1.8.19 … “I tell the law students I address now and then, if you’re going to be a lawyer and just practice your profession, well, you have a skill, so you’re very much like a plumber.”… “If you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself. Something to repair tears in your community. Something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than you. That’s what I think a meaningful life is – living not for oneself, but for one’s community.” – RBG

Professionalism, Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

Just last week I was discussing professionalism. RBG sums it up nicely:

Reading Challenge:

An interesting list. I’ve only read a few and my favorite memoir is not on her list.

The eleventh category in the 2018 Reading Challenge is “a memoir, biography, or book of creative nonfiction.” I love all three genres, but when it comes to books I’m likely to keep coming back to, memoir takes the cake.

I love the genre; I’ve read many over the years. Today I’m sharing 15 of my favorites, “favorite” in this case meaning the ones I keep coming back to. I’ve read these 2 or 3 or even a dozen times. (I’m looking at you, Kathleen Norris.)

A special note for audiobook fans: I love listening to memoirs, especially when the author reads her own story. I’ve made a special note below of the books I loved on audio.

Source: 15 engaging and inspiring memoirs I keep coming back to – Modern Mrs. Darcy, https://modernmrsdarcy.com/engaging-memoirs-worth-rereading/

Kith/kin, Grand Canyon NP:

Jack is hiking and camping in the Grand Canyon this week, 1.5.19-1.10.19. And to think I birthed him.

Legends and Lore Historical Markers, Highlands NC:

At the December Town Board meeting, he introduced the Legends and Lore Program which was launched in 2015 in New York State. The program promotes cultural tourism and commemorates legends and folklore as part of cultural heritage.

Everyone is familiar with the highway markers designating historical aspects of an area – Highlands has three – but the Legends and Lore Program is relatively new and is just now being expanded nationwide, with North Carolina, the second state to get involved, said Shaffner.

He asked the board to give permission by letter for the Highlands Historical Society to pursue inclusion in the program to commemorate the Moccasin War which took place in Highlands in 1885.

A red sign, 18 inches by 30 inches and about four feet off the ground would pinpoint the place the war took place – in the center of Main Street at the 4th and Main intersection – with a sign that will read: The Moccasin War was fought here in 1885. Moonshiners from Georgia laid siege on Highlands to rescue their folk. War ends with a threat and a prayer. Pictured at the top of the article is an artist’s rendition of how the “legend” sign would look at the beginning of the 4th Street block.

Source: Highlands’ Moccasin War to live on – Plateau Daily News, https://plateaudailynews.com/2019/01/06/highlands-moccasin-war-to-live-on/

Epiphany, Tudor Crown:

I found this interesting out Epiphany.

This magnificent crown is a re-creation of a Tudor crown that was melted down in 1649. The original would have been worn by Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace, particularly on the feast of #Epiphany on 6 January. Henry would process to the Chapel Royal in full regalia to offer gold, frankincense and myrrh, celebrating the visit of the Three Kings. Read on about the crown: bit.ly/henryviiicrown

Christie Taylor:

Congratulations, Christie! And I love”A Day at the Circus!”

Taylor, 67, officially retired from Hodges Taylor Dec. 31, but she’d been easing her way out of day-to-day management for several years – ever since she found an heir she and Hodges, who retired about eight years ago, trusted. Lauren Harkey, 32, who’d been working with Taylor for the last three years, took over as 2019 began. 

So now Taylor pursues a dream.

“There’s a theory that we’re our most authentic selves at 6,” she said. “So, whatever you wanted to be when you were 6 is probably what you’ve found a way to become. Maybe not literally … If you wanted to be a firefighter, you may not be that exactly, but you probably help people in crisis.”

Source: Longtime Charlotte art gallery owner calls an end to that career to become … an artist | Charlotte Observer, https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article223697180.html

1.9.13 first walk …

labyrinths, walking, notes from the path:

“Solvitur Ambulando”

– It is solved by walking.

I’m feeling a little guilty since I have not walked since December 31. I think I may have broken a New Year’s resolution.

As I left my house, I was thinking what an ugly day for my first walk. But by the time I reached Avondale Presbyterian Church, the sun was out, and I am so glad I came because it is now a beautiful winter day.

Thoughts as I walked:

Labyrinth keepers have been hard at work on the labyrinth and it is in great shape today. A few weeds are here, but they are part of the labyrinth today.

Chimes are singing softly and they become a part of my walk. As I walk out, i make the decision to pause when the chimes paused, and to pace myself to the chimes as well. I begin thinking what a wonderful site it would be to see classical ballerinas dancing to some Gregorian chants on a labyrinth. It would be really beautiful ballet.

I am tired today. My husband has a new addiction. It is the tv show and related books of Dexter. Dexter is a serial killer. I am wondering why we can all sit there and watch this. It has a transformative effect.

The bright sunshine is blinding. If it were 15° colder it would be a perfect winter day. Unfortunately it is about 70°. Amazing.

Do you like my new boots? Perfect for labyrinth walking in the winter!

Blessings to you!

bicentennials, anniversaries, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, bookshelf:  Just so you know … 19 days ’til the bicentenary of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE! What shall I read this month. 🙂

youtube, LOL:  how to stay positive …

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg]

winter, vacations, bucket list:  Oddly, just about every place on this list is already on my bucket list. 🙂

And so,with 2013 just beginning, I got to thinking of my favorite places to spend a winter week

via Where to Spend a Week This Winter – Intelligent Travel.

Gretchen Rubin, Steve Martin,  G. K. Chesterton, quotes, memoirs, bookshelf:

Last week, I read Steve Martin’s memoir of his time learning and doing stand-up comedy, Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life. I loved it.

It’s a terrific example of one of my favorite kinds of books: someone coming into his or her vocation. I love reading about why people become interested in particular subjects or skills, and how they master them.

…

Reading Steve Martin’s memoir reminded me of one of my favorite quotations, from G. K. Chesterton: “It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.” Although Steve Martin’s comedy looks wild and crazy, it’s the product of a tremendous amount of serious thought, rehearsal, and experiment.

via What I Learned About Myself from Steve Martin. « The Happiness Project.

Congress,  polls: colonoscopy?

In a poll released Tuesday, Public Policy Polling found that Americans have a higher opinion of traffic jams (56%-34%), colonoscopies (58%-31%) and cockroaches (45%-43%) than Congress. Ditto for love-‘em or hate-‘em band Nickelback (39%-32%), used-car salesmen (57%-32%), root canals (56%-32%) and NFL replacement refs (56%-29%).

via Poll Finds Congress Ranks Lower Than Colonoscopy – Washington Wire – WSJ.

technology, the future: The Jetsons!

The PAL-V ONE, which looks like a cross between a three-wheeler and a helicopter, uses a rear-mounted propeller to take off and a free-spinning rotor on top for lift. Made by PAL-V in the Netherlands, it needs about 200 meters to take off and costs nearly $300,000. If the price comes down and a reasonable way can be found to keep skyborne vehicles separated, we may at last see a world that is somewhat akin to the one depicted in the futuristic cartoon.

via A Land-Air Hybrid Vehicle: Commute to Work Like The Jetsons : Scientific American.

5.27.2011 … old news now … I went to Davidson for the public announcement of its 18th president, and SHE is wonderful. She has to be … there are at least 10,000 living alums … and she just got our dream job!

Davidson College, Dr. Carol Quillen, kudos:  Congratulations to Dr. Quillen, Davidson College’s 18th president, to DC’s Presidential Search Committee for a job well done and to Davidson College for being open to an outsider and a woman … the future is bright. I also had the privilege of joining John, a member of the Board of Trustees, for a quick dinner with Dr. Quillen … not only is she everything listed on her cv, she is charming, warm, engaging and humorous.  It a great time to be a wildcat! …

Carol Quillen understands all facets of the academic enterprise. A brilliant administrator and a talented teacher and scholar, she can articulate not only the value, but also the necessity of a liberal arts education. Her values are Davidson’s values. She inspired us, and we could not be more enthusiastic about welcoming her to Davidson.”

via Davidson College – Presidential Search.

…

At Davidson, a particular religious tradition grounds a foundational commitment to cultivating a broadly diverse and collegial community, where people possessing different talents, from different cultures, whose deepest convictions differ, can learn from and with each other in an environment of warmth and respect. Davidson creates a distinctive culture of inquiry and trust within which students grow as humane thinkers and perceptive leaders precisely because they are simultaneously engaged in the production of knowledge and challenged to build creative, purposeful lives. Davidson graduates morally courageous persons who are not afraid to take intellectual risks. Most important, Davidson somehow enables each student to discover the remarkable human being he or she could become, such that each student seeks to fulfill his or her highest potential—not because they have to, not because other people expect it, not because they will get in trouble if they don’t, but because they genuinely want to be that remarkable human being that this college shows them they are capable of becoming. Somehow Davidson gives students the courage to make their own decisions and to take responsibility for those decisions, so that, whatever they choose to do, they live lives of purpose and consequence in pursuit of their highest aspirations.

I do not know precisely how Davidson has done this—that is why I need to spend some time just listening. I do not know what it will take for Davidson to do this in and for an increasingly interconnected and rapidly changing world. That is something we will need to figure out together, the whole Davidson family, and it will be both challenging and exhilarating.

I do know this. Davidson is uniquely able to re-imagine and to exemplify this profoundly valuable kind of education at this crucial time. And because Davidson is uniquely able to do this, Davidson is also obligated to do so. It will be a great privilege to contribute with you to this daunting, urgent and profoundly rewarding task.

via Davidson College – Presidents Office – Remarks by President-Elect Carol Quillen.

colleges, liberal arts:  Some interesting thoughts of the value of a liberal arts education.

Fortunately, as Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, has pointed out, superior arts education also teaches many of those same skills. High-quality arts and humanities instruction is almost perfectly suited to stimulate imagination, creativity, and the ability to find adaptive solutions. Like Daniel Pink, I believe in enhancing “STEAM” in our institutions of higher education–with an extra “A” in the center of STEM incorporating the Arts as central.

Finally, the value of a liberal arts education cannot be minimized without also minimizing the lessons of history, literature, and science for the present-day. There is a reason why Congress created the National Endowment for the Humanities. I don’t ordinarily quote from statutory language to explicate the value of education, but the provisions of the U.S. Code outlining the purpose of the NEH bear repeating. The law states that Congress finds “an advanced civilization must not limit its efforts to science and technology alone but must give full value and support to the other branches of scholarly and cultural activity in order to achieve a better understanding of the past, a better analysis of the present, and a better view of the future.” Democracy,” the statute goes on to state, “demands wisdom and vision in its citizens.”

The founders, from Thomas Jefferson on, understood that the study of the liberal arts and civic obligation was important– not just to learn the lessons of history, but to preserve a functioning Republic. Walt Whitman once called America “an aesthetic democracy”– and that is a pretty good metaphor for the intellectual life of a liberal arts college.

via The Relevance of Liberal Arts to a Prosperous Democracy: Under Secretary Martha J. Kanter’s Remarks at the Annapolis Group Conference | U.S. Department of Education.

…

While the tradition of the liberal-arts education may be on the wane nationwide, the most elite schools, such as Harvard, Swarthmore, Middlebury, and Williams, remain committed to its ideal. These top schools are not tweaking their curriculums to add any pre-professional undergraduate programs. Thanks to their hefty endowments, they don’t have to. As the economy rebounds, their students, ironically, may be in the best spot. While studying the humanities has become unfashionable and seemingly impractical, the liberal arts also teaches students to think big thoughts—big enough to see beyond specific college majors and adapt to the broader job market.

via Jobs: The Economy, Killing Liberal Arts Education? – Newsweek.

inns, travel, lists:  Top 10 to-die-for inns and B&Bs.

truth, family history, memoirs, quotes, kith/kin:  A distant cousin has written a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood … which involves much of my family and extended family … So when I came across this NPR story, it just struck home … “‘It’s your own personal truth, and it is not necessarily factually accurate, and it’s not necessarily the truth that other people have possessed.”

In the best-selling memoir Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs told the story of his bizarre and occasionally brutal upbringing as the son of a mentally ill mother and an alcoholic father. When the book hit the best-seller lists, it not only established Burroughs as a well-known writer, but it also paved the way for the rest of his family to tell their own versions of the story. His older brother, John Elder Robison, wrote about their childhood in his memoir Look Me in the Eye, and now their mother, Margaret Robison, has added to this family saga with her memoir, The Long Journey Home. Taken together, the three books raise interesting questions about truth, memory and the much-maligned genre of the memoir.

Memoirs have to be true, says Lee Gutkind, a professor at Arizona State University and a specialist in creative nonfiction. But you can’t apply journalistic standards to a memoir — there’s a difference between facts and the truth.

“It’s your story, that’s what a memoir is,” Gutkind says.

“It’s your own personal truth, and it is not necessarily factually accurate, and it’s not necessarily the truth that other people have possessed.”

via In Burroughs’ Family, One Saga, Three Memoirs, Many Competing Truths : NPR.