A defense for not finishing a book....

My kids always thought it was interesting that I would buy more books when I haven't yet read all those residing on the shelves. The response that I had read parts of most of them left the kids unimpressed. My daughter, in one of her better fund raising projects, once announced that, until I read the ones I already owned, I had to pay her $.25 for every new book I bought.  Fortunately, she lacks an enforcement mechanism.

Tim Parks, writing in the New York Review of Books, offers a defense for those of us who might wish to consider that reading a book does not necessarily mean finishing it.  Full essay here.  Meat here:

"Do we need to finish them? Is a good book by definition one that we did finish? Or are there occasions when we might choose to leave off a book before the end, or even only half way through, and nevertheless feel that it was good, even excellent, that we were glad we read what we read, but don’t feel the need to finish it? I ask the question because this is happening to me more and more often. Is it age, wisdom, senility? I start a book. I’m enjoying it thoroughly, and then the moment comes when I just know I’ve had enough. It’s not that I’ve stopped enjoying it. I’m not bored, I don’t even think it’s too long. I just have no desire to go on enjoying it." 


thanks tyler

Now what..................?

Wile E. Coyote finally catches Road Runner

 

There was a time...............

......................when the notion of a constitutionally limited federal government was accepted as fact.

The year is 1846.  The President is James K. Polk.  The issue is an  "An act making appropriations for the improvement of certain harbors and rivers" passed by Congress. Polk vetoes the bill.  Full presidential veto message is here.  Fun and interesting excerpts here:

"It must produce a disreputable scramble for the public money, by the conflict which is inseparable from such a system between local and individual interests and the general interest of the whole."

"On examining its provisions and the variety of objects of improvement which it embraces, many of them of a local character, it is difficult to conceive, if it shall be sanctioned and become a law, what practical constitutional restraint can hereafter be imposed upon the most extended system of internal improvements by the Federal Government in all parts of the Union."

"The Constitution has not, in my judgment, conferred upon the Federal Government the power to construct works of internal improvement within the States, or to appropriate money from the Treasury for that purpose."

"The general proposition that the Federal Government does not possess this power is so well settled and has for a considerable period been so generally acquiesced in that it is not deemed necessary to reiterate the arguments by which it is sustained."

"The whole frame of the Federal Constitution proves that the Government which it creates was intended to be one of limited and specified powers. A construction of the Constitution so broad as that by which the power in question is defended tends imperceptibly to a consolidation of power in a Government intended by its framers to be thus limited in its authority. "The obvious tendency and inevitable result of a consolidation of the States into one sovereignty would be to transform the republican system of the United States into a monarchy." 

"It not only leads to a consolidation of power in the Federal Government........, but its inevitable tendency is to embrace objects for the expenditure of the public money which are local in their character, benefiting but few at the expense of the common Treasury of the whole."

"It will produce combinations of local and sectional interests, strong enough when united to carry propositions for appropriations of public money which could not of themselves, and standing alone, succeed, and can not fail to lead to wasteful and extravagant expenditures."

"The wisdom of the framers of the Constitution in withholding power over such objects from the Federal Government and leaving them to the local governments of the States becomes more and more manifest with every year's experience of the operations of our system."

"The treasure of the world would hardly be equal to the improvement of every bay, inlet, creek, and river in our country which might be supposed to promote the agricultural, manufacturing, or commercial interests of a neighborhood."

Handy to know.................

Monday's Poem................

   
    Is There For Honest Poverty

Is there for honest poverty 
   Wha hangs his head, an' a' that? 
The coward slave, we pass him by -- 
   We dare be poor for a' that! 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
Our toils obscure, an' a' that, 
   The rank is but the guinea's stamp -
The man's the gowd for a' that. 

What though on hamely fare we dine, 
   Wear hoddin' grey, an' a' that? 
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine, -
   A man's a man for a' that. 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
   Their tinsel show, an' a' that, 
The honest man, though e'er sae poor, 
    Is king o' men for a' that. 

Ye see yon birkie ca'd 'a lord,' 
    Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that? - 
Tho' hundreds worship at his word, 
    He's but a cuif for a' that. 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
    His ribband, star, an' a' that, 
The man o' independent mind, 
    He looks an' laughs at a' that. 

A prince can mak a belted knight, 
    A marquis, duke, an' a' that! 
But an honest man's aboon his might, - 
    Guid faith, he maunna fa' that! 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
    Their dignities, an' a' that, 
The pith o' sense an' pride o' worth 
    Are higher rank than a' that. 

Then let us pray that come it may, -
    As come it will for a' that,- 
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth 
    Shall bear the gree an' a' that! 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
    It's comin yet for a' that, -
That man to man the world o'er 
    Shall brithers be for a' that!


-Robert Burns

From A Student of the Real Estate Game.....

.....comes a very interesting question:

For an investor and entrepreneur, these are truly unprecedented times..........

How are you taking advantage of the unique investment landscape? 

Cultivation...............

"Next to selfishness, the principal cause which makes life unsatisfactory is want of mental cultivation. A cultivated mind - I do not mean that of a philosopher, but any mind to which the fountains of knowledge have been opened, and which has been taught, in any tolerable degree, to exercise its faculties- finds sources of inexhaustible interest in all that surrounds it; in the objects of nature, the achievements of art, the imaginations of poetry, the incidents of history, the ways of mankind, past and present, and their prospects in the future."
-John Stuart Mill, from his essay  Utilitarianism

Why satellites are totally worth the investment....

back story is here

Higher math....................

It is only a matter of time............

The stonecutter..........

"There was once a stonecutter, who was dissatisfied with himself and his position in life.


"One day, he passed a wealthy merchant's house, and through the open gateway, saw many fine possessions and important visitors.  'How powerful that merchant must be!' thought the stonecutter.  He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.  Then he would no longer have to live the life of a  mere stonecutter.


"To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever dreamed of, envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself.  But soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants, and escorted by soldiers beating gongs.  Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession.  'How powerful that official is!' he thought.  'I wish that I could be a high official!'


"Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around, who had to bow down before him as he passed.  It was a hot summer day, and the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair.  He looked up at the sun.  It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence.  'How powerful the sun is!' he thought.  'I wish that I could be the sun!'


"Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers.  But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below.  'How I wish that I could be a cloud!'


"Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone.  But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind.  'How powerful it is!' he thought.  I wish that I could be the wind!'


"Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, hated and feared by all below him.  But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move,  no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering stone.  How powerful that stone is!' he thought.  I wish that I could be a stone!'


"The he became the stone, more powerful than anything else on earth.  But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the solid rock, and felt himself being changed.  'What could be more powerful than I, the stone?' he thought.  He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stonecutter."


-Benjamin Hoff,  The Tao of Pooh

About the weather............

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces 
us, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad 
weather, only different kinds of good weather."
-John Ruskin


photo from mmescherzo

Responsibility....................

"Take charge of your soul, that is the mind, will and emotions.  Refuse to allow circumstances to dictate your mood.  Be as solid as the Rock of your faith.  Neither stumble nor stagger by unbelief, but believe God.  When we take control of our mind and emotions, we can control the circumstance.  Action is always more powerful than reaction.   Above all, refuse to become a victim.  Stop thinking like a victim, stop seeing yourself as a victim.  Take responsibility for your action, then act!"
-excerpted from the LifeLine blog.  Full post is here

Sunday's Verse

30.  And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?


31.  "It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, thought it is smaller that all the seeds that are upon the soil,


32.  yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade."


Mark 5:30-32
The Holy Bible
New American Standard:  The Open Bible

On how to conduct the audience....

Johann Strauss.....................................Radetzky March
Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic




thanks WRM

Barriers................

3.  Good or bad deeds are not the direct cause of the transformation.  They only act as breakers of the obstacles to natural evolution; just as a farmer breaks down the obstacles in a water course, so that water flows thought by its own nature.


     Here, Patanjali explains the Hindu theory of evolution of species by means of an illustration from agriculture. The farmer who irrigates one of his fields from a reservoir does not have to fetch the water.  The water is there already.  All the farmer has to do is to open a sluice gate or break down a dam, and the water flows into the field by the natural force of gravity.........."All progress and power are already in every man," says Vivekananda.  "Perfection is in every man's nature, only it is barred in and prevented from taking its proper course.  If anyone can take the bar off, in rushes nature."...............In the animal the man was suppressed, but, as soon as the door was opened, out rushed man.  So, in man there is the potential god, kept in by the locks and bars of ignorance.  When knowledge breaks these bars, the god becomes manifest.


-How to Know God:  The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali
Chapter IV. Liberation: Verse 3

Wander restlessly...........

I laugh when I hear that the fish
    in the water is thirsty.
You wander restlessly from forest
    to forest while the Reality
    is within your own dwelling.
The truth is here!  Go where you will -
    to Benares or to Mathura;
    until you have found God
    in your own soul, the whole world
    will seem meaningless to you.

-Kabir

Proud of my generation.............

Canned Heat..................Going Up the Country/Woodstock

Tax simplification....

thanks jonco

Grace under pressure............

thanks mmescherzo

Dancing.................

From The Sales Blog comes this reminder that it is not supposed to be a cakewalk:

"If you don’t have issues, you aren’t working deals. Your opportunities come with challenges and obstacles. Part of what we do to create value for our clients and for our companies is to help them navigate these issues. We are resourceful and we find a way through these obstacles.

"They take a step left. You take a step right. And soon, you’re dancing."

Threads...................

"Ye cannot live for yourselves; a thousand fibres connect you with your fellow-men, and along those fibres, as along sympathetic threads, run your actions as causes, and return to you as effects."
-Henry Melvill, often misattributed to Herman Melville 

Opening paragraphs..............

"In 1980, a year after my wife leapt to her death from the Silas Pearlman Bridge in Charleston, South Carolina, I moved to Italy to begin life anew, taking our small daughter with me.  Our sweet Leah was not quite two when my wife, Shyla, stopped her car on the highest point of the bridge and looked over, for the last time, the city she loved so well.  She had put on the emergency brake and opened the door of our car, then lifted herself up to the rail of the bridge with a delicacy and enigmatic grace that was always Shyla's catlike gift.  She was also quick-witted and funny, but she carried within her a dark side that she hid with bright allusions and an irony as finely wrought as lace.  She had so mastered the strategies of camouflage that her own history has seemed a series of well-place mirrors that kept her hidden from herself.
-Pat Conroy,  Beach Music

On scheduling..............

It's complicating............

You know, people just don't talk that way anymore

"Swift's seems to me to be as good a name to point a moral or adorn a tale of ambition, as any hero's that ever lived and failed.  But we must remember that the morality was lax - that other gentlemen besides himself took the road in his day - that public society was in a strange disordered condition, and the State was ravaged by other condottieri.  The Boyne was being fought and won, and lost - the bells rung in William's victory, in the very same tone with which they would have pealed for James's.  Men were loose upon politics, and has to shift for themselves.  They, as well as old beliefs and institutions, had lost their moorings and gone adrift in the storm.  As in the South Sea Bubble, almost everybody gambled; as in the Railway mania - not many centuries ago - almost every one took his unlucky share:  a man of that time, of the vast talents and ambition of Swift, could scarce do otherwise than grasp at his prize, and make his spring at his opportunity.  His bitterness, his scorn, his rage, his subsequent misanthropy, are ascribed by some panegyrists to the deliberate conviction of mankind's unworthiness, and a desire to amend them by castigating.  His youth was bitter, as that of a great genius bound down by ignoble ties, and powerless in a mean dependence; his age was bitter, like that of a great genius that had fought the battle and nearly won it, and lost it, and thought of it afterwards writhing in a lonely exile.  A man may attribute to the gods, if he likes, what is caused by his own fury, or disappointment, or self-will.  What public man - what statesman projecting a coup - what king determined on an invasion of his neighbor - what satirist meditating an onslaught on society or an individual, can't give a pretext for his move?"


-William Makepeace Thackeray,
excerpted from his essay Jonathan Swift

"I have no idea what you said"

Gates schools Riley: "People don't talk that way anymore."
 

OK, Coach...........

Yesterday's Al McGuire quote was so much fun, it seemed just right to give him another shot:

"Don't call me son unless you're going to include me in your will."

"I don't know why people question the academic training of an athlete.  Fifty percent of the doctors in this country graduated in the bottom half of their classes."

"I think the world is run by 'C' students."

"I'm an Einstein of the streets and an Oxford scholar of common sense."

"When I was losing they called me nuts.  When I was winning they called me eccentric."

"Winning is only important in war and surgery."

"You know what pressure is?  It's when the cheerleaders are jumping and you don't notice their breasts."

A pause to refresh...............

 Ryan Holiday suggests that we focus on our philosophy, here and here.  Excerpts here:

"I knew that philosophy requires work and self-criticism and one inevitable conclusion – that my problems were almost entirely my own fault. Their resolution requires an active process that only I can initiate."

"Stop and evaluate. Read something that challenges, instead of informs...........We must turn to the practical, to the spiritual exercises of great men and actively use them.  It’s the only way we’ll get anything out of the rest of our efforts.   It simple: stop learning (or “working”) for a second and refine."

Impenetrable folds..................

"We can see well into the past; we can guess shrewdly in to the future; but that which is rolled up and muffled in impenetrable folds is today."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Change a habit.........?

About that thinking..............

Well schooled, but bored nonetheless.....

thanks Nan

"Wood fairies and forest elves.........."

WRM reminds us that "wars on arithmetic never end well."


"The trouble with math, of course, is that it is so implacable. You can tell it anything you want; the numbers don’t change. If you don’t put enough money away, and it doesn’t grow as fast as you tell yourself it will grow, you won’t have enough money when the time comes to write the checks."

OK, Coach................

"I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver.  Then they would really be educated." 
 -Al McGuire

Shining like a diamond............

Bon Jovi...........................................Have a Nice Day

 

Remember: while pessimism may be trendy, for the best results over the long haul, bet on the optimist

Joel Kotkin and  Shashi Parulekar, in an essay at the 
City Journal blog,  point out the obvious:  


"In sum, post-financial-crisis reports of the Anglosphere’s 
imminent irrelevance have been exaggerated—wildly."


Full post is here

examine, watch, observe, and inspect....

"It is dangerous for a man too suddenly or too easily to believe himself.  Wherefore let us examine, watch, observe, and inspect our own hearts, for we ourselves are our greatest flatterers.  We should every night call ourselves to an account:  What infirmity have I mastered today?  What passions opposed!  What temptation resisted?  What virtue acquired? Our vices will abort of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.  Oh, the blessed sleep that follows such a diary!  Oh the tranquillity, liberty, and greatness of that mind which is a spy upon itself, and a private censor upon its own manners."
-Seneca,  Seneca's Morals   

...almost all the way....

"Ninety percent of the world's woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues.  Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves."
-Sydney J. Harris

Salespeople of the world, Unite!

The steering wheel desk.  Is this a great product or what?

story here

On the other hand.............

Nine pictures for animal-loving types - here