Continuing with the Obama love-fest I began after reading Caroline Kennedy’s endorsement, this letter from Toni Morrison really moved me. I confess I was one of those who associate wisdom with a certain age, but her assertion that it’s a quality inherited and innate rather than learned is interesting. I’m not totally sure I agree, but it’s thought-provoking.
Charles Hotel courtyard lights, last Friday evening about 6pm.
I love this blog post from a man named Eric Zorn. He lists 50 things he’s learned in 50 years of life. A very valuable exercise for each of us, I think. A few of my favorites of his:
10. Empathy is the greatest virtue. From it, all virtues flow. Without it, all virtues are an act.
17. Don’t waste your breath proclaiming what’s really important to you. How you spend your time says it all.
37. Mental illness is as real as diabetes, arthritis or any other disease, and no more disgraceful. It’s the stigma that’s disgraceful.
41. Almost no one stretches, flosses or gives compliments often enough.
49. Whatever your passion, pursue it as though your days were numbered. Because they are.
I was daunted when I started to write a list of my own. A project for day with more energy, mental and physical. When I think about what I’ve learned in my ordinary 33 years on earth I think about things both practical and abstract (and Eric’s list has a nice combination of both). In terms of the more big-picture, amorphous truths, many of them have changed and shifted over time. Embracing ambiguity and to learn to go with the flow continue to be big priorities for me; struggles, too, but dimensions on which I think I’ve made some faint progress. Maybe for now, when I write 33 things I have learned, I’ll focus on irrefutable facts. 1. Nutella is its own food group, and a critical one. 2. Bacon is a vegetable. 3. There is no music better than that of the singer-songwriters of the 70s. 4. Evening heels should all be stilettos, never chunky. 5. Jalapenos are delicious on pizza. 6. White wine is best on the rocks. ETC, ETC.
Caroline Kennedy’s op-ed endorsement of Barack Obama in today’s New York Times brought me to tears. Her words remind me that I’ve watched several people whom I’ve never even heard talk about politics throw themselves into the race. I’ve gotten phone calls and emails from people I never even knew were democrats, passionately pleading Barack’s case. Her assertion that one of a president’s key responsibilities is empowering and inspiring the young people is compelling to me. I’ve been leaning Barack’s way for a while now, though more out of instinct than out of any particularly educated reasons. I think Caroline Kennedy’s editorial has confirmed that he’ll get my vote.
Welcome, baby boy!!!!!
The most recent Princeton Alumni Weekly has a list of the 25most influential alumni. I find the list fascinating:
1. James Madison 1771
2. Alan Turing *38
3. Woodrow Wilson 1879
4. John Rawls ’43 *50
5. John Bardeen *36
6. George Kennan ’25
7. Benjamin Rush 1760
8. F. Scott Fitzgerland ’17
9. George Shultz ’42
10. John Foster Dulles 1908
11. Gary Becker ’51
12. Jeffrey Moss ’63
13. Wendy Kopp ’89
14. Richard Feynman *42
15. Paul Volcker ’49
16. Nicholas Katzenbach ’43
17. Charles Scribner 1840
18. Laurance Rockefeller ’32
19. Robert Venturi ’47 *50
20. Jeff Bezos ’86
21. Alfred Barr ’22 *23
22. Philip Freneau 1771
23. John Bogle ’51
24. Norman Thomas 1905
25. Ralph Nader ’55
25. Donald Rumsfeld ’54 (tie)
There are several things of interest. The first is the number of engineers and scientists from the first half of the 20th century – Princeton really used to be a powerhouse there, I am realizing. Also the strength in politics and diplomacy. The tie at 25 has some humor in it as well, given how different those two are. I’m delighted to see Rummy at the very bottom, if he has to be on the list at all. Surprised not to see Meg Whitman. Love that the one woman on the list is Wendy Kopp who’s an absolute inspiration (not to mention only 40).