Bon et beau

Over the years words compund their meanings. The word beautiful is an example of this. It started out 2500 years ago in Latin as the word bonus, which means "good" at its root.

Roman troops carried Latin to England and the language took root there alongside Anglo-Saxon. So the Anglo-Saxons began adopting some of the Latin into their language. Bonus was one of those words, and it took two routes to get to the present. The Angol-Saxon people began pronouncing the o in bonus as oo (but spelled ou) in the Middle Ages. So, the form boun is found as in the word bounty, which has come to mean reward or something good in great quantities. During the early years of the Middle Ages, in French, the o in bonus was pronounced and spelled as eau. So, the root was beaun. But, the n was heard as an l, so there was some confusion with the root bel, which means very pretty. From there it wasn't much longer before the word beauty was born. l and n were both dropped from pronunciation, leaving beau. After the French conquered the English in 1066 ACE, a good number of words took on their French spellings even though many of the Anglo-Saxon words remained unchanged. English adopted beau (but they still kept bou in their native tongue) added the suffix -ty as a suffix carrying the grammatical meaning to indicate the word as a noun. Finally, a second suffix, -ful was added to make the word an adjective.

There were a lot of derivational gymnastics taking place for beautiful to mean what it does today. As for me, I like the fact that bounty and beautiful share the same root. If you bundle the two words together, you get the idea of someone strikingly attractive containing great quantities of goodness.

I know this person. And what a bonus!

Translation

Translation is very nice because it takes words that a person doesn't understand, that is not in the person's grasp, and makes it come to life for the person.

One of the mightiest motivators on Earth is the idea that the desires of the heart will transpire. So I get up every morning thinking that I am a step closer to my heart's desire being translated to moments in time that come to life.

Je le veux tellement! Lo quiero tan mucho!

A part of the brain for ethics?

I read a chapter in a book today of why the brain developed an ethical part to it. It was an interesting chapter. It addressed the fact that people really do want to live together peaceably, but that it has to be on its guard since there are those few people who would endanger the species because they are deceivers and would thin out the ranks. So the brain has a way to construct behavior that is considered fair. Violators of this notion of fair become easy to spot, and therefore, to control or weed out.

This does seem to support the idea that people in America have of everyone having certain inalienable rights and equality. And while equality is a good philosophical ideal, I know about pecking orders. All I have to do is visit any school of any level and I see those playing fair and those violators who have to be controlled or weeded out.

Fortuantely, another principle is in play at the same time that young people are figuring out the nature of life (and that part of the brain that deals with ethics). Cream rises to the top. Very fortunately this prinicple is more powerful and produces more people for the ranks than those who get confused about ethics and let unethical influences override the ethical developmental process.

That keeps hope alive that the next generation will not only survive but succeed, keeping the future bright for those young children who will inherit tomorrow's society.

Better, more efficient, happier

Rocket propulsion has advanced over the years. When rockets first began being launched, jet fuel propelled 2 stages out of earth's atmosphere. Then there were 3 stages, using more fuel. But, fuel is heavy. So, when the shuttle needed a boost to space, attaching the shuttle to a rocket designed just for the fuel to lift it, detach from it, and fall to Earth, became the next step in the evolution of propulsion.

Then, came the era of the space probes being sent to planets, comets, and deep space. They were lighter, so they didn't use as much fuel, and they were going so far that fuel would burn out far before they reached their destinations. So other propulsion methods were used like gravity sling. Now it has been discovered how to generate power in the probe itself to create an ionized power source having very little weight and recreating its own ionized power indefinitely.

Advancement of propulsion of rockets is exactly how indiviual wisdom in life is formulated. Wisdom, like rockets, eventually generates its own knowledge base that works to make us able to live better, more efficient, happier lives. So, when it comes to knowing what is good for our psyches and who we allow to help shape our existence, our latter judgment is far superior to our former.

Beautiful when it happens

Every so often in life's journey people enter it that have profound effects and light up the night sky. Sometimes it is parents who encourage and support. I had two of those. Sometimes it's a professor who taught distinctly and truthfully. I had one of those. Sometimes a friend comes along who sticks through thick and thin. I have one of those. And, sometimes it's someone very amazing who brings brilliance to the path.



6 1/2 billion people on earth. Amazingly a handful stand out enough to think of daily or influence me to become better than I would normally be.

Our highest thoughts

Alla. Arriba.

There's a new series on CBS called Off the Map. American doctors are dedicating their time and healing talents to a little known place in South America. They help the people in a very poor rural area with all their health problems. One way the rural population gets from one place to another is with a cable strung from one mountainside to another or to the valley below with a little chair hanging from it. But, the people are proud of their mode transportation. It has served them well in the absence of roads and cars. In the initial episode of the series, one of the natives of the land was asked how he planned to go to some people who needed medical help. He pointed to the cable above and shouted the Spanish words meaning, "There. Above."

When thinking of times that might represent the rural places in events that come our way, and we need that healing thought to go on, all we have to do is look to those zenith moments and that person who brought the happiest episodes of our lives. Our minds immediately bring up the healing pictures of those stretches of time and elevate them, shouting, "Alla. Arriba..." so that we look up and receive glimpses of our most elevated hours.

Language of a liar

I have been following the disappearance of a teenager from Colorado City on the news for the last week. Finally, tonight CBS showed two interviews of the parents. So, I put my forensic ears on while the interviews were going on to listen for lies.

The biological father used language that repeated itself, the tell-tale sign that truth is being told. His actions matched the words he was saying. He was going to malls in Odessa, Midland, and Big Spring to pass out fliers to find his precious daughter.

The mother used language that did not repeat, the sure-fire sign that lies are being told. Her actions matched. She was worried about her own credibility with the media and community. She's living with a boyfriend that has at least once threatened to kill both mother and daughter. She and her boyfriend hosted a New Year's party even though the daughter had been gone for a long time at that point.

Even without the matching events to go with the language, the words of the mother ring as loudly as a bell begging for someone to completely exploit every aspect of her story about the events causing her daughter to be missing. She knows a lot of information that she is withholding. The language of arousal and fear are borne in her utterances - arousal that people are snooping around her for the truth and fear that if she is not careful, she will be found out.

As the story unfolds, we'll see where it leads. But, I am predicting at this point that the road to truth goes through the mother, not the father. I would bet that she knows who, when, where, and how. I hope someone soon exploits the knowledge that she has so that justice can be served.

Whatever happened to nas, nat, nevre, no man?

Winston Churchill is reported to have been interrupted once after saying that a particular situation was not acceptable when he said, "That is a problem I won't put up with." The aide interrupting Churchill reminded the prime minister that it wasn't proper to end a sentence with a preposition. Churchill rephrased his statement, saying "OK, then, that is a problem up with which I will not put." Oh, Churchill made the right transposition of words, but there is something so unnatural about that correction. And, in America, the natural way to speak is by ending a sentence with a preposition, regardless of what English teachers who wear ankle-length skirts and tennis shoes say about proper grammar.

I think it is arrogant beyond belief for a very small percentage of the people to decide what is proper when 98% of the speakers of English in America have decided what is going to be practiced. A sham if you ask me. There are other inane rules like the one about the preposition. Try to remember not to split an infinitive the next time you speak, or write for that matter. And don't put a negative meaning word twice in a sentence (the double negative) even though there is this example from Anglo-Saxon English, "nas, nat, nevre, no man" [four negative words - translated to mean something emphatic like "not one, single, solitary person"]. Somewhere the skirt and tennis shoes crowd elitely and haughtily decided to change the rules of our English speaking forefathers. And there are a great many other examples that could be cited.

I understand about conventions, in both language and life. I know why they are needed to a certain extent. I don't have to like it, but I understand. They seem to convolute what is apparently simple sometimes, but I see the big picture.

End of time

The end of time is used mostly to refer to a very future point in which the time-space continuum disappears. For religious people that would depict a judgment day scenario, for scientists, the death of the sun or collision of the Milky Way galaxy with another galaxy.

But, the end of time can happen while a person is alive if a situation so pleasant and desirable happens that time goes unheeded. I know that certain small events occur for a couple of hours or so in which people don't notice time, so they say time flew by. But, I am speaking of living in a situation in which time really is not paid any attention to, not merely for a few hours, but for months and years.

That's pretty unimaginable. So, should a person find himself/herself in such a situation, (s)he would be the most contented, fortunate person on earth because the rest of the people are waiting on the judgment or death of the sun.

And so... unimaginably... do you have the time? ... I really don't know.

Idylls making me a king

Idylls, like any word in English has more than one meaning. It started out having two meanings, one for love a things simple, but picturesque, the other for a poem that depicts the charming life of rural living. These meanings originated back in England when living in a beautiful countryside was the rule rather than the exception. An idyllic life was standard for most people.

While the Civil War was raging in America and life was far from idyllic, Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote the classic Idylls of the King, a poem about King Arthur, his knights, and the beautiful Guinevere. It was a series of 12 idylls (short poems) that highlighted different events or different knights like Lancelot. After Idylls of the King, the word took on a new meaning. No longer was the word idyll just a poem about the charm of country living but about the charm of knights riding across the enchanting countryside with a noble cause. And, of course, one could not miss the way the poem opened by speaking of the charm that the beautiful Guinevere brought to the entire country. The following lines are taken from the beginning idyll after the dedication. Arhtur is riding into battle with his knights and sees Guinevere for the first time.



But Arthur, looking downward as he passed,
Felt the light of her eyes into his life
smite him on the sudden... [suddenly gazing on him]

Arthur fights the battle, but after it was over, he cannot get the young maiden's eyes out of his mind. Finally, he knows that she inspires him to be a better ruler, as in the lines below.

And, reigning with one will in everything

We might have power on this dark land to lighten it,

And power on this dead world to make it live.

After Idylls of the King, idyllic could mean simply something or someone charming or someone who helps someone else live life in beauty with hope and power, as the last lines above bear out.

Growing up, I thought that idyll and ideal were synonyms, a modern spelling replacing an archaic spelling. Although they share a few semantic domains, they are not synonyms. Ideal means something perfect or something only dreamed of. Idyll can now mean something pastoral, a poem of something pastoral, something or someone with charm, or the charm of someone who adds beauty and power and hope to bring light to "dark land" and life to a "dead world." So, if someone is living an idyllic life, what kind of life is he living? A country life? A charmed life? A life with someone who helps him live beautifully with power and hope? Of course, Tennyson used them all as a triple pun.

I don't know how many idylls will be in my life's poem. But, I do know that the most recent idyll contains a line or two about inspiration as if drawn from Tennyson's poem. It would otherwise be a dark land. Instead, I am living an idyllic life.

The masterfully pieced story

I watched a video today called Journey to 10000 BC. It pieced together quite a number of discoveries from 3 different fields in order for the historian to tell a cohesive story. It started with an excavation of a mammoth, moved to some of the bones found in various spots in North America for the short-faced bear and the saber-toothed tiger, then ended with projectile points for spears found in Clovis, NM. Then it depicted ice coring that showed a lot about atmospheric changes from 10000 BCE. Finally it portrayed different scientists discussing a couple of theories based on geologic finds as to why the people of 10000 BCE disappeared from view. It was masterfully pieced together to tell a cohesive story of the people who lived at the end of the last ice age. Since we don't have written records to tell us of the time, scientists are compelled to label their ideas as speculative, open to interpretation, but plausible.

When it comes to seeing Journey to 2011 MH (Matters of the Heart), I can piece together some fantastic events and emotions that make the current story cohesive. Without them, though, the story fails. The story bogs down and is stripped of any life. It would be a speculative story, not worth telling, and should disappear from view. But with those events and emotions, the story is full of life and rich beyond measure.

Who would want a story of mere facts and events devoid of fantastic events and emotions? Any day of the week, I want those fantastic events and emotions that make my current story rich beyond measure. The story then becomes desirable, not merely plausible.

Where the palm trees grow

The boulevard leading into and away from the Harlingen airport is lined with palm trees. There are palms adorning the terminal entrance as well. Something about the palm trees lining the entrance and the terminal take a person's mind to relaxing, comforting thoughts. They invite one to continue right on down the boulevard to the white sand beaches of South Padre Island.

Flying or driving into Orlando is a sight to see. Everything is lush and green. The main roads surrounding the airport are planted with many different kinds of trees and plants. But the way leading to Disney World is breathtakingly beautiful. The lanes sport palm trees all the way from the center of town to the amusement park. It makes one feel that there is no other moment to be lived in than the present one. Breezes are warm. Thoughts are of relaxation and pleasure.

Pictures of the countries along the equator are so inviting. They beckon a person to come and enjoy the climate and the easy atmosphere found in its forests and beaches. There, palm trees' broad leaves sway in the sunshine laden with coconuts, mesmerizing one with those laid-back feelings.

As the new year begins its unveiling of events, I have palm trees lining my thoughts. Well... not really palm trees, but mesmerizing thoughts that take my breath away. They yield the same effect as the warm breezes, relaxing atmosphere, and coconuts and broad leaves gently swaying in the sun. These pleasurable thoughts are blended into my soul, stored deep within, trapped in the chambers of my heart. No matter what happens this coming year, there will be nothing better than the palm trees lining my thoughts today.

Happy New Year

Here the old year ends. Here the new year begins. The trail is laid bare behind us. The trail is still hidden before us. My wish for those on the trail - satisfaction from accomplishment. Happy New Year!

Fabric defined

Myelin is a lipid that covers an axon in the brain. Its presence means that an electrical impulse carrying a thought has been triggered a great number of times. When an axon is myelinated, it means that the group of thoughts represented in the synapses surrrounding the axon have been visited and revisited. Thoughts that don't get visited much don't get myelinated. The myelination process ensures a thought's preservation.

Thoughts that are myelinated can be considered memories I guess. But, really those thoughts are visited so often that they seem like they were just formed yesterday. I have those thoughts, the ones that seem like they were just formed yesterday. They're intense. They're the stuff of my dreams and wishes and greatest desires. They give me peace in the early morning hours when I wake and start pondering life's moves. They keep me going because they provide life in an otherwise mundane world. They elevate my performance.

That's why these myelinated thoughts have become a part of my fabric, indelibly imprinted, ready at a moment's notice to be
revisited. :)

Proof in the pudding

I was watching Craig Ferguson last night when he was trying to take the audience back in time. To do so, he wanted to refer to a book. He began this exercise in recall with, "For those of you who remember what a book is... " I couldn't believe my ears. Ever since the year 2000 I have been predicting the death of reading and writing. I started a book to that effect, but other endeavors at the time took me away from that effort. I predicted then that a 10-year war would happen from 2007 to 2017 between those who hang on to the past and archaic ways and those who move forward (particularly in education, but in law as well). It's now underway. At the war's end it will be clear what the next phase for recording stories and business transactions will be. The status quo will either be vindicated or decisively buried.

In the year 2008, just one year after the war started, GE announced that they had figured out how to transmit holographic images. They thought it would take 3-5 years to make a device to record and store the images that have been transmitted and then make it commercially feasible. To me that was the verification I needed to substantiate my prediction. 2011 might just see such a device. When this device appears it will be both the death knell and the death nail for reading and writing in the functions we use it for today.

And when people in a society start joking about things that the young people don't know, it is an indication of the beginnings of what is real because what appears in popular language is slightly behind the reality of the event being talked about. I've been waiting for a long time for popular language to start reflecting signs of the reality of the disappearance of reading and writing. Thank you Craig Ferguson for providing the first sign.

And then came the real clincher. In this morning's Midland Reporter Telegram, the editorial cartoon pictured two adolescent boys wearing hooded sweatshirts with smart phones in their hands. The taller boy, still looking at his phone, commented to the shorter boy, "The guy who invented Facebook is Time magazine's Person of the Year." The shorter boy didn't even look up from his phone and replied, "What's a magazine?"

For those who have heard me talk about this matter - I'm just saying...

A chapter of time

This week is typically the week of greatest reflection during the year. Radio stations play the top songs of the year so that you can get closure for these songs and move on to the next great songs during the next chapter of time, the next year. Television specials show the stars who have died during the year. It also airs reruns of the best talk shows or the most watched episodes of all the series from the last season. Car dealers try to get rid of the last of their 2010 models. Retail stores are trying to clear their inventory of last year's fashions. We get a great big dose of the year we are finishing causing us to reflect on what the year has meant.

Self-reflection is good. It causes us to see some of our behaviors and it either makes us pleased so that we repeat those behaviors or makes us displeased so that we change those behaviors. It helps us cast or recast events that have happened so that we can extract the meaningful portions of those events for recall or allow the less than meaningful portions to die the memory death.

This kind of pruning is good. It builds our characters one year at a time. It also allows us to compare the times from other years with the times we have had in the current year. It allows us to rank the year's experiences against previous years. That exercise highlights one year above others and puts one year above all other years. 2010 was a good year in a number of ways. It will be a springboard year to other years, I am sure. But...

For 2009 I am eternally grateful.

Cheers

Cars this morning were at a minimum. But as the day wore on, more and more cars joined the people out and about. Traffic seemed a little slower. I am hoping that meant that people were relaxing and enjoying their holiday and just being a little more leisure with their driving in order to make it back to their homes in order to share in Christmas cheer. Being Christmas, I am really hoping people saw the Christmas tree and thought of happiness, opened a gift and experienced a smile, and ate a meal and felt satisfaction. That's what Christmas cheer should bring.

Wishing Christmas was a success and people felt cheered.

Anticipating the delight of the morning

Christmas Eve... The night before the delight of the morning when people's faith in humanity is restored with the giving of gifts... and tales of Santa's visit... and gifts and sweets galore.

It will be a good night with one of those anticipating smiles adorning my face for the children who will wake with the delight of morning gifts. Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, and for those with Italian heritage... Buon Natale! Oh, and Merry Christmas ahead of time for enjoying those wonderful gifts.

Giving the world in a morsel

As a teenager, he apprenticed in a candy factory in Italy, and learned, among other things, how to make chocolate. At age 20 he moved with his wife to Uruguay and a year later to Peru and started his own coffee and chocolate store. For 10 years he was a successful coffee and chocolate store owner, but stories of a Californian gold rush got the best of his risk-taking spirit, and he moved to San Francisco in search of gold. He started his coffee and chocolate store there in 1849 out of a tent for all those who had come to Sutter's Mill seeking their fortune in gold. 4 years later he established a second store and dropped the product that was dragging his other sales down - coffee. That left him with two very successful chocolate stores. In 1892, Domenico Ghirardelli retired and left his stores to his 3 sons.

In that same year in Switzerland, Rudolff Sprungli left his luxury confectionary stores to his two sons. They in turn merged with a fellow Swiss entrepreneur's luxury chocolate interestes and established a chocolate conglomerant known as Lindt-Sprungli Chocolatier. By the 1990s Lindt-Sprungli Chocolatiers wanted a world-wide market so they bought an Italian chocolate interest and they bought Ghirardelli's in the United States. Now truly, there was a worldwide luxury chocolate people could depend on as having that luxury the best of Swiss taste in chocolates.

The luxury Swiss chocolate for the Lindt-Sprungli network retained the Ghirardelli name because of its quality and excellence. It's the best in the world, the most special chocolate candy made on the face of the earth. It's made for that one amazing person in someone's life. Anytime is a good time to give this very special treat, but birthdays are a great occasion to give excellence in sweet taste to such an amazing individual.

A world class person deserves world class confections.

Deep night peace

In the deep night hours, silence is the currency. Sounds are meaningful since everyone is asleep. But there are no sounds tonight. The neighborhood households are in slumber. These hours are for thinking tender thoughts... Thoughts of what has brought contentedness, peace, and purpose to the otherwise mundane routines... Thoughts of a Godgyfu.

Thank you.

I'm a Hopi

The Hopi Indians have a myth that they came from the star constellation the Pleides. The Hopi ancestors have recorded their Star People by drawing them on rock cliffs on their reservation. Star people came from the Pleides to show them how to live and to protect them in a time of great catastrophe.

That sounds outrageous on the surface to a modern, average person. Who knows about the truth of that myth. But, in literature a myth is a story generated by a people to aid in telling their origins or stories to answer the great questions of why certain aspects of the world are the way they are, such as "Where did evil come from?" and "Why do we have two kinds of humans, male and female?" Such stories are presumed to be rooted in truth even if most of the story is metaphorical in nature.

Star People are a great concept. We all need such a story in our lives... people who teach us things about living we might otherwise miss on our way through life. We could name the star people that have helped us stretch our horizons and enjoy life in a way that we otherwise would have missed had those unique people not intersected with our lives. That helps us in living beyond ourselves. And we are eternally grateful.

Sparkle in your life

Snowflakes are in abundance at this season of the year. They appear on Christmas trees, in windows, as glitter, on backs of card decks, and dangling from ceilings. Kids love to make them in school and hang them or tape them on doors and walls. They are fun to see everywhere you turn.

Actual snowflakes stick to your clothes, coats, tobaggans, and scarves. They catch everyone's attention as they glisten in the light. They melt into shiny pearls of water on your articles of clothing to let you know you're a star.

Love those snowflakes for their fun, cheerful, shining effect! And if snowflakes were people, you would love them and notice them for reflecting light into your life through all those little things they do just like those little shiny pearls of water glistening on all your articles of clothing. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Spotting great value

On the Science channel there is a show called the Meteorite Men. The premise of the show is that a pair of men go to sites where meteorites have fallen and gather them to sell. Big chunks of meteorite material bring in from $500 to $1500 per chunk. The whole show is about how the men select the sites and then go gather the meteorites. The commentator on the show tallies how much the men make at a site as they gather the meteorites. The pair are fairly rich by now.

But I like the principle of what the men are doing... culling meteorite material from regular or even beautiful rocks. The meteorites are different, so it is nearly always easy to spot them. However, the two men still use a Geiger counter to locate the rocks since many of the meteorites are buried.

I do know what it is like to see common material everywhere and then spot great value amidst the regular. Once you spot essence of great value, there's no way the regular holds your attention anymore no matter what kind of material the regular is made of. What is celestial is simply more valuable because it is rare, uncommon... something of splendor!

Missing Macy's

This week I think Imust have seen no less than 50 commercials for Macy's. I haven't lived in an area where a Macy's exists, but I know it is a really good department store. And a year and a half ago I was shown the merits of Macy's.

The first two weeks of December last year I was in New England. Just 10 blocks away from where I was staying was a beautiful, three-story Macy's. It was beautiful with all the Christmas trimmings and glittering displays. So, of course I visited the store. I ended up buying the gift I was proudest of last year from Macy's.

This year is different. I'm not in New England 10 blocks away from Macy's. I don't live in an area close to a Macy's. So as I watch these 50 commercials for Macy's it takes my mind back to the beautiful, three-story store with sublime Christmas trimmings and glittering displays and the gift I was proudest of buying last year.

I'm through buying my gifts for this year. With every commercial for Macy's I see, I wish I could have shopped there. I miss buying from Macy's and choosing the gift I would be proudest of this year.

No saying

Last night I went to get a couple of gifts for Chrsitmas. I was thinking that the crowds would be horrendous this close to Christmas. That's why I couldn't believe it when I went in to make the purchases and not many people were in the store. This was a mall store where one would expect to see many shoppers this time of year. But, no the crowds were not there, and I was in and out in 25 minutes. My kind of shopping.

Sometimes I am surprised like that in life. Things you think will be long and arduous turn out simple. Other things that I think will be simple turn out to be long and arduous. In a world where you have to learn to anticipate what will happen in order to survive and live decently, it's noteworthy whenever you guess wrong or anticipate something different from what turns out. You try to minimize the missed anticipations as you go through life because sometimes it costs you. But as the saying goes, "Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgment."

It's the decision based on good judgment that has an ending different from what is desired that I am still working out in my mind. I don't think there is a saying for that.

Long overdue

I cleaned out a room today. I have six trash bags full of throw-away items to show for it. Evidently the cleaning was long overdue. But now the room is ready to place new items in it. The new items fit me better. The items from the past served a purpose for a while. But, that "while" is gone and the items have had no purpose for some time. The opportunity to replace what had fallen into disuse with things of relevance represents fresh steps on the path.

Believing, then adjusting

In the background tonight I am hearing the wind chimes on the back porch. I didn't think the wind was blowing, so I checked the chimes to make sure my ears were not making anything up. No, the chimes were moving in the wind. So, I peeked out the front door to verify that trees were blowing in the wind. The tops of the trees were moving slightly. So, I checked the Weatherbug app on my phone. Yes, the wind is blowing 13 knots.

That sounds like much ado about nothing. Why all the double and triple checking? I have to be sure, of course, because I didn't think the wind was blowing. It wasn't the last time I had been outside.

We all filter our information and make adjustments as we go based on the information we gather. Especially if it contradicted the last condition we knew to be true. But, adjustments have to be made. I came in the house about 2 1/2 hours ago in calm air. Now I still hear the wind chimes' beautiful ringing due to the wind. I have to admit the wind is blowing now.

Making those types of adjustments on more important matters goes through the same process. One of those important matters is my happiness. Some of the things I gave much time to and received satisfaction from have changed. Maybe at first I didn't believe it, but now I certainly do. I have verified that too. Definitely what makes me happy now has changed from what it was earlier in my life.

The chimes in the background sound really beautiful tonight and would be even if I had not done all the checking on them. Ditto for the adjustment on the root of my happiness these days.

Stock phrases gloss meaning - but who cares

Most people would say that languages have equivalent meanings with stock phrases. Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad are two examples. Stock phrases are a type of idiom that people have just said for ages and not really stopped to think about their sense. They are not interchangeable with other ways of saying the same phrase either. For example, no one would say Happy Christmas or Glad Christmas even though happy and glad are synonyms of merry. And no one would change merry even though the term is archaic and not used in modern English. In Spanish, no one would say that Buen Navidad is a good substitute for Feliz Navidad, and no one would switch out Navidad for another word even though the term is archaic in modern Spanish.

Stock phrases are in all languages for the most routine or the most recurring events. They help us keep our psychological energy focused on other nuances in a sentence for the way things are being said with the other words. And, although stock phrases have the same function in any language, they are not very good at expressing equivalences. In the example above, the focus in English is on having a good day following a mass (or ceremony with a message) of Christ. The Spanish equivalent is not on the kind of day surrounding a ceremony about Christ so much as it is centered on the happy accident of a special birth in the world.

Whatever. People don't pay much attention to differences. And in this case, the date of the occasion is the same. Generally speaking, both phrases refer to the time of year when people are happy and festive for the same good cause. So, I'll just be merry and feliz and not worry about the semantics.

Joyeux Noel everybody! Regardless of what the focus of that is. (LOL)

Godiva's lasting gift

The story of Lady Godiva is an interesting one. She was quite the wealthy benefactor historically. She gave land and gifts to help the cause of religion in the fading years of Anglo-Saxon England, c. 11th century. Her husband also was a great benefactor for the cause of religion.

But that historical glimpse is different from the popular story that circulates about the good Lady. Her Anglo-Saxon name was Lady Godgyfu, which means God-gift (God=God, Gyfu=gift). The legend says that Godiva's husband was an oppressive lord of the people subservient to him, making them pay both money and crops in taxes to him. The people appealed to the good-hearted Godiva to give them relief. She approached her husband and made the deal with him that if she could ride the length of the road through the town naked without being seen by its denizens that he would lift the heavy taxation. She made a procalamation for everyone to stay indoors during a certain time, the time needed to ride through the town and not be seen. She rode through the center of town hidden only by her long golden hair. It worked. No one saw her naked. Taxes were lifted. The people thanked her for being a gift from God for them.

It is not a quantum leap to see how a box of chocolates named Godiva is considered the zenith of gifts if it is chocolate you are giving. You can let someone know what a gift that person is in your life.



4 u Godgyfu...

Monumental shakeout

I often contemplate the slogan I see so often these days by a number of school districts. They say they are educating for the 21st century. But the words of the slogan are just words that blow in the wind. They are merely rhetoric given to a public that would like to hear it since they are paying tax dollars to fund the so called 21st century education.

But if people were to go into the classrooms, what would they see? They would not see their tax dollars at work. They would see their tax dollars misrepresented. They would see 5-8% of the students absent on any given day. They would see a steady stream of students (2-5%) in the office any given hour of the day for disciplinary matters such as sleeping in class, being combative to teachers, or simply trying to miss a particular class. They would see the tremendous unpreparedness of the students for class to the tune of 25-50% any given hour of the day. They would see students sittting in their cars in the parking lot (about 2%) while class is going on. They would see 5th grade students telling their teachers to go to hell. They would hear 4th graders telling off their vice prinicpal and shouting, "?*# off." They would see from 1-4 computers for student use sitting on the walls of the classroom. In reality the computers would be used less than 10% of the class time. They would see junior high teachers trying to be friends and pals to the students to get them to behave. They would go into a class with a substitute and see continuous talking by students because it would be considered an off-day for them. No work would be accomplished that day. They would see 3rd grade teachers who don't know how to teach the math required for instructing 8-year-olds. They would smell bathrooms that stink and graffiti on mirrors and stall doors if the stall doors are still in place. Many toilet stall doors are missing because students smoke marijuana behind them when they're closed or use them as weapons if a fight breaks out there. Certainly there would be no toilet paper or paper towels for hands.

My idea of a 21st century education is vastly different.

I see pockets of it once in a while, but seldom. I know what it would take - an encounter with a 6-mile wide meteor that would wipe out the dinosaurs in the education system. We need a KT boundary to look back on through which only 5% of life made it through. Then, we could believe the slogan if a school were to use it.

It's about to happen. By 2017, those who have tried to keep books and reading and writing alive will have been buried for the most part. A new breed of teacher will have replaced the dinosaurs - ones who know that the visual is a quantum amount more powerful than the written word - that the holograph is more experiential than the artificial words loquaciously presented by the dinosaurs. A new kind of school will be leading the way out of the darkness for the 3/4 of the 21st century that is left. It will not be run by public tax dollars. It will be backed by a global economy that requires production from kids instead of the small amount of work produced by the lazy, entitlement kids of the dinosaur schools.

I am ready for a 21st century school, and I am applauding those who have the vision already. I see reform trying to start. I know public school leaders who are doing their share of trying to oversee 21st century schools. They will live past the KT boundary experience. They will lead in the world after dinosaurs have died out. I support them 100%. The generation they lead will truly end up prepared for a globally run world.

Hang on for the ride. True 21st century schools are right around the corner.

Fascination with destiny

I was watching a television special earlier this week about the 10 most fascinating people of 2010. I think the title of the show was a misnomer. It should have been called The Ten People Destiny Smiled on the Most in 2010. For example, there is really not that much known about Kate Middleton to be fascinated by. She was determined to become the next queen of England, so Destiny smiled on her. And as special an actress as Sandra Bullock may be, how she handled her husband's infidelity is not so much fascinating as it is how Destiny thrust her in the lime light at a time when one aspect of her life faltered and she was determined to make it better. A lot of people respected her actions in getting past such a public smear.

The number one most fascinating person was General Petraeus, the new general in Afghanistan who replaced General McChrsytal, the general who allowed an interview in Rolling Stone magazine. Destiny smiled on Petraeus or you would never have heard from him again. He had been blackballed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and demoted in position from someone with power and limelight in Iraq to a behind-the-scenes, never-to-be-heard-of-again, menial position in the Pentagon. Then McChrystal made his gaffe, and bingo - Petraeus is suddenly liked for his beliefs by Obama and promoted back into the limelight. Fascinating - I don't think so. Destiny merely created an opening for a man with his particular beliefs and background because his overall personal story was rather routine. Many people go to college, distinguish themselves in the work force, and move up the ladder, whether military or corporate.

Petraeus became "fascinating" because of his ability to hang on to some philosophical beliefs that weren't always popular until the time came that favored his ideas. So, with that definition of "fascinating," I offer the words of a great mathematician and British philosopher, who influenced both mathematics and philosophy at the turn of the 20th century by mentoring Bertrand Russell and William Quine.

"But you can catch yourself entertaining habitually certain ideas and setting others aside; and that, I think, is where our personal destinies are largely decided." Alfred North Whitehead

'Tis the season

This is a festive season. People seem to smile more. There is a lot of well-wishing. Energy in stores and places of work appear to be at higher levels. Almost everywhere a spirit of goodwill is in the air.

And it is the season of wishing. Retailers make sure that you see nothing but glitz in their windows and doors, luring you in, inviting you to indulge in fulfilling your wishes. Children are encouraged to write letters to Santa asking him to bring them what they want. Trees in living rooms blink the message to passers-by that presents are under them for the residents at these houses.

So, I'll join in.

Dear Santa,
I have this wish...