See upcoming releases.

The time comes when we realize
that the ducks will never be in a row.
It is the nature of ducks to fly about.
The house will never be perfectly clean.
It is the nature of a house to accommodate clutter.
The project will never be done just right.
It is in the nature of projects to evolve into other projects.
The future will never be perfectly secure.
It is the nature of life to be unpredictable.

Sit still and watch for a moment.
Perfection will be built
from all that is imperfect.

From a modern-day adaptation of the Tao te Ching by William Martin. (2010). Ancient advice for the second half of life. New York: The Experiment, p. 71; ISBN 978-1-61519-024-9. image: http://uwarboretum.org/photos/

Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man, ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?

Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend
On whom my hopes of heav’n depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His name.

(2) Today in 1864 – William Martin Born
William Clark Martin was a Baptist pastor who served several churches in the United States. He has left us some gospel songs that remain in common use: My Anchor Holds, Still Sweeter Every Day, and The Name of Jesus Is So Sweet.

The name of Jesus is so sweet,
I love its music to repeat;
It makes my joys full and complete,
The precious name of Jesus!

“Jesus,” O how sweet the name!
“Jesus,” every day the same;
“Jesus,” let all saints proclaim
Its worthy praise forever!

(3) Today in 1918 – Wilbur Chapman Died
John Wilbur Chapman was a Presbyterian pastor, and one of the founders of the Winona Lake Bible Conference. In his later years he became an itinerant evangelist, with a fruitful ministry in many parts of the world. Chapman wrote eight books, and several hymn texts. The two best known are both excellent: One Day, and Our Great Saviour.

One Day, first published in 1911, carries us through the life of Christ, all the way from His incarnation to His coming return.

One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my example is He!

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He’s coming–O glorious day!

Our Great Saviour (also commonly known as Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners) extols many of the virtues of the Son of God, and blessings we receive from His hand. The song makes use of a truly great hymn tune, Hyfrydol, written by Roland Pritchard. (It is used with a number of hymns, as the video clip below illustrates.)

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Saviour, makes me whole.

Hallelujah! what a Saviour!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my victory wins.

PURCHASE THIS PRINT

I painted this watercolor well over 30 years ago.  I was a student at Valdosta State University in the small Southeastern town of Valdosta, Georgia. Back then enrollment was around 4,000 students. Today, that number approaches 12,000.  The campus is beautiful and every time I see this painting, I think of my watercolor professor, Joseph Pember.  Mr. Pember was a big proponent of plein aire painting and his watercolor classes were usually full during Spring Quarter. Like many of the VSU philosophy classes during springtime, the majority of Mr. Pember’s were conducted outside.  Nothing made me happier than a beautiful, sunny, spring morning where I was painting watercolors en plein aire. Life doesn’t get any better than that!

A little over a year ago, I attended a Faculty Art exhibition at VSU. The draw for me was that former art faculty members were also invited to hang works in the show.  I was excited about the prospect of seeing some of my professors from 30 years back. It was great to see Russell McCrae, Don Penney, Ruth Kahler, Bruce Wallace, and William Martin. Unfortunately, Lee Bennett passed away some years ago while Irene Dodd (who was the Department Head) and Joe Pember were unable to make the opening. Earlier this year, Dr. Martin attended one of my shows in Lake Wales, Florida (where he now resides.)

In addition to seeing some of the old, familiar faces, It was also a big pleasure to meet some of the current art faculty at Valdosta State.

Over the years, I’ve had people ask me about prints of this painting. Many were former students at Valdosta State. I approached my printer, Garry McElwee, of Artist Services in Jacksonville, Florida about doing an edition of prints from the original painting. (Ironically, Garry and his wife, Sandy, owned a graphic design firm and were my first employers upon my graduation from VSU in the Fall of 1979.) In addition to creating archival fine art prints, Garry is a graduate of the School of Fine Arts at Florida State University and a commercial photographer with a vast knowledge base of digital imaging. He is a master of color management and the prints he produces are truly amazing. We worked together in creating a limited edition (150) of archival gicleé prints from the painting, “West Hall”.

The painting is of West Hall which is the main campus building which serves as the focal point of the University.  Despite numerous cosmetic changes, it’s overall look hasn’t changed much since I was there.

The prints are absolutely gorgeous. It is difficult to determine that they are not original watercolors. Signed and numbered, they are printed on a high quality watercolor paper with pigment-based inks. A final coating spray was applied to protect from  UV rays and moisture. Under normal care and proper framing, the prints should remain vibrant  for many generations…

Prints of “West Hall” are now available – along with several other new prints – on my art web site: RobertLeedyArt.Com

The Art of Robert Leedy

Promote Your Page Too

©2009 – Sw Eden

Sw Eden
30 Borough Road
Bangkok 10163
Thailand

Dear, Sw

By the upcoming month, I will update my website of NYITstructure.org sooner as I did in the last semester.

As a result of my internet-connection problem, I can only update my website at school. Please do not worry, the internet connection will work soon, after the computer engineer fixes it at my house.

Although the rule for late assignment was written in our class syllabus, I did not take it seriously during the previous month, because I understand the problem of my website. I check the students’ assignments during the discussions in class. If you show your work in class, you will not get 10% off from your scores. This does not mean that you do not have to upload your assignments to my website. Your uploaded files are the most important part of this class, because at the end of the semester, I will grade you based on the work you put on the website. Please make sure that you have finished every part of the required assignments.

Thank you so much for letting me know this problem, and also for your attention to the assignments. I will send a notification e-mail to every student in our class. This will be a good understanding and a new agreement of how to submit the work in this month. When my internet connection is fixed, we will use the same rule as in the course syllabus.

Sincerely,
(signature)
Prof. William Martin
Arch-310 Instructor

Sw Eden is a Thai artist. You must know me.

©2009 – Sw Eden

October 31, 2009

Mr. William Martin
School of Architecture and Design
New York Introduction of Technology
1633 Broadway
New York City, NY 11301

Dear, professor Martin

It will be very helpful if you update your website (http://nyitstructures.org) at the first day that the homework is assigned.

According to your course syllabus, the students need to upload the assignments through the website, and if the students submit them one day late, their scores will be minus 10%. For the previous month, you always updated your upload tool on the website in the late afternoon of the due date of assignment. Many times, you request extra paper, which you did not tell us to do in the class period. Your class is done at 9pm, so it is hard for us to finish everything before the midnight, especially for some students like me, who take another class on Tuesday morning, and I need to go to sleep earlier on Monday night.

Last semester, Spring 2009, I took a structure class with you, and you always updated all assignments very early in every week. I really appreciated that, and other students told me that they liked your system, too. Many students keep registering for your classes in higher levels, because of your great work. You are known as one of the best professors in architecture school of NYIT. Please do not disappoint us this semester.

Sincerely,
(signature)
Sw Eden
Student in Arch-310

Ken Zi:Kill is not only called, “The Best Guitarist in the world, but he is also called, “Guitar God”

Dos visitas.

Yo he participado en 2 visitas, el lunes y el martes, ambas por la tarde. El lunes se visitó el Cementerio Inglés, el cabezo de San Pedro (muro fenicio) y la parroquia de San Pedro (tumba de Ginés Martín). Estaban llenos los 2 autobuses y no hubo ni información previa de lo que se iba a hacer ni se pasó lista pese a la insistencia en que había que inscribirse antes “en persona” en la Plaza de las Monjas.

Cementerio Inglés. Foto: Condal

La visita al cementerio inglés fue bastante interesante pero da pena comprobar el lamentable estado del recinto y de las tumbas, al ser privado, el propietario tiene poco interés en su conservación y había basura y maleza a montones, y por lo visto ha llegado a estar mucho peor. El informador (Pepe Maldonado, creo que se llamaba) dio bastantes detalles de las familias allí enterradas, como por ejemplo la primera mujer del Doctor Mackay y dos hijos suyos, y dos aviadores ingleses cuyas lápidas eran las mejor conservadas ya que se encargaba de ello una institución británica.

Al finalizar esta visita se “cometió el error” de ir a ver lo que queda de la antigua Fuente Magna de la Plaza de las Monjas y que está en otra fuente a la entrada del Cementerio Municipal. Después tocaba el muro fenicio que hay en el Cabezo de San Pedro, aquí se cometió un error de organización, como el recinto donde está la excavación del muro es muy pequeño se dijo que se bajaría en grupos de 10 personas, cuando bajo el primer grupo el resto de la gente estuvo paseando por la finca (que también es privada), admirando las preciosas vistas que hay desde allí arriba, hablando con la propietaria oyendo desde arriba las explicaciones del informador o simplemente esperando su turno. Ese primer grupo tardó una media hora aproximadamente en subir ya que el informador se enrolló bastante en su alocución por lo que el resto del personal tuvo que bajar después con bastante prisa y sin apenas recibir explicaciones de lo que abajo había, con el consiguiente cabreo de algunos visitantes y de otra guía de la concejalía.

Muro Fenicio San Pedro. Foto: Condal

Por último se iba a visitar la tumba de Ginés Martín, pero con el tiempo que se perdió en la observación de los restos de la Fuente Magna y en las explicaciones al primer grupo en el muro del cabezo, resulta que comenzó la misa en la Parroquia de San Pedro por lo que no se pudo entrar al templo así que tras un breve resumen de la vida de Ginés Martín terminó la visita. La tumba de Ginés Martín está en la capilla de la Hermandad de Pasión, por lo que la lápida estaba en parte tapada con enseres de la Hermandad con motivo de la imposición de la medalla el sábado anterior, por lo que creo que a la Hermandad nadie le dijo lo de la visita.

Tumba de El Litri. Foto: Condal

Tumba Guillermo Sundheim. Foto: Condal

El martes por la tarde se visito el Cementerio de la Soledad (tumbas de Manolito Litri, William Martin y Guillermo Sundheim), el solar del antiguo Hospital Manuel Lois (fantasmas) y el antiguo Hospital de la Merced (más fantasmas). En esta ocasión si se pasó lista y a pesar de inscribirse muchas mas personas sólo se presentaron unas 60 aproximadamente. En el cementerio se habló de la vida y muerte de Guillermo Sundheim y Manolito Litri y de la interesante historia de William Martin, además se visitó otras tumbas como la de un aviador francés y otra que tiene una maldición.

Tumba William Martin. Foto: Condal

A continuación junto a donde estaba el Hospital Manuel Lois, la guía (no recuerdo su nombre) contó algunas apariciones fantasmagóricas a vecinos de la zona y vigilantes después de que el hospital se cerrará. Finalmente en La Merced se resumió la historia y los distintos usos del edificio, además de la presunta existencia del espíritu de una monja, y se visitó en un sótano el lugar donde se hacían las autopsias, incluida la de William Martin, hoy delegación de alumnos.

Visita en la Facultad de la Merced. Foto: Condal

Como broche final en el Salón de Actos el, Concejal de Turismo tuvo unas palabras de agradecimiento hacia los asistentes a las visitas y hacia los informadores, y anunció la puesta en marcha en 2010 de un Plan Estratégico de Turismo en la ciudad de Huelva.

Por resaltar un aspecto negativo y otro positivo, en lo primero, creo que no ha estado bien planificado del todo, sobre todo en los tiempos, creo que por falta de practica. Y en lo positivo destacar que los guías estaban bastante bien informados y que durante las dos visitas hubo una interesante puesta en común entre los asistentes, que añadían su granito de arena en forma de comentarios informativos de su propia cosecha.

Condal

It’s got to be hard for a film to waste Doug McClure, but this one does. McClure’s phoning it in so much here, the scenes with him and the infant son are funny. Oddly, the scene where he and wife Cindy Weintraub go looking for their dog, holding hands, works rather well.

Vic Morrow’s the bad guy until the monsters show up and he’s fine. Anthony Pena is really good as Morrow’s nemesis (a well-meaning Native American). Ann Turkel’s hilariously bad as the scientist who has all the answers about the monsters.

The monsters themselves are almost well-designed (Rob Bottin designed them). At times, they almost look good, and then Peters gives them a full reveal (or maybe whoever shot all the gore and nudity gives them a full reveal) and it’s silly. The premise–monsters who mate with human females–is trashy, but the film’s pretty mellow.

It’s kind of slow, but not in a bad way–until the last couple scenes, it seems like it’s going to end better than it should. I think I may have seen it before, but maybe not–I would have remembered the carnival, which goes unmentioned until it’s clear the monsters are going to attack it.

CREDITS

Directed by Barbara Peters; screenplay by William Martin, based on a story by Frank Arnold and Martin B. Cohen; director of photography, Daniel Lacambre; edited by Mark Goldblatt; music by James Horner; produced by Cohen and Roger Corman; released by New World Pictures.

Starring Doug McClure (Jim Hill), Ann Turkel (Dr. Susan Drake), Vic Morrow (Hank Slattery), Cindy Weintraub (Carol Hill), Anthony Pena (Johnny Eagle), Denise Galik (Linda Beale), Lynn Theel (Peggy Larson), Meegan King (Jerry Potter), Breck Costin (Tommy Hill), Hoke Howell (Deke Jensen), Don Maxwell (Dickie Moore), David Strassman (Billy), Greg Travis (Mike Michaels, Radio Announcer) and Linda Shayne (Sandy, Miss Salmon).

Related posts:

• Commando (1985, Mark L. Lester), the director’s cut
• Jumanji (1995, Joe Johnston)
• The New World (2005, Terrence Malick), the extended cut
• The Pelican Brief (1993, Alan J. Pakula)
• Frankenstein Unbound (1990, Roger Corman)

Todo ocurrió la primavera de 1943. A la playa de El Portil llegó el cuerpo de un aviador británico, William Martin, descubierto por José Antonio Rey María, un pescador puntaumbrieño de origen portugués. Junto al cuerpo se hallaron unos documentos de suma importancia. En ellos se decía que se estaba preparando un desembarco aliado en el Mediterráneo, pero no en Sicilia, punto estratégico fundamental entre África y Europa, sino en diferentes puntos “de menor importancia” para así sorprender a los nazis.

El muerto no era realmente William Martin -el hombre que nunca existió-, sino que se trataba de un vagabundo alcohólico galés llamado Michael Glyndwr, que murió por ingerir un raticida. Ese raticida le provocó una neumonía, es decir, un encharcamiento pulmonar, similar al de un ahogado, y por ello fue considerado como el anzuelo perfecto. El cuerpo fue abandonado por un submarino frente a las costas onubenses, con la intención de engañar a los alemanes, pues estaba claro que los españoles, aunque oficialmente neutrales, harían llegar la informacion a los numerosos espías nazis presentes en nuestro país.

La información no tardó en llegar  al propio Hitler, quien cayó totalmente en la trampa tendida por los aliados.  El objetivo seguía siendo Sicilia, pero había que disuadir a los alemanes para que no concentrasen toda su defensa en la isla, haciendo así más factible su posesión. La confirmación por parte de espías aliados de que el pez había picado el anzuelo se hizo palpable a través de un escuato telegrama enviado a Winston Churchill que decía “Se han tragado toda la carne picada“.

Hitler hizo caso omiso a las advertencias de su homólogo italiano Mussolini, desconfiado ante todo lo que había sucedido, y retiró a buena parte de sus tropas de Sicilia para situarlas en Córcega y Cerdeña. A su vez, envió al mariscal Rommel, el zorro del desierto, a formar tropas en Grecia para prevenir cualquier intento de invasión continental, y tomó una de las decisiones bélicas más controvertidas de las que llevó a cabo en la contienda: sacó a dos divisiones Panzer del frente ruso, preparadas para entrar en acción en la inminente Batalla del Kursk, que constituyó el comienzo del imparable avance soviético hasta la toma final de Berlín, para enviarlas también al país helénico.

La Operación Mincemeat dio origen así a la Operación Husky, por la que se produjo la toma de Sicilia, en la que murieron 29.000 soldados del eje y 114.000 fueron capturados. Fue el inicio del fin para Hitler, pero también para Mussolini. La conquista de Sicilia fue el primer camino para la posterior toma de la península italiana, que provocó el derrocamiento de Il Duce. Tal fue el engaño, que no se llegó a descubrir hasta el año 1996, gracias a la labor de diversos investigadores de la II Guerra Mundial. Incluso hay una película que narra la historia tal como diversos analistas afirman que sucedió. El cuerpo de William Martin, el hombre que nunca existió, sigue enterrado hoy día en el cementerio de Huelva.

]]> http://toolongforgotten.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/about-a-former-kite-family-slave/ Fri, 15 May 2009 22:57:01 +0000 Robert Moore http://toolongforgotten.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/about-a-former-kite-family-slave/ From the March 21, 1933 issue of the PN&C (Article from the “Home of the Birds” column written by Jacob R. Seekford)

Devotion to an Old Negro Mammy

About 135 years ago, George Kite lived in the big brick house that now stands half way between Alma and Honeyville on the east side of the road now owned by William Martin. By Mr. Kite’s first marriage was born three daughters and three sons: Hiram Kite, who went West; Noah Kite who was drowned in the flood of 1870; Hardy Kite who was found dead in a piney field about a mile southeast of Alma. After Mr. Kite lost his first wife, he married again and because of family differences, he divided his large estate here and moved to near the Rapidan river, not far from Graves’ mill, buying property there. In the same brick house, Siram Kite and Charlie Kite and James Kite were born. They were by the second marriage. In a little log house, which stood near the big brick house, was born a hundred and thirty-two years ago a little negro baby girl. She was the slave girl of old George Kite when Mr. Kite moved from Page county. He took the colored women with him. She had nursed all of the Kite children. When she was set free she never left the Kite home.

Thirty-five years ago I went over to Charlie Kite’s place to move a large store building for him. I went on the porch and noticed a little room screened in. I wondered what it was for and looked in through the screen. In there was the most pitiful sight that I had ever beheld. There was an old woman with a snow white head. Her eyes reminded me of the eyes of a large black spider. This old woman had been in this little cage for six long years. No kind of an insect could get to her. The Kite family fed her with a spoon as she had no use of her limbs. I have seen Mr. Kite go to the spring and dip up fresh water and hold it to the old woman’s lips for her to drink. I have seen him take water and a towel and wash her face and hands. I finished up the job and came home. Later I went back to Mr. Kite’s stayed all night and left just as the sun peeped over the hills. This old human spider had passed into the great beyond.

Three Old Men Weep at Her Funeral

Siram Kite lived about six miles away from and Jim Kite lived about two miles but it wasn’t long before they arrived at the Charlie Kite home. In the meantime the old woman had been washed, dressed and laid out. I saw those old men stand around that old woman and cry like children. When the coffin came in she was placed in it. I saw on the top in a silver plate, the word ‘Mother.’ That night, those three old men, with Howard Lillard and Geo. Lillard sat up and watched the lifeless body of this old woman. They sat and talked of her useful life. I would like to be there when this old woman and sits in God’s golden witness chair and tells of her life that she spent around old Honeyville and Alma and on the banks of the old Rapidan. I was there lead to believe that there is a power in man that cannot be controlled.

จุดสูงสุดตอนต้นปี ๒๐๐๘ เราได้รู้ว่าต้นปี ๒๐๐๗ เป็นอีกปีที่เราโชคดีเช่นกัน เราเรียนกับอาจารย์แก่ ที่เด็กชายในชั้นเรียนด่าเขาว่า “ไอควย” และเราเคยอยากอัดเขาด้วยเครื่องมือที่เขาสั่งให้เราเอามาใช้ทำงานที่โรงเรียน อาธิ ฆ้อน หรือ สว่าน จนกระทั้งจบภาคเรียนเขา เราได้เรียนกับอาจารย์ผู้หญิง ที่คนมักเรียกว่า “นางสารเลว” แต่เรากลับเห็นเธอเป็นนางฟ้า เพราะเราพึ่งผ่านคาบเรียนของอาจารย์แก่สุดโหดมา อันที่จริง ชื่อของเธอ ที่เขาเรียกกันว่า “นางสารเลว” มาจากที่เธอชอบเปลี่ยนใจ และเปลี่ยนแนวตามที่เธอคิดคาบนั้น ๆ และเด็กต้องแก้แบบ กลับไปกลับมา แต่ที่จริงแล้ว เธอก็มีเหตุผลในทุก ๆ ครั้งที่เธอสั่งให้แก้ จวบจนกระทั้งจุดสูงสุดที่เคยเป็นมา ไม่ใช่ผลการเรียน แต่เป็นการเดินสู่โลกใหม่ ปีนั้นเรียนวิชาที่โหดสุด ๆ อย่างกระคำนวนค่าคอนกรีตทั้งตึก และเรียนจิตวิทยา ทั้งสองวิชาทำให้เรารู้สึกเก่งขึ้นมาก เรียนวิชาศิลปะเป็นคาบบรรยายที่คนไม่ค่อยเห็นว่าสำคัญ และหลายคนบอกว่าน่าเบื่อ หรือจนกระทั้งเข้าไปนอน แต่เรากลับจนบันทึกได้เป็นเล่ม และยั้งกลับมาค้นคว้าต่อเป็นประจำ มันเป็นคาบเรียนที่น่าสนใจที่สุด และอาจารย์ที่ทั้งอัชริยะและใจดี ความใจดีของเขาทำให้พวกนักเรียนที่ปัญญาเบา ได้มองเขาว่าเขาเป็นคนที่ไม่ได้เรื่อง นักเรียนปัญญาเบาเหล่านี้ก็ยังมองอาจารย์ผู้หญิงของวิชาหลักที่เราเรียนตอนนี้ คือ อิริน โอ คีฟ ว่าไม่ได้เรื่องอีก เราเรียนกับ โอ คีฟ และเราได้รับบทเรียนที่เธอสอนจากการกระทำของเธอสู่เรา เธอเปิดใจ และเปิดรับความคิดเห็น เะฮมองโลกในอีกด้านที่คนอื่นไม่มอง และในที่สุด เราก็พึ่งสำนึกได้ว่า อาจารย์แก่ที่ทุกคนเกลียดชัง เป็นคนที่ฉลาด และคุ้มค่ามากที่ได้เรียนด้วย อาจารย์สอนศิลปะหรือจะเป็น โอ คีฟ เอง ทั้งสองก็เป็นผู้ที่คุ้มค่าที่ได้เรียนด้วย เราได้จากเขา มากกว่าที่เขาให้เรา เขาทำให้เราไม่หยุดที่จะออกไปขวนขวายต่อ เขาทำให้เราอยากไปนั้งเรียนกับเขาทุกวัน เขาทำให้เราเราอยากให้ภาคเรียนนั้นยาวนานยาวนานนานมากมาก และในที่สุด ฤดูใบไม้ผลิปี ๒๐๐๘ ก็จบลง

สิ่งที่ได้ติดตัวกลับมาในประเทศไทยมีมากมาย เรากลายเป็นคนดีและสบาย ทั้ง ๆ ที่อาจจะไม่ได้สบายดีทุกวัน เราเดินลงไปชั้นใต้ดินของห้องสมุดศิลปากรวังที่พระ และเราเปิดหนังสือดูรูปวาด เราศึกษาด้วยตัวเอง ตามรอยที่ทั้งอาจารย์สอนศิลปะ และ โอคีฟ ได้สอนไว้ว่าควรดูสิ่งต่าง ๆ อย่างไร เรารู้สึกภาคภูมิใจอย่างไม่เคยเป็นมาก่อน เราคาดหวังจะให้คนอื่นเป็นคนดี และเปิดใจกว้าง แต่เมื่อฟดูใบไม้ร่วงได้ย่างเข้ามาในชีวิต ปี ๒๐๐๘ ก็เปลี่ยนจากหน้ามือเป็นหลังมือ เราได้เจอคนที่ปิดกัน เกี่ยวกับประสาทสัมผัสของเรา และก็ยังมีคนประเภทนี้ในต้นปี ๒๐๐๙ อีก เมื่อดอกซากูระบานที่ส่วนล่างของเกาะแมนฮัตตัน เรารู้สึกดี เมื่อเราออกไปด้านนอก แต่เราก็รู้ว่านั้นเป็นการหนีเพียงชั่วคราวเท่านั้น เราเอาชีวิตเราออกห่างจากคนชั่วอย่างถาวรไม่ได้หรอก ความเศร้าในสายตาของเรา ทำให้เราไม่อยากแม้แต่จะสบตากับ โอ คีฟ ผ่านหน้าจอคอมพิวเตอร์ หรือบนเว็ปที่เธอชวนให้เราเล่นแต่เดิมมา

ถามตัวเองว่ายังยากเรียนรู้อีกไหม ยังอยากเดินต่อไปอีกไหม ใช้ เราอยาก และเราก็อยากเต้นไปด้วยในขณะที่เราเดิน เราเขียนเรื่อง ซีคีว พวกชายทั้งสี่ และชายเสียงไพเราะที่คิดได้ ว่า หากต้องการให้ทุกคนเปิดใจกว้าง เราก็ต้องเปิดใจว่าโลกนี้สามารถมีคนใจแคบด้วย อย่างน้อยเราก็ควรจะทำมันได้ มันยาก และยิ่งคนพวกนั้นเป็นคนที่มีอิทธิพลเหนือเรา และสามารถถีบอัดเราเมื่อไรก็ได้ คนพวกนั้นเป็นคนโง่ที่ชอบการประชดประชัน เพราะคิดว่าตนเองดีกว่าตลอดเวลา

แต่ถ้าให้เราคิดอย่างคนปัญญาอ่อน คือเราควรถามตัวเองว่า ต้นปี ๒๐๐๘ เป็นช่วงที่โชคดีที่สุดของชีวิต หรือมันทำให้อะไร ๆ ดูแย่ไปหมดหลังจากเวลานั้น

William Martin, 2003, 576 p.

I’ve always been disappointed that I never had a chance to go to Harvard, and I don’t know why I feel this way.  I doubt that I would have fit in at all, since Harvard enrollees aren’t typically former high school losers who sit in the school parking lot and smoke and listen to “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” over and over again during lunch breaks.  Harvard students have 4.0 GPA’s.  Harvard students are driven and ambitious.  Harvard students are like Tracy Flick in Election (which is a great book, BTW).  I was the antithesis of a Harvard student, but still…

This may be the reason why I picked up a copy of Harvard Yard.  Perhaps somewhere deep in my subconscious I continue to yearn for that rarefied old-school Harvard atmosphere of tweediness and pipe-smoking and snobbish joviality.  Since I won’t be attending Harvard now or ever, the least I can do is read about the place now and then, and Harvard Yard seemed to be a good choice for some vicarious wish-fulfillment.

The novel is large; 576 pages, and it’s chock-full of history.  Harvard Yard traces the history of Harvard from its founding in the mid-1600′s to present-day.  The novel also has an interconnected modern storyline, in which the protagonist, Peter Fallon, is attempting to locate an unpublished Shakespearean play entitled “Love’s Labors Won.”  The manuscript was gifted to Robert Harvard by The Bard himself and brought to America by his son (and Harvard founder), John Harvard.  John gave it to a protegé before he died, and it was then hidden and lost and found and lost once again over the course of many years.

Harvard Yard is impeccably researched and written with an exactitude that I find to be quite laudable, but it was these very qualities that contributed to my increasing restlessness as I continued to read, and read, AND READ.  It felt like a never ending story.  There is just too much detail, and my interest began to wane as time progresssed.  I think Martin (and his editors) made a huge mistake when they decided to include the Peter Fallon bibliomystery, because it detracts from the voluminous historical fiction aspects of the novel.  Either make it one or the other, dagnabbit!

Overall, though, Harvard Yard was a good read, and I learned a great deal about Harvard and Puritans and The American Revolution and suffragism and civil rights and everything in between.  How long will I retain this knowledge–oops, it’s already gone!  That’s what I get for being a slacker and listening to devil music during my angsty adolescent years.  Now leave me alone–I need to get back to World of Warcraft.  There are a few demons that still need killin’… 

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For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of Harvard, both old and new: 

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                                                   Late 1600′s

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                                                       1726

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                                                         1823

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                                   Harper’s Weekly, 1885

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                                   Physics Faculty, ca 1900

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                         Harvard College Observatory, 1900

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                                        Modern Harvard

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Here are a few other notable Harvard grads:

MiddBookSearch.com is “designed as a place to trade/sell/buy books locally around Middlebury.” William Martin ’11 has created this tool out of the goodness of his own heart as a way to meet the demand for local book transactions and in particular textbook purchases student-to-student. As he mentions, the site “is meant to be used as a tool to contact others who are trying to sell the books you need” instead of actually paying on the site a la Amazon or eBay.

I stumbled upon the site a few months ago only to dismiss it as not having enough user-base to work. But now, the website with an awkward three-word title, boasts 242 books from numerous students looking to offload their books locally to other Middlebury (often student) buyers. The interface is simple and well integrated with fantastic tools like ISBN searching (which helps keep listing accurate). Search works flawlessly. Design has no-ads, no frills, just books. I often list my books to sell on Amazon or Half.com, but I’m willing to sell locally for a lower price than online because it saves me the time of shipping books across the country to buyers in Utah.

I unhesitatingly recommend MiddBookSearch.com for students to list and buy books for the Spring semester. If Middlebury is truly that tight-knit, small community we proport to be, then this type of service should be adopted and promoted widely by everyone from the SGA to the Libary and even to the Bookstore. Furthermore, students should be encouraged to persue projects like this because it solves immediate problems. And when administrators and faculty see these “startups,” they should encourge these entrepreneurial students to help improve the institutional solutions too.

Middkids are talented people and finding the right people to both brainstorm and implement solutions for our local community is meaningful. It’s one thing for students to whine about problems (like we do here on MiddBlog) and it’s another to find the right students to help build solutions to those problems. The SGA is half-way there with MiddBay.com, a more general exchange website for Midd students that has a design right out of the 90′s. The idea is there, but it lacks the implementation to make it useful. Students need to convince other students that investing time and energy to work on issues in our community is meaningful and worth it.

This morning I went to take the trash out while the laundry was in the washer. I put the bags on top of the recycle container and opened the trash container lid. Then I put the bags into the trash container. I picked up the last bag and saw it! It was lying on the ground. I put the last bag into the trash container and closed the lid.  I picked up the box and looked at it. It was my order of books. It was the books I had ordered. The ones I had been waiting for. I walked around and went into the apartment.

Just think the letter carrier did not leave me a little yellow card because they threw the box over the fence. I was so happy that I didn’t have to go to the Post Office and I didn’t have to call Powells. I am even more glad that it didn’t rain. The books would have been ruined or almost ruined had it rained. Maybe I should get a screen door so that the letter carrier can put stuff in between the screen door and the front door. It was nice of the letter carrier to throw the box over the fence so that it wouldn’t get stolen but, they should have left me a note saying they had done so.

So far every time I have ordered something I have gotten the little yellow card saying come on down to the Post Office and pick it up. Maybe they didn’t do that this time because people are busier and have less time to go to the Post Office.

So now I have two new friends. The God Delusionby Richard Dawkins and Quotes From Chairman LBJ by Jack Shepherd and Christopher S. Wren. The God Delusion was published in 2006 and Quotes From Chairman LBJ was published in 1968. I don’t know when I will be able to read these books because I am so busy right now. I haven’t been able to get very far on the current book I am reading. The Lost Constitution by William Martin. So far of all the books I have read by William Martin I enjoyed Cape Cod the best.

Fabrizio

El plan consistió en abandonar en aguas españolas, concretamente en Punta Umbría (Huelva), un cadáver vestido de oficial de la Armada Británica, este cadáver sería portador de falsos documentos secretos aliados con el objetivo de engañar a los alemanes y dispersar sus fuerzas de Sicilia, desplazando las tropas  hacia Corcega y Cerdeña.

Se seleccionó esta posición porque España aunque oficialmente neutral simpatizaba con Hitler y estaba repleta de agentes de la Abwehr. También se sabía que en Huelva habían agentes alemanes muy activos que tenían muy buenos contactos con las autoridades españolas.

De la manera más discreta posible localizaron el cuerpo de un hombre de 34 años muerto por neumonía, el fluido en los pulmones concordaba con el hecho de que hubiese permanecido en el agua mucho tiempo, rascando hasta el último detalle. El hombre fue William Martin nacido en Gales en 1907, para dar más credibilidad a la historia crearon entre sus pertenencias, cuentas bancarias, cartas, fotos, entradas de teatro y hasta una novia llamada Pam.

El comandante Martin fue puesto en un contenedor estanco sellado, conservado con hielo seco y vestido con su uniforme de Royal Marines, alquilaron un coche para entregarlo en Escocia y lo embarcaron en el submarino británico HMS Seraph, navegó hasta aproximadamente una milla de las costas de Huelva, le pusieron un salvavidas, le ataron el maletín con toda la documentación concerniente a los movimientos aliados y lo dejaron suavemente en el agua.

El cuerpo fué descubierto por un pescador local en la playa de la Mata Negra que lo llevó a puerto y informó a las autoridades españolas que no tardaron en comunicarselo a uno de los jefes de la Abwehr local Adolf Claus.

La confirmación obtenida hizo que se enviase un telegrama a Winston Churchill que estaba en Estados Unidos, que decía: “Se han tragado toda la carne picada“.

Más información en Wikipedia también en Cementerio Soledad

y en Damn Interesting

Conservatives tend to crave order and structure in their lives, and are more consistent in the way they make decisions. Liberals, by contrast, show a higher tolerance for ambiguity and complexity, and adapt more easily to unexpected circumstances.

Consider this in the light of Mr. Craig’s behavior: First, there’s the Hamlet-like debate over resigning (if Hamlet were really, really, really creapy). Then his lawyer William Martin said on the Today show (today!) that Craig didn’t “knowingly and intelligently enter a guilty plea” and so would be changing his mind on that one, too.

Perhaps the soon-to-be-former senator is bisexual, because other than his plea & the resignation, he has yet to change his mind about any other facts in the case:

“He admits to going into the bathroom, he admits to moving his foot, he admits to reaching his hand down,” Martin said. “That’s not a crime.”

Martin said Craig will argue that he was under too much stress to knowingly plead guilty.

And you KNOW Mad Annie Coulter is going to have a field day with this. This is the person who wrote:

Assuming the worst about Craig, the Senate has not held a vote on outlawing homosexual impulses. It voted on gay marriage. Craig not only opposes gay marriage, he’s in a heterosexual marriage with kids. Talk about walking the walk! Did Craig propose marriage to the undercover cop? If not, I’m not seeing the “hypocrisy.”

God love her. Someone has to.Personally I think the Democrats should offer to pay Craig’s legal fees. He’s the best thing to happen to them since whatever that last GOP sex scandal was.

(Aside from the issue of the study’s implications for the Man Behind Door #2, I have to say I had my doubts about the science of this study. I’m always uneasy when I hear of science “proving” a social contruct. It reminds me too much of the bogus studies that have been done to “prove” this or that racial group or people with a particular sexual preference are always X — with X being a value that is not considered positive by the ruling class at the time. But from what I’ve read this was a legit double-blind study. I wonder what it would show about people who describe themselves as libertarians?)