Without Comment

Holding your tongue requires discipline

A new report claims “resounding evidence” shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop.  Groundwork Collaborative

 “I have but one human body. I can only wear so many sweaters.” Unknown

Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira is accused of leaking highly classified military intelligence from the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts where he worked. Teixeira, who’s 21, has been behind bars since his April arrest on charges stemming from the most consequential intelligence leak in years.  Dec 2023

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.  Franklin D. Roosevelt

Only the Protestants think that every day in every way, life is getting better and better. What do they know?"  Mary Gordon

Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.  W. Demming

"There are really only two reasons to write: desperation or revenge."  Elizabeth Hardwick

The most important factor in determining a person’s future is when and where they are born. Each of us, born into any other situation, would experience a different outcome. .. I likely would not be an entrepreneur or an academic had I been born in South Sudan. If I’d been born in 1920s Germany, I’d likely have been a Nazi who perished on a Russian field.  Being born one year earlier or later can make a big difference. People who graduate into a recession earn less for 10 to 15 years than those who graduate amid prosperity. Fate also changes block to block: One of the strongest signals of life expectancy (and much else) is the ZIP code where you’re born. Within the same city, life expectancy can vary by 30 years based on ZIP code.    Scott Galloway

“No two persons ever read the same book.”  Edmund Wilson

When Einstein was asked what he would have done if his theory of general relativity had not held up, he replied, “Then I would have been sorry for the dear Lord. The theory is correct.”

“A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.”  B F Skinner

Think before you act and, once you’ve acted, think about what you did. Try to be thoughtful. Don’t overreact. Focus on what you can control and remain indifferent to what you can’t. Keep in mind, too, that you’ll die eventually, so don’t waste time. These modest predicates make up the cool white heart of classical Stoicism.

Display those virtues which are wholly in your own power—integrity, dignity, hard work, self-denial, contentment, frugality, kindness, independence, simplicity, discretion, magnanimity. Do you not see how many virtues you can already display without any excuse of lack of talent or aptitude?  Marcus Aurelius

Once, asked about his writing routine, Doctorow said: "Here's how it goes: I'm up at the stroke of 10 or 10:30. I have breakfast and read the papers, and then it's lunchtime. Then maybe a little nap after lunch and out to the gym, and before I know it, it's time to have a drink."  

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”  Somerset Maugham

And after I have gone someone will say, "Oh, him. I thought he was still around. I used to see him everywhere, only, all this time, I thought he was someone else."  Louis Jenkins

"No matter how bad things get, you got to go on living, even if it kills you" Aleichem

“But ultimately, <life> is a lesson in humility. The very best thing about your life is a short stage in someone else’s story. And it is enough.”  Michael Gerson, eloquent columnist for the Washington Post, recently passed away. 

"Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.”  Ray Bradbury

"More and more, online news sources will give them only what they wanted in advance. [...] Custom filters are going to make Americans even more ignorant than they already are, which is plenty.”  Anne Fadiman

"Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again."  Andre Gide

"Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing the matter with this, except that it ain't so." Mark Twain

"Politics is like dice: the better the player, the worse the man." C.J. Sansom

“A human being whose life is nurtured in an advantage which has accrued from the disadvantage of other human beings, and who prefers that this should remain as it is, is a human being by definition only, having much more in common with the bedbug, the tapeworm, the cancer, and the scavengers of the deep sea.”
James Agee

“Just try to be decent. Whether you were decent—that’s what will be remembered."  
Wladyslaw Bartoszewski

And Wendell Berry is a wealth of wisdom

"Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you."

"You can best serve civilization by being against what usually passes for it."

"Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup."

Copyright ©  2024  Dave Hoplin

Some Knots in the Family Tree

I enjoy researching family history and genealogy.  So when our 12 year old son was given a school assignment to trace his family tree, I thought he might catch the bug. Not to be. He was fine tracing back to the grandparents on each side and we helped him identify his great-grandparents. It was a well designed exercise in writing a research paper, including making an outline and doing research and conducting interviews. He did a great job. 

Part of the assignment was to include a description of his parents and grandparents. We generally view ourselves more favorably than might be warranted and take little care over others’ opinions of us. But when it comes from your own child, well ... revealing.   Here's the story - unredacted.

"My dad has some pretty distinguishing features. He has thick glasses, a slender build [editor note: a long while ago] and dark hair.  He is good at tennis, volleyball and slo-pitch softball.  He's good at math and loves to read. He works for Control Data and develops computer programs. He doesn't like to work if he doesn't have to. He loves coffee in the morning but he makes me plug it in because he doesn't want to get up.

My mom has gray hair in the front.  She has bad teeth because she ate too much candy when she was a kid.  She makes real good meals when she's in the mood, otherwise we have toast and milk. She's good at pulling teeth.

But I still love them and they still love me.

My mom & dad met in high school.  They had a few dates and were good friends. They went to a couple plays at the University of Minnesota, Morris. My mom had other boy friends and my dad liked other girls too.  My my went to Seattle to work. My dad stayed in Minnesota to finish college.  My mom came back and worked at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.  She and my dad got married. Then they moved to Bozeman, MT where I was born.

My mom's parents live on a farm. She has two brothers and two sisters and they all had about the same amount of work to do - which was a lot. My grandma and grandpa were firm but loving. My mom had no allowance. They had a TV but the only stations were in the Twin Cities, 160 miles away, so they didn't get very good reception. They listened to the radio a lot. The farm has a 1/2 mile driveway and the school had a dress code so it was very cold walk for them in the winter. The bus ride was also very long. The thing mom hated the most was something that had to do with chickens.

My dad lived in a small town. He had about the same amount of work as his sister. He also did not get an allowance. When he wanted money he asked for it. His hobby was collecting baseball cards. He had a big drawer full. His school was a four room schoolhouse, with 2 grades in each room. The thing my dad hated worst was digging ditches. His grandfather said he didn't need machinery when he had kids to do the work.

My grandpa Glenn is very smart.  He uses a very large vocabulary. He loves his rose garden and concerts at Orchestra Hall. He is a hard worker and often takes a nap on the floor with no pillow at all.  Grandma H. is also very nice. She bakes good brownies and always bakes them when she knows we are coming to visit. She likes having us come.  She makes big meals even when it's not Thanksgiving. She is a nice grandma.

Grandpa Tim goes out of his way to help other people.  He loves to visit and he's funny. He gets a farmer tan every summer.  He has large strong hands. He has a fun farm to roam around in. Grandma R  has white hair and makes the best pie.  She has a soft voice and the only time I could imagine her mad would be at Lester the bull. She's a nice grandma.

The greatest thing about my grandparents is that they all love me a lot and I love them a lot."

The End

[Editor note: I apparently became more accomplished over the years - good at 3 sports.  When in first grade and asked what his father was good at, the only thing he could come up with was "being quiet in the library".]

Copyright ©  2024  Dave Hoplin