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WITandWISDOM(tm) - September 4, 2001 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own" -- Robert A. Heinlein Source: The Funnies, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andychaps_the- funnies ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: In my first-grade year, our family moved with my dad's business. As happens with lots of six-year-olds who suffer the trauma of moving and switching schools, I had trouble with my reading. Needless to say, my parents were concerned. My Mom hovered over me anxiously as I read my assignments at home after school. It wasn't helpful to either of us. With her standing over my shoulder, I was doubly anxious as I read. If I missed a word, she corrected it instantly. We danced this high-anxiety duet for weeks, until one day when my Mom consulted her mother, who had raised six children. Granny had some advice for her. After school the next day, I arrived home to the usual milk and cookies on the kitchen table. And my mother, as usual, asked me to read to her. Reluctantly, I pulled out my primer and began. But something was different this time. Instead of sitting behind me, reading along. Mom stayed at the sink, washing dishes with her back to me. I'd read for a while, starting and halting, wrestling with the words. Mom didn't say a word until I asked her for help, then she'd offer an answer. And on I'd go. It worked. I relaxed after a while and stopped worrying about the mistakes. I even enjoyed the little reading I was doing. What was helping was that Mom seemed more at ease, more casual, standing over there at the sink. I didn't know until years later that the whole time I was reading, she was standing there silently, tears running down her cheeks. Her empathy for my struggle was great, and her motherly instincts pressed her to rescue me. Yet she stayed quiet and kept her voice calm, so I wouldn't know. I've been a voracious reader ever since. By Dr. John Townsend, in Twelve "Christian" Beliefs That Can Drive You Crazy: Relief from False Assumptions, By Cloud, Henry; Townsend, John by Zondervan Publishing House, Copyright (c) August 1995, ISBN 0310494915, http://isbn.nu/0310494915/price ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: SAMUEL GOLDWYN QUOTES (Famous Maker of Hollywood Films) Part 1 of 2 [Sep 4, 14] Our comedies are not to be laughed at. Goldwyn, when told a script was full of old cliches: "Let's have some new cliches." Reporter: You say you've never made a picture before? Goldwyn: Yes, but that's our strongest weak point. Gentleman, include me out. A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on. I can tell you in two words: im possible. On being told that a friend had named his son Sam, after him: "Why did you do that? Every Tom, Dick and Harry is named Sam!" I paid too much for it, but its worth it. Source: Have a Nice Day (Discontinued) ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A man was driving to work when a truck ran a stop sign, hit his car broadside, and knocked him cold. Passersby pulled him from the wreck and revived him. He began a terrific struggle and had to be tranquilized by the medics. Later, when he was calm, they asked him why he struggled so. He said, "I remember the impact, then nothing. I woke up on a concrete slab in front of a huge, flashing ‘Shell' sign. And somebody was standing in front of the ‘S.'" ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Is it true that you can hear a radio broadcast sooner than if you were actually there? It depends on how far away you are. Because radio waves travel at 186,000 miles per second and sound waves saunter at 700 miles per hour, a broadcast voice can be heard sooner 13,000 miles away than it can be heard at the back of the room in which it originated. Source: ArcaMax Trivia, http://www.arcamax.com |