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino (1975)
Why are we unhappy? I will repeat it for you. We are unhappy because we no longer have our self-esteem. We are unhappy because we no longer believe we are a special miracle, a special creation of God. We have become cattle, numbers, punch cards, slaves, ghetto residents all. We look in our mirrors and no longer see the godlike qualities that once were so evident. We have lost faith in ourselves. We have really evolved into the naked apes that Desmond Morris wrote about.
Why are we unhappy? I will repeat it for you. We are unhappy because we no longer have our self-esteem. We are unhappy because we no longer believe we are a special miracle, a special creation of God. We have become cattle, numbers, punch cards, slaves, ghetto residents all. We look in our mirrors and no longer see the godlike qualities that once were so evident. We have lost faith in ourselves. We have really evolved into the naked apes that Desmond Morris wrote about.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Beating Heart Cadavers--Discover Magazine
The cover story of the May issue of Discover Magazine deals with how beating heart cadavers are used for organ donations. It gives a good overview on the evolving medical definitions of "dead". In the past several years, about 22 women who were brain dead were still able to gestate a fetus, including one case of 107 days after brain death.
Another blog post on Democratic Underground touches on the issues raised in the article: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002467953
Another blog post on Democratic Underground touches on the issues raised in the article: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002467953
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Favorite Quotes for 2012
There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.
--Richard Bach
Quiet leadership is not an oxymoron.
--Susan Cain
Commitment is an act, not a word.
--Jean-Paul Sartre
Life is one long training session in preparation for what will come. Life and death lose their meaning; there are only challenges to be met with joy and overcome with tranquility.
--Paulo Coelho
Argue your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours
--Richard Bach
--Richard Bach
Quiet leadership is not an oxymoron.
--Susan Cain
Commitment is an act, not a word.
--Jean-Paul Sartre
Life is one long training session in preparation for what will come. Life and death lose their meaning; there are only challenges to be met with joy and overcome with tranquility.
--Paulo Coelho
Argue your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours
--Richard Bach
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Quotes from Damrosch's "Service Included"
A couple good quotes from Phoebe Damrosch Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter (New York: William Morrow, 2007)
In my opinion, a good diner must pass three tests. First, it must have more booths than tables. Second, the patty melt should be revered; I should not have to specify rye or choose a cheese. Most important, a chocolate milkshake must be made with chocolate ice cream--not vanilla with chocolate syrup--and it has to be served with the remaining shake in the silver blender cup in which it was made.
We spent money on two things: food and something we soon named "everyday luxury." Under this heading fell things like eight-dollar toothpaste. Yes toothpaste can be had for a quarter of that, but we decided that if it increased our love of live at least twice a day, it was worth it. The softest underwear. Good coffee, butter, jam, and mustard. Cabs. Flowers. Slab bacon. Triple-ply toilet paper. Big fluffy towels and bathrobes. Magazine subscriptions. Cuff links and silver bracelets. Wine. Day trips. Of course, everyday luxury is in the eye of the beholder. For some people, it might be boxed cereal, a dye job, or day care. For others, it might be a private jet or a Calder mobile.
In my opinion, a good diner must pass three tests. First, it must have more booths than tables. Second, the patty melt should be revered; I should not have to specify rye or choose a cheese. Most important, a chocolate milkshake must be made with chocolate ice cream--not vanilla with chocolate syrup--and it has to be served with the remaining shake in the silver blender cup in which it was made.
We spent money on two things: food and something we soon named "everyday luxury." Under this heading fell things like eight-dollar toothpaste. Yes toothpaste can be had for a quarter of that, but we decided that if it increased our love of live at least twice a day, it was worth it. The softest underwear. Good coffee, butter, jam, and mustard. Cabs. Flowers. Slab bacon. Triple-ply toilet paper. Big fluffy towels and bathrobes. Magazine subscriptions. Cuff links and silver bracelets. Wine. Day trips. Of course, everyday luxury is in the eye of the beholder. For some people, it might be boxed cereal, a dye job, or day care. For others, it might be a private jet or a Calder mobile.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
"Think Like a Genius" by Todd Siler
Think Like a Genius
The Ultimate User's Manual for Your Brain
by Todd Siler
1996
Excerpts and Quotes Referenced in the Book
John Muir: Climb the mountains and get their tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flow into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.
Albert Einstein: The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why.
Jasper Johns: Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it.
Author: The baseball can symbolize a long-term goal. If you can hit it squarely, it will go far. The beachball can represent a short-term, less ambitious goal. You can hit it easily, but you can't knock it out of the ballpark to score a home run.
Author: Look to children's stories for Inspiration: Brothers Grimm's Fairy Tale, A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and Norton Juster's The Phantom Toolbooth.
Oscar Wilde: Definition of a cynic: A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Author: The television set has become part of our family, a kind of mechanical pet that we care for and seem to enjoy with almost as much affection as a real pet. We feed it out valuable time and give it our undivided attention. We talk about its input as if it were an intimate friend.
The Ultimate User's Manual for Your Brain
by Todd Siler
1996
Excerpts and Quotes Referenced in the Book
John Muir: Climb the mountains and get their tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flow into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.
Albert Einstein: The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why.
Jasper Johns: Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it.
Author: The baseball can symbolize a long-term goal. If you can hit it squarely, it will go far. The beachball can represent a short-term, less ambitious goal. You can hit it easily, but you can't knock it out of the ballpark to score a home run.
Author: Look to children's stories for Inspiration: Brothers Grimm's Fairy Tale, A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and Norton Juster's The Phantom Toolbooth.
Oscar Wilde: Definition of a cynic: A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Author: The television set has become part of our family, a kind of mechanical pet that we care for and seem to enjoy with almost as much affection as a real pet. We feed it out valuable time and give it our undivided attention. We talk about its input as if it were an intimate friend.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Covey on Deming: 14 Points
In Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen Covey looks at W. Edward Deming's 14 Points connected to Total Quality.
1.) Create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service, with the aim to be competitive, to stay in business, and to provide jobs
2.) Adopt the new philosophy
3.) Cease dependence on inspection
4.) End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone.
5.) Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service
6.) Institute job training
7.) Teach and institute leadership
8.) Drive out fear
9.) Break down barriers between departments
10.) Eliminate slogans
11.) Eliminate numerical goals and quotas
12.) Remove barriers that rob hourly works, as well as management, of their right to pride of workmanship.
13.) Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone
14.) Institute an action plan
1.) Create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service, with the aim to be competitive, to stay in business, and to provide jobs
2.) Adopt the new philosophy
3.) Cease dependence on inspection
4.) End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone.
5.) Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service
6.) Institute job training
7.) Teach and institute leadership
8.) Drive out fear
9.) Break down barriers between departments
10.) Eliminate slogans
11.) Eliminate numerical goals and quotas
12.) Remove barriers that rob hourly works, as well as management, of their right to pride of workmanship.
13.) Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone
14.) Institute an action plan
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Following the Law, Plato on Socrates, from Crito
From Crito, by Plato
A friend, Crito, approached Socrates who is in prison condemned to death. The friend as an escape plan. Socrates does not take the offer.
Nay, but if they who call themselves friends are truly friends, they surely will. "Listen, then, Socrates, to us who have brought you up. Think not of life and children first, and of justice afterwards, but of justice first, that you may be justified before the princes of the world below. For neither will you nor any that belong to you be happier or holier or juster in this life, or happier in another, if you do as Crito bids. Now you depart in innocence, a sufferer and not a doer of evil; a victim, not of the laws, but of men. But if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for injury, breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us, and wronging those whom you ought least to wrong, that is to say, yourself, your friends, your country, and us, we shall be angry with you while you live, and our brethren, the laws in the world below, will receive you as an enemy; for they will know that you have done your best to destroy us. Listen, then, to us and not to Crito."
A friend, Crito, approached Socrates who is in prison condemned to death. The friend as an escape plan. Socrates does not take the offer.
Nay, but if they who call themselves friends are truly friends, they surely will. "Listen, then, Socrates, to us who have brought you up. Think not of life and children first, and of justice afterwards, but of justice first, that you may be justified before the princes of the world below. For neither will you nor any that belong to you be happier or holier or juster in this life, or happier in another, if you do as Crito bids. Now you depart in innocence, a sufferer and not a doer of evil; a victim, not of the laws, but of men. But if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for injury, breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us, and wronging those whom you ought least to wrong, that is to say, yourself, your friends, your country, and us, we shall be angry with you while you live, and our brethren, the laws in the world below, will receive you as an enemy; for they will know that you have done your best to destroy us. Listen, then, to us and not to Crito."
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