'Heart of Gold’ put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch.” – Neil Young, comments written for the liner notes of his 1977 compilation, Decade.
Somewhere along the line I started this series…and then lost track of it. Since the movie is coming out in early August I thought I would read the first book again and then pick up the rest of the series. I seem to at least have gotten through the second book as well since I remember the ‘lobstrosities’.
Anyway, check out the first book in the series here.
“The point is, any system in which humans are involved will at some point be disrupted by human error. Organizations distinguish themselves not by stamping out the possibility of error, but by handling the inevitable mistake well.”
Very, very true. See the link to Kottke here.
Done!
During our visit to Vienna we wandered by the Vienna Opera House. Amazing space. This fountain is off to one side.
My wife and I were in Vienna a couple of years ago and took this photo. Love the statue. The name at the bottom is ‘Ferdinand Raymond’. Here’s a link to a Wikipedia article about him. Kind of a sad end:
When Raimund was bitten by a dog, which he falsely believed to be rabid, he shot himself on 29 August 1836 and died on 5 September 1836 in Pottenstein, aged 46.
This is from Ethan Hawke’s Rules for a Knight:
One time, on a sweltering August night, Grandfather and I made camp down by the ocean. He said, “While I teach you about the ways of war, I want you to know that the real struggle is between the two wolves that live inside each of us.”
“Two wolves?” I asked, seated on an old log near the fire. My eyes were transfixed by the flames twisting uncomfortably in the night air.
“One wolf is evil,” he continued. “It is anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, deceit, false pride.” He paused, poking at the embers of our fire with a long stick he’d been carving.
“The other is good. It is joy, love, hope, serenity, humility, loving-kindness, forgiveness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, faith.”
I considered that for a minute, then tentatively asked, “Which wolf will win?”
Sparks danced towards the stars as the old man stared into the glare of the flames and replied, “Whichever one you feed.”
If you like the quote hit this link (Kottke.org) and then the Amazon link in the first paragraph.
Finally…
Here we go folks.
I’ve been running a couple of miles every other day. Now I’m increasing the length and will start increasing the tempo.
Wahoo! While this is the home opener I always loved hear Harwell start the season with this stanza from the Song of Solomon (2:11-12):
For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
Go Tigers!