Sunday, March 27, 2011
Go Fish
Yesterday was different. I can remember boys, yeah, three of them. We were around a table and Sarah was there. Sure, cards, soda, chips. What were we playing? That’s right, we were going to play “Go Fish” with the new deck of cards my mom and dad had just sent us. This was going to be great. The cards were not typical, they had native fish from Hawaii on them and I had the bright idea to play “Go Fish”.
So I am dealing the cards and everyone has a blank stare unsure how to move forward. Mike goes first and ask mom for the yellow fish.
“Which yellow fish honey?” she asks.
“The yellow fish with the stripes?” says Mike.
“Show me peanut.” This game is going to be tough.
“Go fish.”
Nate is next.
“Give me the yellow fish Mike.” I sense danger. This situation can go a number of ways, all of them bad. Mike hates to lose, hell, I hate to lose, but Mike hates to lose to his brothers more than anything in his world. Nate, on the other hand, loves beating Mike. It is some sick predictable cycle that has played itself over and over in our home and never ends well.
I am thinking fast of how to handle this or the game is going to be over.
“Mike, just give him your Kikakapu!” I say with just a bit of irritability for emphasis.
And then what has to happen, happens. Anthony and Sarah crack up. It is going to be ok.
“Mike do you have a Nohu?” says Nate. More laughter follows as does a lengthy discussion about the Nohu’s features which we all agree is the ugliest fish we have ever seen.
Each fish that is named is funnier than the last.
Kokala, Ala’ihi, O’ili’uwi’uwi, and Uhu-uliuli. But when Anthony flawlessly pronounces Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua’a we all fall over laughing. I cannot breath I am laughing so hard. The muscles on the side of my head hurt from the laugh than has not left my face for so long.
That is when I see it out of the corner of my eye and I am reminded again. It is right there, where it always is.
An empty chair.
So I am dealing the cards and everyone has a blank stare unsure how to move forward. Mike goes first and ask mom for the yellow fish.
“Which yellow fish honey?” she asks.
“The yellow fish with the stripes?” says Mike.
“Show me peanut.” This game is going to be tough.
“Go fish.”
Nate is next.
“Give me the yellow fish Mike.” I sense danger. This situation can go a number of ways, all of them bad. Mike hates to lose, hell, I hate to lose, but Mike hates to lose to his brothers more than anything in his world. Nate, on the other hand, loves beating Mike. It is some sick predictable cycle that has played itself over and over in our home and never ends well.
I am thinking fast of how to handle this or the game is going to be over.
“Mike, just give him your Kikakapu!” I say with just a bit of irritability for emphasis.
And then what has to happen, happens. Anthony and Sarah crack up. It is going to be ok.
“Mike do you have a Nohu?” says Nate. More laughter follows as does a lengthy discussion about the Nohu’s features which we all agree is the ugliest fish we have ever seen.
Each fish that is named is funnier than the last.
Kokala, Ala’ihi, O’ili’uwi’uwi, and Uhu-uliuli. But when Anthony flawlessly pronounces Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua’a we all fall over laughing. I cannot breath I am laughing so hard. The muscles on the side of my head hurt from the laugh than has not left my face for so long.
That is when I see it out of the corner of my eye and I am reminded again. It is right there, where it always is.
An empty chair.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist
by Thomas Levenson
It is essential when reading non-fiction that something new is learned. It is also essential when enjoying non-fiction that what is learned is fun to talk about. This book was both informative and discussion worthy.
I learned a lot about Isaac Newton, for instance, that his major work "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" was printed only when a colleague asked him his thoughts on a vexing problem of the day. He immediately answered the question to his colleagues surprise who asked him to write down his solution. During the next year and a half, "Principles", was written which made Newton a rock star.
"Newton and the Counterfeiter" is full of antidotes building to what the title implies, a show down between the Mathematician and the criminal mastermind.
The conclusion left me a little disappointed. I guess I wanted Newton to be like Sherlock Holmes using science and intelligence to capture the notorious criminal when ultimately it was, in my opinion, a case filled with unreliable eye witnesses. All in all it was a good read that would recommend.
On a side note, a friend of mine, JT, recommended I listen to podcast #423: The Invention of Money from NPR's This American Life. This was an outstanding complement to the book. It highlights what Newton recognized over 300 years ago, that money is nothing more than trust.
It is essential when reading non-fiction that something new is learned. It is also essential when enjoying non-fiction that what is learned is fun to talk about. This book was both informative and discussion worthy.
I learned a lot about Isaac Newton, for instance, that his major work "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" was printed only when a colleague asked him his thoughts on a vexing problem of the day. He immediately answered the question to his colleagues surprise who asked him to write down his solution. During the next year and a half, "Principles", was written which made Newton a rock star.
"Newton and the Counterfeiter" is full of antidotes building to what the title implies, a show down between the Mathematician and the criminal mastermind.
The conclusion left me a little disappointed. I guess I wanted Newton to be like Sherlock Holmes using science and intelligence to capture the notorious criminal when ultimately it was, in my opinion, a case filled with unreliable eye witnesses. All in all it was a good read that would recommend.
On a side note, a friend of mine, JT, recommended I listen to podcast #423: The Invention of Money from NPR's This American Life. This was an outstanding complement to the book. It highlights what Newton recognized over 300 years ago, that money is nothing more than trust.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
All the King's Men
by Robert Penn Warren
Narrator Jack Burton traces the political career of Willy Stark who goes from country bumpkin to kingpin. The story shows the underbelly of politics and how right and wrong blend together. Willy Stark described his relationship between goodness and badness; "Goodness. Yeah, just plain, simple goodness. Well you can’t inherit that from anybody. You got to make it, Doc. If you want it. And you got to make it out of badness. Badness." Willy Stark, by justifying his badness to make goodness, finds himself too deep to make make the switch back to a moralistic life.
Jack Burton finds himself broken and empty, not lonely empty, but soullessly empty. He uses the phrase, "The Great Twitch", to describe how he sees everything as motivated by some inborn reflex action with nobody responsible for their choices. "The Great Twitch" is like the chicken running around the coop with its head already removed.
I loved this book for is characters, mood, and beautifully written style.
Narrator Jack Burton traces the political career of Willy Stark who goes from country bumpkin to kingpin. The story shows the underbelly of politics and how right and wrong blend together. Willy Stark described his relationship between goodness and badness; "Goodness. Yeah, just plain, simple goodness. Well you can’t inherit that from anybody. You got to make it, Doc. If you want it. And you got to make it out of badness. Badness." Willy Stark, by justifying his badness to make goodness, finds himself too deep to make make the switch back to a moralistic life.
Jack Burton finds himself broken and empty, not lonely empty, but soullessly empty. He uses the phrase, "The Great Twitch", to describe how he sees everything as motivated by some inborn reflex action with nobody responsible for their choices. "The Great Twitch" is like the chicken running around the coop with its head already removed.
I loved this book for is characters, mood, and beautifully written style.
