Test Taking and Adaptation

I was reading some an interview that the Atlantic did with one of the participants in the “Harvard Grant Study”. The participant is Ben Bradlee, who is quoted as having said, “I haven’t been unhappy in my life“. It is amazing to read about people’s lives. Here is an except, one of the many parts of the interview that I liked:

“And I graduated so sloppily. As a matter of fact, I got out and “graduated” and then they told me that I hadn’t, which I knew, I hadn’t taken one exam that was required of people who majored in English, which was the English, Shakespeare, Greek exam, there was a special exam you had to take in all three of those subjects. So, when I was on a destroyer in the second war, and my dad was anxious that I graduate really, he arranged to have the exam sent to me on my destroyer. I got it right after the Saipan campaign was over, and we were coming back, we had been hit in Saipan and we were coming back, so I took the test and I was in the Captain’s state room all by myself, and the entire ship knew I was taking a test. At one point there was a knock on the door, and some seaman came in and said, “The officer of the deck presents his compliments and the shortest verse in the Bible is ‘Jesus wept.’” And that was the message. But, I mean it was considered a great joke. So six months later or whatever it was I got word that I had passed.And then I got my degree.”

Here is the full interview.

Here are more links about the Harvard Study.

Thankful for good hearty laughter

Yesterday, I laughed so hard, ~~I think I dropped a tear or two~~ at this Mourning Wood Extreme video: (thanks, Catdiva!)

Today, I have had several similar experiences… one was watching Stephen Colbert on youtube. Whether he is “praising” George W. Bush or talking to Charlie Rose or running for President, he is amazingly funny!

The other hearty-laughter times have been when reading A.J. Jacobs’ THE KNOW-IT-ALL. So far I have made it to baculum and you just have to read the story to see what I am talking about.

A.J Jacobs is my all-time favorite, funniest, and yet instructive, story-teller (both written & audio).

So, I am thankful for all the times that I have laughed – which is pretty frequent – and the many times that I have laughed so hard I cried with laughter, which is not as frequent!

Kicking it to make it work

My car radio is messed up. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It seems to be a small problem that I haven’t gotten around to have somebody look at. It worked consistently for about a week and then I get into my car, thinking that I would listen to NPR – and the things is dead. Then I remembered when I was in my early teens, one of my friends had a cassette player – Stereo, I guess – and it was/looked old – some knobs were broken etc. The way to get the cassette to play was to put a paper clip in this hole that used to house the aerial (antenna)! I wonder who figured that out. But that was the only way. That triggered a thought/idea: when things don’t work… what do people do? Ummmnnnn,… kick them! So banged the radio a couple of times – really hard – because I was kind of ticked off – well, just frustrated. And Lo! and behold! The CD that had been stuck in it weeks and months ago started playing – and we have lived happily ever since. I hope that will not become my solution to fixing things when they don’t work. I just thought I should share.

Stewardship Sunday: make a baby for the Church or increase your weekly offerings by $4.58

Today is Stewardship Sunday. Today’s sermon was inspiring and funny. We were reminded that it is our duty to give to God what is not ours in the first place; that we can give through the things/property we own, through time/service, and through talents. One of my favorite Jesus’ sayings: if you cannot be trusted with small things, how can you be trusted with the bigger things. (Well, something like that!)

The funny part of the homily was when Father Vic told us that the Parish ran a deficit of about $70,000 last year. This was due to Teacher salary increments and lower school enrollment. The former increased the expenses, while the later reduced the income. Not a good combination. The Priests, (we have two), had come up with two solutions/alternatives for us: either we stop having 1 or 2 children and go back to the old Catholic way of 10 or more to increase future school enrollment, or we should increase our weekly contribution by $4.58(?)!!!

What a tough choice! (I may do both! I will just ask the Church to take care of all the expenses for the 10 kids!)

What a prayer!

My friend, Catdiva, forwarded me something that was funny: Why Women don’t take men on vacation. Being a man, I wondered why I hadn’t been taken on vacation yet – hint! Anyway, it was funny – men posing for the pictures of a life time(!)

At the end, there was this prayer that I could not resist sharing:

Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;
Love to forgive him;
And Patience for his moods;
Because Lord, if I pray for Strength,

I’ll beat him to death.
Amen!