Wisdom from Mark Twain

“A patriot supports his country all of the time, and his government when it deserves it.”
- Mark Twain

(Thanks Gary Trudeau!)

Did You Know about This???

We're building a wall in Baghdad to separate ethnic areas. Can you imagine that happening ANYWHERE in the U.S.???

I don't check the links on my site very often - much as I find each one of them interesting - but I happened to click on Baghdad Burning today and was shocked to find a new entry, just posted today, about the building of a wall in Baghdad. She likens it to Berlin and the ghettos of the holocaust:

The Great Wall of Segregation...

…Which is the wall the current Iraqi government is building (with the support and guidance of the Americans). It's a wall that is intended to separate and isolate what is now considered the largest 'Sunni' area in Baghdad- let no one say the Americans are not building anything. According to plans the Iraqi puppets and Americans cooked up, it will 'protect' A'adhamiya, a residential/mercantile area that the current Iraqi government and their death squads couldn't empty of Sunnis.

The wall, of course, will protect no one. I sometimes wonder if this is how the concentration camps began in Europe. The Nazi government probably said, "Oh look- we're just going to protect the Jews with this little wall here- it will be difficult for people to get into their special area to hurt them!" And yet, it will also be difficult to get out.

I was also shocked to read that they're leaving. Her family has finally decided to give up, pack up, and get out. This one little voice of reason in the midst of the war is going to leave the country, and who knows if/when she'll write again? That thought makes me really sad.

It's also sad that she points out how much we've screwed up her country:

I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn't know what our neighbors were- we didn't care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of the night.

The nasty juxtaposition of this with my prior entry is not lost on me. Prayers of thanksgiving for the luck of landing on this side of the planet are not enough!

We Have a Winner!!!

And the winner is... PENN!

My lovely daughter is off to college in a few months, and after a year-long process, has finally chosen the school. I am beyond proud that she has done so well for herself already - and the adventure has barely begun! Scoring a full ride to an Ivy League school is no small feat - but one she richly deserves.

Post from Columbia

OK, let's face it - Columbia rocks. This is going to be a tough call... If Columbia does eclipe Penn for her, it might just be the sunshine! :) This whole weekend has been beautiful weather. Perfect for running around Manhattan!

Many things here are right in line with Penn: the student body is just as mixed, (and it's a great mix! :) the campus is at least as beautiful, and of course both have a strong Humanities curriculum. They will also cover her insurance, so the financial aid packages are identical. So how to compare???

> It's the most diverse of all the Ivy League schools. Last year's freshman class for Columbia College was only 48% white.

> It's in Manhattan - with a subway stop right here.

> It accepted only 8.9% of its applicants this year - and states firmly that each accepted student deserves to be here. (They appreciate her!)

> The History department offers a course called "Gender and Empire" at the undergrad level.

> The food court offers Malaysian Artichoke Noodle Salad - which is really good and turns out to be noodles made form artichoke flour - who knew?!?!

Her comment about the students she's met so far: "they're all really interesting" - and she meant that as a huge compliment. That will probably be the kicker. I will find out in a few hours (as we head home) what her thoughts are, but I did get one clue: she started talking with another pre-freshman about sharing a dorm room... so I suspect she's leaning this way. We'll see!

Post from NYC

Three days is enough to remind me why I love this city - as a visitor.

I love the mix of people and the constant energy. I love the wide - wide - wide range of options for things to do! I love the juxtaposition of beautiful old architecture with brand new, creative designs. I love hearing different languages as I pass by people on the street & overhear snippets of conversation. I enjoy random things like finding a Whole Foods in the basement of the AOL TIme Warner building. Smoked salmon sushi and other ethnic "fusion" flavors.

Maybe it's the new job that is anchoring me at home, but I just don't feel the pull to LIVE out here that I have in the past. I think provincial things like, "not enough grass" as I walk down the sidewalk. I love the skyline, but not the temperature drop as I walk in the shadow of those same buildings. Central Park, which used to enthrall me, now seems no different than any of the Twin Cities' lakes or river parks.

However, if my kid moves out here, I sure won't mind visiting - the flights are comparatively cheap and always non-stop! :)

Post from Philly

Whoosh!

Through the rain, we have arrived at Penn for 3 days of festivities designed to convince accepted students to choose Penn. It's ironic - the kids spend months working on applications and praying to be accepted, then they are accepted - here and elsewhere - so the tables are turned and the schools are courting them! It's really a kick.

Even better: Penn added an extra preview day for the students of color, and seeing throngs of students of color in the room, talking with current students about Engineering, Pre-med, International Studies, etc... very nice for we who are from Minnesota, where students of color rarely fill a room! ;) Especially for my kid, who goes to a very white school, it was fun to see...

39

I'm not sure why I expected turning 39 to be interesting - maybe because I remember not liking 29 very much (whereas 30 didn't bother me at all!)

But the only interesting thing about turning 39 seems to be that I was born 3 days after Martin Luther King was killed, and he was 39 at the time. (Think about what he had accomplished in 39 years!)

However, to honor the day, here are some other things - totally random, but kinda interesting - about 39...

39 is:
- The sum of five consecutive primes (3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13) and the sum of the first three powers of 3 (31 + 32 + 33).
- The number of books in the Old Testament
- The code for international direct-dialed phone calls to Italy
- Japanese Internet chat slang for "thank you" when written with numbers
- The duration, in nanoseconds, of the nuclear reaction in the largest nuclear explosion ever performed
- the number of points Lebron James scored last Saturday in a Cleveland Cavaliers win over the Chicago Bulls

At age 39:
* Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong became the 1st person to set foot on the moon
* Charles Goodyear led the way to the effective use of rubber
* Jimmy Connors reached the U.S. Open semifinals
* Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
* Thomas Edison had already invented the telegraph, lightbulb and phonograph

In history:
* 39 AD - Caligula ordered that a statue of himself be placed in the temple in Jerusalem. The governor of Syria, Publius Petronius, responsible for erecting the statue, faced mass demonstrations by Jews of the region and managed to delay construction of the statue until the death of Caligula two years later.
* 1039 – The Persian poet Unsuri was born
* 1639 - Connecticut's first constitution was adopted
* 1639 - Harvard University was named for clergyman John Harvard.
* 1739 – The bible was first published in Estonian
* 1839 - The University of Missouri was established, becoming the first public university west of the Mississippi River
* 1839 - The Slave rebellion of Amistad happened on July 1
* 1939 –Spanish Civil War ended (April 1) and World War II began in Europe 6 months later (September 1)
* 1939 - The Philadelphia Story, (one of my favorite movies,) debuted March 26 at the Shubert Theater in New York City.
* 1939 – Batman was created by Bob Kane

Sunday, April 7, 1968 - on this day 39 years ago:
- It was Palm Sunday
- It was a national day of mourning for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Motor racing world champion Jim Clark was killed in a car crash during a race.
- Janis Jopin played a concert with Big Brother, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Joni Mitchell, Richie Havens, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop billed as a wake for Martin Luther King, Jr. at Generation in New York City
- President Johnson signed an executive order to send federal troops to quell riots in Baltimore. (Also check out the President's Daily Diary: April 7, 1968 – What a day!)

Other random facts about 39:
* Presidential Decision Directive 39 (PDD 39) is the US policy on Counterterrorism
* 39 Second Single is a blog about “dating stories so bad they must be true”
* The Roman numeral 39 is XXXIX
* Pier 39 is a big attraction in San Francisco’s Bay Area – it even has sea lions
* "The 39 Steps" is a Hitchcock movie in which the main character is handcuffed to the girl who double-crossed him
* Renee Zellweger is currently making a movie called "Case 39", due out in August ’07, in which she plays a social worker who fights to save a girl from her abusive parents
* Genesis 39 is the chapter in which Joseph, having been sold by his brothers into slavery, becomes very rich and successful


OK, now I feel better! :)

JibJab - 2006 in Review

OK, it's April already - so apparently I'm a little slow - but it's still funny.

Check out JibJab's latest!

Proud Mama

So it turns out that my lovely daughter was accepted to 7 of the 9 schools she applied to - including Columbia and Penn. Wahoo!!! But now she has to choose between them... (Yeah, nice problem to have! ;) She was accepted to Penn, Columbia, Macalester, George Washington (GW), American, Rollins and Whittier.

I have been bragging ridiculously!

Conveniently, both of the Ivies have offered to pay to fly her out to visit - but at certain times that are not congruent and thus involve her being away from school for several days. So we're trying to figure out how to fit trips to NYC and Philly between her play performances, debutante rehearsals (don't ask) and homework...

It's interesting, because I never went through any of this myself - I was dead-set on the U of MN and that's where I went. But I do remember how excited I was to arrive there, how much I loved the campus, dorm life, even classes... and I want all that for her! With the choices in front of her, there is no doubt that she'll get it.

Again, nice problem to have, I know. I'll shut up now.

Lit Quiz

Inspired by a guessing game on the Sheila Variations:

Here are the first lines of some of my favorite novels – try to match as many as you can! (And go read any that you haven't already! :)

THE NOVELS:
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood – Rebecca Wells
Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years – Sarah L Delaney and A Elizabeth Delaney
The House on Mango Street – Sandra Cisneros
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan
Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austin
The Red Tent – Anita Diamant
The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd
Sula – Toni Morrison
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water – Michael Dorris

FIRST LINES:
Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

We didn’t always live on Mango Street.

I learn in this letter than Don Pedro of Aragon comes this night to Messina.

At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound, a high-pitched zzzzzz that hummed along my skin.

I sit on the bed at a crooked angle, one foot on the floor, my hip against the tent of mom’s legs, my elbows on the hospital table.

Bessie and I have been together since time began, or so it seems.

I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice – not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.

We have been lost to each other for so long.

The old woman remembered a swan she had bought many years ago in Shanghai for a foolish sum.

When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over: “Allez vous-en!”

Sidda is a girl again in the hot heart of Louisiana, the bayou world of Catholic saints and voodoo queens.

“What you looking at me for? I didn’t come to stay…”

In that place, where they tore the nightshade and blackberry patches from their roots to make room for the Medallion City Golf Course, where there was once a neighborhood.