This was our favorite run, overall.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Hillary's Books
Tied with John McCain for most books in mass publication is Senator Clinton. She churned them out at the pace of one a year, for five years. Nothing since 2000, though.
It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us (1996) (much mocked, but actually a pretty interesting book)
The Unique Voice of Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Portrait in Her Own Words (1997) (a collection of quotes, compiled by someone else)
Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets (1998) (way cute!)
Living History (1999) (gigantic photo of author on the cover)
Invitation to the White House: At Home with History (2000) (the First Lady giving us a tour of her home. Not sure this is the same domesticated image she is currently espousing)
It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us (1996) (much mocked, but actually a pretty interesting book)
The Unique Voice of Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Portrait in Her Own Words (1997) (a collection of quotes, compiled by someone else)
Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets (1998) (way cute!)
Living History (1999) (gigantic photo of author on the cover)
Invitation to the White House: At Home with History (2000) (the First Lady giving us a tour of her home. Not sure this is the same domesticated image she is currently espousing)
Friday, January 11, 2008
Courage
John McCain's definition of courage is: "acts that risk life or limb or other very serious personal injuries for the sake of others or to uphold a virtue." Quoting Admiral Lord Nelson, McCain writes: "'No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.' . . . All problems, personal, national, or combat, become smaller if you don't dodge them." In short: with Eleanor Roosevelt, do the thing you think you cannot do.
(Excerpts are from Why Courage Matters.)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Value of Presidential Candidate Autobiographies
Everything we hear/read/watch on the news has a perspective. That's not necessarily a good or bad thing -- it is simply the nature of the media. Any media -- not just the modern media. There's no way to avoid it. Unless you're getting your "news" from the horse's mouth, it's going to come to you through the filter of someone else's opinion.
For this reason, when I was trying to make up my mind in the 2004 presidential election, I benefited from carefully reading the candidates' autobiographies. It was wonderful to hear them say precisely what they wanted to say, and I enjoyed thinking about the different ways they chose to portray themselves. And all this, without having to worry about policing the filter. (Obviously the candidates write from their own biased perspectives . . . but how they go about constructing their own filters is, in itself, thought-provoking.)
We have quite a raft of presidential candidates this election year! North Carolina's primary is Tuesday, May 6. Since I'm registered as "unaffiliated," I get to choose which party's primary I want to vote in. That means extra books for my (aspirational) reading list.
Let's begin the list with one of the candidates who is tied for first in the "most books published" contest.*
Books by John McCain:
1. Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them (2007)
2. Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember (2005)
3. Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (2004)
4. Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir (2002)
5. Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir (2000)
Stay tuned to find out who is tied with McCain for the lead.
*For purposes of the contest, I am not considering such classics as McCain's 1997 bestseller, Impact of Emerging Trade Issues on U.S. Consumers: Hearing Before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation or his 1992 smash hit, Forging a Military Youth Corps: A Military-Youth Service Partnership for High School Dropouts: The Final Report of the CSIS Panel. We're interested mass-media offerings here -- i.e. books Lily might actually read.
For this reason, when I was trying to make up my mind in the 2004 presidential election, I benefited from carefully reading the candidates' autobiographies. It was wonderful to hear them say precisely what they wanted to say, and I enjoyed thinking about the different ways they chose to portray themselves. And all this, without having to worry about policing the filter. (Obviously the candidates write from their own biased perspectives . . . but how they go about constructing their own filters is, in itself, thought-provoking.)
We have quite a raft of presidential candidates this election year! North Carolina's primary is Tuesday, May 6. Since I'm registered as "unaffiliated," I get to choose which party's primary I want to vote in. That means extra books for my (aspirational) reading list.
Let's begin the list with one of the candidates who is tied for first in the "most books published" contest.*
Books by John McCain:
1. Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them (2007)
2. Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember (2005)
3. Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (2004)
4. Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir (2002)
5. Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir (2000)
Stay tuned to find out who is tied with McCain for the lead.
*For purposes of the contest, I am not considering such classics as McCain's 1997 bestseller, Impact of Emerging Trade Issues on U.S. Consumers: Hearing Before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation or his 1992 smash hit, Forging a Military Youth Corps: A Military-Youth Service Partnership for High School Dropouts: The Final Report of the CSIS Panel. We're interested mass-media offerings here -- i.e. books Lily might actually read.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Wantin' That Win So Bad!
Yeah Big T! Congrats on 23 points tonight against UNC-A!
No secret where Lily's loyalties lay in this game, despite her status as an Asheville resident. One's town of residence can change . . . but never one's Alma Mater.
Room Enough to Receive It?
Excerpts from an interesting Washington Post article today:
Why do people who get what they want rarely end up as happy as they expected, while people who fail to achieve dreams rarely end up as unhappy as they feared? Systematic experiments show that as strongly as we hold onto our dreams and fear setbacks, we are poor judges of what will make us happy and unhappy.
This modern research reflects an ancient wisdom:
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory . . . . -- Ephesians 3: 20 (New Testament)
Or, even older than that:
Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out such a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. -- Malachi 3: 10 (Old Testament)
Why do people who get what they want rarely end up as happy as they expected, while people who fail to achieve dreams rarely end up as unhappy as they feared? Systematic experiments show that as strongly as we hold onto our dreams and fear setbacks, we are poor judges of what will make us happy and unhappy.
Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert has made it his life's work to understand why people not only make errors in predicting what will make them happy, but also why they make the same errors over and over again.
"For as long as anyone can remember," Gilbert once noted, "people have hungered for information about their personal futures, confident that if they knew their fates, they would also know their fortunes. Alas, knowing the future is not the same as knowing how much one will like it when one gets there."
This modern research reflects an ancient wisdom:
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory . . . . -- Ephesians 3: 20 (New Testament)
Or, even older than that:
Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out such a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. -- Malachi 3: 10 (Old Testament)
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