Saturday, January 15, 2005
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
We often forget that this “first impressions” thing we laud so much from time-to-time, has two sides to it. Perhaps it might be wise for us to give a bit more attention to the observe side to learn what might be like when people meet us for the very first time.
Our first impressions, while sound in many ways, but they can also ,from time-to-time, prove to have been deceptive. Wisdom dictates a second estimate might be best to consider before final decisions are made.
Homage is so often paid to “first impression” being correct on TV and radio quiz shows. That first answer which comes to mind is, quite often, said to have been correct whereas others were contrived. Unfortunately you hear the claim stated more often when a contestant has lost than when he or she has won a prize by giving a correct reply. I'd say the jury is still out on holding first impressions to be, even generally, most correct. Wisdom dictates at least a glance at a second estimate of true facts in most cases.
None of us is perfect. I think we must admit that we are not only marked by imperfections but also that we have been wrong more than we realize or admit. By that, I do not mean we are criminals in need of special care .Our infractions of set rules of good conduct are mostly minor in character. .So often we are on the defensive and not to well informed concerning who our real enemy might be or what they are doing against us. We can do better. The constant effort we can take to improve our capabilities is of the utmost importance.
Stop talking so much and listen more, is one thing I have had to learn and I feel I am much more of a “get along with” person because of that attention to real need of my own. You may be called upon to allow someone else to be the achiever. It is not going to be easy and there are other things you may well be called upon to do or to leave undone if you trust ourselection to the chance of a initial impression you have or think you have. “Love at first sight” is a good example of first impression strategy at work. It seems romantic and exciting; adventurous - but nature has put enough of those qualities in marriage as it is without adding extra qualities, I have a feeling that those who do rely on first impressions when choosing friends and associates are really doing a rather extensive survey touching on the points we have mentioned and many others – as unique at time as they themselves may really be.
What is really most important is what type of impression are you provide for them? This thing works both ways. What first impression are you setting forth? Is it truthful? Is it valid? Are you comfortable with it? Does it fit well?
If not, consider changing it here and there.
A.L.M. January 15, 2005 [c507wds]
Friday, January 14, 2005
CAUSE HUNT
If we are are really serious about hunting for the basic causes of crime and violence in our society, I think we had better start looking a bit closer to home.
It is only natural that we would seek to put the blame on someone else. There is always a ready supply of reasons why it is someone else who is suspect because many of us make a hobby of cataloging the faults which others seem to parade about while we minimize our own shortcomings.
And, I don't expect that to change one little bit, either.
Just attempting to “keep up with the news” in both fearsome and futile today. Since modern technology allows not only to hear news, read about it see in various forms and, and in some cases actually become immersed in the real happening - once removed, of course, by TV 's outreach but very much aware of the violence and inane actions of friends, allies, foes, enemies, neighbors or foreigners.
It may even be that our awareness of wrong throughout the world warps our sense of proportion somewhat and we tend to place emphasis on that which may harm, us in some way while overlooking the good being done, perhaps, at the same time. Providing food and water for a needy person in The Sudan, for instanced while chasing away oppressive Muslim rulers who have held them in slavery for years with genocidal intent is a combination of acts on our part.
It is difficult to impose rules on a person. So often we think we can bring about harmony by setting forth accumulations of items which seemed to have worked in other climes, only to find they do not transfer without modifications and changes. We seem to have such a view of Democracy at this moment, thinking that we can export it as an entity. It is not a pre-packaged product which can be shipped form point-to-point, assembled and used as it is. To achieve a firm respect the Law we need to go to the rudiments once more and attempt inculcate such ideas in the mind of our children, to modify existing rules and regulations to suit our own present needs and not expect one size to fit all. We need to reassure all segments of our people that we respect the Law. It extends - not just the suited individuals who represent it, but respect and admiration for the fundamental realities which form its base.. If the Law, and those who represent it, are constantly held up to ridicule - especially those based on political considerations – it becomes powerless. Law enforcement based on stricter religious tenets has proved to be un-workable at numerous times in man's history. This a common path for reformers and ,if it is not properly proportioned it can produce dictators and oppressors. Puritan excesses of Oliver Cromwell and those of strict Calvinists can serve as a base for study which will convince yourself that such is not a wise path to follow.
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The home remains the prime area when lasting reformation can take definite form and endure. Parents must teach their children to respect the Law in all of its manifestations in order to build trustworthy character among future leaders and followers alike. We all need to stay active, alive and eager in good works for each other.
A.L.M. January 14, 2005 [c467wds]
CAUSE HUNT
If we are are really serious about hunting for the basic causes of crime and violence in our society, I think we had better start looking a bit closer to home.
It is only natural that we would seek to put the blame on someone else. There is always a ready supply of reasons why it is someone else who is suspect because many of us make a hobby of cataloging the faults which others seem to parade about while we minimize our own shortcomings.
And, I don't expect that to change one little bit, either.
Just attempting to “keep up with the news” in both fearsome and futile today. Since modern technology allows not only to hear news, read about it see in various forms and, and in some cases actually become immersed in the real happening - once removed, of course, by TV 's outreach but very much aware of the violence and inane actions of friends, allies, foes, enemies, neighbors or foreigners.
It may even be that our awareness of wrong throughout the world warps our sense of proportion somewhat and we tend to place emphasis on that which may harm, us in some way while overlooking the good being done, perhaps, at the same time. Providing food and water for a needy person in The Sudan, for instanced while chasing away oppressive Muslim rulers who have held them in slavery for years with genocidal intent is a combination of acts on our part.
It is difficult to impose rules on a person. So often we think we can bring about harmony by setting forth accumulations of items which seemed to have worked in other climes, only to find they do not transfer without modifications and changes. We seem to have such a view of Democracy at this moment, thinking that we can export it as an entity. It is not a pre-packaged product which can be shipped form point-to-point, assembled and used as it is. To achieve a firm respect the Law we need to go to the rudiments once more and attempt inculcate such ideas in the mind of our children, to modify existing rules and regulations to suit our own present needs and not expect one size to fit all. We need to reassure all segments of our people that we respect the Law. It extends - not just the suited individuals who represent it, but respect and admiration for the fundamental realities which form its base.. If the Law, and those who represent it, are constantly held up to ridicule - especially those based on political considerations – it becomes powerless. Law enforcement based on stricter religious tenets has proved to be un-workable at numerous times in man's history. This a common path for reformers and ,if it is not properly proportioned it can produce dictators and oppressors. Puritan excesses of Oliver Cromwell and those of strict Calvinists can serve as a base for study which will convince yourself that such is not a wise path to follow.
.
The home remains the prime area when lasting reformation can take definite form and endure. Parents must teach their children to respect the Law in all of its manifestations in order to build trustworthy character among future leaders and followers alike. We all need to stay active, alive and eager in good works for each other.
A.L.M. January 14, 2005 [c467wds]
Thursday, January 13, 2005
YESTERDAY
Now - today - seems important, doesn't it?
What about tomorrow? You have special plans for that, don't you? But, it is what you were yesterday that determines what your present and future are to be.
Don't knock history. Don't demean it in any way. Don't worship it as an icon of miracle potential, either. Above all, don't depend on it and it alone, either!
The present phase of our lives is a fleeing fantasy in some ways. It will be gone in moments. It can be so elusive, at times, as to seem meaningless – something happening “out-of-context - within frame work holding a the canvas on which our lives are being sketched; outlines, you might say, of our dreams, ambitions, aspirations and capabilities to be blended in strange way and uses as foundational material for our tomorrows. The excitement of it all is to be found in the fact that is be found along the way. How I started this page determines how it will end . ,
The study of history is vital.
In recent times we, as a nation , have tended to reject even the casual reading of the history of our country and with relationships of our nation with other world powers. We have come to a point where we actually welcome”now' thinking any other form. It is now all too common to find our children being instructed in history related to some narrow, partisan, social or religious view. Dwelling, for instance, on such topics as Black History to the exclusion of other elements is both costly and dangerous. serous. Such heavy emphasis can actually alienate potential friends of just about any movement - environmental topics, finance, or any other topic.
If you talk about actions taken you are talking about the past. These little niches of history we tend to glamorize may be entertaining; even stepping stones to better elements with a wider scope, but intense, detailed study is required, too. Without it, we deny ourselves and our children the key to our cultural treasures and insult those oldsters who lived those events we speak of so casually.
To live well in the future we have to be aware of how we have lived in the past. Reflection on how we did it the last time might help us to make redemptive choices.
Samuel Johnson in his book “Rassalas has his philosopher-poet Princess Nekayah observe: “the truth is that no mind is much employed upon the present; recollections and anticipations fill up almost all of our moments.”
Right on, Princess!.
A.L.M. January 13, 2005 [c424wds]
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
HABLA USTED EBONICS?
A year or two ago the Oakland (CA) School Board was trying make black English dialect fit into their schools as a second language. I understand they have reversed themselves now, and the subject is rarely even mentioned.
The contention of proponents of the idea at the time argued that black children - and not a few white ones - speak this mutilated form of English at home and elsewhere anyway, so why not make it legal. Such a step would prevent such slighted students being “left out”of educational advances; probably cut down on crime and violence; be of value to all of us by enabling us to to understand some of that which is being said, to, for or about us.
Actually,the entire scheme was more or less still born. The School Board found they had some political, social and legal problems at hand which had not been mentioned in the rosy-glow, dream-talk phase. Example: how does one go about applying for backing to teach a language which does not exist? The had to deny they would be teaching a narrow, “black” version of English; they had to deny that their term “Ebonics” was merely a semantic cover up to hide connotations of “black” anything.
One has to wonder what influenced the Board to consider the scheme at all. I sense an undercurrent of someone planning to be asked to do do research in development of such a course of study at a variety of grade levels; research in testing such materials , and control of editing, printing, publishing and altering such courses in all forms including printed,and other forms of of idea transfer -including some not yet in common use. Then there was also a need for allocated funds to train competent teachers.
The “real” damage had already been done, elsewhere.
Adapting the teaching of Black English would have opened the gates to demands from speakers of Spanish, German, Swahili, Russian, Japanese and any other language able to show that a minority existed in any area where public schools were ,a maintained ...including a comprehensive “Pidgin English” course for all Great Wall persons. You would be driven to tour the labyrinth of languages and never once would you come cross one named “Ebonics”.
I see no real need for us to designate English as our official language or to restrict the use of other languages within our borders. Certainly speaking and reading in other tongues nourishes understanding and mutual appreciation of each others cultural attainments and generates comprehensive understanding.
A.L.M. January 12, 2005 [c434wds]
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
LONELINESS
Being lonely is fearsome circumstance and we really don't experience it in is true harshness until we gather a bit of age about us. Oh, yes, we have all had moments, when we were youngsters, in which we were, for a time, without immediate friends with whom we might react and we, doubtless, spoke of such times as being a “lonesome “day. An old person, however, can be uniquely alone in that the friends are gone and will not return.
Some places are made for loneliness, I think. In my experience about the loneliest place I remember being, I'd say, was being seated not too comfortably on a metal strip in the Tail Gunner's bubble out on the rear end of a B-24 Bomber returning from the continent and flying low over the North Sea. You may not think of that as a particularly lonely spot. It wasn't quiet, for sure. The noise was steady and drumming constantly and, when held properly to your ear, you could hear scratchy human voices in the speaking tube. How could one be lonely with two humans just about fourteen feet behind you? The tiny, tinny voices yelled cryptic fragments. The system was not made for talking; more for listening to terse, crisp commands and comments. In talking to Waist Gunners I found they were different. They were lonely together.
Other military spots were just as lonely, I found.
“What do you do out there all night?” someone asked a guard who's duty it was to man a machine gun emplacement on the far edge of the airfield runway.” That's changed a lot, “ he replied. “There was a time when I could just sit there all night and ask myself questions, but that all had to change. I kept getting such stupid answers!”
For several months before our Bomb Group joined us in England during World War II we shared a particular type of guard duty with a British RAF company at the new base on a welcomed R&R stay following duty on Malta. There were, at that time, a number of crashed planes along the North Sea coast in Norfolk county and it became our job to guard them at night against pilfering of equipment, until they could be cleaned up properly. That ,too, was an all-night assignment as were so many guard-duty tasks. They were often made even more-so by the lack of “torches”” or of carbine shells. That meant you pulled guard duty without a flashlight and with either two or three carbine shells depending on what was available that night.
There are moments of “loneliness” in just about any occupational niche you choose, I suppose. I can recall feeling; lonely in a manufacturing plant where I worked on three tremendous, clattering. looms out of sight of the fifty or more other workers in the same. large area. Loneliness,so often, seems to stem from lack of association with other individuals.
That's why it is so important for each of us. as we get older, to make sure we are building younger friendships as we go. Never miss an opportunity to share your knowledge, skill and acquired abilities with a young person questing for guidance in a special field in which you have shown some success.
Teach a kid to build a kit. You will fly with him or her. You will fly together.
A.L.M. January 11, 2005 [c574wds]
Monday, January 10, 2005
AGAIN
It is not at all unusual,here in Virginia,to experience a bit of leftover summer in January and we are in such a re-run stage at this point. This week we are having days in the sixties in the bright afternoons, but I haven't seen any buds popping out or bulbs showing so it must not be as summery as usual. We haven't had any snow at all here, but east and west of us they have done very well. The far west is having real winter, even the Great Lakes area, so we will get our turn as the weeks roll on.
The countryside is still looking well with some calendar-shot greens evident instead of grays,browns and blahs. The trees still retain some color,too, here and there. To check that I pulled a volume of these essays down from the high shelf and I happened to get one dated January 1997. We were having the same sort of hold-over summer then and into the second week of January.
There were other “same” thing, too,I found. I had put a new black ink cartridge in the printer on the 4thof January and I seem to have been surprised that it had been been made in China. Someone told me “Taiwan had gotten too expensive.” I also discovered that my “Florsheim” shows were made in India. Those discoveries of l997 certainly ring true today when it is difficult to find any thing not made in some foreign factory. We re now a global market people,I suppose.
On this very day in 1997 I noted that some people were talking about, then just-becoming Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich as being potential presidential material for the Republican party. Here in January of 2005, we are hearing the same talk, as he eases back into public acceptance. He was up for a second term as the first Republican Speaker of the House in three-quarters of a century and was being compared to his predecessor Democrat Jim Wright,who had been set aside for ”ethical lapses”. The same sort of problem would confront Gingrich in due time.
You may have heard that there is some comment being bandied about concerning the extravagance of the Republicans in spending about thirty-five million dollars on the George W. Bush Second Inaugural festivities. I have, personally,fumed a bit about it being excessive but I find from things I wrote in January of 1997 that I was also upset when I found that a figure somewhere around 95 million dollars was to be spent on the Bill Clinton “2nd Ig Do.”
History, it seems,indeed, does “repeat itself” or, at least, our views of and comments upon our strange ways do so .
A.L.M. January 10, 2005 [c474wds]
Sunday, January 09, 2005
WHAT GALAHAD HAD
It might seem a little odd that I would associate Sir Galahad with moments in my life, but anyone who has ever worked to a point of being really tired – I mean deep down “bone tired” as the old folks used to call fatigue ...utterly spent, washed up, pooped - has got to remember how done-in the gallant knight appears to be about the only painting I ever remember seeing of him as a subject.
It was done by George Frederick Watts who was born of Welsh parents in London in 1817.
We had a large sepia-toned print of Sir Galahad had an honored place in our family apartment, I remember. He wore full armor with a long sword from waist to ground level stood beside his horse who also appears to be resting. The picture was set in a two-inch frame of dark walnut frame under glass and the fame was about the same dark brown as the darkest portions of his metal armor.
Watts was an early bloomer as artists go. He had been discouraged by the president of the Royal Academy about seeking a career in art, but Watt’s father encouraged him to do so none-the-less, an by age nineteen George Watts was receiving commissions to do portraits and he also won a national prize in thee Westminster decorations competition in 1843. From Florence, Italy, Watts entered the same contest in 1845 and was, once again, a winner.
In 1864 he married young actress. They separated a year later and were divorced thirteen years later in 1877 when she married the artist Whistler. Watts married for the second time in l886 to Mary Fraser Tyler , a Scottish designer.
The painting of Galahad is typical of his many works as an allegory painting designed to bring about moral improvement in viewers. He himself was subject to prolonged discouragement. He went to visit a Princeps family in Kensington in 1840 and stayed, more or less until 1875. When they moved to the Isle of Wight, he moved with them. Their home was a Bohemian center for artists and seem to inspire him. He gained confidence and painted many portraits of visiting Victorian personalities. Married to his second wife Mary Tyler, an artist as well, he moved Melbury Road,.London and in 1881 changed that studio into a gallery and the couple moved to Surry where Mary Tyler setup a pottery, designed and decorated in Art Nouveau style the Mortuary Chapel dedicated to his works. In later years Watts refused a baronetcy two times - 1885 and in 1894. He did, however, accept the Order of Merit awarded in 1902.
It is good to have a reproduction of Watt's “Sir Galahad” handy when you feel tired. Dedicated as he was to finding the Holy Grail -the very cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper brought to England, it was said, by Joesph of Arimathea. He could not rest until .that prized cup had been found.
As a kid I remember looking at that picture and realizing how the subject was looking upward and into the twist of twigs, leaves and vines at sunlight peeking through. The drooped neck of his horse matched the armored man's obvious tired stance ,but the look on Galahad's face was was one of questing and searching, encouragement and hope. Mother must have though the old painting would help engender within us a spirit of steadfastness, stick-to-ity, gumption and stubbornness - depending on her mood for us at the moment.
A.L.M. January 9, 2005 [c597wds]
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