A cartoonish poster with that phrase hung in my childhood home. The line comes from a movie made the year I was born — a film I’ve never actually seen — but the title stuck with me. I was in Lamaze class the night the first Gulf War started. Someone[Read More…]
Editor’s Column
EDITOR’S COLUMN – The Pedestal Problem
“Hero-worship is innate to human nature, and it is founded on some of our noblest feelings… but which, like all other feelings, when uncontrolled by principle and reason, may easily degenerate into the wildest exaggerations.” ~ John Calvin One of my granddaughters is currently obsessed with Spider-Man. She wears her[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – Won’t you be a neighbor?
“Borrow trouble for yourself, if that’s your nature, but don’t lend it to your neighbors.” ~ Rudyard Kipling From Mr. Rogers to Veggie Tales to Sesame Street, a significant chunk of children’s programming for the last 50 years has been dedicated to educating our little ones about how to identify[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – Happy Lunar New Year!
“This New Year, do not live in the past for it may make you depressed; do not live for the future for it shall only make you anxious. Live only in the present, for that alone will bring you peace.” ~ Unknown You know, it’s not a bad idea to[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – Pinocchio Syndrome
“Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy.” ~ The Blue Fairy I’ve been thinking about Pinocchio a lot lately. Not just the lie detecting growing nose part of the story, although I can’t help thinking how handy it would be if the deceitful[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – Sunshine Law compliance builds public trust, and violations tarnish it
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who watches the watchers?)” ~ Juvenal, Satire VI It must be that time of year again. Sunshine Week — the annual reminder of why open government matters — isn’t officially on the calendar until March, but sometimes the reminder needs to be made a wee bit[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – The justifications we make
“Man is not a rational animal; he is a rationalizing animal..” ~ Robert A. Heinlein The human being is capable of justifying the commission of tremendous evil and wrongdoing if provided sufficient time and mental gymnastics. Unlike animals, the human has been burdened with this annoying thing we call a[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – It’s an inside job
“How people treat other people is a direct reflection of how they feel about themselves.” ~ Paulo Coelho Have you ever been in a public place and watched someone mistreat a clerk, a server, or a complete stranger? The instinctive reaction is often the same: protect the person being targeted[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – Dealing with disappointment
“There’s always failure. And there’s always disappointment. And there’s always loss. But the secret is learning from the loss, and realizing that none of those holes are vacuums.” ~ Michael J. Fox No one warns you that adulting will be filled with that same sense of sadness you have as a[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – The gift of crisis
“You have been offered ‘the gift of crisis’. As Kathleen Norris reminds us, the Greek root of the word crisis is ‘to sift’, as in, to shake out the excesses and leave only what’s important. That’s what crises do. They shake things up until we are forced to hold on[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN – Finding what’s real in a world of performance
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” ~ William Shakespeare I had a minor epiphany a few weeks ago. A friend invited me to a “solstice sound bath” at the pool, so I dug out what I hoped passed for appropriate attire and went[Read More…]
Editor’s Column – What are you leaving behind in 2025?
“May your troubles be less and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door.” ~ Irish Blessing By the time you’re reading this we’ll be in that weird liminal space between Christmas and New Year’s where you can’t remember what day it is or the last[Read More…]