Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century.
Mark Twain
Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and it seems fitting to turn our thoughts to love.
My wife and I passed the quarter century mark in our marriage a couple of years ago. While I am not yet ready to declare that I know what perfect love is, I do embrace Twain’s “slow growth” theory.
Romance flourishes, but our concept of romance has changed. We still surprise each other and make the other laugh. We have cultivated separate interests while remaining interested in each other. As we have grown, we have grown together, and every year we draw a little closer to perfect love.
I look at my wife and I feel quite certain that I got the better end of the deal in the marriage bargain. Yet, of all her outstanding traits, her best is that she loves me back. It is a good thing going through life knowing you are loved.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Politics and the media
Newspapers are unable, seemingly, to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilization.
George Bernard Shaw
Like me, you have probably noticed the frequency with which you hear people express disgust about the over-saturation of media coverage of the 2008 presidential election. The media generates a large volume of white noise that detracts from the political process.
I used to enjoy following politics, and presidential politics in particular. I don’t anymore. The decline in my interest is largely tied to the poor job the media does. Media outlets are businesses that depend on ratings or subscribers. They shamelessly appeal to constituencies. The saucy details of a candidate’s past, or a verbal gaffe, draw much more attention than these events deserve.
I see lots of commentary, and little reporting. Story lines and stories get manufactured, rather than reported. Sadly, our impressions about candidates are largely shaped by how the media portrays them. Be vigilant and, hopefully, a leader will percolate up to the top through all this sludge.
George Bernard Shaw
Like me, you have probably noticed the frequency with which you hear people express disgust about the over-saturation of media coverage of the 2008 presidential election. The media generates a large volume of white noise that detracts from the political process.
I used to enjoy following politics, and presidential politics in particular. I don’t anymore. The decline in my interest is largely tied to the poor job the media does. Media outlets are businesses that depend on ratings or subscribers. They shamelessly appeal to constituencies. The saucy details of a candidate’s past, or a verbal gaffe, draw much more attention than these events deserve.
I see lots of commentary, and little reporting. Story lines and stories get manufactured, rather than reported. Sadly, our impressions about candidates are largely shaped by how the media portrays them. Be vigilant and, hopefully, a leader will percolate up to the top through all this sludge.
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