What s Latin for Michigan?

Do you like peninsulas? We got peninsulas!

If you live in Michigan, let me apologize ahead of time. Sorry.

Yesterday my 9-year-old son had his nose in an almanac. He was reading facts about the states.

This state s state bird is this that state s state tree is that the other state s flower is some other thing.

Nice. Nice.

Michigan s state motto is:
If you are seeking a pleasant peninsula, look around you.

Of course they say it in Latin:
Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circum spice .

20 April, 2006 posted in Miscellany | Comments (0)

:::

« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

There s Only One Word: Sucks

32 Dark Days

in the life of a friend.

20 April, 2006 posted in Internet Stuff | Comments (0)

:::

« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

Truth and Criticism

I m a bibliophile. I like books.

I have a collection of my own, personal religious books. Sure, there s the usual fodder of holy books: I have The Complete Gospels in there (which includes all the known Jesus stories of antiquity less the recently decoded Judas Gospel ). There s poetry: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson . And philosophy: The Art of Living by Epictetus. Folksy stories: All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (and everything else by Fulghum). Psychology: Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung. And on and on. One day I ll catalog those books that make it to the closest shelves.

But I want to quote from an advertising book that has made my Order of Holy Books: It s Not How Good You Are, It s How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden. According to AdLand , Paul Arden is one of the best advertising people in the entire world. I quote from Mr. Arden thusly (because it speaks to me, maybe it will you):


DO NOT SEEK PRAISE.
SEEK CRITICISM.

It is quite easy to get approval if we ask enough people, or if we ask those who are likely to tell us what we want to hear.

The likelihood is that they will say nice things rather than be too critical. Also, we tend to edit out the bad so that we hear only what we want to hear.

So if you have produced a pleasantly acceptable piece of work, you will have proved yourself that it is good simply because others have said so.

It is probably okay. But then it s probably not great either.

If, instead of seeking approval, you ask, What s wrong with it? How can you make it better? , you are more likely to get a truthful, critical answer.

You may even get an improvement on your idea.

And you are still in a position to reject the criticism if you think it wrong.

Can you find fault with this?

17 April, 2006 posted in About Me | Comments (0)

:::

« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

A Friend

Noah s back: Live from Ireland. In words and photos .

16 April, 2006 posted in Internet Stuff | Comments (0)

:::

« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

It s Bloggeriffic

Forgive me, Father , for I have sinned. It s been two weeks since I last blogged

Unky Rich:
Are you going to post anything on JimFormation again?

Me:
It s been a while, huh?

Unky Rich:
Yeh. How come you re not writing?

Me:
Well, after you haven t posted for a while, you feel the next thing you post should be really important.

Unky Rich:
Yeh. I understand.

16 April, 2006 posted in Internet Stuff | Comments (0)

:::

« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

In the Library

Over the past several weeks (and it took several you know, kids and all take time), the Wife-beast and I took apart our front rooms, had chair rail put up, and three columns trimmed. And then we painted again, it took time.

So much time was taken between laying down primer and the final finished coat of paint that much of the masking tape got bonded to the wall and had to painstakingly be removed with razor blades. Judicious use of caulk was needed to cover-up some crap that we initially thought needed to be totally redone.

In the end the rooms look great. This morning we finally put everything back together including book cases against the wall and books in said cases. I grabbed one of the books, a ratty old (printed 1925) hardcover version of A. A. Milne s classic When We Were Very Young (hear the introduction from the North Carolina digital library ), sat in my big brown leather chair, feet up, and read.

Below is one of my favorite poems from this small tome:

DISOBEDIENCE

James James
Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree
Took great
Care of his Mother,
Though he was only three.
James James Said to his Mother,
Mother, he said, said he;
You must never go down to the end of the town, if you don t go down with me.

James James
Morrison s Mother
Put on a golden gown.
James James Morrison s Mother
Drove to the end of the town.
James James Morrison s Mother
Said to herself, said she:
I can get right down to the end of the town and be back in time for tea.

King John
Put up a notice,
LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED!
JAMES JAMES MORRISON S MOTHER
SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISLAID.
LAST SEEN
WANDERING VAGUELY:
QUITE OF HER OWN ACCORD,
SHE TRIED TO GET DOWN
TO THE END OF THE TOWN -FORTY SHILLINGS REWARD!

James James
Morrison Morrison
(Commonly known as Jim)
Told his
Other relations
Not to go blaming him.
James James
Said to his Mother,
Mother, he said, said he:
You must never go down to the end of the town without consulting me.

James James
Morrison s mother
Hasn t been heard of since.
King John said he was sorry,
So did the Queen and Prince.
King John
(Somebody told me)
Said to a man he knew:
If people go down to the end of the town, well, what can anyone do?

(Now then, very softly)
J.J.
M.M.
W.G.Du P.
Took great
C/0 his M*****
Though he was only 3.
J.J. said to his M*****
M*****, he said, said he:
You-must-never-go-down-to-the-end-of-the-town-if-you-
don t-go-down-with-ME!

I m a simple man with simple pleasures. Thanks for reading this far.

01 April, 2006 posted in Miscellany | Comments (0)

:::

« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »