Randy Pausch, (October 23, 1960) is a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University, where my son Joshua proudly attends. Professor Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006, and in August, 2007, told he only had a few months left.
Since that time, he has become well known for the insight and inspiration in his “Last Lecture” to his students at Carnegie Mellon. Since that talk in the fall of 2007, he has appeared on several TV shows and written a positive and inspirational book about his path.
Here is the link to his web site, where you will find videos and commentary.
Recently Professor Pausch gave a speech at the Carnegie Mellon commencement that brought tears to my eyes. No words are necessary; take the 6 minutes to watch and hear this amazingly positive man.
Today, our family received our “Economic Stimulus” check from the US Government. A check, by the way, that our country can ill afford to be sending when they are trillions of dollars in debt.
The theory behind these checks is that the American people will go out and spend that easy money on more consumer goods that they don’t need, thus stimulating the economy. Or at least the bottom lines of the large corporations and their lobbyists who concocted this scheme.
Some will spend more than their check on much more stuff they don’t need, charging purchases to their already overloaded credit cards, thus economically stimulating the bottom line of selected financial institutions.
In this household, we plan to take this blood money (and it is), and use it to provide economic stimulus to our own family. The bulk of those dollars will be used to pay off debt, the remainder being invested for our future. Folks, the consumption orgy is over. Turn out the lights and put a few bucks back for your future.
That’s the best Economic Stimulus I can think of.
As my Economics professor reminded us just about every class, in his pre-lecture monologue, “there is no such thing as free lunch.“
Where has the time gone? It doesn’t seem so long since that chilly, rainy August day when we left our son, Josh, at Carnegie Mellon University for the first time. Five days from now, I’ll be bringing him home for the summer after a wonderful year.
Where has the time gone? My daughter, Sarah, is completing her Junior year of high school. At the high school academic awards breakfast, when she was on stage as one of the Top Ten students in her class, the speaker reminded us from that group of 10, will be the Valedictorian of the Class of 2009. Sarah will graduate and on to the rest of her life.
Where has the time gone? In 20 days, I’ll have been in business for 21 years, married for 28 in 6 months, and in August, taken 58 trips around the sun.
Paula Reed is an articulate and energetic Colorado high school English teacher, romance novel author, and parent of two teens. She recently posted an article on her blog called Clueless in America, discussing how mythology has replaced science and the scientific method in high school education. If you’ve ever wondered why the young people of this nation lack the science,math, and other critical skills necessary to compete globally, I’d suggest you read her post, along with the accompanying editorial in The New York Times.
As I’m sure she says to her students, “and that is your reading assignment for today.”
I don’t know if I ever stated in this blog that I thought current President of the United States George Bush will go down as one of the worst Presidents ever. But I’ve sure thought it.
According to this article in Harpers Magazine, a poll of 109 historians who have actually done the comparisons, agree, find President Bush the worst ever.
History News Network’s poll of 109 historians found that 61 percent of them rank Bush as “worst ever” among U.S. presidents. Bush’s key competition comes from Buchanan, apparently, and a further 2 percent of the sample puts Bush right behind Buchanan as runner-up for “worst ever.” 96 percent of the respondents place the Bush presidency in the bottom tier of American presidencies.
Do take a moment to read the article, to see on what grounds they base their evaluation.
As I mentioned about, I agree, because Bush and his cronies have lead our nation down a very destructive path. During his time in office his administration has:
Bankrupted our country with this ridiculous war in Iraq.
Trampled our civil liberties and the Bill of Rights.
Ignored all warnings of possible ecological disasters.
Placed our nation in such debt that my children will not be able to get out from under.
Destroyed much of the goodwill other nations felt towards the US.
Made our nation much less safe from both terrorism (”tearism”) and other threats.
Established a corrupt government acting with little regard to the needs of our citizens
Our nation direly needs a change in direction. Fortunately, within a year will have a new president in office. In the meantime, study these candidates for President carefully and thoughtfully. Consider their values, leadership abilities, and their vision. Turn off the television, listen, and read what these folks who are going to guide our country have to say. Register to vote! In November, exercise your right! Vote!
As I completed that last paragraph, the thought flashed through my mind that my son, Joshua, is now eligible to vote in his first Presidential election. I must remind him to register and then vote, even though he is away at school.
It’s been a long week. On Tuesday, I made a rainy five hour drive to Pittsburgh, so that I could bring my son home from Carnegie Mellon later in the week. In Pittsburgh, I hopped a Southwest Airlines flight to Philadelphia to work on a database project. A colleague and I hammered out a rather complex data structure for a system we’re building, and on Thursday night, it was back on Southwest to Pittsburgh.
By the way, I can’t recommend the $10 beers nor the curt bartenders in the Philadelphia airport.
What does any of this have to do with snow?
The return trip from Pittsburgh of 300 miles, which normally takes 5 hours, took 9 hours. You see, dear reader, we drove into the jaws of the largest snowstorm in Ohio this year. Our driving speed was reduced to a maximum of 40 miles per hour, frequently moving at the rapid pace of 20 mph. In Zanesville, Ohio we spent over an hour in bumper to bumper traffic because I-70 was closed and we were routed onto National Road, US 40. The Ohio Highway Patrol reported over 610 accidents in that time period, we spotted at least 5 jack-knifed trucks, and cars spun out everywhere. Ironically one such truck was seen off the road right near the famous Hell is Real sign on Interstate 71 south of Columbus.
I drove the entire trip, given that my son just doesn’t have the experience yet in those dangerous conditions. We took frequent pit stops, mainly so that I might unwind from the stress of navigating skating rink quality, sweaty palm, hands tightly gripping the steering wheel, icy highways.
As I look out my window from the warmth of my favorite living room easy chair, I see snow. White everywhere. A snow covered yard and a snow filled sky. They say a blizzard is coming.
Dedicated to my daughter, Sarah. Since a young girl, she found her passion in dance. For her, life is a dance of beauty, grace, style, and passion.
Jackson Browne has always moved me with his music and song writing. One of my favorite albums is Late for the Sky, and the song on that album, For a Dancer. The song is one of hope, yet sung with much sadness.
Here are the lyrics:
Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I don’t remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you’d always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you’re nowhere to be found
I don’t know what happens when people die
Can’t seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It’s like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can’t sing
I can’t help listening
And I can’t help feeling stupid standing ’round
Crying as they ease you down
’cause I know that you’d rather we were dancing
Dancing our sorrow away
(right on dancing)
No matter what fate chooses to play
(there’s nothing you can do about it anyway)
Just do the steps that you’ve been shown
By everyone you’ve ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Another’s steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you’ll do alone
Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don’t let the uncertainty turn you around
(the world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound
Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you’ll never know
– Jackson Browne
I’ll end with a video of Jackson Browne performing this song, apparently recorded back in 1976:
Let me set the scene. It’s the Christmas Eve service at Heritage UU Church. A very special evening, celebrating the season and the holiday, in a way that makes sense, even to this old Jewish boy. I’m in the choir, singing baritone and songs of the season. Songs that we have been preparing for several months now.
At the end of the service, each member of the congregation comes forward to take a lighted candle. Since I’m in choir, I’ve arrived early, well before the remainder of my family is seated in this crowded sanctuary. The choir members have received their candles first, and stand watching the procession of those in church receiving theirs. My son, Josh, (yeah, that one), comes forward to take his candle, still dressed, unlike I requested previously, in his gray t-shirt and hoodie.
As he takes his candle, I turn to Bob, with whom I’ve sung for all these years, whispering: “I asked him to wear something a little nicer than that old gray t-shirt. But I’m powerless to do anything here.”
In a moment, Bob turned to me and quietly said, “you may not have realized this, but you’ve been powerless over him since several days after you first brought him home from the hospital.”
It took a few moments, but the point finally sank in.
On fall Saturday afternoons in Wellsburg, West Virginia, the WVU Mountaineers were on the radio. I could go from place to place and hear Jack Fleming, the long time “Voice of the Mountaineers.” In my father’s men’s clothing store, around the corner in Bill’s Barber Shop, on the car radio, and even up at Cipoletti’s Esso station, people were listening. I imagine it was true throughout the state, folks taking a break on a Saturday afternoon to follow the West Virginia University Mountaineers.
From 1947 through 1996, with a few gaps in between, the radio voice that represented Mountaineer sports was Jack Fleming. For almost 50 years, he described the WVU great athletes along with the mediocre. Always with enthusiasm and pride. Those of us in Steeler Country got an extra bonus of hearing him again on Sunday, broadcasting our favorite Pittsburgh Steelers.
On the weekend of the 100th Pitt game, with the Mountaineers on the brink of playing for their first National Championship, I’m reminded of Jack Fleming, The Voice of the Mountaineers.
I work as software consultant based in Cincinnati, Ohio, building custom information
systems for education and businesses. My company, Watzman
Associates, Inc. has been in business for over 20 years.
Using FileMaker Pro as my development platform, I build database solutions that work for those using them. The hard work is done "under the hood", what my customers get are tools to improve their schools and businesses.
