New Yawk pastiche gestalt collage

Moises Josiah playing "How Great Thou Art" on a musical saw at Grand Central Terminal, don't say Station unless you mean the post office

The woman sitting against a window on 44th near the Algonquin cursing, presumably, into her cellphone in Arabic or Syriac or Angerac

The square-jawed British woman at the Algonquin with a high-wattage smile choosing to forgo the shot of $90 single-malt scotch whiskey, overheard while I sipped my tea

The nighttime reflection across Bryant Park of the Chrysler Building in a Times Square glass and steel tower

Pedestrians strolling and tourists sitting in neon digitally bathed Broadway, not a haiku in sight

Endless pansies and infinite white tulips and purple tulips and white azaleas in the Central Park Conservatory Garden

Three or four people on a Fifth Avenue bench by the wall at Central Park intently huddling, hovering, praying

urban haiku redux, again

wrought-iron gateway

Central Park verdant lake fires

near Duke Ellington

urban haiku redux

redbud lavender

April snow pellets sun drenched

melting on my coat

wind of change?

' This ink painting of wind

blowing through pines:

who hears it? '

-- Ikkyu

from my Zen Calendar today

a quotation about change

"In all that pertains to change in traditional patterns of thought or behavior, most human beings will demonstrate what may be called a left wing that welcomes it and a right wing that deplores it."

-- John Tracy Ellis

Agree.

Except: Isn't it more accurate to say "most human beings will demonstrate what may be called a left wing that welcomes it or a right wing that deplores it"?

And.

Or.

I typically, though not always, seek and welcome change, given proper constraints and consequences.

We need both of those wings to fly; perhaps that is why John Tracy Ellis used "and."

Unfortunately, with the megaphones of Fox News and the blatherings of talk radio, civil discourse is abandoned and this essential truth regarding change gets belittled, scorned, or ignored.

This quotation works well with the one from my post of April 26, 2010, below, from Markus Dohle of Random House, regarding fear.

What is it we fear about change?

If change brings dire consequences, and we can be certain of that, fear may make some sense. But does lack of change bring similar or worse results?

So, as Dohle says, "fear is not a very good consultant," and I submit this holds true in the arena of change.

What do I fear regarding change?

What do you fear regarding change?

Why?

Say Yes to Education

I say yes to education.

I say it through supporting my child and her educational endeavors.

I say yes to education by demanding excellence of our children, teachers, parents, and administrators.

I say yes to education by supporting her school and the school district's programs and by participating in parent-teacher activities. (In fact, I just came home from a Superintendent Parent Council meeting.)

We say yes to education in Syracuse as homeowners and as taxpayers.

Therefore, we demand that our elected officials (members of the Syracuse Common Council and Mayor Stephanie Miner) also say yes to education by appropriating at least a portion of the anticipated 6% property tax increase for the Syracuse City School District.

Say Yes to Education.

It's not just a slogan.

It's an investment.

Do you say yes to education?

quotable quotation quote

It has been said that fear is the chief activator of our character defects.

I concur. That surely makes sense in terms of personal growth, or its lack.

"If you want to make the right decision for the future, fear is not a very good consultant."

-- Markus Dohle, chairman and CEO of Random House, as quoted by Ken Auletta in The New Yorker, April 26, 2010. (The discussion concerned pricing negotiations regarding e-books.)

True in the mercantile arena too.