Well, 2007 certainly blew in rather swiftly. Back to work January 2. Back to school January 4. The Holidays, as usual, went by much too quickly. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family.
Here are some links to a few articles I found interesting:
A Battle for Global Values by Tony Blair - in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs.
China From the Inside Out from Foreign Affairs
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Saying Yes to Mess
My Dad showed me this article today and I thought it very interesting and apropos to my family and my personal life. I grew up in a cluttered home, which I never minded at all. The clutter shows that the home is lived in and is not merely a structure of a house. The clutter gives the place character, and makes it uniquely our own. I have inherited my cluttered traits from my parents (as have my two younger brothers). I now live in a cluttered apartment, with a cluttered bedroom, and a cluttered desk. Albert Einstein said “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?” I think that is very true. I prefer to spend my free time doing more productive and fun things, rather than going through clutter. I also saw a refridgerator magnet (on my grandmother's fridge) that said "Dull people have immaculate homes". I guess that's true to an extent. I suppose some of those people don't have anything better to do, so they spend each day cleaning their house. I've know a number of parents (of friends, and friends of my brothers) who are like that. I've also know other parents (of friends and friends of my brothers) who are of the cluttered mindset. On average, the cluttered home and parents are the more fun to be at and around.
Other quotes from the article that I particularly enjoyed are:
"Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap higher salaries than those with neat “office landscapes”) and that messy closet owners are probably better parents and nicer and cooler than their tidier counterparts. It’s a movement that confirms what you have known, deep down, all along: really neat people are not avatars of the good life; they are humorless and inflexible prigs, and have way too much time on their hands."
"Total organization is a futile attempt to deny and control the unpredictability of life."
"As a corollary, the book’s authors examine the high cost of neatness — measured in shame, mostly, and family fights, as well as wasted dollars — and generally have a fine time tipping over orthodoxies and poking fun at clutter busters and their ilk, and at the self-help tips they live or die by. They wonder: Why is it better to pack more activities into one day? By whose standards are procrastinators less effective than their well-scheduled peers? Why should children have to do chores to earn back their possessions if they leave them on the floor, as many professional organizers suggest?"
"Mess is robust and adaptable, like Mr. Schwarzenegger’s open calendar, as opposed to brittle, like a parent’s rigid schedule that doesn’t allow for a small child’s wool-gathering or balkiness. Mess is complete, in that it embraces all sorts of random elements. Mess tells a story: you can learn a lot about people from their detritus, whereas neat — well, neat is a closed book. Neat has no narrative and no personality (as any cover of Real Simple magazine will demonstrate). Mess is also natural, as Mr. Freedman and Mr. Abrahamson point out, and a real time-saver. “It takes extra effort to neaten up a system,” they write. “Things don’t generally neaten themselves.”"
"Indeed, the most valuable dividend of living with mess may be time."
"In the semiotics of mess, desks may be the richest texts. Messy-desk research borrows from cognitive ergonomics, a field of study dealing with how a work environment supports productivity. Consider that desks, our work landscapes, are stand-ins for our brains, and so the piles we array on them are “cognitive artifacts,” or data cues, of our thoughts as we work.
To a professional organizer brandishing colored files and stackable trays, cluttered horizontal surfaces are a horror; to cognitive psychologists like Jay Brand, who works in the Ideation Group of Haworth Inc., the huge office furniture company, their peaks and valleys glow with intellectual intent and showcase a mind whirring away: sorting, linking, producing. (By extension, a clean desk can be seen as a dormant area, an indication that no thought or work is being undertaken.). His studies and others, like a survey conducted last year by Ajilon Professional Staffing, in Saddle Brook, N.J., which linked messy desks to higher salaries (and neat ones to salaries under $35,000), answer Einstein’s oft-quoted remark, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?”"
Anyway, here is the link to the article:
"Saying Yes to Mess" by Penelope Green
Appeared in the New York Times on December 21, 2006.
Other quotes from the article that I particularly enjoyed are:
"Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap higher salaries than those with neat “office landscapes”) and that messy closet owners are probably better parents and nicer and cooler than their tidier counterparts. It’s a movement that confirms what you have known, deep down, all along: really neat people are not avatars of the good life; they are humorless and inflexible prigs, and have way too much time on their hands."
"Total organization is a futile attempt to deny and control the unpredictability of life."
"As a corollary, the book’s authors examine the high cost of neatness — measured in shame, mostly, and family fights, as well as wasted dollars — and generally have a fine time tipping over orthodoxies and poking fun at clutter busters and their ilk, and at the self-help tips they live or die by. They wonder: Why is it better to pack more activities into one day? By whose standards are procrastinators less effective than their well-scheduled peers? Why should children have to do chores to earn back their possessions if they leave them on the floor, as many professional organizers suggest?"
"Mess is robust and adaptable, like Mr. Schwarzenegger’s open calendar, as opposed to brittle, like a parent’s rigid schedule that doesn’t allow for a small child’s wool-gathering or balkiness. Mess is complete, in that it embraces all sorts of random elements. Mess tells a story: you can learn a lot about people from their detritus, whereas neat — well, neat is a closed book. Neat has no narrative and no personality (as any cover of Real Simple magazine will demonstrate). Mess is also natural, as Mr. Freedman and Mr. Abrahamson point out, and a real time-saver. “It takes extra effort to neaten up a system,” they write. “Things don’t generally neaten themselves.”"
"Indeed, the most valuable dividend of living with mess may be time."
"In the semiotics of mess, desks may be the richest texts. Messy-desk research borrows from cognitive ergonomics, a field of study dealing with how a work environment supports productivity. Consider that desks, our work landscapes, are stand-ins for our brains, and so the piles we array on them are “cognitive artifacts,” or data cues, of our thoughts as we work.
To a professional organizer brandishing colored files and stackable trays, cluttered horizontal surfaces are a horror; to cognitive psychologists like Jay Brand, who works in the Ideation Group of Haworth Inc., the huge office furniture company, their peaks and valleys glow with intellectual intent and showcase a mind whirring away: sorting, linking, producing. (By extension, a clean desk can be seen as a dormant area, an indication that no thought or work is being undertaken.). His studies and others, like a survey conducted last year by Ajilon Professional Staffing, in Saddle Brook, N.J., which linked messy desks to higher salaries (and neat ones to salaries under $35,000), answer Einstein’s oft-quoted remark, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?”"
Anyway, here is the link to the article:
"Saying Yes to Mess" by Penelope Green
Appeared in the New York Times on December 21, 2006.
Christmas Week Events
Well, Christmas has now come and gone in a seemingly blink of an eye. I always enjoy the season leading up to Christmas so much - its kind of sad when its all over. But it will come around again next year of course.
Last Thursday, we saw the movie Eragon. It was pretty interesting, I thought (I haven't read the book though). But my brother, who has read the book, said the movie left out tons of important stuff.
Last saturday afternoon, my mom, grandmother, brother and I went and visited a 98-year old friend of the family on the other side of town. She is originally from Germany, and came over here from Holland during the Second World War. My grandfather and his sister and a couple of brothers drove all the way to Manhattan, New York City, to retrieve her and her husband (and their dog too). Must have been quite a drive back down South with all of those people in one car and all their luggage (pre-freeway days!).
Christmas Eve was spent, like most years, at my grandparents house (mom's parents) with all the extended family. There was a lot of pick up food - and as usual I was stuffed to the brim afterwards. It was nice getting to see everyone. Christmas Day my immediate family awoke around 10:00 am and exchanged presents. I received a number of book that I have been wanting to read (those will keep me busy for a while). We had lunch, and then went and visited my grandparents. (They usually go around and visit all their grandchildren on Christmas Day, but this year, since they are both still recovering from broken hips, we decided to go see them). It was a nice day of spending time with and visiting family.
Tuesday I stayed at home all day for a change and just relaxed. Wednesday went back to work with several new projects to start off with. It was also my youngest brother's birthday, so we had a cake for him over at my grandpartent's house (I went there straight from work). Then we all just sat around talking and visiting until around 11:00 pm. Thursday was another full day at work. That night a lot of cleaning was going on at home.
I took Friday (yesterday) off from work and slept late. It was a beautiful warm day outside, so I sat out by the pool in the early afternoon reading (I started another one of my new books - I had already finished another one that I started on Christmas Day). Later, my mom and I went to see a friend who is working at Radio Shack and changed up our family cell phone plan. We are now paying about half as much as we were on the previous plan. Friday evening, we all went to an All Academy Military Ball at a local country club. One of my cousin's is a senior (and a wrestler) at West Point (U.S. Military Academy) this year. My aunt and uncle are actively involved in the West Point Parent Club. It was a nice evening. The dinner was delicious and consisted of: salad with a unique but tasty dressing, steamed vegetables, creamed white rice, baked chicken breast with cream sauce on top stuffed with a raising type of sauce, and creme brule for dessert. The speaker is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. She is involved with nuclear engineering on aircraft carriers. She gave a general perspective of what its currently like to be serving in the U.S. Navy (and U.S. Military in general). She had a lot of advice for all the cadets and midshipmen present, and said the academies adequately prepare them for when they are actually out hitting the deck plates or on the ground in the real world.
Today was another day of sleeping late. My mom, brother and I, this afternoon, went over to my grandparents and helped them put away their Christmas decorations. We also went and fed dogs, cats, and other pets at one of my mom's brother's (and his family's) house. Some of them went to Orlando, FL, this week, and the other half of their family went to Seaside, FL, this week. They all really stay on the go a lot.
Well, tomorrow I think we're having lunch at my house, and my grandparents are coming over. They said they need to get out of the house. The main dish will be leftover Christmas ham with raisin sauce. I'll play in my church orchestra tomorrow morning as well. Don't know what all is going on for New Year's Eve tomorrow night. New Year's Day we'll eat the obligatory black eyed peas, cornbread, and turnip greens at my grandparents house.
Last Thursday, we saw the movie Eragon. It was pretty interesting, I thought (I haven't read the book though). But my brother, who has read the book, said the movie left out tons of important stuff.
Last saturday afternoon, my mom, grandmother, brother and I went and visited a 98-year old friend of the family on the other side of town. She is originally from Germany, and came over here from Holland during the Second World War. My grandfather and his sister and a couple of brothers drove all the way to Manhattan, New York City, to retrieve her and her husband (and their dog too). Must have been quite a drive back down South with all of those people in one car and all their luggage (pre-freeway days!).
Christmas Eve was spent, like most years, at my grandparents house (mom's parents) with all the extended family. There was a lot of pick up food - and as usual I was stuffed to the brim afterwards. It was nice getting to see everyone. Christmas Day my immediate family awoke around 10:00 am and exchanged presents. I received a number of book that I have been wanting to read (those will keep me busy for a while). We had lunch, and then went and visited my grandparents. (They usually go around and visit all their grandchildren on Christmas Day, but this year, since they are both still recovering from broken hips, we decided to go see them). It was a nice day of spending time with and visiting family.
Tuesday I stayed at home all day for a change and just relaxed. Wednesday went back to work with several new projects to start off with. It was also my youngest brother's birthday, so we had a cake for him over at my grandpartent's house (I went there straight from work). Then we all just sat around talking and visiting until around 11:00 pm. Thursday was another full day at work. That night a lot of cleaning was going on at home.
I took Friday (yesterday) off from work and slept late. It was a beautiful warm day outside, so I sat out by the pool in the early afternoon reading (I started another one of my new books - I had already finished another one that I started on Christmas Day). Later, my mom and I went to see a friend who is working at Radio Shack and changed up our family cell phone plan. We are now paying about half as much as we were on the previous plan. Friday evening, we all went to an All Academy Military Ball at a local country club. One of my cousin's is a senior (and a wrestler) at West Point (U.S. Military Academy) this year. My aunt and uncle are actively involved in the West Point Parent Club. It was a nice evening. The dinner was delicious and consisted of: salad with a unique but tasty dressing, steamed vegetables, creamed white rice, baked chicken breast with cream sauce on top stuffed with a raising type of sauce, and creme brule for dessert. The speaker is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. She is involved with nuclear engineering on aircraft carriers. She gave a general perspective of what its currently like to be serving in the U.S. Navy (and U.S. Military in general). She had a lot of advice for all the cadets and midshipmen present, and said the academies adequately prepare them for when they are actually out hitting the deck plates or on the ground in the real world.
Today was another day of sleeping late. My mom, brother and I, this afternoon, went over to my grandparents and helped them put away their Christmas decorations. We also went and fed dogs, cats, and other pets at one of my mom's brother's (and his family's) house. Some of them went to Orlando, FL, this week, and the other half of their family went to Seaside, FL, this week. They all really stay on the go a lot.
Well, tomorrow I think we're having lunch at my house, and my grandparents are coming over. They said they need to get out of the house. The main dish will be leftover Christmas ham with raisin sauce. I'll play in my church orchestra tomorrow morning as well. Don't know what all is going on for New Year's Eve tomorrow night. New Year's Day we'll eat the obligatory black eyed peas, cornbread, and turnip greens at my grandparents house.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
People, For Heaven's Sake, Get Happy!
I read an article in U.S. News & World Report today 50 Ways to Improve Your Life. The very first sub-article was part of a health section. This sub-article is entitled "Get Happy, and You'll Live Longer". Here is an excerpt from the article by Deborah Kotz:
[begin excerpt] Ever envy those Pollyanna types who skip around with a smile on their faces? While some people may be born with sunny dispositions, happiness isn't necessarily based on genes or luck. Psychologists now believe it's a learned skill, almost like knitting. In fact, Harvard's how-to-be-happy course, with more than 850 enrollees, has become the university's most popular class. Its first lesson? Embrace your failures and frustrations. "When you give yourself permission to be human," says course instructor and psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar, "you are more likely to open yourself up to positive emotions."
And better health. Nearly a dozen studies show that happier people live longer. They're also less likely to suffer heart attacks, strokes, and pain from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. Plus, Carnegie Mellon researchers last month found that people who express positive emotions come down with fewer colds and flus after being exposed to the viruses than those who express negative emotions like anger, sadness, or stress.
Set point. While moods can change day to day-even hour to hour-psychologists used to believe that life satisfaction levels remained stable over time, always returning to a "set point" after a traumatic or happy event. A recent study from the University of Illinois, though, suggests that this set point can shift over the years. What's more, there are ways to push the needle on the gauge toward happy. In fact, experts-who refer to themselves as positive psychologists-have found that such simple acts as being grateful for what you have can help improve your outlook. "We need to look for happiness in the right places," Ben-Shahar says.
Those places don't include Tiffany's or a BMW dealership. The joy in acquiring objects of desire dissipates quickly. "Like french vanilla ice cream, material things are great at the first taste, but then after a while they lose their flavor," says happiness researcher Martin Seligman, who started a positive psychology master's program at the University of Pennsylvania. Through his studies, he identified specific steps that can help increase happiness over the long haul.
Go for real goals. It's better to think of happiness in terms of leading a meaningful life. "It's about being in the flow, completely absorbed by your work, the pursuit of your goals, the people you love, and your leisure activities," says Seligman.
Make a gratitude visit. Deliver a thank-you note to someone who's been especially kind or helpful but never properly appreciated. When you feel thankful, you get pleasure from remembering a positive life event. Plus, you'll strengthen a relationship that may bring you future happiness.
Focus on the good things. You probably spend more time each day thinking about what went wrong rather than what went right. Jot down three things that went well each day and explain why. "This will help you feel more grateful for what you have and more hopeful about the future," says Seligman. [end excerpt]
I found the section on the relationship between happiness levels and healthiness levels quite interesting. When I think about it, most of the generally happy people I know tend to be very healthy people who hardly ever get sick, never take medicine, and only get a cold maybe once a year at the worst. The generally unhappy or negative people I can think of that I know tend to be sick or ill quite frequently, take pills and medicines for every little ache and pain, and are always complaining of some sort of ailment or another. hmmm....interesting.
Well, I've always been an overall happy, positive person. It takes a lot to get me down or to make me angry, and even then I bounce back to my happy state quickly. However, I often run in to people or get involved with persons who, in general, seem to be brimming with unhappiness, negativity, and pent-up anger and frustration. I know a person's background may play some role in that type of behaviour and way of thinking. But I also think a person chooses and makes an effort to be a certain way as well. If someone wants to be a happy person, they think that way, and make a conscious, positive effort to do so. This then overlaps into other areas of their life serving as a positive influence.
I've traveled a lot to many places in this world and have seen things that most people in the United States who have not traveled cannot even imagine. People in the US are incredibly blessed beyond imagination and most seem to take that for granted or have no conception of that concept. Many in the US also seem to have a mentality of "entitlement", which I also do not understand. They get mad, angry and frustrated over petty, insignificant little things that don't even matter. And these "glass half empty" people almost seem to want to spread their negativity to those who are naturally "glass half full" people. Well I for one refuse to let that happen to me. Maybe the negatrons are just jealous of us naturally positive folks. I suggest they make a conscious effort to become more happy and positive themselves.
[begin excerpt] Ever envy those Pollyanna types who skip around with a smile on their faces? While some people may be born with sunny dispositions, happiness isn't necessarily based on genes or luck. Psychologists now believe it's a learned skill, almost like knitting. In fact, Harvard's how-to-be-happy course, with more than 850 enrollees, has become the university's most popular class. Its first lesson? Embrace your failures and frustrations. "When you give yourself permission to be human," says course instructor and psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar, "you are more likely to open yourself up to positive emotions."
And better health. Nearly a dozen studies show that happier people live longer. They're also less likely to suffer heart attacks, strokes, and pain from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. Plus, Carnegie Mellon researchers last month found that people who express positive emotions come down with fewer colds and flus after being exposed to the viruses than those who express negative emotions like anger, sadness, or stress.
Set point. While moods can change day to day-even hour to hour-psychologists used to believe that life satisfaction levels remained stable over time, always returning to a "set point" after a traumatic or happy event. A recent study from the University of Illinois, though, suggests that this set point can shift over the years. What's more, there are ways to push the needle on the gauge toward happy. In fact, experts-who refer to themselves as positive psychologists-have found that such simple acts as being grateful for what you have can help improve your outlook. "We need to look for happiness in the right places," Ben-Shahar says.
Those places don't include Tiffany's or a BMW dealership. The joy in acquiring objects of desire dissipates quickly. "Like french vanilla ice cream, material things are great at the first taste, but then after a while they lose their flavor," says happiness researcher Martin Seligman, who started a positive psychology master's program at the University of Pennsylvania. Through his studies, he identified specific steps that can help increase happiness over the long haul.
Go for real goals. It's better to think of happiness in terms of leading a meaningful life. "It's about being in the flow, completely absorbed by your work, the pursuit of your goals, the people you love, and your leisure activities," says Seligman.
Make a gratitude visit. Deliver a thank-you note to someone who's been especially kind or helpful but never properly appreciated. When you feel thankful, you get pleasure from remembering a positive life event. Plus, you'll strengthen a relationship that may bring you future happiness.
Focus on the good things. You probably spend more time each day thinking about what went wrong rather than what went right. Jot down three things that went well each day and explain why. "This will help you feel more grateful for what you have and more hopeful about the future," says Seligman. [end excerpt]
I found the section on the relationship between happiness levels and healthiness levels quite interesting. When I think about it, most of the generally happy people I know tend to be very healthy people who hardly ever get sick, never take medicine, and only get a cold maybe once a year at the worst. The generally unhappy or negative people I can think of that I know tend to be sick or ill quite frequently, take pills and medicines for every little ache and pain, and are always complaining of some sort of ailment or another. hmmm....interesting.
Well, I've always been an overall happy, positive person. It takes a lot to get me down or to make me angry, and even then I bounce back to my happy state quickly. However, I often run in to people or get involved with persons who, in general, seem to be brimming with unhappiness, negativity, and pent-up anger and frustration. I know a person's background may play some role in that type of behaviour and way of thinking. But I also think a person chooses and makes an effort to be a certain way as well. If someone wants to be a happy person, they think that way, and make a conscious, positive effort to do so. This then overlaps into other areas of their life serving as a positive influence.
I've traveled a lot to many places in this world and have seen things that most people in the United States who have not traveled cannot even imagine. People in the US are incredibly blessed beyond imagination and most seem to take that for granted or have no conception of that concept. Many in the US also seem to have a mentality of "entitlement", which I also do not understand. They get mad, angry and frustrated over petty, insignificant little things that don't even matter. And these "glass half empty" people almost seem to want to spread their negativity to those who are naturally "glass half full" people. Well I for one refuse to let that happen to me. Maybe the negatrons are just jealous of us naturally positive folks. I suggest they make a conscious effort to become more happy and positive themselves.
Routine
Well, I seem to have gotten into a routine with work and everything else lately. It seems that my weekday schedule generally unfolds in the following order:
7:30 - wake up, shower, shave, eat breakfast, get dressed.
8:30 - leave for work from the suburbs.
9:00 - arrive at work downtown.
sometime after 1:00 - take a 30 minute lunch break.
5:00 - leave work and spend at least one hour in rush hour traffic heading out of downtown back into suburbia.
Evening schedule:
6:00 or later - arrive home from work and decide what to do for dinner (or get ready for orchestra rehearsal on Wednesdays, which lasts 7:00 to 9:00 pm), then work on homework when school is in session or work on the book my brother and I are co-authoring until after midnight. I usually try to run/swim/workout for at least an hour sometime each evening as well. At any rate, all that is the most typical evening, but some evenings I visit my parents or grandparents, or go out to eat with friends.
It all makes for a full day.
I'm really excited about Christmas (as usual). Looks like a lot of fun times will be had with family, and lots of good food. Hopefully sometime this week my family and I can go see two movies: "Eragon" and "The Nativity". I'd like to see both of those. Well, officially the place where I work is only giving us Christmas Day off (the owner is Jewish so I guess we're lucky to even be getting that day), but I think I'm going to take Friday and Tuesday off as well. I especially do not want to have to go right back to work the very day after Christmas. Also, my youngest brother has a birthday two days after Christmas.
7:30 - wake up, shower, shave, eat breakfast, get dressed.
8:30 - leave for work from the suburbs.
9:00 - arrive at work downtown.
sometime after 1:00 - take a 30 minute lunch break.
5:00 - leave work and spend at least one hour in rush hour traffic heading out of downtown back into suburbia.
Evening schedule:
6:00 or later - arrive home from work and decide what to do for dinner (or get ready for orchestra rehearsal on Wednesdays, which lasts 7:00 to 9:00 pm), then work on homework when school is in session or work on the book my brother and I are co-authoring until after midnight. I usually try to run/swim/workout for at least an hour sometime each evening as well. At any rate, all that is the most typical evening, but some evenings I visit my parents or grandparents, or go out to eat with friends.
It all makes for a full day.
I'm really excited about Christmas (as usual). Looks like a lot of fun times will be had with family, and lots of good food. Hopefully sometime this week my family and I can go see two movies: "Eragon" and "The Nativity". I'd like to see both of those. Well, officially the place where I work is only giving us Christmas Day off (the owner is Jewish so I guess we're lucky to even be getting that day), but I think I'm going to take Friday and Tuesday off as well. I especially do not want to have to go right back to work the very day after Christmas. Also, my youngest brother has a birthday two days after Christmas.
Spent all day at work yesterday putting together a large L-shaped desk for a coworker. There was no electric screwdriver so the hundreds of screws were screwed in manually and I now have blisters on my palms and soreness in my wrists. We were informed that tomorrow we must assemble another desk of the same type for another coworker. I must be the best one around the office for manual labor. Oh, well - all in a day's work.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Graduation
Thursday evening (immediately after I got off work) my Mom, one of my brothers, and I drove five hours to the university where I have spent the past two years working on a master of science degree in geography. We spent the night in a Holiday Inn downtown. Friday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, then went to the university bookstore for me to retrieve my hood for the ceremony, and then looked around the geography building. They got to meet my advisor as well as another professor on my committee. Then we drove over to the museum on campus and looked around there. They have many interesting exhibits: ancient Egypt, Native Americans, geology and fossils, decorative artifacts, and a temporary exhibit on three Cherokees who traveled to England in the 1700s. After that, I drove them around a bit, showed them the waterfront park, and then went to my old apartment to get some more of my stuff that had aparently surfaced. My old roommate had already gone home for Christmas, but his new roommate - from Iran - was there and helped us get some of the stuff into the car. Next, we drove back over to downtown and looked around Market Square. Finally, it was time to head to the arena to get ready for the Graduate Hooding Ceremony, which began at 6:00.
After unproprietously changing into my regalia in the parking lot, My mom and brother headed into the arena to find some seats, while I headed into the depths of the place to figure out where I was supposed to go. I met up with a couple of other geographers who were also graduating with their masters degrees, so we were able to sit together in the Arts and Sciences section. I also saw a couple of geographers who had volunteered to help with the event.
The whole thing last about an hour and a half. I marched across the stage fairly near to the beginning. The bulk of the ceremony was taken up by persons receiving their doctoral degrees. They actually had their major professors walk across the stage with them and hood them. Hopefully in about four or five more years I will be in their place receiving my Ph.D. in geography.
After the ceremony, we drove to a wonderful Italian restaurant that I had only been to once before. It's called Naples. My brother had spaghetti with marinara sauce, my mom had fetuccini alfredo, and I had pasta supremo which consisted of a lot of different ingredients such as noodles with herbs mixed in to the actual noodles themselves, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, sausage, meatballs, pepperoni, olives, pimientos, and more. It was delicious. The bread and garlic butter were also delicous. For dessert, my brother had a blackberry sorbet (fantastic!), and my mom and I shared spumoni (ice cream with three flavors - pistachio, black cherry, and chocolate).
After the wonderful meal, we hit the freeway out of town for our five hour drive home. We arrived home around 1:00 AM and I promptly headed to bed. It was a wonderful, albeit quick, trip, and I really enjoyed spending time with my brother and mom.
On the drive back my brother and I were able to further discuss our book that we're writing about our travels in South America. I think the ideas are really coming together and we should be able to pull it off in the not too distant future. I do hope it will come to fruition - it should be an exciting read at any rate!
Today, I slept late, then got up and ate some leftovers from the Italian restaurant. I sat out by the pool reading all afternoon in this high 60s/low 70s degree weather we're having in December. A week until Christmas, and it sure is warm outside. I almost felt like jumping in the pool! Anyway, I did finish a very interesting book I've been reading - The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the 21st Century by Thomas P.M. Barnett. His view of the world divided into Core and Gap, the need to advance the frontiers of globalization to shrink the gap and defeat disconnectedness, and optimistic view of the future are quite compelling. I can't wait to read the sequal, which I'll try to do real soon - The Pentagon's New Map Blueprint for Action.
After that I went to visit my grandparents. They fed me leftover bar-b-que, beans, coleslaw, bread, and apple pound cake. And later on the fed me some raisin egg bread. My mom and aunt were there too. Tomorrow afternoon, my aunt wants me to come over and then we'll walk across the street from her house to play Christmas music on the piano for two of her elderly neighbors.
This evening, we (my brothers, mom, a number of friends, and more) went over to some friends of the family's home where we made Christmas cookies, had pizza, and visited. It was nice. I'm now back at my apartment for the first time since Thursday morning and will hopefully go to bed soon after reading for a while. Church will come early in the morning - but I think we'll be playing a lot of Christmas music! Fun stuff!
After unproprietously changing into my regalia in the parking lot, My mom and brother headed into the arena to find some seats, while I headed into the depths of the place to figure out where I was supposed to go. I met up with a couple of other geographers who were also graduating with their masters degrees, so we were able to sit together in the Arts and Sciences section. I also saw a couple of geographers who had volunteered to help with the event.
The whole thing last about an hour and a half. I marched across the stage fairly near to the beginning. The bulk of the ceremony was taken up by persons receiving their doctoral degrees. They actually had their major professors walk across the stage with them and hood them. Hopefully in about four or five more years I will be in their place receiving my Ph.D. in geography.
After the ceremony, we drove to a wonderful Italian restaurant that I had only been to once before. It's called Naples. My brother had spaghetti with marinara sauce, my mom had fetuccini alfredo, and I had pasta supremo which consisted of a lot of different ingredients such as noodles with herbs mixed in to the actual noodles themselves, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, sausage, meatballs, pepperoni, olives, pimientos, and more. It was delicious. The bread and garlic butter were also delicous. For dessert, my brother had a blackberry sorbet (fantastic!), and my mom and I shared spumoni (ice cream with three flavors - pistachio, black cherry, and chocolate).
After the wonderful meal, we hit the freeway out of town for our five hour drive home. We arrived home around 1:00 AM and I promptly headed to bed. It was a wonderful, albeit quick, trip, and I really enjoyed spending time with my brother and mom.
On the drive back my brother and I were able to further discuss our book that we're writing about our travels in South America. I think the ideas are really coming together and we should be able to pull it off in the not too distant future. I do hope it will come to fruition - it should be an exciting read at any rate!
Today, I slept late, then got up and ate some leftovers from the Italian restaurant. I sat out by the pool reading all afternoon in this high 60s/low 70s degree weather we're having in December. A week until Christmas, and it sure is warm outside. I almost felt like jumping in the pool! Anyway, I did finish a very interesting book I've been reading - The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the 21st Century by Thomas P.M. Barnett. His view of the world divided into Core and Gap, the need to advance the frontiers of globalization to shrink the gap and defeat disconnectedness, and optimistic view of the future are quite compelling. I can't wait to read the sequal, which I'll try to do real soon - The Pentagon's New Map Blueprint for Action.
After that I went to visit my grandparents. They fed me leftover bar-b-que, beans, coleslaw, bread, and apple pound cake. And later on the fed me some raisin egg bread. My mom and aunt were there too. Tomorrow afternoon, my aunt wants me to come over and then we'll walk across the street from her house to play Christmas music on the piano for two of her elderly neighbors.
This evening, we (my brothers, mom, a number of friends, and more) went over to some friends of the family's home where we made Christmas cookies, had pizza, and visited. It was nice. I'm now back at my apartment for the first time since Thursday morning and will hopefully go to bed soon after reading for a while. Church will come early in the morning - but I think we'll be playing a lot of Christmas music! Fun stuff!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
I wanted to post the following link to a poem by Maya Angelou. It is entitled "Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem". I found it to be very beautiful and moving - and I wanted to share it at this most special time of year.
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
by Dr. Maya Angelou
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
by Dr. Maya Angelou
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