At times, I muse that Life is a negotiation. There seems to be a quid pro quo to life's demands. You have to give something to get something. There is no bluffing life as a negotation tactic. It seems that when Life deals you a blow, a downturn, that you have to respond with a positive response or your negotiation is over.
Only the right response wins the negotiation with Life.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Thursday, June 02, 2005
The Professor and the Madman
On a long trip driving from NY to Denver with my son, Benjamin, we listened to an absolutely great book.
THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN: A TALE OF MURDER, INSANITY, AND THE MAKING OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
By Simon Winchester
This is a excellent book relating the development of Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the relationship between two men, one mentally ill and the other a quintessential genius of language, both of who progressed the landmark development of the modern dictionary. This book relates the story of Dr. W. C. Minor and James Murray, an editor of the OED.
(the paraphased narrative below is from http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/personal/reading/winchester-madman.html)
The OED plan of inviting the scholarly world and interested members of the public to submit slips of paper with relevant data to the editorial staff, documenting early and unusual uses of words which made the OED possible.
Dr. W.C. Minor who was incarcerated in a mental hospital for the incurably insane, having murdered a man in London due to his extreme paranoia. Minor was an American, retired Union US army officer, who served during the Civil War as a physician with Union forces in the Civil War. Minor’s experiences post traumatic mental illness during the war, being forced to brand Irish deserters from the Union army, as causative of his mental state and the murder. Minor, as inmate of a was allowed many privileges such as keeping another inmate as servant, having two cells to himself, allowed stores of fine wines and foods, and most importantly to this story, being allowed to accumulate a huge library of rare books.
When Murray put out his call for volunteer labor on the OED, Dr. Minor responded and over the next 30 years contributed more than 10,000 individual bits of valuable data, one of the most prolific and useful contributors of the unpaid volunteer workers despite his mental illness.
Minor began his contributions in 1880 and it wasn’t until 1889 that James Murray learned of Minor’s situation. He visited him in the asylum and they became close, if not friends, in those more formal times, at least close co-workers. Murray even played a role in trying to get Minor released from his detention, but Minor’s constant paranoid behavior undercut such appeals until he was very elderly, weak and sick.
I highly recommend this book for your reading pleasure.
THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN: A TALE OF MURDER, INSANITY, AND THE MAKING OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
By Simon Winchester
This is a excellent book relating the development of Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the relationship between two men, one mentally ill and the other a quintessential genius of language, both of who progressed the landmark development of the modern dictionary. This book relates the story of Dr. W. C. Minor and James Murray, an editor of the OED.
(the paraphased narrative below is from http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/personal/reading/winchester-madman.html)
The OED plan of inviting the scholarly world and interested members of the public to submit slips of paper with relevant data to the editorial staff, documenting early and unusual uses of words which made the OED possible.
Dr. W.C. Minor who was incarcerated in a mental hospital for the incurably insane, having murdered a man in London due to his extreme paranoia. Minor was an American, retired Union US army officer, who served during the Civil War as a physician with Union forces in the Civil War. Minor’s experiences post traumatic mental illness during the war, being forced to brand Irish deserters from the Union army, as causative of his mental state and the murder. Minor, as inmate of a was allowed many privileges such as keeping another inmate as servant, having two cells to himself, allowed stores of fine wines and foods, and most importantly to this story, being allowed to accumulate a huge library of rare books.
When Murray put out his call for volunteer labor on the OED, Dr. Minor responded and over the next 30 years contributed more than 10,000 individual bits of valuable data, one of the most prolific and useful contributors of the unpaid volunteer workers despite his mental illness.
Minor began his contributions in 1880 and it wasn’t until 1889 that James Murray learned of Minor’s situation. He visited him in the asylum and they became close, if not friends, in those more formal times, at least close co-workers. Murray even played a role in trying to get Minor released from his detention, but Minor’s constant paranoid behavior undercut such appeals until he was very elderly, weak and sick.
I highly recommend this book for your reading pleasure.
Why Blog?
As I setup this blog, I am trying to figure out why I am starting a blog and musing about what to write about. The best place to start is at the basic level so I looked up the word, "blog" for the proper definition and to determine the proper posting of writings.
The dictionary defines a "blog" as:
n : a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies
A synonym of "blog" is "web log"....an online journal with postings of the personal experiences and hobbies.
I have no hobbies. So that leaves personal experiences, but it seems to me that there is more than "personal experiences and hobbies" being posted on blogs. Perhaps, this is a definition in development and someday it will be expanded to state, "Where people can post a wide spectrum of content of a political, artistic, educational, technical ....nature, etc."
At any rate, perhaps, this blog will become a hobby and a personal experience.
The dictionary defines a "blog" as:
n : a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies
A synonym of "blog" is "web log"....an online journal with postings of the personal experiences and hobbies.
I have no hobbies. So that leaves personal experiences, but it seems to me that there is more than "personal experiences and hobbies" being posted on blogs. Perhaps, this is a definition in development and someday it will be expanded to state, "Where people can post a wide spectrum of content of a political, artistic, educational, technical ....nature, etc."
At any rate, perhaps, this blog will become a hobby and a personal experience.
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