Lift Up Your Hearts!

Eric Schultz has done it again.  Never would I have thought a business writer could be so interesting.  Perhaps it's because he's also a genealogist.  :)  Yesterday's post, Leadership in the White Space, is about business, but along the way touches on astrophysics and music, with this idea for a mystery novel:

The other day on XM Radio I was listening to Bob Edwards interview one of XM’s Classical Music hosts. (Sorry to not catch his name.) The two were discussing the life and enormous impact of Leonard Bernstein. Edwards asked a really good question, as he often does: If every member of the New York Philharmonic is a virtuoso musician able to read, interpret and play virtually any piece of music ever written for their instrument, what exactly does the conductor do?

The XM Classical host answered, and I’m paraphrasing slightly, “There’s a lot that goes on between the notes.”

That could be the title of a classical murder-mystery novel, no? Between the Notes: Mozart, murder, oboes, sex, more oboes, intrigue and a French horn. Yowza. The hardboiled detective would look at the voluptuous flautist and say, “You may be able to hit the high E-sharp, but you have to know there’s a lot that goes on between the notes.”

[Skipping the actual business-related meat of the post]

As for that murder-mystery novel I was proposing, the one with the sex and oboes, the one entitled Between the Notes?

Question the percussionist.

Any good detective will tell you to never trust a guy who hits things for a living.

Check out the entire post, not only for content, but to see the Oboe Babe graphic I did not include here.

I'll admit it:  I've been an A.W.A.D. fan ever since my father signed me up for the daily e-mails over 10 years ago, and I often enjoy the quotations as much as the definitions.  On December 2, however, the quotation was a definition that should have made any dictionary fan cringe:

Democracy, to me, is liberty plus economic security. - Maury Maverick, attorney and congressman (1895-1954)

Huh?  As valuable as liberty and economic security may be, what on earth do they have to do with defining democracy?  If we are going to re-define words willy-nilly, language has no meaning.  It's the Humpty-Dumpty Effect.

"I don't know what you mean by 'glory'," Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't—till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"

"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument'," Alice objected.

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."

On the other hand, the A.W.A.D. of November 28 was pure delight.

forwhy

PRONUNCIATION:

(for-HWY)

MEANING:

adverb: Why.
conjunction: Because.

ETYMOLOGY:

From for + why.

USAGE:

"She is the weeping welkin, I the earth:
Then must my sea be moved with her sighs;
Then must my earth with her continual tears
Become a deluge, overflow'd and drown'd;
Forwhy my bowels cannot hide her woes."
William Shakespeare; Titus Andronicus; c. 1590.

Not only does the Usage example contain "welkin," but "forwhy" itself I find delightful, because for several days thereafter my head rang with the hymn, All People That on Earth Do Dwell.  The line "For why? the Lord our God is good," which seems to be the most common interpretation, is a little odd, but it makes perfect sense in context this way:

O enter then His gates with praise;
Approach with joy His courts unto;
Praise, laud, and bless His Name always,
For it is seemly so to do.

The Occasional CEO is on the short list of my enjoyable, regular blog-reading.  Today's offering, I Love the Swiss Watch, struck my funny bone, perhaps because it's a tad sensitive due to a few stresses and the stock market playing How Low Can You Go?

Did I say I'd take the Swiss trains ahead of a Swiss watch?  I really meant I'll take a Swiss son-in-law.  Practical and elegant.

What happens when an atheistic science fiction writer becomes a Christian?  You get Christian blog posts with attitude, such as John C. Wright's response to the rationale behind an anti-Christian ad campaign planned for the Christmas season.  As an atheist-turned-Christian science fiction fan, I find the fantasy-style metamorphosis both delightful and amusing.  An excerpt:

I realize that, now that I am on the opposing side, I have no more right to feel contempt for weakness in the ranks, but, by Jupiter's holy lightning-flinging scrotum, this kind of whiny talk used to really bug me, and I still suffer flashbacks to my old self. How can you feel lonely during Christs' Mass when YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN CHRIST??!! The crowd of lemmings is rushing off after the Pied Piper to worship the Unseen Flying Spaghetti Monster, and you are feeling all lonesome because you are not in the crowd? Who wants to be in any crowd when the crowd is mad? 

(more, simlar ranting, followed by)

As a Xtian, I have to be nice and kind, and invite in to our cheerful feasts and celebrations the poor, the tired, and the unbelieving. All are welcome to partake of the spirit of Peace on Earth and Goodwill toward Man, even if you don't believe in spirits. A lamp is lifted for you by the open door: within, the feast is spread. Come, and be fed.

Distributism, as an economic philosophy, is totally new to me.  (My decision to circumvent Pennsylvania's high school graduation requirement of a course in economics, which I ditched in favor of AP physics, continues to haunt me.)  I came upon it while looking for a good G. K. Chesterton link for my O God of Earth and Altar post; Chesterton was one of distributism's more vocal proponents.

Since one obviously doesn't hear much about it, distributism may be outmoded, impractical, unworkable, or just plain wrong; I don't have time to learn more about it now, and Li'l Writer Guy is still chanting with the monks.  However, I find it most intriguing, since at first glance it accords well with my own philosophies, bringing together such diversities as homeschooling, home birth, home cheesemaking, family farms, independent businesses, public transportation, artisan breads, adn above all recognition of the family unit as the basic structure of society.  Here are some quotes from the Wikipedia article:

According to distributism, the ownership of the means of production should be spread as widely as possible among the general populace, rather than being centralized under the control of the state (socialism) or wealthy private individuals (capitalism). A summary of distributism is found in Chesterton's statement: "Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists."

Distributism puts great emphasis on the principle of subsidiarity. This principle holds that no larger unit (whether social, economic, or political) should perform a function which can be performed by a smaller unit.

Distributism sees the trinitarian human family of one male, one female, and their children as the central and primary social unit of human ordering and the principal unit of a functioning distributist society and civilization. This unit is also the basis of a multi-generational extended family, which is embedded in socially as well as genetically inter-related communities, nations, etc., and ultimately in the whole human family past, present and future. The economic system of a society should therefore be focussed primarily on the flourishing of the family unit, but not in isolation: at the appropriate level of family context, as is intended in the principle of subsidiarity.

And here are two excellent essays I found in my brief meanderings, both from the Dallas Morning News, September 23, 2007:

Patrick Deneen:  There's a Lesson in Europe's Gardens, Woodpiles and Chickens

Allan Carlson:  Here's a Way for America to Give It a Shot

Enjoy!

I checked the date of the article; it's not April 1.  Mexican physicists have made diamonds from tequila.  One can only speculate how they came up with the idea of heating tequila to around 800 degrees celsius and turning the resultant carbon atoms into an extremely thin diamond film, but it might make a good comic routine.  Uses for the diamond film include the manufacture of ultra-fine cutting instruments, and as an alternative to silicon in computer chips.

The scientists found that even the cheapest of tequila brands, averaging at $3 a bottle, are good enough to make diamonds.

 The cost of an 800-degree oven might keep this from becoming a do-it-yourself project, however.

I'd hate to see local bookstores go out of business, even chain stores like Borders and Barnes and Noble.  Nothing long-distance and electronic will ever replace the atmosphere of a physical store, and the ability to wander, browse, and hold a book in your own hands.  However, I am also one of Amazon.com's more loyal customers, and not solely for their discounts.  Frequently both Borders and Barnes and Noble will send me coupons that I would love to use in their local stores.  Borders is an easy walk from our house, and I could easily be a frequent shopper there.

Except for one problem:  they rarely have what I'm looking for.  This morning I received a 30% off coupon offer with pleasure, because there's a book that I thought to buy only after sending of my most recent Amazon order.  It's a children's book, and not an obscure one, so I figured the odds of my convenient Borders having it were great.  But alas, no.  It does no good for the sales clerk to suggest that he order the book for me; I can do that myself.  It's rather like calling a reference librarian, having exhausted my own resources, only to hear her typing my question into Google.

Too often, also, the stores not only don't stock what I'd like to buy, but fill their stores with items I most definitely would not like to buy.  The experience is similar to that I've had at so-called farmers' markets, which were populated more by gourmet popcorn stands and vitamin sellers than fresh, local produce.

Regardless, I'm thankful for Amazon and other online sellers.  The local stores are worse-stocked now, but they never did have much of what I was looking for.  How wonderful to have such resources available now for a few clicks (and a credit card).

It must often be so...when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King)

 Thank you, all veterans and current members of our armed forces.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, American Episcopal Church, 1979)

Like it or not, our country has placed itself under the threats I mentioned in Part I, and I can only hope that the mitigating factors of Part II will enable me to say, at the end of four years, "That wasn't so bad."  Regardless, although I believe the results of this election will make life more difficult, the important things do not change.  Here's some of what I believe we need to do in the coming years.

Who is the "we" in the following ruminations?  Mostly I'm speaking for myself, to myself, but often there will be a more general application, anyone who wishes to come along for the ride is welcome.

Part III — How We Can Sing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
How can we sing the songs of the LORD
       while in a foreign land? 
Psalm 137:1-4

First of all, we pick ourselves up with as much dignity as we have remaining and give respect and support to our new leaders.  "Fear God, honor the king" (I Peter 2:17) applies in a democracy, too.  Humor has an important place in discourse, but mean-spirited mockery does not.  I may have crossed the line with my "Obamanation" comment in Part I—at least two of my respected readers think so—though I'm not convinced it's inappropriate, given the messianic adulation accorded Obama by many of his followers.  Still, I'm extremely uncomfortable with the abuse heaped on George W. Bush, just as I was when it was Bill Clinton on the receiving end, and will accord Barack Obama the respect due the President of the United States, as well as that due a human being created in the image of God.

We pray for Barack Obama, and for all "who bear the authority of government."  If the Apostle Paul could write, per I Timothy 2:1-2, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made....for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness," while living under the Roman Emperor Nero, we can do the same living under an elected president who is not likely to include among his alternative energy polices the burning of living, human torches.

We attempt to live our lives in the best, most honest, most noble, and most loving way possible.  Back to I Peter again (2:15-16): "[I]t is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.  Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God."  The Republicans would do well to remember that scandal and wrong-doing among office holders has done more than anything else to bring them down.   Granted, it's not fair that the Democrats mostly get a pass for their equal or greater sins—although it's actually a compliment that better behavior is expected of Republicans—but the reality is that Republicans were hurt badly first by misbehavior and even more by not visiting swift and sure justice upon the miscreants.  To live purely and act rightly, with justice and love and in quiet confidence, will win more hearts than the most reasoned argument.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone....  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  (Romans 12:17-18, 21)

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.  (Philippians 2:14-15)

[L]et your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  (Matthew 5:16).

We attend to the wisdom of the serpent as well as the harmlessness of the dove.  Now is not the time to retreat from the political process, but to be all the more involved that we might be alert to dangers that threaten what we hold dear, and to how we might best meet those threats. History has proven that when we are caught unaware we react hastily, badly, and often ineffectively.

We don't flee to the hills, or to another country (as many threatened after losing the 2000 and 2004 elections), or withdraw from the system in sulky silence.  It's not time, yet, for "those who are in Judea to flee to the mountains."  If we feel like exiles in our own land, it is time to remember what God said to his people at the time of another exile: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.  Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper" (Jeremiah 29:5-7).  We continue to live our lives wisely and without fear.  The administration may have changed, but the basic rules of life have not.  There's still the Big Ten—don't steal, don't murder, don't mess with someone else's spouse, and all the rest—and the sound-bite version provided by Jesus:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, [and] love your neighbor as yourself."

Many of us are accustomed to feeling alienated from the general American culture; it may even be easier—or at least clearer—when there's no pretense that "our guys" are in charge.  Whether it's financial responsibility, ethical behavior, or wise decision-making, in a democracy the citizens get no better from their government than the majority lives out in their lives.   True progress, then, requires that we balance a deliberate counter-cultural structuring of our own lives, families, and communities with a creative engagement of the larger culture.  That is how we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land.

Housing markets are funny.  I know, it's all in supply and demand, but I've found it somewhat amusing, ever since several of our friends in a missionary organization ended up living in upscale houses when the organization moved from California to Florida, because for tax reasons they had to reinvest in housing the large profits they made from selling their missionary shacks in California.  That works both ways:  having moved to Florida from the Northeast, we found ourselves caught in a real estate market that was flat for almost 20 years while places like Massachusetts and Connecticut skyrocketed, effectively precluding a return to our roots.

Yesterday I came across this property for sale in Vancouver, British Columbia, and it got me thinking.  You can have this "attractively priced" home for a mere $709,000.  Assuming that's Canadian dollars, it might be a bargain at about $663,000 in U.S. currency. (Size measurements are given in feet, however, so I'm not sure which units are being used.)

What intrigued me about this home was its surface similarity to our first home, in Rochester New York.  Our house was 1338sqft on a 40ft x 104ft lot; this is 1888sqft on 33ft x 122ft.  Actually, I think they are even closer in size than it appears, since the basement was not counted in our square footage, and it seems theirs has been converted into 750 square feet of living space. The houses were even built in approximately the same era.  Note that our old home is now supposed to have a market value of $110,000.

Location and market demand probably account for most of the price difference.  However, the second intriguing thing is what the owners have done with such a small space.  Whereas our home had three bedrooms and one bath, this one has five bedrooms and three full baths!  Look at the pictures:  they have made full use of every square inch of space.  It's a lovely home—even if I do find it exceedingly difficult to imagine paying seven hundred thousand dollars for a small house on a a minuscule lot, unless it also happened to be sitting on top of a diamond mine.  One thing I know:  Lovely home or not, I'm glad I'm not planning to move to Vancouver.

One banker's box stuffed to the brim with mail:  that's what awaited us as we returned from an extended stay in Pittsburgh welcoming our granddaughter.  I spent most of the evening sorting it into piles:  Urgent, Important, Interesting, Political, Magazines, and Washinton Mutual.  I kid you not.  The mail from WaMu rated a pile of its own, as there were 16 envelopes, one for every two days we were away.  I can't tell you what's in those envelopes, but I know it's not important:  neither of us has an account with that bank.  And yet we rate mail from them at a rate of one every two days?

So I wasn't totally shocked when I read this from the New York Times:  Washington Mutual, the giant lender that came to symbolize the excesses of the mortgage boom, was seized by federal regulators on Thursday night, in what is by far the largest bank failure in American history.  I'd say WaMu's downfall was caused by unwise investments, all right—not in real estate, but in paper and postage!

We, meaning our family and friends, were talking about the Y2K problem at least 20 years before it happened.  So how did it become such a big deal?  If we peons knew, why was it an apparent surprise to the U.S. government and business world?  Why were we caught so off guard that we needed a drastic increase in programming staff, which necessitated reaching overseas to Indian programmers, which in turn sparked the subsequent massive exporting of American Information Technology jobs?

We've known for at least as long that our economy was headed for a difficult, possibly even disastrous "correction."  Some borrowing is healthy and makes financial and economic sense—reasoned, careful borrowing with every expectation of timely repayment—but an economy as dependent on foolish borrowing as ours is only a house of cards waiting to crash.  The wonder is that the fall has been postponed so long, even if our current troubles are the needed correction.  (I'm not sure they are; we've weathered disruptions before, and the media live off of doom-and-gloom, making everything seem worse than it really is.)   We've buttressed our card house by extending more credit; then putting mothers to work to bring in more cash; then extending more credit; then putting our teenagers to work, not to support their families but to support the economy through foolish consumerism; then pushing credit on those who are least wise in their spending and can least afford to repay; then putting our homes to work through home equity loans; then stretching credit to the absolute breaking point as those in the highest places of most responsibility began behaving like the most foolish neophyte with a brand-new credit card.  And all, from the dirt-poor to the wealthiest, expecting the government—which, may I remind you, is you, and me, and all those who still believe in responsible spending—to pay for their mistakes.

Enough ranting.  The point is, we could see this coming.  So why couldn't we find a solution before the crisis point?  Are we all so short-term focused that we can't consider long-term implications and actions?  Are we so dependent on the whims of voters and stockholders that difficult measures can't be implemented because the bearers of bad news will be kicked out before anything can be accomplished?  On an individual level, are we so stressed by getting from one day to another that we can't take action for the future?  Is it because neither families nor the government nor business can agree on the prudent course of action?

No answers this time, only questions.

Instead of writing something more interesting, say about Life with Grandchildren, here's a quick post on another column from The Occasional CEO about the advantage of face-to-face encounters even in today's global economy.

...by not writing something of my own, but I can really identify with this Occasional CEO post and thought you might be amused.

Okay, I'm being really lazy today and merely posting a link to someone else's post, but there are too many other things to attend to, and John C. Wright has another good one:  Albino Jesuit Assassins ... IN SPAAACE!  I mean, really...with a title like that....

Anyway, enjoy!  I have to get on with life.