Why Not?

You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?" - George Bernard Shaw



I refer you to http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/2007/07/products-of-mir.html

Read the whole blog to get the point.

Imagination

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. - Albert Einstein



Knowledge is based on what has already been done so if you want to do something which has never been done before look to your imagination.

Listening to Lies

Marge, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen. - Homer Simpson



I never thought I would quote Homer Simpson but this was such and interesting thought. If someone lies and nobody hears, is it still a lie? I say yes because a lie effects the liar as well as the listener.

The Marriage Casserole

A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what goes in it. – Anonymous



Remember this the next time someone tells you what makes a good marriage. You may want to add their advice as an ingredient to your casserole but it won't make the whole dish.

Bad Science

Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence he is just using his memory. - Leonardo da Vinci



One of my pet peeves are those who "prove" their argument by saying a scientist said it was so. I've got more than one Bachelor of Science degree and have still been wrong once or twice. Having admitted that I see it was three times!

Capitalism or Socialism

Capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth. Socialism is the equal distribution of poverty. - Winston Churchill





So what would you rather have: wealth or poverty? I choose the former as long as I am free enough to be able to determine my share, with the conviction that each increase in my share will increase the wealth of all (capitalism is not a zero sum game).

Horseshoe Luck

Somebody once asked Niels Bohr why he had a horseshoe hanging above the front door of his house."Surely you, a world famous physicist, can't really believe that hanging a horseshoe above your door brings you luck?"."Of course not," Bohr replied, "but I have been reliably informed that it will bring me luck whether I believe in it or not." - Neils Bohr



Circular logic?

Build a Door

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. - Milton Berle



Nothing happens if you do nothing.

Honesty

The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy. - Robert E. Lee



It follows then that the man who believes there is no absolute right or wrong cannot be truly honest.

Wrinkles

Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. - Douglas MacArthur

I've had this quote hanging around for a while without knowing what to do with it. I went to my 40th High School reunion tonight and now I know. We need to remind each other not to let our souls get wrinkled.

Chapter 5

This is the fifth chapter of my never ending short story "Index Out Front". See the sidebar to the right to read previous chapters. I'll post more of the story every couple of weeks. - Lyle

......I could tell she was thinking. “How about fiction? Sewers and Roses ought to do nicely.”

She smiled.

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I never laughed so hard in all my life. It was a romantic comedy about the love affair of two co-workers in a sewage treatment plant. The words bounced along as if on a trampoline. It was cheerful and light. The treatment plant backdrop presented odd situations for the characters and the love affair made you smile inside. It was a wonderful, short, respite from an otherwise dreary winter existence.

There were moments of pure joy that winter. I learned more about writing by teaching than I had learned from years of study. She continued to request writing topics and I continued waiting to read what she wrote. Her punctuation was atrocious but improving. I rarely faulted her perspective and it was always original. Her use of words was extraordinary.

Spring finally came and I was shocked when she asked “Do you have a car?” “Yes.” “I need a ride to visit my father’s grave for Memorial Day. It's about two hours away. I’ll bring lunch.” “O.K.”

I had never seen her wear a skirt before. It was much longer than the current style and she wore bobby socks, a pure white blouse and a white ribbon holding her hair back. She looked like something out of 1950. She was radiantly beautiful. I had never seen anyone look so happy.

We spoke little during the drive. She gave clear, concise directions to the cemetery and other than that I think we just smiled a lot. The sun was brilliant and the breeze coming in the windows was warm. I wished I had a convertible rather than a middle aged plain sedan without so much as a sun-roof.

I asked her if we should stop and get some flowers. “That won’t be necessary.” she said. The cemetery was huge, covering a whole hillside with magnificent views between the trees. Small roads meandered back and forth between areas of old stone monuments and newer open rows of grave markers. We finally found the area she was looking for and started our search for her father’s grave stone. She found it. I joined her not knowing quite what to do or say as we stood there reading the stone.

She squatted down and arranged her skirt about her and I heard the unmistakable sound of urine hitting the ground. I stepped back and gasped “What are you doing?”

She didn’t answer until she was walking back to the car. “Before he died I promised him I would piss on his grave. He knew I would keep that promise.”

“Do you hate him?” “Oh, no. I still hate the things he did during his life, but he’s dead. You can’t hate something that doesn’t exist.”

We took the back roads on the way back to campus and stopped at a wayside near a stream to eat the lunch she had prepared. It was simple but thoughtfully prepared – a welcome relief from the restaurant food to which I was accustomed. Our conversation was equally as simple, but reflective and unhurried. I wanted the day to last forever.

I dropped her off at her apartment before nightfall and drove my pitiful car back to my pitiful room. The joy of the day failed to flow over into the rest of my life. Why was that feeling so addictive I couldn’t survive without it? I wanted to ask her because I knew she would have the answer, but I was far too ashamed of my feelings. I spent most of the night coming up with a writing assignment where she could answer.

She disappeared.
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Ruts

…all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. –the Declaration of Independence



In other words; people tend to stay in a rut. Unless you've got some amazing people, assume your employees will keep doing things as usual. Unless you are an amazing person you too will keep doing things as usual. If you are in a rut, jump out of it before it gets too deep.

Direction

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. – but we must sail, shall not drift, nor lie at anchor. – Oliver Wendell Holmes



I assume that Mr. Holmes, since he did not capitalize “heaven,” was talking about earthly rewards rather than the hereafter, though he may have meant both destinations. To put this in a more common vernacular, “Go for it.”

Remorse

If you suffer from guilt, remorse or regret, you have not lost your humanity – you have reaffirmed it. – adapted from Star Trek Voyager


We have all done things we regret. Mistakes are made because of our lack of wisdom, or knowledge, or lack of attentiveness. If you have been inattentive then it is worse than if you were just ignorant. If your mistake is made because of lack of knowledge then educate yourself. If your mistake is because of lack of wisdom then you can chalk it up to youthfulness. If your excuse is inattentiveness, then you better get it together and pay attention.

Diversity

In each human heart are a tiger, a pig, an ass, and a nightingale; diversity of character is due to their unequal activity. – Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce


Keep your diversity under control.

Moral Education

To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. - Theodore Roosevelt



Public education (particularly higher education) has moved towards eliminating any education involving morality because of the prevailing belief that one cannot determine what is right or wrong. My view of "wrong" may be different from yours, you know, and who's to say which is correct? Balderdash. This warped thinking is akin to saying we should have multiple Presidents because some like one candidate and others like another, so both should fill the office. One of things which makes a society is its prevailing moral code. It's what we live by - to ignore it is to splinter an already tenuous situation.

Weathering the Storm

No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm. - Charles Kettering



Sometime you've got to just hang in there. Before you decide to abandon ship make sure the boat you are going to is seaworthy. There is little sense in avoiding riding out the storm only to find your new boat is sinking.

Programmer

Programmer: An organism which converts caffeine into software. – Anonymous



Sometimes it takes one thing to create another.

Misery

Misery is optional. - Abraham Lincoln



So simple, so true.

Freedom of Speech

People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid. - Soren Aabye Kierkegaard



Beware of those with many words. They are generally making up for their lack of thought. Listen carefully to those with few words.

America

America wasn't founded so that we could all be better. America was founded so we could all be anything we damned well pleased. - P.J. O'Rourke



Resist the temptation to think it is government's responsibility to make things better - that is an individual's choice. The responsibility of government is only to punish those who do bad things.

Progress

Sometimes progress is made one funeral at a time. - An Oregon rancher speaking about the change in farming practices.



I would emphasize the word "sometimes." All too often I have seen the absence of the founder of a successful company lead to it's demise. Change of the helm is less important than who is at the helm.

Ford on Faults

Don't find fault, find a remedy. - Henry Ford



I sure see a lot of folks who stop at finding faults. It's the ol' "If they are bad, then I am better." attitude. Push them down so I appear higher. If I prove they are garbage they I must be gold.



One of my hobbies is BBQ so I search for recipes and I always read the reviews. Invariably, if you find a recipe which overwhelmingly receives five stars (out of five) there will be one or two which say it is the worst thing they have ever cooked. Those folks find fault but almost never offer a remedy. They don't say "It was too salty for me so next time I won't use as much." They say "Yuk." They are the ones Henry was speaking to.



The more I learn about Henry Ford the more I like him - I find it hard to find fault with his quotes and I see why he was so successful.

Two Quotes

If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it. - Calvin Coolidge


Speak in anger and you'll give the greatest speech you'll ever regret. - Anonymous



These two quotes go hand in hand.

Chapter 4

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This is the fourth chapter of my never ending short story "Index Out Front". See the list at top right to read the previous chapters. I'll post additional chapters every couple of weeks. - Lyle

.................“What would interest you?” I called after her. “Sculpture.” she said and continued to walk away.

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“Describe two sculptures - one that you like and one that you don’t. Contrast the two and use their differences to explain your preference. Include photographs of each.” Holy smokes, I thought, this is going to be a tough one for the rest of the class.


She chose Rodin – the well known “The Thinker” and the less familiar “Gates of Hell.” Her interpretation was far from conventional of course, especially since a miniature “Thinker” sits over the “Gates” as if contemplating the gory entrance.

”The Thinker has become synonymous with man’s greatest ability – intellectual contemplation – while “The Gates” depict man’s vilest construct.” “The Thinker is art at its finest – “The Gates” is not art, only mere perverted social comment.” Ouch. Sorry I asked. This was not prose; it was a treatise. I didn’t like it and told her so after class. “People are generally upset not so much by what happens but by not getting what they expected. You were probably expecting ‘art’ and you didn’t get it. It was intended to inform and educate - not make you feel good. Could it be you need “light? ’

Of course she didn’t wait for me to answer, which was fortunate because I was speechless until she was at the door. “What next?” I blurted out stupidly. To my amazement she stopped abruptly and turned towards me slowly. I could tell she was thinking. “How about fiction? Sewers and Roses ought to do nicely.”

She smiled.

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Staying Young

To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods. – Lazarus Long in Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein



The young should also cultivate this ability.

Impending Trouble

If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you. - Calvin Coolidge



Things always seem to work out and the effort expended worrying is better spent staying on the road yourself.

Middle of the Road

Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides. – Margaret Thatcher



I've said before if you stand up you will get shot at and she's right, if you stand up in the middle of a battle you will get shot at from both sides.

No Women......

No women, no men; no men, no money. (On why he caters to women in his restaurants) – Jeff Ruby



I think this applies to much more than the restaurant business. Come to think about, it may very well apply to all businesses!