On my walk to our local library to write this, a stranger stopped me, noticing the logo on my t-shirt. “Penn State, I grew up and went there. You?” I confirmed I did and what ensued was a genuinely nice five minute conversation about our experiences in Happy Valley. We exchanged pleasantries and names and a connection based on an institution two hundred-fifty miles away and a time decades earlier was made.…
“That was everything I wasn’t expecting.”
Those were the first words my daughter uttered after getting off The Lock Ness Monster rollercoaster last week. Her face reflected the familiar residuals of joy, thrill, and terror.
We had just arrived at the theme park and remarkably there was no line. So we threw caution to the wind and jumped on without noticing the multiple vertical loops and steep drops.…
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is attributed to the philosopher George Santayana.
While this may be true, I believe there is another less dire and more wonderful reason to study history – it expands our appreciation, awe and wonder with our present world.
Consider that everything around you right now has an origin – a beginning of its history.…
Thanks to all of you who became my first paid subscribers last week. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support. For others who find these notes to be a helpful and valuable way to start your week, I hope you might consider doing the same.
Now on to this week’s post….…
On my way to the library where I often work, I stop to get a cup of coffee from the local diner. I could easily bring coffee from home, but I enjoy the ritual of stopping by. The coffee is great. I enjoy saying hi to the people working there. A few dollars is well worth the price to support the people and business that help me start my day.
This morning I read a story about Captain James Stagg, the chief meteorological advisor to General Eisenhower and the man responsible for making the “go” or “no go” call for the invasion of Normandy. As the article lays out it was an incredibly complex decision not merely dependent on “good weather” on the day of the invasion but required various favorable conditions related to visibility, low tides, phase of the moon, and wind speeds over the course of multiple days.…
I left work early one day last week to watch our school’s girls softball team in the sectional semifinals. This was not the first nor last time I’ll leave work for youth sports. What made this different is that I didn’t have a kid playing in the game.
The community was understandably excited by the team advancing this far. I had friends with girls on the team – many of which I knew since they were knee high.…
Over the last several months, I’ve confided in a handful of family and friends about some challenges I’ve been facing. Without fail, they were supportive; listening with care and offering wise perspective
A few days ago, however, I realized that with a few expectations, most have never followed up to check in and see how I was doing. Asking if things had gotten better or if I wanted to talk.…
Thank you for making it this far. The mere mention of math can sometimes turn people away.
Yet math’s role in helping us understand the world is so critical. The astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson once said, “Math is the language of the universe.”
I was thinking about math in its simplest form while reading the paper this morning. As one might expect these days, there was no shortage of bad or frustrating news.…
Last week, I enjoyed the surprisingly moving, new Marvel movie, Thunderbolts. It features a ragtag group of superheroes, united by their conflicted pasts. The primary villain in the movie – as I see it – is shame. Shame is not the name of a specific villain but a feeling that debilitates all of us – even superheroes with otherworldly powers. In the film, shame’s specter envelops those it touches – both literally and figuratively.…
“Why do they call it cologne for men and perfume for women?” was the question my youngest daughter posed to me as she lay in bed, after a long day.
My initial instinct was to offer a guess. Perhaps it’s based on where each originated geographically. She rightfully questioned this theory. Eventually, I admitted my ignorance as I really had no idea. I told her I would look it up and let her know the next day.…
Years ago, I read an eye-opening book called, The Submerged State. Its premise was that one of the chief reasons we don’t value the role of government is because its work and effects are too often invisible to us. The prime example was the oft cited quote “Keep your government hands off my Medicare,” – a reflection of an angry citizen not realizing that Medicare was in fact a government program.…
What do a broken washing machine, two Ikea loft beds, and Jane Goodall have in common?
Each required using common tools to solve a stressful problem.
Let’s start first with the washing machine. I was peacefully chilling in my living room after a very, very long day, only to be disrupted by a menacing beeping sound emanating from our laundry room. The dreaded E18 Error on the display greeted me – signaling that the machine was not draining properly.…
I have been transfixed by stages lately. Last week, I watched three showings of Mamma Mia bathed in joy. Last night, I listened intently to the group Black Violin bend musical genres.
Stages are not limited to theaters. I love watching my children on athletic fields, delighted when hearing others call their names and cheer them on.
Stages don’t require a large audience, either. One person watching you as you are locked in on any given task in any given place, qualifies according to one Englishman’s definition.…
Last week, I wrote down a friend’s name. The mere thought of him brought a smile to my face – the byproduct of a thousand good times together.
A few days later, I watched my daughter perform in her high school’s joyous production of Mamma Mia. I smiled through the whole first act and most of the second. At various times, I looked over at my wife and other two daughters – often exchanging knowing smiles.…
My wife and I have been watching the show, The Pitt lately. Each episode covers one hour of a twelve hour shift in an emergency room in a Pittsburgh hospital. The show is tremendous in every way; full of humanity and dignity.
One storyline focused on a pair of siblings trying to do what’s right by their father who is dying. At some point to help them cope with this incredibly difficult situation, the doctor introduces them to the Hawaiian concept of Ho’oponopono.…
“Yesterday’s tomorrow is today,” is a line from the poem Bygones, written by the late Marina Keegan. Keegan died tragically in a car crash on her way to celebrate her father’s 55th birthday in 2012. She had just graduated college and was set to begin what was to be a promising career as writer at The New Yorker.
The poem is largely a reflection on a future she would never experience.…
As spring is peaking around the corner, many universities – including one at which I teach have gone on break. These week-long vacations from school are intended to be restorative; an opportunity for students and faculty to recharge their batteries before coming back to finish their semester strong.
Some will board planes seeking sunnier destinations and dispositions – after a winter of our collective discontent.
Rather than boarding a plane for a week, I instead drove to the beach for less than an hour.…
Pay. Give. Hold. Demand. Undivided, Limited. Deficit.
All words associated with our attention. Often parts of phrases clamoring to receive some amount of it. The words have an air of desperation to them. Presumably underscoring how difficult a task it is to receive it for any length of time.
The poet, Mary Oliver, wrote frequently of our attention. Imploring us to pay more attention to the natural world around us.…
A homeless man named Yellow sat outside the Dunkin’ Donuts. He was asking people if they could treat him to a cup of coffee and muffin. His face and arms were completely covered with tattoos perhaps contributing to the lack of attention he was receiving. While I have walked by and ignored my fair share of homeless people in my time, I chose to treat him to an iced coffee and coffee cake muffin.…
He immigrated to the United States to seek greater economic opportunities but stayed here illegally before he was given a path to citizenship. He received government assistance. He started a business, hired American workers, paid taxes, and bought a home.
These facts are not uncommon parts of an immigrant’s journey. Most come here for better opportunities. Forty percent of undocumented immigrants came here legally but overstayed their visas.…
With the celebrations and conventions of Valentine’s Day behind us, a few words on love.
It is interesting to note that although I have written these notes every week for almost ten years, I’ve never written one exclusively focused on what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to as the “most durable power in the world.” It is a surprising omission. After all, what could possibly help us move up in life more than love?…
Have you ever wondered where your imagination comes from? I had given it little thought until recently while reading the book, Why We Remember.
It is a fascinating exploration on how our memory works but it also details how our memory and imagination are inextricably linked. In fact, both processes occur in the brain at the intersection of our hippocampus and default mode network.
Most of us don’t remember every detail of every experience (those few who do have something called Hyperthymesia).…
I have felt a great deal of sadness in my life. For a long time my strategy was to deny it, suppress it, avoid it, or try to drink it away.
I thought of sadness as something that was inherently bad or wrong with me. A feeling reinforced by society which tells you from the youngest age “don’t be sad,” “snap out of it” or “boys don’t cry.”…
Over the last several years, I’ve made it a bit of a custom to read, listen or watch something by or about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the holiday that celebrates his life. In the past few years, I’ve listened to his “I Have a Dream” speech, re-read “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and watched Selma and documentaries about his life.
This year I re-watched the movie, Boycott.…
