Archive - 2007
A Little Rabbit Mercy Now
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 09:07Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit, or perhaps I should say Kaninchen, Lapin, Coniglio. It is an old superstition that if the first thing you say is Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit at the beginning of the month, you will have good luck all month. Add to this, that August 1st is Swiss National Day, I thought it might be a good day to say Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit in German, French and Italian.
Yesterday, we got thrown yet another curve as we try to downsize out of our current house. I won’t go into the details here. I’ll only say that the lawyers are handling it, and that there is even more uncertainty about where we’ll be living.
I’m not a big fan of trusting in luck. Recently, luck hasn’t seemed to be on my side. Also, too many people I know seem to be looking at luck as an ATM to bring a little prosperity into their lives.
My wandering around the Internet the other day brought this home. I like to start off with people who have visited my site via MyBlogLog. Then, I see who visited their sites, and go off on an Internet Walkabout. You often see interesting things.
Recently, I was visiting Mard’s Rants from the Great State of Maine. Having been born in Maine myself, I particularly like Mard’s site. As I wandered the links, I found my way to Beyond Zen’s discussion about non-attachment. This lead me to a site about which credit card sites have the best reward programs, and from there to sites about the Law of Attraction. The path lead on to sites to buy jewelry and perfume. This lead to sites written by ‘luxury travel companions’. At this point, I figured I’d traveled far enough on that path and started over again visiting some mommy blogger who had recently visited the site.
It lead me back the important questions. What are we looking for? Wealth? Power? Sex? Or something more important and more satisfying? On the Object Relations website, Object Relations is defined as ” a modern adaptation of psychoanalytic theory that places less emphasis on the drives of aggression and sexuality as motivational forces and more emphasis on human relationships as the primary motivational force in life.”
Perhaps that is why I like the community of mommy bloggers much more than so many of the political blogging and SEO blogging, or even the Law of Attraction blogs. They get to importance of human relationships. That is also why I like Falcon Ridge so much. Falcon Ridge isn’t about music carefully packaged by RIAA compliant corporations, music focused on wealth, power and sex. Falcon Ridge brings the music of human relationships.
Mary Gauthier has a great song about this. In “Mercy Now”, she sings about her father fading away with Alzheimer’s.
My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor
Fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over
It won't be long and he won't be around
I love my father, and he could use some mercy now
She expands on this through out the song, ending up with:
Every living thing could use a little mercy now
Only the hand of grace can end the race
Towards another mushroom cloud
People in power, well
They'll do anything to keep their crown
I love life, and life itself could use some mercy nowYeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don't deserve it
But we need it anyhow
We hang in the balance
Dangle 'tween hell and hallowed ground
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
.
I guess that captures some of the luck I hope to capture by saying Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit, by trying to think positively and attracting good things, by trying to be in a place where I can experience some of God’s abundance. All I’m looking for is a way to feed and shelter my family while I try to bring a little more kindness into this world that could use a little mercy now.
July 31st
Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 07/31/2007 - 22:31
Zachary Cohn
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 07/31/2007 - 09:27“I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.” How often have you heard that phrase? How often has it come close to home? I try not to have any enemies, they just aren’t a useful thing to have. But over the years, there have been people that I’ve clashed with in stressful work situations, and they are perhaps the closest I’ve got towards enemies.
One person I had frequent clashes with was Brian Cohn. We both worked at S.A.C. Capital years ago. I haven’t spoken with him since I left over six years ago. A lot has gone on since then. I was going through my divorce while I was at S.A.C. I’ve remarried, and Fiona was born. Brian and his wife Karen had a boy named Zachary. Zachary was about half a year older than Fiona.
While we were listening to music at Falcon Ridge, a horrible pool accident happened at the Cohn’s house and Zachary drowned. The Stamford Advocate is reporting that the investigation includes drainage apparatus.
When I read about the pool drain, my thoughts went to John Edwards’ famous 1997 case against Sta-Rite. Sta-Rite has made pool products since the 1960 and according to an article in the Washington Monthly a dozen children had already suffered similar injuries from Sta-Rite drains before the trial.
Last month, there was another pool drain accident where the drainage system sucked out most of a six year olds small intestine. TwinCities.COM is reporting that the parents are contemplating legal action “against Sta-Rite Industries, which manufactured the pool's drainage system.”
I don’t know if the drainage system at the Cohn’s was made by Sta-Rite, but it does seem as if issues with pool drainage systems still haven’t been adequately addressed.
Brian is now President of S.A.C. Reports say that S.A.C. currently has $14 billion under management. S.A.C., like other hedge funds, has been making the news in political circles as Brian and others have made major contributions to Chris Dodd’s Presidential campaign. Brian, along with others at S.A.C. also contributed significantly to Dan Malloy’s Gubernatorial campaign.
Riches, political influence, all of that becomes pretty meaningless when faced with a horrible accident like the loss of Zachary. Brian and I aren’t likely to cross paths any time soon. If we do, I don’t know if any of the old conflicts will cloud our interactions. But I do know, that my heart goes out to him, Karen, and their whole family during their time of horrible grief. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.
July 30th
When I was a Mommy Blogger
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 07/30/2007 - 21:27I won't forget when Peter Pan
Came to my house, took my hand
I said I was a boy, I'm glad he didn't check
I learned to fly, I learned to fight
I lived a whole life in one night
We saved each other's lives out on the pirate's deck
Yesterday, I received an email inviting me to The Motherhood. Their welcome message says,
If you believe in the power of mothers to make things happen, you're going to love this neighborhood. Come on in and make yourself at home!
Well, I do believe in the power of mothers to make things happen. I spend a lot of time visiting Mommy Blogs around the Internet and I tell all my political friends to step beyond their political blogs and reach out to the Mommy Blogs.
That said, I would like to remind people of my gender. The picture of my white bearded face should make it clear that I am not a Mommy Blogger by most popular definitions. However, Dar Williams
And I tell the man I'm with
About the other life I lived
And I say now you're top gun
I have lost and you have won
And he says, "Oh no, no, can't you seeWhen I was a girl, my mom and I we always talked
And I picked flowers everywhere that I walked
And I could always cry, now even when I'm alone I seldom do
And I have lost some kindness
But I was a girl too
And you were just like me, and I was just like you"
So, to all the Mommy Bloggers out there, either by birth or by conviction, stop by The Motherhood and see if we can save each others lives out on the pirate deck and perhaps even help all of us find some of the kindness that has been lost.
Robocalls already!?!
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 07/30/2007 - 20:08The phone rang. Fiona rushed to it saying, “I’ve got it”. She picked up the phone. We asked who it was and she handed the phone to me.
“I said hi,” Fiona said. “I said, who is it. And it said stuff about the mom and the children. It was so weird. It’s like an advertisement. I think it was an advertisement.”
That is how Fiona described the phone call we just received. She handed the phone to me and I heard a woman’s voice saying something to the effect of “Press 1 on your telephone to hear what I will do as your President.”
“What possible good could doing Robocalls to Connecticut do?” Kim asked. “It’s July!”
Is anyone else receiving robocalls from Hillary?
(Cross posted at MyLeftNutmeg.)
