Wow! Just three more days and it will be New Years Eve. And that means you have a choice to make.
Either you think of something intelligent to say when you raise your glass at midnight or you need to be so drunk no one will expect you to say anything, let alone something intelligent.
In case you’re planning on the first choice and need creative input, here you go…
The first two are for events that involve less booze, more formality and the impression for which you’re striving is that of deep thinker.
“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” Bill Vaughn (Which are you?)
“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” Hal Borland (I can quantify my experience, but I’m not sure any of it translates into actual wisdom.)
However, if you’re at one where things are looser, the spirits excessive and your goal is to generate laughter and impress that gal/guy you just met turn the conversation to resolutions and then use one of these.
“A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other.” Anon (Yup, that’s why I stopped making them.)
“He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool.” F.M. Knowles (That’s me, a foolish weakling—see above.)
My final offering should make everybody happy. It’s good in any circumstances and really does exemplify the transition from experience to wisdom—and it’s experience that almost everybody has.
“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.” Anon (Pure wisdom!)
What are your favorite New Year’s sayings? Why not take pity on others and add them in comments? Choice is good and your additions will increase it.
I’m a bit ambivalent about Thanksgiving along with many other holidays, such as Mother’s Day. While I understand and even agree with the idea of honoring a certain attitude, it seems hypocritical when it’s done only on that day.
Sadly, many of the people most vocal about a holiday are the same people whose actions during the rest of the year belie their holiday attitudes.
That said, here are my suggestions regarding Thanksgiving.
No matter how bad things are in your corner of the world give thanks that you are alive to read this. As long as you’re breathing you have a shot at changing your circumstances or improving someone else’s. Several years ago I had a terminally ill friend. Her final Thanksgiving act was to sign papers consigning all her useable body parts to an organ donor program; She died just a few days later. Her action infuriated her family, but she had made sure they couldn’t stop her choice.
Which brings us to my second suggestion.
Remember the words of Plato, “Always be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle,” and follow the advice of Anne Herbert, “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty” daily.
Get in the habit of doing one small, unplanned thing every day—drop a quarter in an about-to-expire meter; pick up a piece of litter; help someone across the street. Just think of the difference if everyone did just one random act every day.
And courtesy of the Internet comes just the right thought to round out this post,
May your stuffing be tasty May your turkey plump, May your potatoes and gravy Have never a lump. May your yams be delicious And your pies take the prize, And may your Thanksgiving dinner Stay off your thighs!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone—be sure not to farctate on the farcing today!
The collider has to be some of the coolest science to come down the road in quite a while. But what I really loved was a collateral happening that goes along way to proving that science and the people practicing it are cool, too.
Meet Katie McAlpine, a Millennial whose efforts and interests have led her in a very short time to a fabulous job.
Katie graduated Michigan State University in 2007 with dual BAs in physics (with honors) and professional writing.
She has been the ATLAS E-News Journalist/Webmaster for ATLAS Collaboration, CERN since May.
Katie says, “I am an adventurer in the realm of ideas, and I have pitched my camp at a crossroads: the intersection of science and writing.” She also thinks that “science itself should be fun.”
More than that, Katie walks her talk as her well received Hadron rap video proves.
See more of Katie’s raps. Better yet, show/send them to all the kids you know.
The terms ‘leader’ and ‘leadership’ are bandied about constantly, but nowhere more often than in politics, especially during elections.
But did you know that nearly five thousand years ago a Chinese philosopher proved that truly great leadership couldn’t exist in the political arena?
Not true, I hear many of you say.
OK, first, consider three generally acknowledged descriptions of true leadership by Lao Tse in the Tao Te Ching.
Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.
The superior leader gets things done with very little motion. He imparts instruction not through many words but through a few deeds. He keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all. He is a catalyst, and though things would not get done well if he weren’t there, when they succeed he takes no credit. And because he takes no credit, credit never leaves him.
As for the best leaders,the people do not notice their existence.
The next best,
the people honor and praise.
The next, the people fear;
and the next, the people hate—
When the best leader’s work is done,
the people say, “We did it ourselves!” To lead the people, walk behind them.
Now name for me just one politician who comes even close to fitting these descriptions.
Sadly, the oxymoronic coupling of ‘leader’ and ‘politician’ usually is just plain moronic.
Are you tired of the Chinese deficit,
do you want to see less of it?
Are you waiting for the Feds to fix it
when you have the power to nix it?
When you shop to avoid that sin
check the country of origin,
or if you must, buy second hand
at garage sales, thrift stores or Aunt Pam.
Best trick yet, join the boycott that’s brewing
from 6/4 to 7/4 that people are doing.
If just one third of us avoid a hundred bucks of Chinese goods
it’ll kick a billion dollar hole in our trade deficit woods.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
Wow! Just three more days and it will be New Years Eve. And that means you have a choice to make.
I’m a bit ambivalent about Thanksgiving along with many other holidays, such as Mother’s Day. While I understand and even agree with the idea of honoring a certain attitude, it seems hypocritical when it’s done only on that day.
The terms ‘leader’ and ‘leadership’ are bandied about constantly, but nowhere more often than in politics, especially during elections.
.
I thought we’d have some fun today.
Are you tired of the Chinese deficit,
