This I Believe

One of the last books we read in book club was This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women. It was actually one of my picks because I had heard about the old radio show from the '50s, and the effort by NPR to revive it a few years ago. The original radio show was hosted by Edward R. Murrow and featured brief essays by both the famous and the unknown. Politicians, nurses, artists, construction workers, athletes, parents, students - anyone and everyone could contribute.

It is a difficult assignment to capture what you believe in three brief pages. From the introduction of the book: "This I Believe offers a simple, if difficult invitation: Write a few hundred words expressing the core principles that guide your life - your personal credo."

The book is based on the series, and features essays from both the original series and more current submissions. Many essay titles are serious like, "There is Such a Thing as Truth", but there are also some more lighthearted ones like, "Be Cool to the Pizza Dude". There was also two essays from the same person - one from the '50s series when the author was 16 years old, and another essay fifty years later. I originally checked the book out from the library, but after bookmarking about fifteen essays with scraps of paper, I decided it was a book I wanted to own.

I enjoy having the book to refer back to, but I have found that most all of the essays are also online. I thought I'd feature some of the ones that spoke to me or touched me in some way. These will be in no particular order, probably just in the order they appeared in the book. The first is from the 1950's by composer, conductor, pianist and educator Leonard Bernstein.

The Mountain Disappears

I believe in people. I feel, love, need and respect people above all else, including the arts, natural scenery, organized piety, or nationalistic superstructures. One human figure on the slope of a mountain can make the whole mountain disappear for me. One person fighting for the truth can disqualify for me the platitudes of centuries. And one human being who meets with injustice can render invalid the entire system which has dispensed it.

I believe that man’s noblest endowment is his capacity to change. Armed with reason, he can see two sides and choose: he can be divinely wrong. I believe in man’s right to be wrong. Out of this right he has built, laboriously and lovingly, something we reverently call democracy. He has done it the hard way and continues to do it the hard way–by reason, by choosing, by error and rectification, by the difficult, slow method in which the dignity of A is acknowledged by B, without impairing the dignity of C. Man cannot have dignity without loving the dignity of his fellow.

I believe in the potential of people. I cannot rest passively with those who give up in the name of “human nature.” Human nature is only animal nature if it is obliged to remain static. Without growth, without metamorphosis, there is no godhead. If we believe that man can never achieve a society without wars, then we are condemned to wars forever. This is the easy way. But the laborious, loving way, the way of dignity and divinity, presupposes a belief in people and in their capacity to change, grow, communicate, and love.

I believe in man’s unconscious mind, the deep spring from which comes his power to communicate and to love. For me, all art is a combination of these powers; for if love is the way we have of communicating personally in the deepest way, they what art can do is to extend this communication, magnify it, and carry it to vastly greater numbers of people. Therefore art is valid for the warmth and love it carries within it, even if it be the lightest entertainment, or the bitterest satire, or the most shattering tragedy.

I believe that my country is the place where all these things I have been speaking of are happening in the most manifest way. American is at the beginning of her greatest period in history–a period of leadership in science, art, and human progress toward the democratic ideal. I believe that she is at a critical point in this moment, and that she needs us to believe more strongly than ever before, in her and in one another, in our ability to grow and change, in our mutual dignity, in our democratic method. We must encourage thought, free and creative. We must respect privacy. We must observe taste by not exploiting our sorrows, successes, or passions. We must learn to know ourselves better through art. We must rely more on the unconscious, inspirational side of man. We must not enslave ourselves to dogma. We must believe in the attainability of good. We must believe, without fear, in people.

Quote of the day

My family and friends are the best thing I've known.
Through the eye of the needle, I'll carry them home.

~ from "Minutes to Memories" by John Mellencamp

More Easter goodness

Looking past the cover

I received an e-mail from my friend and roommate Matt a few weeks ago with a link to a story online. For a couple of reasons, I hadn't made the time to read it until today. Since I am getting home late these days, I have only made quick scans of e-mails, and the longer stories were marked to read later. The other reason was that the link was to a story on the Huffington Post, and the link had in the title, "6-questions-for-an-athies".

Oddly enough, I have never visited the Huffington Post (though I hear Arianna Huffington as a commentator on the podcast Left, Right and Center). And the title in the link kind of made me a little suspicious going in. What sort of story was I going to find sent by a conservative believer to a liberal agnostic. And again, I don't describe myself as an atheist so that gave me a little extra tweak. I did not intentionally leave the story to the day of Easter, but this morning it seemed appropriate to finally click the link.

What I found was a great interview with the author of In the Land of Believers: An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church. It is the story how the author, a self-proclaimed atheist, goes undercover in the megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia founded by Jerry Falwell. As the interviewer says:

In the end, she came out -- as we all should -- more understanding of our religious neighbors. Her book is a great example of how those on any side of the religious, political, or cultural divide can retire our preconceived notions by walking a mile in someone else's shoes and come out a more tolerant and well-rounded individual because of it. In that sense, we should all try to emulate Welch's open-mindedness.

It is an interesting interview about the author's motives and experiences, and I have placed the book in my 'to-read' queue. It was also an interesting lesson. The author attends the church to get past pre-conceived notions by meeting real people, hearing their stories and getting a taste of their lives. Theses caricatures and stereotypes we knowingly or unknowingly perpetuate get in the way of honest communication and real understanding.

I had a pre-conceived notion when I saw the link that made me hesitate to click it. I had my own little knee-jerk reaction, even though the story was coming from a friend. But I came back to it eventually and found a great article and story. Check it out.

The rest of Easter was great. We attended a nice service at church this morning and then headed to a friend's house for more fun and a nice dinner. We even had an earthquake (7.2 centered near the Mexican border) and a small fire on the patio to make the day that much more memorable.


I hope you all had a wonderful weekend

Amateur hour as a vet tech

So we're three weeks into the pooch-with-diabetes phase of our life. She has become less tolerant of the insulin shots lately, and it usually takes a firmer hand to get her to sit still. But in general, she is doing great. Her energy level is up and she is back to doing her happy dance at meal time again.

As I mentioned in my last update, the next step was to do some blood testing to monitor her glucose level throughout the day. The initial dose of insulin was largely an educated guess by the vet. By monitoring her blood work for a day, we can see how her meals and the insulin shots affect the glucose level in her blood. If her levels were still too high, we could increase the amount or frequency of the insulin shots (or decrease them if the levels were too low).

The pooch had a bad episode about a week ago. I came home from work at around 10:00, and she was acting funny and having difficulty standing. From what I had read, I assumed she was having a hypoglycemic reaction (dangerously low blood sugar) so I gave her some molasses for some quick sugar. It seemed to do the trick, but it was pretty freaky.

I cut her insulin dose in half for the week and got online to order a meter and test strips. I had Friday off so that became blood testing day. The plan is to take readings every hour or so to check her blood glucose level to see how it rises and falls between meals and shots. Ideally it rises and falls in the acceptable range. I had done a little internet research, but I was still a little nervous about the whole thing.

The suggested place to draw blood seemed to be from the ear or the lip. I figured that the ear was the safer bet since she doesn't like her mouth messed with. There was no way I would be able to get her to sit still before her morning meal, so I tried to get a sample shortly after she ate and before her insulin shot. It did not go well.

I stabbed the veins in her ear three separate times and all it did was irritate her. The meter needs only the smallest drop of blood, but I came up empty each time. We were both pretty frustrated, so I stopped trying for a while and jumped back on the internet. I found a new site that suggested taking blood from the callus on the dogs elbow. The first try there didn't net enough blood either, but at least it seemed to be painless. The fifth time was the charm and I actually had my first clear reading.

Since things started so badly and the first reading showed a decent glucose level, I decided to take readings every two hours instead of every hour. The rest of the blood draws went relatively well, and the readings were all within the acceptable range. Assuming the meter is accurate, the current half dose of insulin seems to be enough. I will discuss this all with the vet, but I am guessing that I should just check her blood work periodically to see if we need to adjust anything further.

A stressful day, but in the end a good one.

Go for launch

Click to enlarge

Will the iPad change everything? Has Apple hit another home run, or will it not live up to the ever-increasing hype of an 'i-something' product launch? I have a feeling it will be a very (very) cool gadget, but unless you have money to burn, it might be a tough sell for something that falls between an iTouch and a laptop especially in this economy. As Sean put it, it is built primarily for consuming, not creating. But I'm sure there will still be lots of people in line this morning anxious to get there hands on one.

And the iPad has made it's mark in one way already - prices of e-books are going up. Publishers have been frustrated with Amazon's price-point of $9.99, claiming they can't make any money at that price. The coming competition from the iPad launch has allowed them to renegotiate with other e-book sellers. Amazon, Barnes & Noble to let publishers set price for e-books. Increased competition and prices go up. Not what I learned in business school.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have an iPad. Just can't convince myself that I need one.

Quote of the Day

Its funny how

life turns out,
The odds of faith
in the face of doubt.

Camera one closes in,
the soundtrack starts,
the scene begins.

You're playing you now.

~ "Camera One" - The Josh Joplin Group

Ad of the day

I received this ad probably 15 years ago for a magazine of essays and short stories. Never did subscribe, but I had their mailer tacked to my wall for a number of years. Came across it in the move.

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Plug and play

I was driving home a few nights ago when I got a call on the cell phone. The GPS showed the incoming call, so I clicked the button to answer it. And I heard nothing. I was able to send the call back to the phone and retrieve the call, but only because the caller had been patient listening to silence for ten seconds.

Great, the fancy Bluetooth thingy wasn't working. While I was driving home I tried to figure out what the problem was. Then it dawned on me that there was no real manual included with the GPS, only a 'quick-start guide'. This has become pretty typical these days and that is both good and bad.

On the plus side, many electronic gadgets are set up to be relatively intuitive to use, so a brief guide will get you started. And by not printing out the full manual for every item sold, many trees are saved and less gas is burned to deliver them to the store or your door. On the negative side, people have stopped taking the time to learn how to use things. If a feature doesn't jump right out at you, you may never know it exists. And if something doesn't work, you have little troubleshooting knowledge to fall back on.

I used to be in the habit of reading every manual for every new product I bought. Before I used something, (usually while it was getting its first charge) I sat down to learn about all the features and how to use them. J used to good-naturedly tease me about it, saying I was more excited about the the manual than the gadget. Of course after she had to ask me about how to use a new gadget a few times, she started skimming the manuals as well.

We have come to expect that things should just work without needing to learn how to operate them. Don't get me wrong, plug and play is a good thing. When I was shopping for a digital camera, if I couldn't navigate the menus to the basic features easily, I picked up the next camera to see if it was more intuitive. But by not making the effort to learn about it, the wealth of features on all the new gadgets are kind of wasted. So I still read the manual once I decided on a camera.

Usually there is a reference in the quick-start guide to a web address where you can download the manual. The Garmin guide made no reference to a manual anywhere, but I was able to find it online. And yes, I skimmed through all 64 pages, and no there was no indication why the phone call didn't come through. But I did find out how to get the direction lady to speak in an Australian accent.

Bad kid joke of the day

What do you call cheese that's not yours?


Nacho cheese.

The machine knows

As I have wandered around southern California trying to get acquainted with my new town, on several occasions I have driven in circles to find where I was going. Trying to hit several stores while out running errands became a bit of a chore, usually requiring printed directions or frequent check-ins with Google Maps on my phone. More than once I have missed a turn or exit and found it difficult to circle back. It also looked like I would be doing some regular work at multiple locations, so I broke down and bought a GPS receiver for my car.

I had emptied my change jar at a Coinstar machine and had a $40 credit on Amazon, so that is where I started shopping. I also checked out the local Fry's Electronics to see some of the GPS units in person, but their prices weren't any better. I finally decided on a Garmin Nuvi 285WT which was on sale. I figured the routing ability of most modern GPS units were all roughly the same, so I was looking for a relatively basic model and maybe a few bells and whistles. The 285WT model had some good reviews regarding the intuitive ease of use, and the larger screen seemed to allow for more information to be displayed clearly. It also came with a free 9 month subscription for traffic information and Bluetooth for hands free cell phone calls.

I have used it for a week or two, and I have to say it is pretty handy. Beyond simple directions, it has helped me locate stores, gas stations and restaurants on the fly saving me some time and effort. There have been a couple of misses though, like telling me to turn right on Park St. when you're not allowed to, and leading me to a non-existent fast food joint when I was starving. The traffic info also takes too long to load to be of use during the morning commute, so it is a good thing it came with a free subscription to try it out. But in general the Garmin has been great.

And one of the handiest features is probably one of the simplest - estimated time of arrival. I do hate to be late.

Of course there are some disadvantages to knowing where you are at all times. Sometimes a wrong turn here and there leads to a surprising discovery. My friend Matt was also mentioning that since he has used a GPS for directions, he has stopped paying attention to how he was getting there. It dawned on him as he was leaving an appointment, that he had no clear idea of how to get home.

Probably shouldn't get too dependent on technology.


michael drives into a lake. from peter allen on Vimeo.

Oh, and another thing
Sean and I were standing in line at Home Depot the other day and there were some Thomas Guides by the checkout stand. I wonder how many they sell these days. 15 years ago they were standard issue in any construction vehicle. The books of maps were divided up in grids, and the table of contents in the back listed every street in the county with the corresponding map grid listed. It was a pretty good system to find places, but of course you still had to find out how to get there. And of course parts of it were out of date as soon as they were printed.

Just checked my truck, and there was a year 2000 Thomas Guide for the Puget Sound region stuffed under the back seat. Might be time to put it out to pasture next to the slide-rule and rotary phone.

Keep your head up

I've been having a tougher time with marathon training this time around. I'm not sure what the cause is, but my heart isn't in it quite as much this time around. There is also a bit of a scheduling conflict for marathon weekend, but at this point I am still training to run. I've also spent the money on the entry, so it will be an expensive decision if I don't make it.

With the longer hours at work, the mid-week runs have been pretty spotty, but I've made sure to get the long runs in on the weekends. But I need to get out of the house early for those long runs. I had a 12 miler on the schedule today, and I didn't put shoe to pavement until around 12:30. It was a warm one today, somewhere up in the upper 70's. My body isn't used to running in this very often, and certainly not in March. I over-heated and was tapped out of energy near the end, and actually stopped just shy of my goal.

So high temps and flagging enthusiasm are pulling me in the wrong direction. Thankfully I have places like this to run to fight the dark thoughts.

Quote of the day

"Though we might have precious little,
it's still precious."

~ from "Bravest Face" by Rush

I've got no time!

Busy, busy, busy.

I have been working on a kitchen remodel for the past week and a half with a friend of mine. I haven't done much interior construction work in the past (outside of fixing up the house for sale), so a lot of what we are doing is new to me. So far we have done the tear out, moved a wall, put up some Sheetrock, and tiled the floor. Next week we will be installing the cabinets and maybe some of the appliances. Of course it has been hard work, but it has been great to learn some new skills. I am certainly not a pro, but I would certainly feel more comfortable in tackling some of the projects now. Still on the schedule to learn is electrical!

The drag is that the job is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours away, so that means lots of commuting time and not much down time at home. Daily stuff and projects are naturally piling up a bit. This is also the reason for the somewhat limited posting recently. But I have found in the past that I work best with a little added pressure of deadlines and time limits. It is also a good exercise to see what sorts of things can fall by the wayside and not be missed, like tv and internet time.

I read a post on Zen Habits last night just before bed entitled, How to Reclaim Your Attention. The first few paragraphs:

A while back I (a bit ironically perhaps) tweeted this message:

"Consider what you give your attention to each day. It’s a precious resource, & determines the shape of your life."

This seemed to strike a chord with many people, who I think are feeling overwhelmed these days. Our attention is being pulled in too many directions, leaving us feeling overloaded, distracted, chaotic, spread thinly, without focus.

There are a million blogs, people, services, media, competing for our attention. Our attention is limited, and valuable, making it one of the most precious resources we have.

The world wants that attention. Only you can decide where it goes.

Frequently when new lanes are added to a freeway, it doesn't seem to reduce traffic congestion. Car trips increase rapidly to fill the new capacity and commuters are left sitting in the same frustrating traffic. Like highway capacity, if you extend the amount of time available in a day, it often fills up with junk rather than providing additional time spent pursuing your passions.

The remodel job will last at least another month, so I will need to make better use of my free time to get things done and pursue my interests. I certainly wouldn't want to have this sort of commute indefinitely (I don't know how people do it), but I will do my best to make use of the limited time to sharpen my focus. Hopefully when additional free time comes back, I will make great use of it rather than filling it with junk.

Career advice from Lloyd Dobler

"How many of them really know what they want, though? I mean, a lot of them think they have to know, right? But inside they don't really know, so... I don't know ,but I know that I don't know."


 "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that."

~ Say Anything