Monthly Archives: November 2010

In Gaelic, anam cara means “soul friend.” Though I never met him in life, I met Irish poet John O’Donohue in the NPR radio blog “On Being.” He was a man of great depth and beauty of spirit, saying “Music is what language would love to be if only it could.” Of work, he spoke this: “It’s lovely when you find someone … whose work is an expression of an inner gift… being called to be yourself. “

As if he were speaking to us today, rather than November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln calls America to our destiny at Gettysburg: “From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Jimmy Kimmel recommends “cut out some of the friend fat in your life”, by unfriending any friends on Facebook that you’re not active friends with. This social prank is prompted by Dunbar’s Number (named after an Oxford Professor who mathematically demonstrated that one person cannot be connected with more than 150 people — “Hogwash,” I say, with my own theory being that Dunbar has few friends and is secretly jealous of those who have more).

I’ve decided to strike back, championing the cause that you can never have too many friends. How? By unfriending Jimmy Kimmel from my TV watching.

Join the movement, friends! Let’s see how soon Jimmy changes his tune.

No, she’s not on the ballot. She’s my granddaughter. Adelle is far too young to vote. But not too young to be saddled with monstrous debt that will fall upon her generation in 20 years.

In DC, not solving debt issues is called “kicking the can down the road.” So, for Adelle’s sake, I voted to kick some different can today. Not down the road. Hopefully, out of Washington.

There are five animals — a lion, a cow, a horse, a monkey and a rabbit.

If you were asked to leave one behind, which one would you leave behind?

This “personality test” was attributed to the Japanese by ING Direct USA Chairman Arkadi Kuhlmann, in NYT column “Corner Office” on 10/30/2010.

I decided to leave the lion behind.

It turns out each animal stands for something different: Lion for pride; cow for family; horse for work; monkey for friends; rabbit for love.

So I’d left pride behind. I’m OK with it, given other choices I can’t live without.