Highly Reasonable
Striving to be highly reasonable, even in the face of unreasonableness. Reading, knitting, and some alcohol may help.
Monday, January 18, 2021
MLK
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Poetry on Thursday
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Unraveled Wednesday
Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday, with more teeth on the Hitchhiker due to car, emergency room, and parking lot knitting, a finished hat, and a win at yarn chicken.
I read a wonderful book this week, Mathematics for Human Flourishing. I know the word mathematics in the title tends to turn people off, but if you see this book at the library and are at all interested, I would encourage you to take a look at it. Francis Su is an enthusiastic, empathetic, and emphatic math professor at Harvey Mudd College. Mathematics for Human Flourishing is based on his speech of the same name, given at the Joint Math Meetings in January of 2017. While he was speaking to mathematicians then, this book is written for a general audience. In it, he talks about five basic human desires that are met through the pursuit of math — play, beauty, truth, justice, and love. This is a novel idea to us, but the ancient Greeks had a concept called eudaimonia, a life composed of all the highest goods. Su points out that math can help build and develop exploration, meaning, play, beauty, truth, confidence in struggle, justice, community, and love. If you are a human who wants to flourish and also help others to do the same, do yourself a favor and read this book.
This book is not about how great mathematics is, though it is, indeed, a glorious endeavor. Nor does it focus on what math can do, though it undeniably can do many things. Rather, this is a book that grounds mathematics in what it means to be a human being and to live a more fully human life.
What are you making and reading this week?
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Read With Us: Leave the World Behind
Monday, January 11, 2021
Sometimes Monday ...
... is chauffeur day.
John is having a procedure done at 0-dark-thirty, which means we've had to leave the house ridiculously early this morning. It's a little bit more complicated by covid (just like everything else!) because I'll have to wait 4-6 hours for him. They have a waiting room, but I'm not anxious to breathe indoor air with other people so I think I may just wait in the car. It's supposed to be 22 degrees warming up to 36, so I may be just warm enough. (If only the sun was shining and glinting off the building like their website photo shows.)
I've got a fully charged Kindle, my iPod, a hat at the decrease points, and of course, my current Hitchhiker. I may even have some progress to show you on Wednesday, especially since there will be a few more hours of chauffeur duty and waiting tomorrow morning, too.
I hope your week is off to a good start (and that it didn't begin at stupid o'clock)!
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Poetry on Thursday
Winner 2020 Backyard Photo Contest, Birds & Blooms, Laurie Normandeau, Longmont, Colorado |
I spent quite a bit of time this week searching for the first poem to use for Poetry on Thursday in 2021, but as soon as I read this, I knew it was the one. It has already helped me to build a bridge, to reach out and resolve a worrisome issue. Something happened that was better than all the riches in the world.
by Mary Oliver
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
I wish you mindfulness, peace, good health, no hesitation when you feel joy, and some poetry as this week winds down.
======
I wrote this on Wednesday before the violence unfolded at the Capitol, and I've debated this Thursday morning about whether to delete it or not. I decided to leave it, mainly because of these lines:
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left.
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Unraveled Wednesday
Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday, with a hat in progress and a Hitchhiker on the needles. The hat is just a boring eight inches of ribbing as of now (but I do like the moss it's on). I knit Justin a Two by Two hat for Christmas and it has interesting decreases but they're not very prominent in the camouflage yarn I used. This is a repeat of that pattern so I can see the decreases. It may be for me or it may go in the Christmas box if nobody claims it.
The Hitchhiker is from a big 600 yd. skein of Dream in Color Smooshy that was a gift from Ryan. It looks sort of Valentine-y to me, so that's my self-imposed deadline for finishing it.
I'm off to a good start with reading and finished three great books this week. Miss Benson's Beetle and All the Acorns on the Forest Floor both earned four stars from me, and I gave The Reason You're Alive 4.5 stars and rounded up to 5. (Thanks, Patty!) If you're ever interested in reading my Goodreads reviews, you can just click on the book title in the Read section of the right-hand sidebar and you'll be whisked right to my well-reasoned thoughts and sagacious opinions. (I am kidding! They are just my ordinary, average thoughts.)
What are you making and reading this week?