Jill's Page
In the last half of pregnancy, it is difficult to
think of much besides the creation
of life and crying a lot, but I shall endeavor to create an interesting
page by pretending I am still occupied with all of the things that concerned
me before parenthood was imminent.
First of all, what are we doing here, people??
Read Jonathan
Kozol's Amazing Grace and wonder how we got this far.
Or just check out Savage Inequalities to ignite some anger about
our public education system. If you are insightful, you can see that
not much has changed since Victor Hugo wrote one of the greatest social
justice pieces of all time, Les
Miserables.
You may wonder how George
Will, my favorite political columnist and a die-hard conservative,
fits in with the leftist tendencies expressed above. I turn to George
for a daily dose of reality and hard-headed economic sense. You just
can't beat it. Sometimes when I watch him on Sunday mornings, I want
to jump up and yell, "Amen, brother." When will my priest be this
inspiring?? Then I go back to reading some of my texts for social
work school. While you might find this dichotomy disturbing, I do
not. My mother is a gemini and we developed a secure
attachment. (Fodder for all you psychosocial junkies, not to
mention astrology buffs.)
BUT....When I need real, belly-laughing entertainment,
I always turn to Dave Barry.
If you don't like biting sarcasm, don't bother with his website.
His sort of bitterness is exactly what I need to survive a reading of Amazing
Grace. It's good to stay in balance.
How about a few more juicy bones of insight a la
Jill? Poetry is the real heart of human expression, isn't it?
Concise writing is always the most powerful. So what happens to a
dream deferred? This and many more questions answered by the founder
of African-American poetry, Langston
Hughes. (You can argue whether he is the founder by emailing
me at the address at the bottom of the page.)
Yet another great poet (there are so many) was Stephen
Crane:
"A man said to the universe,
'Sir, I exist'.
'However,' replied the universe,
'The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.'"
If that does not stir you, try Edwin
Arlington Robinson, on the same website as Langston Hughes.
If you would rather just have a sentence or two to
ponder, though, try these on for size:
Life is like playing a violin
solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on. Samuel
Butler
For most people, life is a
search for the proper manilla envelope in which to get themselves filed.
Clifton Fadiman
To understand people, we must
try to hear what they are not saying. . . what they perhaps will never
be able to say. Marilyn Kreher
To speak is to dilute one's
thoughts, to give vent to one's ardor; in short, to dissipate one's strength;
whereas, what action demands is concentration. Silence is a necessary
preliminary to the ordering of one's thoughts. Charles DeGaulle
When a dog runs at you, whistle
for him. H.D. Thoreau
I DEDICATE THIS PAGE TO MY FAMILY: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
They are my soul and my heart's inspiration.
Comments, questions and suggestions:
Email me!