Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Flag Day
I'm wearing a United States flag pin today. I wore this pin a few weeks ago, at a celebration of someone at my office becoming a US Citizen. I wonder if he remembered today's somewhat obscure and quiet holiday.
Thursday, June 9, 2005
Detroit versus San Antonio
The NBA Finals sort of snuck up on me. I've got it on TV now and with six minutes remaining, the score is Detroit 57, San Antonio 71. Since both these teams have won the championship recently, I find it hard to figure out who to root for. I guess Detroit (I rooted for them last year). I hope I haven't jinxed anything!
Friday, May 27, 2005
Pomp and Circumstance
It's that time of year again, when a fresh crop of graduates hits the streets. Are you a graduate this year? Then listen up.
Congratulations you grads. Today's your day. You made it through four, or five, or six years of college, and by tonight, you'll have a diploma, or as my wife calls it "a fancy receipt." It should be a happy occasion for you. It was for me!
Much has been made of the college education. It seems an irrefutable fact that having one is essential to "making it" in this country. I want to remind you all that it's still possible to get one of these pieces of paper, and still not "make it". There are scores of unhappy, overeducated people working at jobs below their "diploma." How do you know you won't be one of them? Here's some hints:
1) Only you know what makes you happy. Not your spouse. Not your family. Not your closest friend. Only you. The more you know what makes you happy, the better off you'll be. Whenever you look at the successful people of our times, you find that they often started with something they were happy with. Are you doing that?
2) Passion is underrated. People hear passion, and think about that strong love/lust that they feel in the beginning of a relationship with someone. But I want you to consider its other definition: boundless enthusiasm. You know that feeling you get in the morning, just as you're waking up, when you remember that you were going to do "something", and that something made you excited? You couldn't wait to get up and get at it? That's passion. Do you have it for what you've just studied?
3) You only have a limited time. The life expectancy of the modern American is towards the 80s. That gives you sixty years. I'm down to my last forty. This is either a lot of time, or it's too little time. No matter how you slice it, it's the only time we've got. Think about the first two questions in light of this.
4) You're not done learning. You're never done learning. Did you think that by earning this diploma you're finally able to lean back and say "I'm done with learning?" And I'm not talking about book learning. I'm talking about learning about people, about yourself. I'm talking about learning what's current, what's next, and what's on the horizon. If there's one thing a diploma proves (almost): it proves you can learn. Will you keep doing it?
The diploma you'll be looking at tonight is one measure of accomplishment. It's a stepping stone. But that's all it is. And it's not the only stepping stone. Don't delude yourself into thinking that this paper entitles you to anything. Don't believe the hype that a diploma will give you security. It doesn't.
The longer I think about it, the more I recognize how close to the truth my wife is: a diploma is sometimes nothing more than a receipt. Build your life answering the questions above. If you're like me, twenty years from now, you may not even remember where your diploma is.
Congratulations you grads. Today's your day. You made it through four, or five, or six years of college, and by tonight, you'll have a diploma, or as my wife calls it "a fancy receipt." It should be a happy occasion for you. It was for me!
Much has been made of the college education. It seems an irrefutable fact that having one is essential to "making it" in this country. I want to remind you all that it's still possible to get one of these pieces of paper, and still not "make it". There are scores of unhappy, overeducated people working at jobs below their "diploma." How do you know you won't be one of them? Here's some hints:
1) Only you know what makes you happy. Not your spouse. Not your family. Not your closest friend. Only you. The more you know what makes you happy, the better off you'll be. Whenever you look at the successful people of our times, you find that they often started with something they were happy with. Are you doing that?
2) Passion is underrated. People hear passion, and think about that strong love/lust that they feel in the beginning of a relationship with someone. But I want you to consider its other definition: boundless enthusiasm. You know that feeling you get in the morning, just as you're waking up, when you remember that you were going to do "something", and that something made you excited? You couldn't wait to get up and get at it? That's passion. Do you have it for what you've just studied?
3) You only have a limited time. The life expectancy of the modern American is towards the 80s. That gives you sixty years. I'm down to my last forty. This is either a lot of time, or it's too little time. No matter how you slice it, it's the only time we've got. Think about the first two questions in light of this.
4) You're not done learning. You're never done learning. Did you think that by earning this diploma you're finally able to lean back and say "I'm done with learning?" And I'm not talking about book learning. I'm talking about learning about people, about yourself. I'm talking about learning what's current, what's next, and what's on the horizon. If there's one thing a diploma proves (almost): it proves you can learn. Will you keep doing it?
The diploma you'll be looking at tonight is one measure of accomplishment. It's a stepping stone. But that's all it is. And it's not the only stepping stone. Don't delude yourself into thinking that this paper entitles you to anything. Don't believe the hype that a diploma will give you security. It doesn't.
The longer I think about it, the more I recognize how close to the truth my wife is: a diploma is sometimes nothing more than a receipt. Build your life answering the questions above. If you're like me, twenty years from now, you may not even remember where your diploma is.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The Other Side of Midnight
The Revenge of the Sith opens tomorrow. Tonight, I've been watching the excellent documentary that came with my Star Wars Trilogy DVD
.
When the first Star Wars (Episode IV) came out in May 25, 1977, the Wednesday before Memorial Day, it only opened in 37 theaters. 37! The studio, 20th Century Fox, made a bargain with theater owners. Apparently, theater owners were very eager to exhibit another 20th Century Fox movie that week, titled The Other Side of Midnight. The studio made a bargain with some of those theaters: if you show "The Other Side of Midnight", you have to show Star Wars too.
Tomorrow, Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith, is opening in 3661 theaters. I have no plans to ever see "The Other Side of Midnight", a movie based on a Sidney Sheldon novel, but I am planning to see George Lucas' final film in his culture-altering saga.
.When the first Star Wars (Episode IV) came out in May 25, 1977, the Wednesday before Memorial Day, it only opened in 37 theaters. 37! The studio, 20th Century Fox, made a bargain with theater owners. Apparently, theater owners were very eager to exhibit another 20th Century Fox movie that week, titled The Other Side of Midnight. The studio made a bargain with some of those theaters: if you show "The Other Side of Midnight", you have to show Star Wars too.
Tomorrow, Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith, is opening in 3661 theaters. I have no plans to ever see "The Other Side of Midnight", a movie based on a Sidney Sheldon novel, but I am planning to see George Lucas' final film in his culture-altering saga.
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