For awhile at my last job, friends came to expect haiku on special occasions in their lives. Often I obliged …
lazy summer moon
lingering by the river —
that sweet plaintive cry
“a calling”
for m. upon the birth of her second son
19 april 2005
My friend M. lives on the Mississippi not far from us. She loves to be outdoors, but sometimes babies have other plans. Tell me: Does the river call the woman out from the house, or the baby call his mother back in?
Random observations:
I saw a bald eagle on the way to work today. Funny how uplifting that is. It cruised, low and easy, over the highway, not necessarily oblivious to the traffic, but certainly unfazed. Reminded me of this early post.
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I did get up and out a little earlier today. Only two extra kids, and one more on the way, when I left. I don’t know how Jodi does it … amazing!
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A couple of mock words that have seemed appropriate these past few days:
Tell me, did I make these up? I think I did, but sometimes this stuff blurs together.
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Musicheads: I hear Springsteen in Arcade Fire. Do you?
School’s out, school’s out … which means Jodi’s Bizzy Day Care is in full swing. I overslept a little this morning, took a late shower, and emerged to find 10 – count ’em, 10 – kids in the house. Our four, and six more. Ten.
Tomorrow I bet I get out of bed on time.
I’ve been stewing on a question for some time now – especially since this post got me to thinking about a conversation several months ago with Jinglebob regarding the war in Iraq. This question, however, can also be applied to political campaigns, labor disputes, and public disagreements of all kinds. The question is this:
At what point do good people make the choice
to fight dirty in order to win?
I remember the point at which, during the 2000 Republican Primary season, McCain started to get dirty, and the Straight Talk Express began to veer. I remember pundits saying, just a few months ago, that Obama needed to “get tough” to combat Clinton’s negative attacks. I’ve worked in communications for more than a decade now, and I’ve seen the daily headline wars won again and again by simplistic, and generally negative, messages – sometimes with little to no basis in fact. And I’ve heard friends and family advocate extreme measures to combat terrorists with no qualms at all about committing the worst sorts of atrocities against innocent people.
When confronted with such an adversary, it seems there is little room for negotiation, nuance, rules or truth. The faithful are often admonished to turn the other cheek – but once both cheeks are battered and bruised … then what?
This is the point at which the idealist in me says, Then you lose on principle. Die with honor.
But the body rebels. The mind justifies. The ego says, No way I’m going out without a fight. The gloves are coming off!
In Man’s Search for Meaning, Jewish psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl touches briefly on the lives of Jewish capos – prisoners who, in many cases, decided to survive the concentration camps by any means necessary. These prisoners acted as camp trustees on behalf of the Nazi SS and, Frankl says, sometimes became more brutal that the Nazi guards in their treatment of fellow prisoners. Frankl argues that these men sacrificed something more precious than life – their personal values. They were accorded special privileges and survived the camps, but many never recovered their humanity.
Public policy is rarely life-and-death, so this comparison is not exact. But the same questions apply to both arenas: Where is the line, and when should we cross?
Blogger’s Note: I don’t do many of these, but Jacqui did it with kind of a blanket tag at the end, and I’m a big fat copycat. Actually, I liked these questions. I’m not going to tag anyone else, but if you’re game, drop your responses in the Comments box.
What were you doing five years ago?
Almost to the day – I was packing essentials in my Focus and driving to Minneapolis to take a new job with a hip corporate marketing firm. I would live for a month in the Residence Inn, walk to work, and fly to NYC and Memphis on business during my first week. Important lesson: Do not tell your wife about your five-star Manhattan cuisine when she is packing up your life in Michigan, chasing kids and dogs, trying to complete the sale of your house, and subsisting on hot dogs and macaroni.
What are five things on your to-do list for today?
For tomorrow: leave the day job at or before 5 p.m.; enjoy a Cold Spring Pale Ale; read 75 to 100 pages of Don Quixote; brainstorm guerilla marketing tactics for the church’s new faith formation program; hug my wife and kids – tightly.
What are five snacks you enjoy?
PB&J, graham crackers and frosting, bananas, dry cereal, and cheese.
What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
Pay off my debts, my families’ debts, and our church’s; endow scholarships to Yale and the University of South Dakota; buy a little place in the middle of nowhere and build a wired-enough house that I wouldn’t have to leave to work; take Dad and the boys on that Trans-Siberian railroad trip to Mongolia; and yeah, try to blow the rest on pet projects and good causes.
What are five of your bad habits?
Obsessively checking emails and blogs; obsessively needing to be understood; setting unrealistic goals; leaning on my spouse for schedules and directions; and sausage.
Archangel Stomp 