Personal
Personal reflections, comments about things I've been doing, etc.
Odi, et amo
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 02/08/2006 - 00:08"Can there be misery loftier than mine?" I don't want to be too melodramatic. I quote that line because it was a favorite from a play I was in in college. But today was a pretty miserable day. I took a lot of grief from a lot of people and I’m really tired of it.
A while ago, I heard a radio interview of a young woman who had volunteered at a halfway house as she pondered a career in social work. She found that she could not become a social worker because she couldn’t distance herself enough from her clients; she could not help but become emotionally involved.
When I was writing computer programs years ago, life was easier. The emotional involvement in a bond calculation subroutine is pretty low. But politics is different. I care about what happens, a lot. I've been told that I'm too thin skinned to be in politics, that if I can’t stand the heat, I should get out of the kitchen.
Well, I would like to get out of the kitchen.
The Dream Dozen
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 02/01/2006 - 16:44Last night, I tried to keep Alito’s confirmation, the death of Coretta Scott King and the impending State of the Union address in perspective. So, Kim and I watched an episode of West Wing from the DVD set I got her for Christmas.
It got me thinking, what will everyone do when the final season of West Wing is over. Commander in Chief never caught my attention, and I’m told it is going off the air anyway. What to watch?
Well, it seems to me that we need a new series, “The Dream Dozen”. It could pick up where The West Wing leaves off. It could mix in a little bit of the reality TV shows, whether you are thinking American Idol or The Apprentice. It could add in a touch of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Desperate Housewives, and maybe even a touch of House for flavor.
Monday’s Random Stuff
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 01/30/2006 - 11:29Unread emails: 221. Unread blog posts: 5226. If you knock out the 4600 from the Progressive Blog Alliance, it isn’t quite so daunting. Health: Marginal. Fiona has been fighting a cold and I’m run down and a little congested.
Recent webpages that have caught my eye:
http://www.afsc.org/iraq/cray-video.htm Naomi sent an email about this video. Check it out.
http://newshare.typepad.com/greylocknews/2006/01/nandi_plunketts.html Nandi Plunkett is a junior at Mount Greylock, where I went to high school.
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Maintaining Social Ties
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 01/27/2006 - 09:48The other day, Kim pointed out to me a large dent in the hood of the Prius. Based on the location, I believe it is from the branch that bounced off the car about a week ago when I was driving home from dropping Miranda off at school. I had thought that the branch hit the windshield and bounced off. Looking at the dent, it seems that a very big branch hit the hood and then bounced off the windshield as I drove on. I figure if I had of been a few moments earlier, it would have hit, and smashed the windshield.
One of the impatiens that Fiona brought home from school last year has been sitting in a kitchen window ever since. It has now started blooming again.
Low energy
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 01/18/2006 - 14:38A strong wind howled outside this morning. Miranda came back from the bus stop after waiting for half an hour. The bus hadn’t shown up. I drove her over to school, only to find roads blocked by downed trees. Finally, she got to school, half an hour later. The trip home was long as well.
When I got home, I noticed that one of the large pine trees had its top half blown off. As I walked around the yard, I found that the copper beach, one of the beautiful old trees on our property had lost a very large branch. In both cases what had come down was larger than other full-grown trees. I am saddened about the damage to the copper beach.
