The Concentration of an Airplane Pilot

There is a poem I cannot find at this time, about pilots ... about a boy looking up in the back yard as a plane flies over ... about "the concentration of good men."

I like analyze non-verbal communication. In the photo which is, to me, incredibly beautiful, someone to our left is taking the photo. There is someone to the right.

In this photo, there is one person looking directly at the camera - like you should be - and he is a pilot.

Proximate Cause is not Ultimate Cause

Writes Jared Diamond, in The Third Chimpanzee:

I could have warned Professor Presbury that his myopic obsession with proximate causation would lead him astray.

Let's unpack this!

Diamond is talking about ultimate causation v. proximate causation in terms of aging. A chemical or molecular biologist, he says, would answer the question "Why do skunks smell bad?" with "Because they secrete chemical compounds with certain particular molecular structures..." (proximate causation)

While, he says, the evolutionary biologist would say "Because the skunk would be easy victims for predators if they didn't defend themselves with bad smells." (ultimate causation)

Whoa.

It seems to me that these are answers to two different questions. Further, that one of them is "meta." I chose to work in the field of emotional intelligence because it is "meta" - it covers and subsumes many other fields, such as leadership, communication, etc.

OK. So it seems to me that the question answered by proximate causation is "How does the skunk do this 'smelling bad'?" and the question answered by ultimate causation is "Why does the skunk emit an odor?"

It is interesting to know the mechanism -- the emission of a bad odor. It is also interesting to know the reason or purpose -- self-defense.

Diamond adds that "the chemist and the evolutionary biologist would each dismiss the other's answer as not being 'the real explanation.'"

And this is where communication goes afoul. And why emotional intelligence is META. As Jared says, back to our topic, or his topic, of aging -- "Aging can't be understood unless we seek both explanations simultaneously."

Because these things can be looked at as left-brain and right-brained, or whole-brained. Left-brained dominant people (LBDP) tend to answer questions with details and lists.

Querant: How can I be a good leader?

LBDP: Stand tall. Talk loud and low. Maintain eye contact 5 seconds, then move eyes sideways, never down.

My Response: A leader is someone who others want to follow. You want to follow someone because they are trustworthy, appear to know more, have confidence ... Good leaders are generally ... (list traits)

You see the difference.

if you want to learn something you need to know the reason why the details that you observe work to create the whole picture. After all, there are very tall people who are not leaders. Very big people, loud and low-talking people. Would you want to follow Mike Tyson's lead?

Some people prefer to know "why" first. Then they can digest the "details". I don't see how you can 'learn' something like 'leadership' by just following a list. Do you think so? Share your thoughts.

To Jargon or Not: Do You Know When You Are?

The use of jargon ... emotional intelligence rides on SELF-AWARENESS. So the first point on this topic is -- do you know what jargon is, and when you are using it? From there, we go to: Do you know WHEN and WHY to use it.

This article I quote from thinks the topic is particularly relevant to written English. I think it is just as much so with spoken English. Words are words. "Jargon," to me, means the special words used within a certain field that include those in the field, and exclude those not in the field. When I was in marketing, I learned to say "two-sided, one up" when talking to the printer. The client would have no idea what I meant. In psychology, I learned to say "passive-aggressive personality." Those in the field know the parameters; the danger of that one is that people outside the field think they know what it means, and generally do not. But the same could be said for all jargon.

Another example of "jargon" is grammatical. In some fields, it is common to "verbalize" nouns. In others, it is not. In some fields, one must be grammatically correct. In others, it is gauche to care about how you write.

We proceed, with the addition that - the purpose of words is supposed to be to communicate. If what you say is not understood by the others, you have not communicated.

Here's a classic. Years ago the only thing PMS meant was the color charts people in marketing used when designing brochures, logos, etc. Since more people are color-blind than would like to admit, and since - well I just had lunch and that lime green shirt, sir, is NOT "teal." (and so it goes)

Well the acronym PMS has been pre-empted.

Some notes from "Are You on the Inside Or the Outside of Jargon?" by Jeanie Marshall, a colleague in personal development coaching:

Jargon is a powerful time saver, if you are inside the circle of people who know its meaning.

If you are outside that circle, though, the use of jargon can confuse, annoy, or exclude you.

The extent this is problematic to you will depend on how much you want to be in the inner circle.

Entering any new subculture requires getting acquainted with the vernacular.

Understanding acronyms, jargon, shortcuts, inside humor, and incomplete sentences are all part of getting acclimated to a subculture or inner circle.

It's a great article. Check it out and share your thoughts.

Marshall ends with an Einstein quote: "If you can't explain something simply, you don't know enough about it." It was given to us in clinical psychology graduate school (ah, the jargon) as: "If you can't explain it to your grandmother, you don't know what you're talking about."

No offense to grandmothers, I am one. But I think it gets the point across more clearly. The point is, when you are talking to someone clearly outside your "field," it behooves you to be able to switch your language accordingly. They'll like you a whole lot more, and people relax when they like and trust someone, and then they can hear and learn.

If you are not aware of how you speak, and how it is different from how others speak, or other ways of speaking, you will be lost. And that's what emotional intelligence is all about. Communication is just one of the many facets that will improve, when you learn the meta-field of emotional intelligence.

Capisce?

I invite you to join me for coaching. Email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc .

Rumi, Barks, the expressive outlet of the Internet. It's all good.

I love the expressive possibilities of the Internet.

Listen to this man read Rumi ... with his southern accent, with his love of Rumi, with his desire to spread artistic beauty to al.

Here we have the voice of Coleman Barks. Who is he? From his his website:

Coleman Barks was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was educated at the University of North Carolina and the University of California at Berkeley. He taught poetry and creative writing at the University of Georgia for thirty years. He is the author of numerous Rumi translations and has been a student of Sufism since 1977. His work with Rumi was the subject of an hour-long segment in Bill Moyers's Language of Life series on PBS, and he is a featured poet and translator in Bill Moyers's poetry special, "Fooling with Words." Coleman Barks is the father of two grown children and the grandfather of four. He lives in Athens, Georgia.

From Phil Catalfo:

There is a reason why the thirteenth-century Sufi mystic Jallaludin Rumi is the best-selling poet in America today: His words express the ineffable longing to merge with the eternal; they reach across eight centuries to speak to us, in our sullen era, and offer not just the vision but also the experience of what yoga calls union--with the Divine.

For coaching with Susan Dunn on emotional intelligence or other matters, email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc .

In Italian Trial, the non-verbals will count

Is it Amanda Knox or Foxy Knoxy?

12 year old Seattle honor student is on trial for murder in Perugia, Italy.

Compare the lead photo on msn.com with the one you are lead to from Newsweek here.

I don't know about you, but from looking at the photos, I would have a completely different "impression" of Ms. Knox depending upon which one I was shown.

The article on Newsweek (link above) is full of the importance of impression and nonverbal communication. Would this be moreso in a country that is relatively more right-brained, like Italy? You be the judge. But the nonverbals matter in any courtroom in any country. That's why lawyers study it, why there are mock trials, why there are experts who 'prepare' witnessess, and why there are expert witnesses called to testify. The jury watches carefully, listens carefully, forms opinions beyond what is said, what is termed in the article, "nonjudicial factors."

Examples from the article:

Murder suspect Amanda Knox has a lot of explaining to do. But what she says may not be as important as how she says it.

Says Alessandra Batassa, a criminal-defense lawyer in Rome who has served on defense teams in similar crimes. "The court will be absolutely influenced by nonjudicial factors like her demeanor. Her image has been painted in a very bad light in the trial so far, so she has to portray that she has normal sexual relationships and that she is just a normal girl. She has to be very convincing."

At times she is indignant, answering questions with her own questions.

... she is either serious or arrogant

... waffled between confidence and calamity

The article ends:

She will almost surely be less cavalier this time, as her lawyers prepare her for what will be a grueling day. The jury will be listening attentively, but more important, they will be watching her every move.

If you'd like to increase your understanding of emotional intelligence and nonverbal communication, take the EQ Course or sign up for EQ coaching. Email sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information.

P.S. How would someone portray that she is "just a normal girl"? Share your comments.

How to Communicate with People the Way THEY want

Nonverbal 101

Listen, watch and people will tell you how they want to be treated.



To learn more sign up for the Emotional Intelligence Program. Email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc or call 817-741-7223. Take THE EQ COURSE.

From the video:

Self-contained people - cut the schmoozing, cut to the chase, the socializing, get on with it, get to the bottom line. "I want the answer right away."

Open-people - reading, willingly show your thoughts and feelings, whether you want them or not; social 'dancing,'; conversationally, they digress a lot; "which reminds me,"; "their thoughts are like gumballs - they fall to the tongue and roll out"; "What did we talk about?" Make decisions based on emotion, feeling, gut. Time? When I get around to it.

Which way are you?? With emotional intelligence, you have the ability to be either way. But you have a home-base, a "default" mode, a way you're more comfortable.

Indirect people (slower paced than Direct people) - the way they talk, do things in general, make decisions. Indirect, less assertive, more patient, ask (not tell). "Would you like to have a seat?" v. "P.J., some in, sit down, not there, HERE."

Indirect - tremendous inner-driving need not to be wrong. Direct people approach risk and change more rapidly, because they want to deal with it get it done.

Etc. Good stuff. Enjoy!

Medical Care outside the US

In 2007, 750,000 Americans (at least) traveled abroad for medical procedures.

Hip surgery?
Crown? Scaling?

THE DOCTOR IS OUT ... OF THE COUNTRY

Totally unverified, except I know more than a few people who get their dental work done in Mexico. I just talked to another person today who was heading for Mexico to get their crowns. Of course it's a daytrip from here.

Notes from an article - google it, think it over.

INDIA - Ortho - Dr. Vijay Bose, one of world leading ortho surgeons works there

Costa Rica - ortho surgery, spinal surgery, lipo

Mexico - dental work at a fraction of the US price. Day -trip from San Diego or Tx.

Singapore- cancer treatment, spinal surgery, transplants

Thailand - ortho
Check these out with Joint Commission International )JCI_ - or the Intl Society for Quality in Health Care. More than 230 JCI-accredited in 30 countries.

Don't expect your own physician to endorse any of this. Why would they?

On the other hand, don't be stupid.

EXAMPLE: Hip replacement surgery in US - $50,000. In India, including airfare - $12,000

Patients say doctors email them, get more attention from nurses

Oral surgeon told her $30k, got it in Thailand for $9k

Book through a facilitator such as Healthbase or Surgical Trip. Some evidentally will book it, meet you, walk you through it. (Having done the Copper Canyon with our own personal tour guide the entire trip - to Sinaloa and back -- how? Well, in Mexico, you can afford that.

If you've done this let, us know.

The AMA gives a neutral statement. What else could you expect. On this, you will have to be your own judge.

Mirth Mends - Laughter, the Best Medicine

Tough Times Call for ... silliness?

Take a look at this video, which came out during World War II, and recall, if you will some of the other silly songs from that time period, "I With I Were a Widdle Thugar Bun," for instance.



Take a look at this article, Mirth Mends which illuminates all the benefits of laughter, according to the two Bangkok-based psychotherapists who organized weekly laughter-therapy sessions, because they know of the medical benefits.

The sounds of laughter, they say, "come straight from the soul."

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

The act of laughing triggers the release of endorphins, a chemical in the brain that functions as a natural painkiller.

In large amounts, endorphins can create a general sense of well-being.

When we laugh, we must breath more deeply. The extra oxygen we take in purifies our lungs and saturates the bloodstream, eventually re-energising our whole body.

Frequent laughing can strengthen the body's respiratory and pulmonary systems which, in turn, enhances our blood circulation and cardio-vascular system.

Laughing also reinvigorates the body's digestive and gastro-intestinal systems. When you laugh, the intestinal muscles, which may have become stiff, move more vigorously, so the digestive system works better.

Other benefits include better functioning of the dermatological (skin), reproductive and endocrine (hormone) systems, she added.

Laughter is also a great psychological tool.

"A human being is like a car," Dr Jitra says. "After being used for a while, the car runs out of fuel and the tank needs to be refilled. A human being is just like that. After going through some bad moments during the day, we, too, need to be refreshed."

She adds, "In a way I think laughter therapy is a form of spiritual healing. For many people, it's a light at the end of the tunnel."

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A GOOD LAUGH.

Looking for Work?

Over 50 and Looking for Work?
by Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, The EQ Coach

As a midlife transition career coach, I often encounter clients are are initially afraid they won't get hired because of their age. They've all gotten good jobs, but I decided to verify my experience with some senior HR professionals. Here's what they told me:

Q: Is age an issue?

A1: "Age is never an issue, unless you're talking about an actual physical-labor job."

A2: "Age is never a determining factor, legally, and it's not relevant to common sense or anything else."

A3: "Thinking age is a drawback is screamingly wrong. Especially in software, if you can find someone with 25 years experience, they're gold. The perspective is so mind-bogglingly good when you get a team that's diverse in age."

Q: Is age an asset then?

A: "Age is not a determining factor. Experience, now that's an asset. For any job that requires experience in the industry or market, where it truly matters in making sound decisions and producing quality, experience is an asset."

Q: What kind of jobs are those?

A: "Every job you can think of."

Q: Should you only go back 10 years on your resume?

"Only if you're afraid of looking old."

Q: How many resumes do you get per listing? What gets your attention?

A1: "I get 400-500 resumes for each position I list. From that I'll choose 2-3 clear candidates. I'd give everyone the same advice: ·Apply for jobs you have the capabilities for. ·Write your resume like a newspaper article ' a catchy headline (not jazzy); something that would interest the hirer. ·Put what you are at the top. ·List your technical skills right beneath it and relevant experience, and a summary of your work history. ·Don't fabricate your experience, skills or education. We check.'

A2: "Don't write your life story. If I have to dig for something it's gone."

A3: "Rewrite your resume for every position you apply for."

Q: How best can you present yourself on an interview?

· Clean appearance
· Good communication skills
· Look like you'll be pleasant to work with
· Wear a nice suit that fits
· Come in prepared to meet people for the first time, have a smile on your face ' genuine one, not fake.
· Enjoy yourself, you've made the cut.
· Be enthusiastic.

Q: So once you're in the door, it's the emotional intelligence competencies that count?

A: "Yes. If you're actually called in, it's a matter of not talking them out of hiring you."

Q: Is it a numbers game then?

A: "No, it's the opposite of a numbers game. Apply only for jobs you have the capabilities for. Write a unique resume for each position. Don't just go to monster.com and click 'send resume.' Be selective."

Q: Do you post your positions online?

A: "About 50% of positions are filled through referrals. I post all my positions on www.monster.com. Also they should check www.careerbuilders.com ."

Q: Why do you think there's such concern about age?

A: "I don't know. It's screamingly wrong. Especially in software, if you can find someone with 25 years experience, they're gold. The perspective is so mind-bogglingly good when you get a team that's diverse in age. Look, according to the Age Discrimination & Employment Act, a 'protected older worker' is anyone over 40. Do you have any idea how many people that covers?"

Q: What about negative things in your work history?

A: "The way we look at it in HR is the reason you're here is because something wasn't right where you were. We've all been there. Why is it any worse to have been fired? Don't sugar coat things. I'll ask your reason for leaving and I'll check your references."

A2: "The Texas Truth in Hiring Act says any ex-employer can give any information as long as it's true. So I might ask you former boss, 'Did you fire her?' 'No.' 'Did you ask for her resignation?' 'Yes.' 'Why?' 'Because ....'. I ask the candidate beforehand, 'When I call your references, am I going to hear anything you might consider negative?' and then I listen."

Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, THE EQ COACH, http://www.susandunn.cc. Coaching for all your personal and business needs. EQ coach training and certification. Intensives in the D. C. area. Free ezine. Call 817-734-1471 for coaching.

Oxymoronic Statements

Enjoy!

1. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's intolerance.

2. On one hand, I'm indecisive; but on the other, I'm not.

3. Some people say I'm superficial, but that's just on the surface.

4. The world's full of apathy, but I don't care.

5. Prejudiced people are all alike.

6. I'm still not sure if I understand ambiguity.

7. I have my doubts about disbelief.

8. Avoid alliteration..... always.

9. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

10. One should never generalize.

11. Avoid cliches like the plague.

12. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.

13. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

14. Death to all fanatics !

15. I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

16. I always wanted to be a procrastinator.

17. Rehab is for quitters.

18. The shortest distance between two points is how far apart they are.

19. Don't be redundant by repeating yourself.

20. I am becoming increasingly worried that there isn't enough anxiety
in my life.

21. I have this nagging fear that everyone is out to make me paranoid.

22. Entropy just isn't what it used to be.

23. I keep telling myself that I am a pathological liar, but I'm not
sure I believe it.

24. Life is full of uncertainties.... or could I be wrong about that ?

25. Not only am I redundant and superfluous, but I also tend to use
more words than necessary.

26. Always remember you're unique.... just like everyone else.

AND MY FAVORITE__

27. There are only three kinds of people; people who can count and
people who can't.

And I'd like to add
I'm not sure how I feel about ambivalence.

Travel - toil, torture

"Travel" derives from travail, French for "arduous toil." Exactly. Travel is work. Trace the etymology bacak even further and you find the Latin word for "torture." ("The Traveling Curmudgeon")

I don't know about you, but I love a wry sense of humor and a good turn of phrase.

Someone gave me the book, "The Traveling Curmudgeon," before I left for Europe, and I have just laughed and laughed at it. It leaves no stone unturned, and treats so well, the inevitable "surprises" and "disasters" of travel. In fact the preface says it is designed to "explode the myth that travel is some sort of cultural hygiene necessary for mental or spiritual health." "It will liberate you," it says "from the tyranny of the travel / industrial complex."

I travel because I love to. I take the good with the bad. And I love some places other people hate, and everyone hates some place. That having been said, I give you the following. My endeavor is to be impartial, so don't send me cards and letters. The most important thing you must have for travel, as for life, is a sense of humor:

1. "America is a country no one should go to for the first time." (Jawajarlal Nehru)
2. "America: The land of the naive and the home of the literal." (Gore Vidal)
3. "Belgium: Northern Ireland run by the Swiss." (Mark Lawson)
4. "Boston: Clear out 800,000 people and preserve it as a museum piece." (Frank Lloyd Wright)
5. "Brazil has money that inflates like a dead dog in the hot sun." (Clive James)
6. (This one will surprise you, if you know his poem) "Here is the difference between Dante, Milton and me. They wrote about hell and never saw the place. I wrote about Chicago after looking the town over for years and years." (Carl Sandburg)
7. "Realizing that they will never be a world power, the Cypriots have decided to be a world nuisance." (George Mikes)
8. "To define Dallas is to add a whole new humongous dimension to bad." (Molly Ivins)
9. "Dallas reminds me of Hungary." (Karl Lagerfeld)
10. "Delhi is the capital of the losing streak. It is the metropolis of the crossed wire, the missed appointment, the puncture, the wrong number." (Jan Morris)
11. La Jolla: "Nothing but a climate and a lot of meaningless chi-chi." (Raymond Chandler.
12. New York: "If a day goes by and I haven't been slain, I'm happy." (Carol Leifer)
13. Philadelphia: "A metropolis sometimes known as the City of Brotherly Love but more accurately as the City of the Bleak November Afternoon." (S. J. Perelman)
14. Russia: "I never think I'm going to get out of Russia Something about the airport says, 'We are closed for no reason all of a sudden. Try again ... someday.'"
15. "[Seattle is] surrounded by the soft, the gray, and the moist, as if it is being digested by an oyster." (Tom Robbins)
16. "A nation of brilliant failures, the Irish, who are too poetical to be poets." (Max Beerbohm)
17. "No onew can be as calculatedly rude as the British, which amazes Americans, who do not understand studied insult and can only offer abuse as a substitute." (Paul Gallico)
18. "The German people are an orderly, vain, deeply sentimental, and rather insensitive people. They seem to feel at their best when they are singing in chorus, saluting, or obeying orders." (H. G. Wells)
19. "Eat lettuce in Mexico only if sterilized by a blowtorch." (Benjamin Kean)
20. "Nebraska is proof that Hell is full, and the dead walk the Earth." (Liz Winston)

And my favorite - so broadly-applicable:

Long before I visited Sweden for the first time, I had built up a composite portrait of the average Swede. He was withdrawn and spasmodic, reserved on the surface but explosive beneath it, veering between troughs of depression and fits of abandon. He was a pacifist, a socialist, an alcoholic and a hiker. He swam nude and attempted to commit suidice during the long winters. Like many other popular misconceptions (e.g., that the French are greedy and the Spanish stoic), this turned out to be fairly close to the truth." (Kenneth Tynan)

In England, everything is permitted unless it's forbidden.
In Germany, everything is forbidden unless it's permitted.
In Italy, everything is permitted even if it's forbidden.

The book is "The Traveling Curmudgeon," by Jon Winokur

Lipitor or Love

What works in healing when nothing else does and begins with "L"?

Lipitor.

LOL.



Good quotes

-- Ask your doctor for a reason to take it.
-- Unconditional positive regard
-- The side effects are exactly the same as what we're using it for
-- Software, "hand creak," use movie clips in your teaching
-- Valium suppresses emotion
-- The second cause of heart disease is stress; and hostility is associated with this -- an emotion
-- "Little Miss Sunshine" - what Olive says that heals

P.S. Please note the low level of laughter at the joke, in the medical school audience.

Why Do We Wait?

AS THE SUN SETS ON ANOTHER CHAPTER OF LIFE

I am moving from Dallas to the D. C. area (Falls Church, Virginia). I lived in Dallas only 18 months. I had moved from San Antonio.

Now, demographically, San Antonio and Dallas might as well be on different planets. As I continually told people when I was in Europe, who wanted to know how things were done in "America," or how "Americans" folded their napkins -- there is no such thing as "America," in the sense that they mean. The folding of the napkin, even the existence of the napkin at all, varies widely from Le Batre, Louisiana to Billings, Montana, to Wesport, Connecticut, to Portland, Oregon.

That having been said, generally speaking the farther south you go, and the more toward an ocean, the warmer and gentler things become. Dallas is land-locked smack in the middle of the huge state of Texas. It is "Dutch" - like New York City - established with commerce, business, as the primary focus.

So, back to my story. I've lived here 18 months and moved around. Went to the same stores, restaurants, PO, exercise club. Was greeted peremptorily - everyone greets the customer these days, don't they? I felt not welcome, but not UN-welcome either. Kind of ghost-like. Same with my apartment. Quiet, clean, not much flavor to it, but an easy place to live, an easy place to function from, i.e., "doin' bidness." People looked up and nodded, sometimes said "hello" or "howdy."

Now I am leaving, and there has been occasion to tell the people at the Tetco on the corner, and Mezza Luna, the great Italian restaurant behind the UPS, and my apt. manager, and all of a sudden I have been "noticed." Many have seemed upset and sad I was leaving. I mean, genuinely. They say how much they will miss me. Someone asked my name - for the first time. Some hope that I will return. Nameless for months, I suddenly have a name.

ISo what's my point? I am doing a booklet for a family reunion we are having in D.C., centered around the SEC Historical Society's Anniversary Dinner, because my father, Ray Garrett, Jr. was a former chairman of the SEC. We are privately going to honor him at this public celebration. Within his papers, while doing research for this booklet, I found the following.

In 1971, his father, Ray Garrett, was presented with a major award from the American Bar Association. Ray Garrett Sr. had chaired the committee that revised the Model Business Corporations Act. In the trade it would be said, "he wrote it." This work was finished in the mid- 60s, and Ray, Sr. died in 1969. Revising the Model Corporation Act will always be considered Ray Garrett Sr.'s greatest contribution to the field, and also a great contribution to the field.

Ray Jr. went to receive the posthumous award to his father. A newspaper reporter interviewed him.

Reporter: What do you think about your father getting that award?
Ray Garrett, Jr.: It was nice. It would have been nicer if it had happened when he was alive.

Res ipse loquitur.

That's not in my job description

I have a marble table-top, real marble. Probably travertine. It is 1/2" thick, 2' x 3'. It's a family heirloom and had been sitting on top of a coffee table for years. I'm moving, and I just moved it and was amazed at how heavy it is. I put it on the scale It weighs 50 lbs. Exactly 50 lbs. Isn't that interesting?

Now consider the statue of the Dying Slave (Michelangelo). How much would that weigh?

And consider that you carve a statue by removing marble from a much larger chunk of marble.

I just finished re-reading The Agony and the Ecstasy, about the life and times of Michelangelo, for my trip to Italy. In the book, we learn that at one time, the Pope told Michelangelo to find a new marble quarry (the Carrara people weren't being cooperative), and to do that, Michelangelo had to (himself), BUILD A ROAD to get to the new quarry. Up in the mountains of Italy, with mules, and all that.

And moving something as large as a hunk of marble from which to carve a Dying Slave or a David had to be done -- sometimes -- by inching board under the cart (a strong cart) and moving it just a foot or two at a time. He had to invent his own method as well.

Of course there were generations of stonecutters and quarry workers, but new methods were always needed.

And more about your job description -- Michelangelo was a sculptor. That was his love and what he wanted to do. When the Pope ordered him to paint the Sistine Chapel, he had not done anything prior besides sketches for his statues. But you don't tell the Pope "no," (though he tried to), so he painted the Sistine Chapel. The painting was on the ceiling and he had to invent his own scaffolding and method for getting up there to lie on his back and do something he really didn't want to do, or know how to do--paint the Sistine Chapel.

Memorial Day Tribute

RAY GARRETT, JR. WITH HIS GRANDSON MARSHALL DUNN

Artilleryman digging in their howitzer in Germany in the spring of 1945.

My father, RAY GARRETT, JR. served in the 264th Field Artillery batallion, First Army.

 Helped to liberate Paris
 Was the first to breach the Siegfried Line
 Captured the city of Aachen
 Hodge's army (Dad's 264th)bore the full weight of the German counteroffensive through the Ardennes (December 1944)
 Held the northern portion of the American lines in the ensuing Battle of the Bulge.
 Captured the bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen in March 1945
 Was the first Allied Artillery to cross the Rhine into Germany
 Landed at Omaha Beach 30 days after D-Day
 Eventually got to Munich in Patton's Army

Dad entered at the age of 24 as a Lieutenant. Was promoted to Captain and got the Bronze Star.

We will honor my father at our family table at the SEC Historical Society dinner in June in Washington, D. C. Ray Garrett, Jr. was the 19th chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lack of EQ leads to poor coping strategies in teens

A lack of emotional intelligence leads to poor coping strategies and seriously increases the likelihood of self-harm in teenagers, claims a study published yesterday, in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology.

See the full article here.

Let me help your teen learn better emotional intelligence. I work with all ages - children, teens, adults, seniors. It's never too early to learn ... or to late. Email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc .

Darwinius masillae

As we marvel (even google, check it out) at the latest fossil discovery, a very early look at "nature" v. "nurture."

Ray Garrett, Jr. - EQ in Action

RAY GARRETT, JR. - EQ in Action

When Ray Garrett, Jr. was chairman of the SEC, he was asked to give a speech about the SEC and Foreign Issues in the US to Keidanren Kaikan, Otemachi, Tokyo, Japan.

From the speech:

In passing, let me say a word about my use of the words "foreign" or "alien." In many languages, the equivalent of these words has an unfriendly connotation. Indeed, I learned in school that the Latin term for "foreign" was the same as the term for "enemy." English usage also sometimes confuses the two connotations. Unfortunately, in discussing our present topic, I must necessarily refer to companies organized under the laws of Japan and other countries, and investors who are citizens, or at least residents, of Japan or coutnries other than the United States, and the only convenient English words available to express their status are "foreign" and "alien." Please accept my use of them in their technical sense, without emotional overtones.

Memorial Day Tribute

MEMORIAL DAY, IN MEMORIAM

My father served in World War II, and both my grandfathers served in World War I. This is about my uncle, John T. Hale, Jr. from a Memorial Day website:

John Trimble Hale, Jr., Captain, U.S. Air Force, Korean War

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Service No.:
Born: 14 Aug 1923 at Milam Co., TX
Died: 29 Nov 1954 in French Morocco
Age at time of loss: 31 years, 3 months, 15 days
Home of Record:
Race: Caucasian
Marital Status: Married
Occupation:
Attended: Class of 1941, Rockdale High School, Rockdale, Texas; University of Texas, Austin, Texas
Religion:
Nickname: Johnny
Entered Service: 1942, commissioned 1944
Overseas Duty:
Ship/Unit: 91st Fighter Bomber Squadron
Type of Airplane and Position:
Awards:
Casualty Type: Non-hositle, accident (airplane crash)
Cause of Death:
Casualty Location: near Titmellil, French Morocco
Soundex Code: H-400
Census:
Parents: John Trimble Hale, Sr. (veteran, World War I) (1894-1972) and Gertrude Marrianne Stolterfoht Hale (1895-1980) [5]
Brothers: None
Sisters: Jo Ann Hale Allen (Mrs. Walter), Rockdale; Virginia Hale Garrett (Mrs. Ray) (1919-1984), Washington, DC
Paternal Grandparents:
Maternal Grandparents:
Wife: Constance S. _______________ Hale
Children: Glenn Wayne Hale, Patti Lynn Hale
Burial: International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Cemetery, Rockdale, Milam Co., TX
Arrangements:
Milam County War Memorial:
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From the Rockdale Reporter

"Capt. John T. Hale Dies in Jet Crash in French Morocco"

Captain John T. Hale, Jr. son of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Hale, Sr. of Rockdale, was killed Nov. 29, in a jet plane crash in French Morocco, his parents were notified Monday.

Details on the crash have never been released, except that Captain Hale, who was a senior pilot assigned to the 91st Fighter Bomber Squadron, crashed two miles east of the village of Titmellil. He was on temporary duty in Morocco from his station in England.

Captain Hale's wife and two children were in England with him, Mrs. Hale told Mr. and Mrs. Hale in Rockdale in a telephone conversation Tuesday morning that she was awaiting the body which was being flown from Morocco. Accompanied by his wife and children and an Air Force escort, the body will be flown to the United States. Funeral arrangements are pending.

John T. Hale, Jr., was 31 years old, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Hale, Sr., of Rockdale and graduate from Rockdale High School in 1941. "Johnny" Hale was one of the most popular students in the Rockdale school. A perfectionist, he succeeded well at anything he did, and was valedictorian of his graduating class.

Although he was not a large lad, he was vitally interested in athletics and was an outstanding quarterback on the football eleven at RHS. He lettered in football, track, and tennis. He was also an Eagle Scout.

After graduating from high school Johnny entered the University of Texas where he studied for two and one-half years before going into the Air Force in 1942. He received his wings and commission in the Air Force in 1944.

After receiving his wings, Hale served as an instructor at Eagle Pass for some time and then was sent to the Pacific where he was awaiting combat duty when the war ended. Following that, he served three years in Japan on occupation duty with the Air Force.

Upon returning to the States, Captain Hale taught students to fly, as an instructor, prior to going to Europe in April of this year as a et fighter pilot with the 91st Fighter Bomber Squadron.

Captain Hale loved to fly, and particularly loved to fly jets, his friends recall. He had flown jets, propeller driven fighter planes, bombers and transport ships during his Air Force career. He also had been assigned to photo reconnaissance, maintenance, supply and operations, but flying fighter planes was his big love. At Bryan, Air Force Base where he was stationed prior to going to Europe, he said he got his opportunity to fly fighters after the war. Otherwise, I'd have left the Air Force," he said.

Because he loved flying, the Rockdale Pilot had established records for more hours in the air than any other pilot at bases where he was located. Members of his family do not have records on the number of hours flying time he has to his credit, but the total, when officially announced will be astounding. At Bryan Air Force Base, out of several hundred pilots, Captain Hale was the leading jet pilot. After he had been there only a short time, he was only 60 hours behind the base Commander in flying time. At that time he had 1446 hours flying time in jet aircraft, and an additional 3474 hours in propeller driven aircraft for a total of 4920 hours in the air. Before he left BAFB for Europe, he had far surpassed the Colonel's time, and since that time in April this year, he had logged many, many more hours of flying time.

At Bryan, Captain Hale was one of six flight commanders having over-all charge of teaching aviation cadets how to fly jets. When he received his orders to go to Europe last April he was elated, for he had always wanted an assignment in the European theater. He left in April. His wife and children followed him in June.

News of his death reached Rockdale from Air Force officials in Washington about 3 p.m. Monday by wire. His parents talked with his wife by telephone from her residence in Ipswich, England, Tuesday morning but no details on the crash were available.

Surviving are the widow, Mrs. Constance S. Hale, formerly of Phoenix, Airz. and two children, Glenn Wayne and Patti Lynn; the parents, Mr. and Mrs. John T. Hale, Sr., of Rockdale, two sisters, Miss Jo Ann Hale of Rockdale and Mrs. Ray Garrett and children, Susan, Nancy, Anne and Richard. Mr. and Mrs Garrett and family have been living in Evanston, Ill. and are now moving to Washington, D.C. and while Mr. Garrett has been making arrangements for their move, Mrs. Garrett and children have been visiting here with her parents.

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"Funeral Capt. John T. Hale, Jr. to be held Friday 10:30 a.m."


Funeral services for Captain John T. Hale, Jr., 31, killed in a jet crash in French Morocco Nov. 29, will be held in Rockdale at 10:30 Friday.

Stores to Close by proclamation of W. P. Hogan, Mayor of Rockdale on order of the city council: Stores in Rockdale will be closed for the funeral hours starting at 10:30 a.m. Friday, in tribute to the memory of Captain John T. Hale, Jr.

The funeral will be held at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, with the Rev. E. H. Campbell officiating. Full military honors will be given in graveside rites at the I.O.O.F. cemetery by Airmen from the Bryan Air Force Base, where Captain Hale was stationed prior to going to England.

The body of Captain Hale will arrive in Rockdale tonight by train at 1:45 a.m. The body was flown, under Air Force escort, direct to the United States from the crash site in French Morocco, and is proceeding to Rockdale by train.

Captain Hale's wife and two small children arrived in Rockdale Monday from their home in Ipswich, England, where they had been with Captain Hale. They were accompanied here by Lt. Glyn Grey, Air Force escort, on their trip by commercial air lines from England. Lt. Grey, whose home is in Mobile, Alabama, was a close friend of Captain Hale who was his Flight Commander.

Mrs. Hale and children are staying in the home of Captain Hale's parents, Mr. and Mrs. John T. Hale, Sr. and family. Lt. Grey has been staying in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Lanning.

No details on the crash in which Captain Hale was killed have been released by the Air Force, except that he died in the crash of his jet fighter two miles east of the village of Titmelli in French Morocco where he was on temporary duty from his station in England.

Surviving are his wife and two children, Glenn Wayne and Patti; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John T. Hale, Sr. of Rockdale; and two sisters, Miss Jo Ann Hale, of Rockdale and Mrs. Ray Garrett of Washington, D.C.

Memorial Day: Dulce et Decorum Est

RAY GARRETT, my grandfather, in his World War I uniform. My father, Ray Garrett, Jr., served in World War II.

It is for those who have fought in wars, even led them, to tell us just how horrible they are.

At Memorial Day, I think of the words of General Dwight David Eisenhower:

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."

"There is no glory in battle worth the blood shed."

"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war."

and of this poem by Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et Decorum Est". Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is from Horace. It means "it is sweet and right to die for your country."

DULCE ET DECORUM EST
By Wilfred Owen, best known poet of World War I

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Good poetry should disturb.

The following poem was written by Dr. John J. Alifano, when he was 12 years old. He went on to serve as a doctor in Vietnam and would be the first to agree with Eisenhower.

MEMORIAL DAY

This is a sacred date,
When we commemorate,
Our dear ones who are no more,
But are remembered as before.

On each Memorial Day
We keep from work and play
To pay homage instead,
To our ever-gallant dead.

Our brave soldiers who fought
For the freedom they brought
Made our country so great
That no one will under rate.

So let's give flowers and thanks
To our heroes in all the ranks,
Who fought for justice and peace,
May our love for them never cease.

My father, Ray Garrett, Jr., fought in the Battle of the Bulge, on the Nothern Shoulder, where the Germans attacked. This was with General Hodges. History confirms that this army "bore the full weight of the German offensive through the Ardennes (December 1944) and held the northern position of the American lines in the ensuing Battle of the Bulge."

In personal communication, Ray said he considered that attack "a complete waste of humanity. The Germans knew they were beat but had to mount this final, stupid, pointless attack."

The Battle of the Bulge was fought from December 16, 1944 until January 28, 1945. It is considered the largest land battle of World War II in which the US participated, and it was the bloodiest.

When does it end.

"The people of the world genuinely want peace. Some day the leaders of the world are going to have to give in and give, it to them." ~ Dwight David Eisenhower