Monthly Archives: October 2001

National Review: Class War: Divided we stand. I’m not sure why this whole class issue has gotten my attention lately, but it has. I live in a college town but it’s not dominated by the two colleges. We have plenty … Continue reading →

People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates. – Thomas S. Szasz I think it’s both. “Finding myself” can imply that I’m … Continue reading →

Half this game is ninety percent mental. – Yogi Berra I rode the last motorcycle trials event of the season today, riding in Advanced Class. I’d practiced for a few days in the past week and felt as ready as … Continue reading →

New York Times: Not to Worry. Real Men Can Cry. This piece implies a cultural shift, but I’m not so sure that these guys’ reactions to the unique and horrific events of 9/11 will make it ok for the rest … Continue reading →

Wall St. Journal: EBay Founder Puts Profits to Use To Help ‘Rediscover Community’ Now here’s a guy to admire, assuming that its true. “There is only so much money a family needs and we have that already…” They moved out … Continue reading →

Wall St. Journal: Good Grief: Don’t Get Taken By the Trauma Industry Right on. It bugs me that my former professional colleagues are so eager to turn every instance of pain and suffering into a clinical problem that needs intervention … Continue reading →

The human being is a suprisingly resilient organism. We impel toward health, not sickness. Your spirit, as surely as your body, will try to heal. – Kent Nerburn I guess this is reframing of my mother’s situation for me. She … Continue reading →

The question you must ask yourself is not if you will heal but how you will heal. – Kent Nerburn I think of the suffering and trauma that my mother’s gone through in her life and wonder if she’s going … Continue reading →

StarTribune: God’s way of getting our attention The terrorist attacks are “God’s way of getting our attention“? Oy. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson laid this one on us, too. America is another Sodom and Gomorrah and God is the Wizard … Continue reading →

Men’s Journal: The Firefighters Compelling, personal stories told by firefighters at the WTC site. I wonder if these guys will use the experience to grow stronger. Deeper. Or will it just be a troubling memory?

Grief and pain have their own duration, but when they begin to pass, you must take care to guide the shape of the new being you are to become. They reduce our lives to chaos, but in return they offer … Continue reading →

How we respond to tragedy and suffering is a measure of our strength. – Kent Nerburn I think I’ve handled the multiple medical crises in my family this past year pretty well. I don’t feel proud of that, though, just … Continue reading →

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust I’m realizing this more and more as I go for walks by myself… just trying to notice details in the natural … Continue reading →

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly, I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it. – Theodore Roosevelt I’ve been most satisfied in my work when I’ve been interested in … Continue reading →

National Post: This triumph of the spirit belongs to men More accolades from a woman journalist for the manly men in NYC.

I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do. – Helen Keller Cool. Is this a religious or a spiritual … Continue reading →

Newsblog: Today’s DaveNet, Are Men Back?, is a reaction to the Peggy Noonan piece that I wrote about last Friday. I agree: gentlemanliness might be better characterized as just plain kindness.

I went biking yesterday with my daughter… this time, we went 17 miles on the Cannon Valley Trail, from Red Wing to Welch and back. This is a big jump for her, as our previous stint was just 5 miles. … Continue reading →

My wife Robbie and I have discovered that we can have a lot of fun doing gourmet cooking together as a date. I’m clueless in the kitchen, but I’ve decided that that’s ok, she can teach and coach me, just … Continue reading →

One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine with only interests. – John Stuart Mill Unfortunately, our current world crisis shows that this is true even if the ends are not honorable or the means not … Continue reading →

Newsblog: Welcome Back, Duke: From the ashes of Sept. 11 arise the manly virtues by Peggy Noonan. Noonan asserts that “men are back” after writing a couple of weeks ago that “God is back.” Both columns gave me inspirational goosebumps … Continue reading →

I put a note in my weblog yesterday that I’ve started writing a book. At first I wrote that it was a book about prayer. But a few minutes later, after I’d published it, I decided to remove that line. … Continue reading →

I was in a tunnel with my catcher. I didn’t hear the crowd, my teammates or anybody. – Mark Mulder “Showing no nerves in his first postseason appearance, 24-year-old Mark Mulder held New York to one run, and Terrence Long … Continue reading →

I started writing a book today. After reading Stephen King’s On Writing and now Betsy Lerner’s The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers, I decided I could do it. It would be good for me to do … Continue reading →

You create your opportunities by asking for them. – Patty Hansen I’m pitching the Real Joe Radio show demo to both investors and more public radio outfits. I don’t know if this is part of creating more opportunities or just … Continue reading →