Endless Knots

"My worst enemy, which would, of course, be me"

Sy Safransky (nice interview at that link), indefatigable editor of The Sun for decades, publishes his "Notebook" in each issue, a splatter of impressions, observations, and some very good writing. One paragraph in the Feb '10 (click there to read the whole thing) issue spoke loudly to my inner self-esteemer:

I overslept this morning: A bad way to start the day. Does that make me a bad man? It's tempting to think so: yet another opportunity for the vast right-wing conspiracy within me to score another point at my expense. What did I say to Norma [his wife] recently? I need to start the Sy Safransky Anti-Defamation League to counteract the unp[rincipled and vicious attacks make against me by my worst enemy, which would, of course, be me." Yes, I can joke about it. But the self-lacerating shame isn't funny. The put-downs. The bullying. The gallows humor that, no matter how clever, always ends with a noose around my neck. Where is the justice, Your Honor? So I woke up at six instead of five. Instead of blaming myself for oversleeping, maybe I should blame Norma for running naked through one of my dreams, indifferent to whether anyone might see her. If she'd exercised some discretion, I wouldn't have had to run after her and might have heard the clock radio from a thousand miles away, the trumpet call from that other dream realm I'm in the habit of calling "waking reality," though it might more accurately be called "trying-to-wake-up reality"--and I don't just mean getting out of bed. I mean waking up! Get up, sleepyhead! You're not a bad sleepyhead or a good sleepyhead. Forget all that. Wake up!

Timberland's Jeff Swartz on Haiti: "My heart still has not come back"

Jeff Swartz, Timberland CEO, is one of those who dropped everything to go and help. His report is wrenching, inspiring, frustrating...and heart-opening. Posted to Paul Levy's blog here as "Bearing Witness to Haiti." Thank you, Jeff.

And here's the paragraph whence the title of this post. (There are so many stunning lines in Jeff's piece that I've already changed the title twice.):

We went back to handing out the food. The crush didn’t go away, but the fear of a bad scene did. I’m still kinda pinned against the truck; from under the truck, a little brown hand reaches out and grabs my cargo calf. I look down, and there is a little hand clutching my leg. Can’t see the child — he or she has crawled through the densest crush of people I’ve ever seen, wriggled under the truck, and grabbed me — signaling, "I beat the line, now give me a meal." I slipped one down to the hand; the hand grabbed it and vanished. My heart still has not come back — a child, figuring out how to get a meal.

"The Republic of Letters:" The Electronic Enlightenment Project

Thanks to Tom Stewart, who in turn thanks John Hagel for this network discovery: 18th-century social network of ideas, carried out through letters, and now on YouTube, having been mapped by Stanford's "Mapping the Republic of Letters" study. Assistant French Professor Dan Edelstein, principal investigator, describes how ideas spread via letters. Voltaire, for example, wrote 15,000. Cynthia Haven reports:

Edelstein, principal investigator for "Mapping the Republic of Letters" with history Professor Paula Findlen, has mapped thousands of letters that were exchanged during the period of the Enlightenment to uncover hidden truths about the "Republic of Letters."   The latter is "a shorthand that scholars use to refer to writers and philosophers and clergymen and other early modern intellectuals who corresponded across Europe and even across the world," said Edelstein.

...According to Edelstein, "We tend to think of networks as a modern invention, something that only emerged in the Age of Information. In fact, going all the way back to the Renaissance, scholars have established themselves into networks in order to receive the latest news, find out the latest discoveries and circulate the ideas of others."

"We've known about these correspondences for a long time – some of them have been published – but no one has been able to piece together how these individual networks fit into a complete whole, something we call the Republic of Letters."

Yay, Russell! He really can dance!

And a bit off-topic...

Am I the only one who loves this show? I guess not as 8 million people voted but I'm a little surprised that the Boston Globe hasn't even mentioned that Roxbury's own Russell Ferguson won the "So You Think You Can Dance" competition last night. Russell is a krumper. No, I had no idea what krumping was until getting hooked on this show, thanks to extended periods of time on Lake and Finn's couch (click and ye shall see).

Russell may be a krumper but he is also unbelievably talented, the kind of dancer who takes over the stage, regardless of how graceful his partner is. (He injured himself in the finale and had to limp out to hear that he'd won, meaning that we never got to see his last performance on the show.)

Honestly, I'm not hooked on any of the other dance shows or Idol or Loser or Survivor Season 983...none, but this show snatched me. I even voted for Russell, something I've never done before. Yes, he's a neighbor (of sorts, go, Boston) but mainly I voted because this is one major talent.

Last point: the show's host, Cat Deeley, is superb. She oughtta have a talk show. Her resume doesn't do her justice. She's funny, smart, and compassionate - never mind that she's stunningly beautiful (though, as a mom, I am tempted to send her a basketful of cookies - eat, honey!).

Shop at home, change a life

My college roommate, Sylvia, a font of wisdom, has a great saying for her kids: "If you need something, shop at home first." Well, even for those who hate shopping -- or who need something more than Bandaids, we are all bound to do some in the weeks to come.

Here's a way to do it with a kick - an auction (they're running once a month, this one from today through Dec 7) to benefit the Sidney Borum Jr. Health Center (see below for details).

Bling! Brownies! Brady! Babble! (er, the chance to have me speak to your organization)

All good and here's what you're helping:

Located at 130 Boylston St, across from the Boston Common, the Sidney Borum Jr. Health Center opened in 1994 to serve the health care needs of homeless youth and young adults, many of whom engage in unsafe sex with adults in exchange for money, food or a place to sleep. 

The Borum provides primary medical care as well as mental health and substance abuse counseling, HIV counseling, testing and risk reduction reinforcement, as well as other clinical and social services.  Its primary focus is on young people who have been unable to gain acceptance in more traditional health care settings for a variety of reasons, including homelessness and involvement in street life and the sex industry. 

The Borum provides care to HIV positive adolescents and young adults and those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender and, therefore, at risk of not receiving culturally and clinically appropriate services. 

Breaking news: Gates calls Jobs "inspirational"

According to Digital Trends. Here.

(FYI, I do have an Apple category on my blog but alas none for Microsoft. Hmmmm....)

Do I hear $50? $100? $500?

Clever idea. BiddingForGood, which holds auctions for non-profits, is hosting one for Grateful Nation, the online volunteer site associated with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. BIDMC CEO Paul Levy kicked the auction off this morning on his blog. Purpose of this auction is to raise funds to buy an ultrasound machine for Bowdoin Street Health Center in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. Placing an ultrasound machine in the health center will allow pregnant women to have their sonograms near where they live, rather than having to travel, often by public transportation, to the hospital itself, which can be a time-consuming journey. Very good cause that I support wholeheartedly, based on recent experiences close to home.

The auction runs for a week and includes about three dozen items ranging from a baseball signed by Luis Tiant (its value is marked "priceless") to a $100 gift card to Mantra Restaurant to an "Inspiring Speech for Your Organization by Monique Doyle Spencer" to, of course, an "Interactive Presentation" by yours truly.

Bid fast! The whole thing's over in a week but if you miss this one, plan ahead for the holidays, as there will be one the first week of each month. And naturally you too can donate an item, a service, a who-knows-what. I've turned my thinker-upper on to figure out what's next from us.

Modern Love outdoes itself, thanks to Mike

Read it.

If its author's (Joe Blair's) phone is not registering a 9.8 with agents and editors leaving call mes, publishing really is finished.

Merullo on Hemingway

Four years ago this summer, I had the good luck to land in Roland Merullo's workshop on the novel at Solstice Summer Writers' Conference. With an opinion or two of my own about writing, I listened to what he said with a critic's ear. To my astonishment, I agreed with nearly everything--about writing, about workshopping, about raising kids. (Then there was his obsession with golf. Oh, well.)

Thus, Roland became my writing teacher--except for my editor when I was a young reporter, the only such instructor I've had--and, just when I think I have nothing more to learn, he pops up again, always without announcement, with another thoughtful approach to someone or something.

Today's Boston Globe brings  "The life Hemingway made," his op-ed honoring Hemingway's 110th birthday tomorrow, where he talks simply about the writer's life, Hemingway the writer, and his own as writer. Here's the kind of phrasing that has made me read every one of Roland's books (except the golf one): "...these were the notes of a song sung to the deepest part of me." Not forced, not complicated, but ... what notes of which "song" have reached the deepest parts of you?

This post also gives me the excuse to include mention of Roland's latest, his memoir of eating and, yes, golf, The Italian Summer, which I'm reading now. Guaranteed to make you hungry and to provoke a tendency to rent a villa, book a flight, and do what he, Amanda, and their two daughters, Alexandra and Juliana, did a couple of years ago: spend five weeks in heaven, excuse me, Lake Como. I also love this cover. Check out the golfer.

Hidden Heroes Awards from Andrew Goodman Foundation

Just received word from my friends at the Andrew Goodman Foundation of this year's Hidden Heroes Award winners.

Hidden Heroes are ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things to change the world for the better - as Andy did when he traveled to Mississippi in 1964.

Our award honors and supports social activism that gets results.  The Hidden Heroes program, which is being launched with these awards, is part of a new initiative that aims to inspire, educate and reward people who take personal responsibility for healing the world - carrying on the spirit and the love that inspired Andy.

The Hidden Heroes Award is presented each year to as many as five individuals whose work exemplifies the Foundation's origins and mission: promoting human dignity, civil rights and social justice through actions characterized by great personal initiative, selflessness, fearlessness, compassion, imagination, and achievement.

This year's winners are: Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Toni Maloney, Chairperson, Business Council for Peace (BPeace); Gwenn Levine, Founder, Paterson Youth Photography Project, (PYPP) and Tashi Dolma, Founder, Tibetan Home of Hope.

Check it out here.