Monday, November 29, 2004

Home for the holidays revisited

· Everybody I have spoken with, since returning on Sunday night said they had a great thanksgiving and seemed to genuinely mean it. That goes for me as well. I picked up my amazing 93 year old father on Wednesday morning. We shared driving chores and his driving seems to be excellent still. There was also plenty of time for the long conversations that I treasure and will always be fond memories.

· I also picked up another cold which cause me to almost completely lose my voice – a terrible thing for a Professor! Beginning on Sunday I could only whisper or croak, which was particularly problematic since this is the week for “one on one” meetings with CTE managers. But I did have some frozen chicken soup, thanks to the kindness of Anderson Hall anonymous donors at the time of my last cold. It was my dinner this evening and tasted wonderful. Thank you again!

· I still haven’t finished the AV department budget. This is my post Thanksgiving ‘term paper’ assignment.

Saturday, November 27, 2004

• Don’t try to answer your cell phone while riding your bicycle; home for the holidays?

Don’t try to answer your cell phone while riding your bicycle
· Tuesday afternoon, heading back to my office after the Office of Information Technology/e-operations staff meeting at 4200 Wisconsin Avenue (home of the Greenberg Theater and other AU offices.) While in the building lobby I had received a call from my son, an inveterate mobile caller. He loves to just ‘check in’ while driving or waiting in an airport line, enroute to one of his international commitments. I appreciate this and enjoy our brief ‘check in’ conversations, though I rarely initiate them. Not long afterwards, I was pedaling briskly along the Nebraska Avenue when my phone buzzed. My son is calling again, I thought and I should answer. With one hand I reached for my phone, while braking with the other, skidded, lost my balance and fell to the ground (on the grass fortunately) with a horrific crash. ‘Are you all right,’ a passing biker queried. ‘No problem,’ I lied. Both my leg and my self concept and sustained injuries …..On this, the day after Thanksgiving, the pain is subsiding, and it has been around long enough to remind me not answer my cell phone when riding. That I didn’t wind up in the hospital, permanently injured, as able to pick up my father later in the evening, as planned, is something else to be thankful for.
Home for the holidays – myth and reality
· “How are you spending Thanksgiving?” is a frequent question we ask each other is the holiday season approaches. Most of my Anderson Hall neighbors seem to view the prospect of going home for Thanksgiving with high expectations. What surprises me is the relatively large number of older adults who do not. “Family gatherings” are anticipated as a burdensome, quarrelsome intrusion on a busy schedule. They are seen as a time when, after initial conviviality, the scars from old family wounds are scraped open. “I’m going to see my mother,” a friend reported, “and I dread these yearly gatherings.” I heard something like this too often over the past few days. For the many who seem to feel similarly, there must be a better way. Could there be a frank acknowledgement of feelings, and the design of holiday celebrations that would be true celebrations for all those who chose to participate. That would be something to be thankful for!
· How was your Thanksgiving holiday?

Monday, November 22, 2004

The 10 Bulls

I could write about my frantic day, trying to complete a myriad of tasks, mostly budget an personnel before the holidays. But it seems more appropriate to share "The Ten Bulls". This translation is a 12th century rendering of an earlier Taoist parable. It is from a book, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, which was given to me many years ago and is a frequent travel companion.

I spoke with my father together and he is looking forward to our Thanksgiving Holidays together.

All of us have 'issues' with our parents and mostly, they die before we are able to complete them. Often this means that we carry them around with us, like rocks on our back, for our lifetimes. This when one is able to 'complete' a relationship what a parent is still living, it is a gift of grace.

Here is the 10 Bulls.

In the pasture of this world, I endlessly push aside the tall grasses in search of the bull.
Following unnamed rivers, lost upon the interpenetrating paths of distant mountains,
My strength failing and my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the bull.
I only hear the locusts chirring through the forest at night.

Along the riverbank under the trees, I discover footprints!
Even under the fragrant grass I see his prints.
Deep in remote mountains they are found.
These traces no more than be hidden than one’s nose, looking heavenward.

I hear the song of the nightingale.
The sun is warm, the wind is mild, willows are green along the shore.
Here no bull can hide!
What artist can draw that massive head, those majestic horns?

I seize him with a terrific struggle.
His great will and power are inexhaustible.
He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud mists,
Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.

The whip and rope are necessary,
Else he might stray off down some dusty road.
Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle.
Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.

Mounting the bull, slowly I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones through the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats the pulsating harmony, I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody will join me.

Astride the bull, I reach home.
I am serene. The bull too can rest.
The dawn has come.
In blissful repose, within my thatched dwelling
I have abandoned the whip and rope.

Whip, rope, person, and bull – all merge in No-Thing.
This heaven is so vast no message can stain it.
How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?
Here are the footprints of the patriarchs.

Too many steps have been taken returning to the root and the source.
Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning!
Dwelling in one’s true abode, unconcerned with that without –
The river flows tranquilly on and the flowers are red.

Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world.
My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful.
I use no magic to extend my life;
Now, before me, dead trees become alive.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Decorating the Christmas Tree at Leeds Church

The tree that graces the Leeds Church Parish Hall was cut at a local farm owned by one of our members. Christmas tree decorating was quite similar to an event I blogged about several weeks ago, when multigenerational congregation members gathered to create commemorative pennants for the All Saints Day procession. Once again the colored paper, spangled pipe cleaners, scissors, glue sticks, bottles of Elmer’s glue, magic markers, and “Crayola” crayons emerged from their storage place and were pressed into service.

Like the All Saints Day celebration, the event combined fun and religious instruction We were asked to make decorations with liturgical significance, an eye signifying wisdom, a manger, a sun, signifying the light of heaven, a key signifying the keys to the kingdom, and others that I don’t remember. After about 35 minutes of work by an intergenerational group of about 25, ranging in age from 2 years to over 70, the Leeds Choir (it normally numbers about 10) joined us to sing the hymn “O Come Immanuel”. Each verse of the carol referred to one of the decorations we had made. At the appropriate time for our particular creation, we added it to the tree.

Then we all went outside to rededicate the Church. Here is a brief background about the congregation from our website:

and Southern soldiers; one wall was pierced by an artillery shell from a nearby hostile engagement. Leeds Parish, covering much of Northern and Central Fauquier County, was established in 1769 by action of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and has been in continuous existence since then. Services continued throughout the Revolutionay War as its clergy supported the colonies in that conflict. Its boundaries orginally encompassed several churches. The present building, the Episcopal Church of Leeds Parish, was consecrated by Bishop William Meade in August 1842.
Leeds Parish has often been a witness to history. The church building was occupied during the Civil War by Northern Lee and Longstreet's troops marched past (on what is now Route 688) on their way to the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. Confederate General Turner Ashby was a member of the parish. Dr. James Markham Ambler, a communicant of the parish, lost his life in the Jeannette Artic Expedition of 1881 because of his heroic refusal to leave his dying patients. Dr. Ambler is buried in Leeds Cemetery and his grave is marked by a stone column erected in his memory by the U.S. Navy.

The Congregation, which is not large or wealthy is raising more than $200,000 to restore the building. A few weeks ago the work was completed. Today, perhaps 100 members of the congregation stood outside the newly restored building. We acknowledged the contributions of the builder, a member of the community and congregation, who completed the work. We prayed that the building would continue to sustain the life of the congregation.

It is healthy to get out of the hypocritical and hyper-politicized life of Washington DC (not that I don’t love living in Washington DC) and spend time with a growing community of friends in the Leeds Church community. We have put the election behind us, though Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards remain on bumper stickers in the parking lot in roughly equal numbers. Community members treat each other, for the most part, with civility and respect. There is time to sit with our children, trading glue sticks to create a hand decorated Christmas Tree. The Choir may never grace the Kennedy Center stage, but we all get to sing.

The Peace of the Lord be with you.

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Technology is not always friendly

This morning's computing experience.... sound familiar? - An excerpt from my message to the AU Help Desk. More positive thoughts later - when I get back in touch with my karma of reliable computing.

The scenario:

I logged in to the system from my Anderson Hall apartment, using the wired connection and was listening to WAMU

At about ten, I lost the signal and received the message "windows system error, IP address conflict with another system on the network." I turned on the radio.

At 11:00, thinking the problem might have resolved itself. I tried to restart my computer. It froze on the Novell Prompt.

At 11:10 did a hard restart of my system, disconnected the ethernet cable and activated the wireless link. I was not able to access the AU home page but was eventually able to get into it via google. Then, via the AU technology page I was able to get into Notes (which had previously not been available).

That enabled me to send this message, which is not a request for help, but simply a report of what happened to assist in possible diagnosis.

As for me, after 45 minutes or more of experimentation, I have done the only sensible thing. I have acknowledged that God is sending a clear message - do something else with your time than work on your computer. The work I had planned for this morning will simply have to wait.

Signing off.....

John Richardson

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Too tired to try and be wise or profound

I am trying to leave my office by nine or so and tonight I will nearly make it. Playing tennis in Arlington at 6 AM requires a 5 AM wake up which, as the days get shorter, seems pretty early.

Lunch with Professor Abdul Aziz Said was a high spot. He is AUs most senior faculty member - he completed his doctorate at AU before becoming a faculty member. We used to hire more of our own graduates then. Many faculty in their seventies become rigid and resistant to change, but he is a perpetual font of new ideas and empowering, loving support to students. He is a remarkable human being. We used to have lunch once a semester, but we have both been so busy it has been more than two years. It was good to catch up, personally and professionally.

I received a copy of the foreward to my book today, written by the director of the research center that is publishing it. I won't reproduce the entire document, but do want to share one passage that I found particularly gratifuying:

There are foreign scholars who write books on developing countries with nothing more than a casual acquaintance of the country concerned and then declare themselves “experts” on that country. What the reader will find between the covers of this book is a work of a very different nature and calibre. Professor Richardson’s first visit to Sri Lanka was in 1987. On that occasion he also participated in an international conference of the ICES where I met him for the first time. Over the next seventeen years he frequently visited the island that he has virtually come to consider as his second home. In those numerous visits he has spent varying periods of time including lengthy sabbaticals teaching and researching. Over the years I saw Professor Richardson painstakingly gather data on Sri Lanka—talking to people, reading primary and secondary sources, collecting statistics, and observing events.

Reactions like this make the seventeen year process the reviewer describs seem worthwhile.

I wonder if I have another book in me. It is too soon to decide. I need to get this one properly launched first.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Letters of Recommendation

Whew.... letters of recommendation take time! But there is no point in writing a letter unless you are willing to write one that is likely to make a difference. Such letters must be long, carefully crafted and specific. They most demonstrate that you care about the person for whom you are writing.

I started writing at 3:30 and just finished now - 9:30 with only two meetings to interrupt. Tw letters; nearly three hours each. I almost always underestimate how long things like this will take. But both letters were important and worth taking the itme.

One is for a friend and senior colleague seeking a new position. Here is a brief excerpt (I have redacted some key information)

(She) combines the full range of qualities one seeks in a senior faculty member .... to an unusual degree. She is an incisive scholar with broad-ranging interests, high standards and strong methodological skills. Her writing is clear and accessible, examining topical cutting-edge concerns in ... and grounding her work in solid theoretical underpinnings. She is an engaging, gifted teacher and lecturer, who is able to work equally well with undergraduates and advanced graduate students. She is an energetic, effective academic manager, entrepreneur and fund raiser. If she has a shortcoming, it is only that her days, like all of our days, comprise only twenty-four hours. There hardly seems enough time for her to make all of the contributions he would like to make and is able to make with exceptional creativity and competence.

The the second is for a recent Ph.D. graduate. I was writing a personal letter to a friend in the department to which he was applying, rather than a more formal recommendation. Again, a brief excerpt follows.

....Candidly, I have not read any of ...’s work since he was a student in my doctoral seminar – one of the best, incidentally. But we have had numerous informal discussions on various topics over the years. What particularly strikes me about these conversations is his skillful bridge building between the sometimes arcane subject-matter of international relations theory and the “real world” of public policy. His level of ability to do this is relatively rare in recently minted doctoral students, but is one of the essential qualities of excellent undergraduate teachers.

... also has a temperament that makes him an ideal colleague. He is a consummate professional, deeply committed to a career as a scholar and caring engaged teacher. And, while he is serious about his professional commitments – his resume amply demonstrates this – he is not pretentious, as some scholars can be... .

In sum, .... would seem to be an excellent fit for the position you are seeking to fill, combining an excellent scholarly track record, a very strong teaching record and a congenial, equable personality. He compares favorably with other doctoral students whom we have recently placed in tenure track positions and with those who we have recently hired. In fact, was it our practice to hire our own graduates, we would seriously consider him for an open position in international relations theory here.


As I said in my previous letter of recommendation blog, it is always useful to be thinking about what sort of letter of recommendation you will evoke, for a competitive academic and job market, where the competition is typically 'zero sum.'

Time to go home to Anderson and have dinner.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Paradise Poisoned Blurbs

Some readers may be aware that I recently completed my sixth book, the end of an overlong seventeen year project. The book, entitled Paradise Poisoned: Learning About Conflict, Terrorism and Development from Sri Lanka’s Civil Wars is presently in production.

Did you know that the invariably complementary comments on the back cover of a book are called “blurbs”. For the past several weeks, I have been soliciting and then editing blurbs for the back cover of my book. I completed the editing earlier this evening and this seems like an appropriate time to share them (you will be reading much more about this book, later).

John Richardson spent a great deal of time over the past two decades living and working in Sri Lanka with people on both sides of the persistent conflict there. From his exhaustive work has emerged the definitive reference on the morphology of violence in Sri Lanka and a breakthrough theory of links between development and deadly conflict.

Dennis Meadows, Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire and President, Laboratory for Interactive Learning; author of ten books including The Limits to Growth (in 1972) and Limits to Growth - the 30-Year Update.

At a time when statesmen and scholars are concerned with failed states, the rise of radicalized minorities and protracted deadly conflict, John Richardson’s study of Sri Lanka is a timely, provocative contribution. His analysis draws lessons from Sri Lanka’s experiences that help explain escalating conflict and terrorism in many countries. It offers valuable insights to those concerned with limiting or preventing these pathologies.

W. Howard Wriggins, Bryce Professor Emeritus of the History of International Relations; former U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka; author, Sri Lanka: Dilemmas of a New Nation and many other works.

Occasionally a book comes along that teaches me how to think. John Richardson’s Paradise Poisoned is such a book. One cannot read this book without realizing, in this post-9/11 era, that when development goes awry, life goes awry, security goes awry, and terrorism flourishes. Sri Lanka stands as an object lesson in these consequences of failed development. Every person seriously concerned about stopping terrorism should read this book.

Dr. Elizabeth Harper Neeld, international business consultant and widely published author, including Seven Choices: Finding Daylight After Loss Shatters Your World

John Richardson's Paradise Poisoned is a courageous exploration into Sri Lanka's multiple crises and insurgencies with insights gathered from years of research and close observations of the behavior of the country's political institutions and key actors. He proposes that deadly intrastate conflicts like the one in Sri Lanka are not only predictable, but also preventable through appropriate and visionary policy measures. This is a book that will not only attract the attention of specialists and students but also of general readers.

Dr. Jayadeva Uyangoda, Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Colombo and Director, Center for Policy Alternatives, Colombo; auuthor of numerous publications on ethnic politics, conflict resolution and human rights

Note: one secret of getting good blurbs is to have good friends who are knowledgeable about your project, support it and have a stature that makes their comments meaningful to potential readers. If you write a crummy book, of course, good friends with strong credentials don't help and you can't expect them to produce complementary blurbs. But if they were good friends, hopefully they would have advised you not to try and publish the book in the first place!

Monday, November 15, 2004

The Old Dominion Hunt Ball and reflections it evoked

What to write about this morning?
· The Hunt Ball and Sunday morning services at Leeds Church – how we play multiple roles and what about that
· Recreational activities and the Zen of ironing trousers and shirts and trousers
· Transformations – reflections walking to church on a country road
· A great Sunday night dinner

The Hunt Ball et al
· The Hunt Ball was fun. About 100 middle to later middle aged people gathered into the auditorium of a private day school in Flint Hill Virginia which had been transformed into an elegant dinner venue. We were all dressed in evening clothes, the women in beautiful gowns and the men in tuxedos or cutaways including many in the red cutaway coats signaling that they had been awarded their ‘colors’ . Colors are awarded for active participation in the hunt and congeniality with the political powers that be, the “Master,” “Joint Master” and hunt committee. Women, too, can now be awarded colors, but are not permitted to wear red coats. Perhaps in another generation or two that will change. The price of admission was $250 per couple, but the food was better, the crowding less, drinks and wine included in the price and the music better than were available at recent political gatherings in support of John Kerry and George Bush, where the price of admission could have been much higher. Virtually all of the crowd, were unusually fit and above average in looks – country living and horseback riding may contributed to this. All, as far as I could tell were Caucasian – no diversity here. I don’t think there is overt discrimination, but Virginia Foxhunting, with unbroken traditions dating back to anti bellum South, may not be viewed as an embracing culture by Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and South Asians.
· I wonder about recreational activities, which are seen to be such an important part of people’s lives who have the surplus wealth to afford them. Foxhunting is a costly avocation for the Hunt members, but a “job” for the paid huntsman who manages and leads the hounds. Tennis is my recreation, but a job for Serena and Venus Williams as well as the young Russian pheonoms who have supplanted them in the rankings.

A break
· My writing was interrupted by a doctoral student who just returned from Sri Lanka and stopped by. He is now about 30 and I have known him – and his parents – since he was 14. We played tennis together at Sri Lanka’s Queen’s Club. Maintaining this sort of continuity with at least a few students as they mature and make a life for themselves is one of most rewarding facets of a professor’s life – and of maintaining ties with a single country as research site and second home.

I need to move on to other items on my ‘to do list… more about work, leisure and recreation, at some future date.

Saturday, November 13, 2004

Slicing Vegetables and Power Outages

Power outages bring back memories
· Anderson Hall seemed to survive the 6 PM to 5 AM power outage without difficulty. It was a bit like living in a developing country, except that the hall and lounge lights continued to burn and we had water. When I was living in Sri Lanka, one fall (2002) we had 12 hours of outages each day – in six hour blocs. They were not announced in advance. For those who did not have generators, the principal light was from artificial fluorescent ‘wands’ which we charged up whenever the power came on. None of the houses had screens, of course, and these lights seemed particularly attractive to the night bugs that proliferate in tropical climates. There would be hundreds of them sitting on the wands and buzzing around – and a goodly number of corpses to be swept on the floor in the morning. The activity of choice during outages, for those who could afford it was dinner at a generator equipped restaurant. There was a very good and modestly priced Chinese one a short walk from my home, the Flower Song, which I frequented regularly. Since there wore no street lights, one did need to be cautious not to break an ankle in a sidewalk hole, which could be both wide and a foot or more deep.

Slicing vegetables
· Tomorrow’s North Africa meal uses a mix of vegetables almost completely different than the Italian, Spanish, French and South Asian meals that I more customarily cook. There are turnips, onions, eggplant (which is used in South Asia ) and several different kinds of squash (North Africans use a squash like vegetable called calebeza. ) This meant almost two hours of vegetable peeling and slicing. The Tenleytown Whole Foods market had about eight different kinds of squash and some wonderful looking New Zealand Lamb as well. There is nothing like Whole Foods if you are doing some off the beaten track cooking, especially with vegetables. Having a ‘neighborhood market’ like this is one advantage of living in a cosmopolitan city. I get to have the best of both worlds, of course.

Thanksgiving plans
· Some families make holiday plans well in advance, but we are more last minute types. I called my father this evening – he is a vigorous 93 - and we made plans for me to come and pick him up from his assisted living apartment and drive with him down to Virginia. He still drives – quite well in fact – but has accepted the idea that a long drive over unfamiliar terrain in hliday traffic is not a great idea. Some day, many years hence, most of my student friends and neighbors will have to cope with your parents aging process including, driving, possibly nursing home care ultimately, the death of these personalities who have loomed so large in our lives. If your parents are as responsible about this as mine have been, you will be blessed.

Friday, November 12, 2004

Unsung Heroes

Thanks for making Dormgradpop #1 on Daily Jolt’s List of AU Blogs – does anyone know how this ranking is compiled?

First a word about Sunday night dinner
· Still plenty of space for Dormgrandpop’s Moroccan dinner this Sunday night. The dish is called Keskou Fassia, Fez-Style Lamb Couscous. I will be making the vegetarian version with Mushrooms – my vegetarian staple and adding some dates and rasins. I hope they have Moroccan bread at the Whole Foods. I don’t think I will have time for baking. Our guest will be professor Albert Cheh from the Chemistry Department who won last year’s award for the best teacher in the general education program. The recipe is from The Africa Cookbook: Tastes of a Continent, by Jessica B. Harris. Two of my staff members gave it to me for Christmas, two years ago.
Unsung heroes
· My unsung heroes are the eight full-time staff members of the Audivisual Department (the department also has several part-timers). CTE took over the responsibility for audiovisual about a month ago and I have been getting to know them - Ron, Bob, Eric, Sheebie, John, Leeyton, Danny Tim, and Sonya. They are among the most committed and responsible AU staff members I know. And they get all too little recognition and support for their work: night and day, rain or shine. I am working to change that and you can help. When an CTE/AV staff member shows up in your classroom to help your professor get is web access or power point’s running, don’t hesitate to say “Thank You!”. If you see them trucking heavy equipment across the quad in the pouring rain, don’t hesitate to say “Thank you.” When they show up on Saturday morning or at 9 PM Friday evening to make sure that the sound system for your event is running properly, don’t hesitate to say thank you.
· Did know know that CTE/AV staff members processed over 10 thousand requests for service, last Spring. I didn’t.
· Did you know that AU has more than $700,000 of installed audiovisual equipment. I didn’t. And we need a technology replacement budget of about $250,000 for the next few years, which we don’t yet have – but we will.

The Hunt Ball
· Tomorrow morning I will be sprucing up my evening clothes to join my wife at the Old Dominion Hunt Ball in the evening. Since I don’t have time to ride in the hunt (foxhunting takes even more time – and money – than golf, which I also don’t play) I don’t get to wear a red dinner jacket or cutaway. But I will be able to admire the splendor of others, and to dance, which I have not done in several years. Fox hunting is an anachronism, but an elegant and beautiful one (If you are a fox, of course, you may see things differently).


Thursday, November 11, 2004

The secret of successful relationships

Today was the day I had regular bi-weekly counseling session. Our discussion focused on relationships and my counselor offered her prescription for successful relationships (she said she knew many would disagree).

ZERO EXPECTATIONS
I need to think about this and discuss it further.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

A busy day

9:00 - Blackboard update meeting with staff
10:00 - Speak to HR staff on how the world looks from a faculty vantage point
10:45 - CTE Management Group Meeting
12:00 - Host lunch for second year tenure track faculty on getting research grants
2:00 - CTE Marketing Group ("The Dynamos") Meeting
5:00 - Speak to Career Center program for students on how to get good letters of recommendations
6:45 - Read email - discover phony Pay Pal message. Follow up and do virus scan (of nearly 100,000 files 0n disc)
8:30 - Write blog
8:45 - Work on audvisual department budget
11:00 - Anderson Hall staff meeting

Whew !

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Thoughts on the election from a friend and related musings

Well.... I got through this morning's crisis, meeting with my colleague, expressing my concerns, finding a solution, and moving on. But I still only get about a 'C-' in effective manager. A good manager does not let the urgent drive out the important, which tended to be my problem, today.

Listenting to post election discussions is particularly interesting for me because both my son and daughter in law, whom I respect and love deeply are both staunch Bush supporters and evangelical Christians. They are thoughtful and non dogmatic. We have many interesting discussions. The book Streams of Devotion which I read each morning was a gift from my daughter in law. I have attended their church services in both Kentucky and Salt Lake City. So when I hear steriotypic characterizations of 'evangelicial Christians' it gives me pause. They are no more justified than steriotypic characterizations of gay marriage.

Here is a moving reaction to the election, in the form of eighteen principles, written by my friend (and collaborator on the book Ending Hunger, author Elizabeth Neeld.

I am so sad this morning. The election seems to have gone Bush¹s way.

When I honor my sadness and grief and get to the other side of that, I will continue to stand for and work for and honor those principles and values I hold so deeply which led me to work so hard for John Kerry.

I will continue to stand for and work for and learn more about and speak about and honor things like:

1. Protecting the environment, including not allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and the beautiful forests of northern New Mexico, as an example

2. A Supreme Court whose vacancies are not filled with judges who will use the courts to further the right-wing positions of the people Bush calls his ³base²

3. Never going to war unless you have to and always telling the truth about why you are going to war

4. Openness and transparency in the White House and the Administration,
rather than secrecy and a stonewall against disclosure

5. Open and free science, not science manipulated to support a political agenda

6. Social security for elders that is honored and protected by not spending the surplus to offset a deficit and by keeping the system intact

7. A surplus not a deficit in the federal government

8. Health care for people who cannot afford it, including all children

9. Our country's being respected in the world for our principles and our behavior and our country¹s president being respected, at least by people in the ³free world²

10. Never sending women and men into war without proper equipment and
without enough soldiers to match the need and never cutting money for
military personnel and their families for health care, medical care for
those wounded in war, housing, schools for soldiers¹ children

11. Working with our allies in a co-operative and partnership-type way and not an arrogant, dismissive way

12, Never keeping people as prisoners without charging them and giving them the right to be represented in a civil court

> 13, Protection of our civil liberties as citizens, including things like not having the books we check out of a library checked by the government at will and not having our basic freedoms curtailed by an administration that attempts to equate disagreement with lack of patriotism.

14. Not using fear and terror threats as a means of furthering a political party's agenda

15. Having our flag stand for our wonderful country, not the Republican
party. Having 9/11 be a sad, shared moment for all of us, not a political ace in the hole for the Republicans

16. Not having tax cuts that create a deficit nor tax cuts that benefit
primarily the wealthy

17. Having a viable Medicare system that cares for the elderly and is not controlled by insurance companies

18. Having leaders‹and especially a president‹who will admit mistakes and grow and learn from them
>

Its best to just get up and deal with it.

I am one of the world's soundest sleepers. This comes from being in the navy, I think. If you don't learn to snatch moments of sleep when you can, even if the ship is rolling 50 degrees (you tie yourself in bed, you don't survive).

So when wake up at 4:30 in the morning, stewing over a problem, I know I have a problem. In this case it is a problem created by an oversight of one of my best managers. I don't mind mistakes; to make mistakes is human. But I hate it when individuals don't acknolwedge their mistakes - or oversights - and take responsibility for them. IT DRIVES ME CRAZY!

At least I have learned not to lie in bed, worrying, trying - unsucessfully - to get back to sleep and then worrying about how tired I will be all day. IT IS BETTER TO GET UP AND DO SOMETHING.

Send a voicemail to schedule a meeting with my manager
Envision how I will deal with the problem and take responsibility for it.
Make a cup of Sri Lankan tea and savor it.
Write this blog.
Make my bed.
Iron a shirt or two (practice the Zen of shirt ironing)
Pray and listen - perhaps God will be available for some good advice
Read Ghandi
Lift weights
And get on with my day.

I haven't done all of this yet, but already I feel MUCH BETTER!




Monday, November 08, 2004

Flying without wings

· Gandhi was imprisoned by the British on several occasions – during World War II, imprisonment was for an extended period. He was almost always well treated, though insisting he be given no ‘special privileges.’ After being imprisoned for organizing the ‘salt march,’ civil disobedience directed against a tax on salt, he wrote the following to the children of his ashram.

Little birds, ordinary birds cannot fly without wings. With wings, of course, all can learn to fly. But if you, without wings, will learn to fly, they all your troubles will indeed be at an end. And I will teach you.

See, I have no wings, yet I come flying to you every day in thought. Look, here is little Vimila, here is Hari and here is Dharmakumar. And you can also come flying to me in thought.

Send me a letter signed by all, and those who do not know how sign may make a cross. Bapu’s blessings.

***
(Signing on is certainly a breeze at 7:30 AM. In contrast to 11:30 PM)

Sunday, November 07, 2004

"From the Top" and other miscellaneous reflections

From the Top – worth a listen
• Driving back to campus from Hume, on Sunday afternoons often gives me the opportunity to listen to ‘From the Top’ (http://www.fromthetop.org/) an NPR program (heard on WETA from 4:00 to 5:00 PM) that showcases some of the finest middle-school and high school age classical musicians in the US. The program often originates from the New England Conservatory of Music, but originated this week from Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The orchestra provided back up for a Mendelssohn piano concerto, a Debussy harp concerto, and a Tchaikhovsky (sp?) violin concerto. It played a tone poem, written by an eleven year old boy who has adopted the pseudonym, ‘Blue Jay’ commemorating September 11.
• The musicianship of the young performers is always professional – many have already begun performing on the concert stage. But what particularly interests me is the stories of these young women and men, who, with the support of their parents, have achieved such a high level of musicianship. They have gotten in touch with their talent and are striving to be the very best they can be. All of them must have the self-discipline to practice for two or three hours each day and then the poise to present themselves in the concert hall. I am reminded of one of my very favorite books, Jonathan Livingston Seagull – I looked to see if I could find a copy in my apartment to quote from, but couldn’t. But the text is on line at http://lib.ru/RBACH/seagullengl.txt. And definitely worth a read if you are not familiar with the book. Here is a quote.
• What he had once hoped for the Flock, he now gained for himself alone; he learned to fly, and was not sorry for the price that he had paid. Jonathan Scagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull's life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed.
• I have thought about returning to my principal professional skill – computer modeling – with the discipline that daily practice requires, but have not yet achieved the single mindedness and sacrifices that this would require.

Carrying groceries – not my favorite thing
• Carrying groceries from the barrier to my apartment is not my most favorite activity. Friday night the load was heavy, with 20 or more signed up for Lasagna on Sunday night. But God had sent me a miracle in the person of a kind young lady named Colleen. When I expressed concern about the weight of my parcels she said there was nothing to worry about – she was a member of AU’s rugby team. I worried no further. Thank you Colleen. Should any of the rest of you see me carrying in green recycle bags of groceries from the barriers, an offer of assistance would not be refused.

Fire Evacuation
• There was a South Side fire evacuation about midnight. People were in much better spirits than at 3 AM, though I still dispensed a full salad bowl full of candy. Early to bed south siders were back in bed before 1 AM.
• Dinner at the faculty residents apartment
• These seem to be catching on. We had about twenty, help with the dishes and a great evening. This was my first experiment with Lasagna noodles that don’t require boiling – they seemed to work well and were a bit time saver, as advertised.
• I didn’t get to my ironing tonight. 11:30 is late enough for me. Let there be no fire evacuation will be part of my evening prayers.

DG

Friday, November 05, 2004

Understanding our adversaries – a post election thought from Mahatma Gandhi

I read the following passage yesterday morning in my book The Essential Gandhi and wanted to share it. Gandhi wrote it in his newspaper, Young India, in the March 19 1925 Number.

Three fourths of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world will disappear if we step into the shoes of our adversaries and understand their standpoint. We will then agree with our adversaries quickly or think of them charitably. In our case, there is no question of our agreeing with them quickly as our ideas are radically different (Gandhi was speaking of the British, then ruling India and denying Indians independence). But we may be charitable to them and believe that they actually mean what they say….

Our business, therefore is to show them that they are in the wrong and we should do so by our suffering. I have found that mere appear to reason does not answer where prejudices are age long and based on supposed religious authority. Reason has to be strengthened by suffering and suffering opens the eyes of understanding,

Many of you - and me too - will have difficulty with the notion that we should show our adversaries we are in the wrong by our suffering. Gandhi really believed this, however, and put his principles on the line several times by fasting. If you have seen the film Ghandi you will recall this.

***
My appreciation to Eagle Staff Writer Kate Oczpok for a great article on my life in Anderson Hall and my blog in the November 4th number. Thanks to the Eagle photography department for the first picture of me in either the Eagle or the American Weekly in which I did not appear wearing and apron.
***
Have you heard about University College? This was an idea put forth in President Ladner's Fifteen Points several years ago. A task force completed a report, developing the idea in somewhat broad-brush strokes last year. Now a second group is looking seriously an implementing the idea as a pilot project. I met with one of the group members over breakfast this morning. I think there is information about university college somewhere on AU's web site - no time check that right now. If you have thoughts on this idea, don't hestitate to share them.
Have a good weekend.
DG....

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Chicken Soup - It was like a miracle

Wow - I was able to post something last night, despite technology problems, the same abbreviated blog about 10 times. Anyhow, here is today's post:

From Wednesday November 3
· In the evening I wrote an elegant blog with my reflections on the election and an appropriate Zen story from a favorite book, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, but I violated rule 1 of local area network technology (during peak hours, especially) NEVER assume that it will be reliable; always make a copy on a local disc first, of you want to be sure your work will not be lost. This is not to say it is not mostly reliable; it is. But no where near 100 per-cent reliable.
· So I returned to my apartment tired thoroughly discouraged. Kerry had lost, the network connection had frozen as I was attempting to post a great blog and the flu germs, in retreat all day, were making a new assault.
· But when I checked in at the Anderson Front Desk, my evening was transformed. An anonymous student or students had read about my flu attack and had left me a cure. Home-made chicken soup, with rice, and fresh vegetables – carrots and celery, fresh corn bread, fresh rolls, a brownie, even candy snacks. It completely turned my day around – I am SO GRATEFUL!!! THANK YOU!!! This will be another great example that I can use to dispel the negative stereotypes that some individuals, even in the university, have of students.

About the election
· I’m sad that Kerry lost, but, in truth, I could never get very excited about him. My weekly print news source (and an excellent one) The Economist described America’s contest – it is a British publication – as a choice between “the incompetent” (President Bush) and “the incoherent” (Senator Kerry). One of my weekly tennis partners, a leading DC policy analyst said about Senator Kerry “the guy will promise anything he thinks will help get him elected.” Will President Bush work to earn the trust of those who voted for Senator Kerry and will he succeed. We shall see.

Thursday, November 04, 2004
· A gloomy morning. A U s Board of Trustees begins their meeting today and I helped two senior AV staff members set up the room. Too bad we don’t have a nicer day. These men and women play an important role in the governance of AU and are particularly important players in our capital campaign. To see a listing of their names, as well as others who are active in the capital campaign, check out the “A New AU” website http://www.american.edu/campaign/involved.cfm,
· The AV department staff are a very capable and largely unheralded group of AU staff members. If you see them in the hall or dropping in to a class to set up or respond to an emergency, why don’t you say “hi” and “thank you”. They work irregular hours and are not always treated with the respect that is due them, especially by faculty members. I’m working on that,

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Feeling better - despite the election results

Yuck - I lost an entire posting dealing with my thoughts on the election - into cyberspace.

In brief I was sad that Senator Kerry Lost, but not devasted. He seemed better than Bush but never excited my passions.

Here is a concluding Zen epigram that was part of the elegant posting that you will not get to read - in this life anyway.

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912) received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he could no longer restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup.”

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Sick on Election Eve

Aargh, I'm sick - so if the world is waiting for a spectacular election eve blog, this is going to be a big disappointment. I hope it isn't the flu since I decided to forgo shots, as usual. I lead a clean life, eat fairly sensibly, get regular exercuse, even pray from time to time (though not about the flu). It doesn't seem fair.

Can you imagine how the losing candidate will feel (assuming there is a winner and loser) tomorrow morning, after so many weeks of non stop campaigning. He better take his flu shot.

Let's hope there is a definitive result, other than a contested outcome and lawsuits.



Monday, November 01, 2004

Preparing to Celebrate All Saints' Day at Leeds Church

Sunday, October 31
My religious faith is Quaker, however I was baptized an Episcopalian. There is no Friends Meeting close by and Leeds Episcopal Church, founded before the Revolutionary War (it was an Anglican Church then of course) is less than a two mile walk from our home (and a beautiful two mile walk in nice weather, such as this morning. It is an authentic community church with a congregation that is diverse in age, though predominantly Caucasian. Two African American families are members, but de-facto racial segregation is still more the norm in rural Western Virginia and in our community. We have a ‘Black Baptist Church’ and a ‘White Baptist Church’ on Leeds Manor Road, about three miles from one another. The congregations do cooperate on a variety of ecumenical events.

Our Episcopalian Priest is a woman, and such an effective, inspiring leader that one wonders how patriarchialists in the Episcopal Church and especially the Roman Catholic Church could be so vigorously opposed to women priests

Wait… I intended to write about today’s adult education/Sunday school class and have now am drifting off into social commentary – professors tend to do this,

Today’s Sunday school/adult education class was such a great example of what a vibrant community church can do. The theme was All Saints Day, which we will celebrate next Sunday – the Sunday after Halloween. About forty of us, ranging in age from about two years to 80 years old grouped ourselves around five tables, with a mix of adults and children at each. Each table was given the name of a Saint (some unofficial, like the Reverend Martin Luther King), with a brief one page description of his or her life and works. The task was to make pennants or banners, which will be carried by the congregation’s children as part of an all Saints Day procession in church next week

Our table – three adults and two children (a family, apart from me) was assigned the Apostle Peter. This was pretty easy pennant material because Peter was a fisherman and was then designated by Jesus as the “Rock” on which he would build his church. My pennant was red, with a large black rock in the middle inscribed with the words petra (our visiting seminarian, who temporarily joined our group as a theological consultant told us that petra was the Greek word for Rock.) My pennant also included a church icon, a smiling dolphin (I know a dolphin is not really a fish) and a golden cross, crafted from pipe cleaners.

Today’s sermon was about Zaccaeaus, a tax collector of diminutive stature who climbed a tree to see Jesus, then served him dinner and vowed to change his life. Tax collectors do not fare well in either the Old or New Testament of the Bible. This must pose a challenge for ministers, pastors, priests, etc. who have a large number of Internal Revenue Service agents in the congregation.

Monday 1
Another fire alarm evacuation this morning, about 3:30 – a “pull” I was told. These are never fun, but at least the weather was reasonably warm and we were only out for between 30 and 45 min. Hopefully we will get these out of our system before the weather becomes freezing and – even worse – the snow and sleet begins to fall. I would like to figure out a way to distribute hot tea, during those evacuations, but will probably have to stick with Neslle’s Crunch, Reeses, Butterfinger, etc.