All posts filed under: Random DJB Thoughts

Searching the Internet and Finding…The Edge of the American West

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In yet another of my posts on very interesting web sites found while searching the Internet, I bring you today The Edge of the American West.  This is a site that contains writings by historians and philosophers, leading the site to suggest that “History is Philosophy teaching by examples. ” The interests of these men and women run the gamut, if recent posts are any example.  They do a regular This Day in History type of post, one of the most recent being about the day that Richard Nixon declared he wasn’t a crook.  To give  you a sense of the politics here, the post is entitled “Yes You Are.  And Also a Liar.”   There are posts on camel metaphors (having to do with choosing cabinet members), and the day in 1972 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average first closed above 1,000.  (We may be headed back there!) But I knew this was a website worth checking when I read Aw, that could have been MY head.  Here the writer tells the story of how he …

The Lincoln Memorial

A case of the slows

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With two sophomores in Pre-Calculus, Spanish, Honors Chemistry, and the like, there’s not much I can do to help with homework these days.  So when Claire asked me to come over to her chair tonight to look over a review sheet, I went with some trepidation.  She must have seen my fear, so she added, “It is for history.” Whew.  That I can handle. Her note sheet had some smudges, obscuring some of the answers.  So she asked “Why did President Lincoln fire McClellan?”  “The first or second time?”  My response surprised her, but she re-read the question and realized it was referring to the second time.  So I said, “because he refused to attack Lee’s retreating army after Antietam.”  She looked at her sheet, figured out the missing words around the smudge, and decided I was right.  One for the old man. “How did President Lincoln describe General McClellan?” Claire asked.  “That’s easy,” I replied, “Lincoln said McClellan, ‘had a bad case of the slows.’”   Now I had her!  “How did you know that?!” she exclaimed.  I …

Fired Up and Ready to Go

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A friend recently pointed me to a blog posting entitled In Defense of Raising Money:  A Manifesto for NonProfit CEOs written by a man by the name of Sasha Dichter.  Now you may think that sounds like a very boring topic, but if you care about any cause – be it eradicating poverty, health care reform, the arts, AIDS, historic preservation, you name it – read this manifesto.  It is a powerful piece that talks about how your dream and passion has to be bigger than your ego.  Just a sampling… Spending your time talking to powerful, influential people about the change you hope to see in the world is a pretty far cry from having fundraising as a “necessary evil.”  Do you really believe that the “real work” is JUST the “programs” you operate?  (the school you run; the meals you serve; the vaccines you develop; the patients you treat?)   Do you really believe that it ends there?  Do you really believe that in today’s world, where change can come from anyone and anywhere, that convincing people …

The Best Places to Raise Your Children…Murfreesboro Edition

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(NOTE: See my 2020 update to this post here.) Business Week magazine just included Murfreesboro, Tennessee as one of the best places to raise your children.  Well, if they’d just asked me I could have told them that a long time ago. For years now, I’ve been using a little vignette about growing up in Murfreesboro as a part of a talk I give about the livability of towns and cities.  While Business Week focuses on Murfreesboro as a recession-proof college town, I believe there’s a lot more to it. When I think of home, I remember 407 East Main Street in Murfreesboro.  I grew up in Murfreesboro when it was a city of 35,000 people.  My parents bought a simple 1880s-era home on Main Street because it had an apartment where my grandmother could live with us.  Over the course of twenty years, four generations of our family lived under this roof. Murfreesboro has a history that was very real and very present to me as a child.  I could walk four blocks to the town square, …

Watching the U.S. Election from Vienna

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As noted earlier in the week on More to Come…, I spent election night on a plane over the Atlantic.  So I was so happy to see the video below.  No matter  your political persuasion, the historic nature of last Tuesday’s decision by the American people has to touch you.  Sitting here in the lobby of a hotel in Austria, I got emotional watching this 10 minute video summary of election night and wanted to share it with you. More to come… DJB

A fitting day for a Viennese funeral

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Today was cold, gray, and rainy in Vienna.  But since it was also the only day I had to tour the city, I hit the streets early bundled in my winter coat and sheltered (somewhat) by my travel umbrella.  It turned out to be a fitting day for a (Viennese) funeral. For someone interested in history, architecture, and cities, being in Vienna for only one day on your first visit can be as frustrating as being a kid in a candy store with a very strict parent.  There are only so many things you can choose.  Luckily, my friends Jim and Janet (they of the great Western trip itinerary) had steered me to a wonderful (and relatively inexpensive) little family hotel that sits astride the St. Stephansdom and Hofburg districts of the city.  These are the names for the medieval city and the imperial city respectively.  So I could jump back and forth with ease and, in the course of a day, see 4 of the best churches in the city while also spending an hour …

What a strange, wonderful Election Day it has been

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Greetings from Bratislava, Slovakia!  Not your normal post-election day dateline for the More to Come…blog.  Let me tell you how I ended up hearing about the presidential election results while flying over the Atlantic. I woke up at home on November 4th and after the normal morning chores, I headed down to the library to vote.  Well, I wasn’t really surprised to find  that the line ran around the edges of BOTH parking lots and extended almost to the street.  Historic election indeed!  It was great, even if I did stand in line for 2 hours and 10 minutes before casting my vote.  But it felt good to be part of something so special and it felt REALLY good to vote with a positive feeling about a candidate (instead of the usual voting to play defense).  The local high school had some kids out selling coffee and pastries to help with relief efforts in Africa.  They did well, but they could have done gangbusters if they’d had chairs to rent or would have been able to …

In Praise of Sligo Creek

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On a beautiful fall day at the height of the fall color season, Candice and I walked through Maryland’s Sligo Creek Park today and soaked up the wonders of nature. The Washington area is blessed with parks and Rock Creek is the best known.  But where Rock Creek Park can be busy on a gorgeous day, nearby Sligo Creek Parkway – located five minutes from our front door – is a great alternative with less crowding.  So we walked for an hour, breathed the fresh air, took a few pictures of the creek and the fall foliage, and tried to just “be.”  We hope you’ll enjoy. More to come… DJB  

Do I love baseball quotes? You betcha!

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The Philadelphia Phillies win the 2008 World Series in one of the strangest ways imaginable – closing out a game that began in the bottom of the 6th after a 46 hour rain-delay – and the morning papers are full of the great quotes and writing that make baseball such a delight.  Can you imagine getting an intelligible quote out of a football coach after the Super Bowl?  Of course not.  But even the lowliest man on the World Series roster can provide some wonderful, thought-provoking line that brings a smile. Here are a few gems I picked up from today’s Washington Post and New York Times. The Phillies and Rays turned a mess into a mini-masterpiece, transforming a suspended game into a tense, 79-minute suspension of disbelief. Tom Boswell, Washington Post A game that began with a deluge has washed away an epic drought. The Philadelphia Phillies have won the World Series.  Tyler Kepner, New York Times Rays Manager Joe Maddon said he considered using phenom lefty David Price from the start Wednesday night, …