Thought of the day

Just discovered this yesterday and loved it and wanted to share.

Children Chapter IV

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

-Khalil Gibran

Morning News Woes

I like to watch to have the news while getting ready for work in morning.  They repeat the stories, weather and traffic often enough that even thought I'm out of the room for large portions on the broadcast I still get the general gist of what is going on in the world and what to expect as I venture out into it.

When I first moved to Seattle in 2005 I started watching KOMO 4 Morning News.  Shortly after I got accustomed to the newscast they made some changes that drove me crazy.  The weather was reported by Jim Castillo who drove me crazy with his beady little eyes (photo here).  The anchor for the news was Natasha Curry who has a freakishly large forehead that I found it visually distracting so early in the morning (photo here).  So after I complaining about it for a few months, I finally switched from KOMO to KING 5 Morning News.

The vibe of the KING newscast was extremely pleasant.  Brad Goode, Joyce Taylor and Rich Marriott are very comfortable with one another and very professional.  I was happy to "wake up" with them everyday for several years.  All that changed in January 2010 when they added Tracy Taylor as the traffic reporter.  From the very beginning she drove me crazy but I didn't want to be too quick to judge so I pledged to tough it out until the vibe returned to normal.

By December it was clear that my annoyance level was getting a bit out of control when I caught myself making faces and yelling at the television early one morning.  I feared that if I didn't make a change I would be throwing things at the television soon.  It still took 2 more weeks to officially make the change, I think I was still hoping that I wouldn't have to do it.

In mid-December I switched back to KOMO 4 Morning News.  It has been 3 weeks and all is well.  I've found my new morning news!  Mike Dardis, Molly Shen, Paul Deanno and Rachelle Murcia help me start the day informed and not at all annoyed.  Because of my sensitivity to the traffic difficulties on KING I've been the most critical of Rachelle Murcia who reports the traffic but she does it in an effective and professional manner, it is just delightful.

Let's hope this change lasts for a while!

50 in 2011

The beginning of the new year always makes me look back at the previous year and take an accounting of what I've accomplished.  I was a bit astonished when I discovered that I read only 11 books in 2010.  I adore reading.  I love getting lost in different places with fascinating people.  I love exploring different worlds, lifestyles, places in history in the way that you can do when reading a book.  Movies and television shows just aren't the same; You don't get to spend the time with the characters and really get to know them and their surroundings/situation like you can in a book.

I'm usually reading several books at a time.  One is usually fiction, the others are usually non-fiction and thought provoking.  My shortest read in 2010 was The Girl Who Played with Fire which I completed in 5 days.  The longest read was Half the Sky which took me 5 months (each chapter was heavy and took some time to digest.) There were big periods of time when I wasn't actively reading anything which I can't explain.  I'm a bit angry with myself for not more actively engaging in something that brings me such joy.  I've decided that 2011 will not be a repeat of 2010 and will be challenging myself to read 50 books in 2011.

Yes, I realize that 50 books is nearly a book a week.  Yes, I realize that this may be a bit crazy, but I'm still going to commit to giving it my best effort.

Do you think you are up to the challenge?  What to join me?  I've created a private group in Goodreads for friends who would like to commit to the same challenge.  If you are interested in joining let me know by email or by leaving a comment on this post and I will send you and invitation to join the group.

Happy Reading!