Quotes of the week
If you're afraid to die, you will not be able to live.
~James Baldwin
Good followers do not become good leaders. To be sure, the good follower may win many promotions, but that does not make him a leader.
Dr. Laurence Peter
Dr. Laurence Peter
Two men look out through the same bars:
One sees the mud, and one the stars.
Fredrick Langbridge (1849 - 1923)
One sees the mud, and one the stars.
Fredrick Langbridge (1849 - 1923)
“If all else fails, I will retreat up the valley
of Virginia, plant my flag on the blue
ridge, rally around the Scotch-Irish of
that region and make my last stand for
liberty amongst a people who will
never submit to British tyranny whilst
there is a man left to draw a trigger.”
General George W. Washington
At Valley Forge
Meditation of the week
If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
--Carl Sagan
Everything is given to us. Our lives came forth with no plan on our part. We have no lease on life and no control, ultimately, over any possession. In the addictive and codependent families most of us came from, we learned something else. We learned a lonely arrogance that said, "I should be self sufficient. I have earned everything that ever came to me." Deep down we probably knew how untrue that was, and we felt great self doubt.
The cure we learn in this program for our lonely arrogance is a miracle and a blessing. We accept that we are part of a larger whole. Now it dawns on us - all of our friends and relatives share this basic powerlessness. We are all pilgrims. We are all guests. We are all stewards of creation. We can be close, and we must help one another because everyone is equally vulnerable.
--Carl Sagan
Everything is given to us. Our lives came forth with no plan on our part. We have no lease on life and no control, ultimately, over any possession. In the addictive and codependent families most of us came from, we learned something else. We learned a lonely arrogance that said, "I should be self sufficient. I have earned everything that ever came to me." Deep down we probably knew how untrue that was, and we felt great self doubt.
The cure we learn in this program for our lonely arrogance is a miracle and a blessing. We accept that we are part of a larger whole. Now it dawns on us - all of our friends and relatives share this basic powerlessness. We are all pilgrims. We are all guests. We are all stewards of creation. We can be close, and we must help one another because everyone is equally vulnerable.
Poem of the Week
Latina Worker
Then I notice through a triple-Americano-awakening moment,
in the mall food court, a young Latina cleaning around by the chrome rail
at Sbarro Pizza. Maybe a Guatemalan, possibly Salvadoran or
Honduran—
could've been Argentinean or Columbian, Chilean, Bolivian,
Panamanian—good chance a Peruvian, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Mayan,
Toltec, Sephardic, Huichol coffee plantation or U.S. Fruit Company
or tobacco company or auto industry slave labor robot or CIA-trained
death squad Guardia Nacional butchery massacre survivor.
Several tables down from mine--roughly stacking chairs on tops
of tables—cussing in Spanish, in the mall food court, she hates her job,
I hate her job.
in the mall food court, a young Latina cleaning around by the chrome rail
at Sbarro Pizza. Maybe a Guatemalan, possibly Salvadoran or
Honduran—
could've been Argentinean or Columbian, Chilean, Bolivian,
Panamanian—good chance a Peruvian, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Mayan,
Toltec, Sephardic, Huichol coffee plantation or U.S. Fruit Company
or tobacco company or auto industry slave labor robot or CIA-trained
death squad Guardia Nacional butchery massacre survivor.
Several tables down from mine--roughly stacking chairs on tops
of tables—cussing in Spanish, in the mall food court, she hates her job,
I hate her job.
Author of the week
It was on July 6th in 1957 that John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at a church dance in Liverpool, England. John Lennon was almost 17, and Paul McCartney had just turned 15. Lennon had formed a band called the Quarrymen. They were all right, but not great, and they couldn't play at bars because they were all underage. But they got a gig playing at St. Peter's Church for the annual summer garden party, on a stage in a field behind the church, and then again that night in the dance hall at the church. Paul McCartney heard the band and thought they were pretty good — especially John Lennon. Paul went to school with one of the band members, who took him over to the band and introduced him while they were setting up for their second show. Paul said that he played guitar, and also that he knew how to tune one. No one in the band could tune their own guitars — they took them to a specialist — so they were impressed. Paul taught John how to tune, and he sang him a few recent rock songs, including a medley by Little Richard. And about a week later, John asked Paul to join the band.
Good Idea of the week
I regularly investigate free computer protection programs for home use and these are the ones I use:
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition this is a good, free antivirus program. 204,979,614 downloads at CNet
Windows Defender Spyware detection and removal from Microsoft.
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. 7,541,300 downloads at CNet
Free malware scanner scans for malware and spyware infections.
Video of the week
Hammer Pants Dance
(Thanks to my awesome daughter, Lee)
Websites of the week
Your weekly Presidential address and much more
(I helped a woman like Lynn overcome some of her problems and I have met people like these in counseling my whole career.)
