When I was young, Walter Cronkite was on every night just before dinner. I remember hearing a joke that I couldn't wait to tell my family over the dinner table. It went something like this: Mama tater and Daddy tater were sitting in their living room watching the news when their teenage tater daughter came in so excited about her day. She had come to a momentous decision, she had decided who to marry and couldn't wait to share the great news. She sat her tater parents down and said, "Mama and papa I know who I am going to marry and you'll never guess his name so I 'll just tell you. I'm going to Marry Walter Cronkite." Horrified, her parents exclaimed that he just wouldn't do! Their sweet daughter just could not marry a "common" tater.
I remember thinking this was the best joke I'd ever heard. It had to be because i heard it over 40 years ago and still smile at the punch line.
One newscaster said Cronkite's passing marked the end of an incredible era. Maybe his life was that amazing. I am uncertain about this. I read his biography. It didn't impress me as much as I thought it would. He was a man in the right place at the right time but he was also a man who like to push the envelope. He opened arenas in news that perhaps didn't need to be explored. Still he had the courage to go after what he thought was important. A good man. A well liked man. An icon in the news media industry. What must it have been like to actually live the histories and experience the news as he did?

I have been reading this book off and on for a year. It has some amazing insights concerning how to deal with yourself and others. I have a couple of quotes that have been following me around for the last few days I thought I would share with you.

The definition of react- to act with intense emotion but without clear purpose. Ury illustrates this point with the following story. One day, a samurai went to collect a debt from a fisherman. "I'm sorry," the fisherman said, "but this last year has been a very bad one for me, and I regret to say I do not have the money to repay you." Quick to anger, the samurai drew his sword and prepared to kill the fisherman on the spot. Thinking fast, the fisherman boldly said, "I have been studying martial arts and my master teaches that you should never strike out of anger."

The samurai looked at him for a minute, then slowly lowered his sword. "your master is wise," he said quietly. "my master used to teach the same lesson. Sometimes my anger gets the better of me. I will give you one more year to repay your debt, but if you fail by even a penny, I will surely kill you."

The samurai returned to his house, arriving late at night. He crept in quietly, not wishing to wake his wife, but to his shock, he found two people in the bed, his wife and a stranger dressed in samurai clothing. With a surge of jealousy and anger, he raised his sword to slay them both, but suddenly the fisherman's words came back to him: "Do not strike out of anger." The samurai stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, and then deliberately made a loud noise. His wife instantly woke up, as did the "stranger," who turned out to be his mother.

"What is the meaning of this?" he yelled. "I almost killed you both!"

"We were afraid of robbers," his wife explained. "So I dressed your mother up in your samurai clothes to scare them off."

A year passed and the fisherman came to see the samurai. "I had an excellent year, so here is your money back and with interest," the fisherman said happily to him.

"Keep your money," replied the samurai. "You repaid your debt long ago."

A chinese rejection slip

I have been reading a book called A Writer's Commonplace Book by Rosemary Friedman. This is a book of quotes written by authors on how to write. I think this would be a marvelous rejection to get either on a paper that needs more work or a book I want published. (Most first time authors are rejected several times before they get published)
We have read your manuscript with boundless delight. If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of a lower standard. And as it is unthinkable that in the next thousand years we shall see its equal we are to our regret compelled to return your divine composition and beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity.
If I were to get a rejection slip like this, I'd have to frame it and smile every time my eyes glanced at it in my wanderings around the house.

Learning a new skill

Becca told me I needed to start a blog because they were so much fun. I have been reading my nieces and Becca's blogs and decided I might give it a try if it weren't too hard. Becca was right. This is fun.