Category: Life

It Takes Two

The Smoking Gun reported recently that The Penguin Group, a well-known publishing company, filed suit with the New York Supreme Court over breach of contract with several of their writers. The suit seeks to recoup advances paid to the named authors for failure to deliver the agreed manuscripts.

The report is rather vague so we don’t know the specifics of each case. Suffice to say, going to court over breach of contract is no fun, and in the end, nobody really wins. I speak from experience having owned and operated a business that required the use of complex contracts to deliver goods and services.

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Next Question!

After some pretty pedestrian…no, amateurish…no, crummy football on Saturday afternoon, Michigan State’s head coach, Mark Dantonio was not pleased. His team won, but only in spite of themselves. For those of you who aren’t familiar with his personality, he is notoriously taciturn—at least in front of the press and public, but behind his serious, businesslike façade lays a very passionate man. During the postgame press conference, Coach Dantonio gave brusquely pointed answers to the admittedly dumb questions he was asked. This was in stark contrast to his usual “glass half-full” coach-speak laden spin.

At one point, clearly fed up with all and sundry, he rattled off about five one-word answers followed by “Next question!” This concluded the abbreviated press conference. Needless to say, there has been quite a bit of comment about his behavior because Coach Dantonio rarely betrays any sign of emotion on the football field or off. One thing is for sure: I’m very glad I wasn’t in that locker room after the game and even gladder still I won’t be at practice today.

Now, before I get to my point—which I assure you, will be hidden in the post somewhere…eventually—let me tell you a personal story:

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Nature, Nurture & Responsibility

I had a philosophical conversation with a friend recently about the shape of the multiverse, Schrödinger’s cat’s veterinarian, and other weighty topics. Ok, maybe not the first two.

The conversation was mainly about the seeming unfairness of life (and I think by inference, the unfairness of God), that some people are born into this world with so many things going against them, that they have no shot at success or happiness. There’s a few things here to dissect. The first is that yes, life is seemingly unfair, but it is fair in that it is unfair to everybody, one way or another—wait for it. The second is that God, by implication, is also unfair, even though He causes the sun to shine on the wicked and the righteous alike, and the third thing is, of course, how one measures success and happiness, a concept so objective that it precludes qualification for every person.

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The University of Notre Dame

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the college football season—for us Spartans at least—a time of great excitement, pageantry, and yes, even life lessons, as Guest Blogger Jack W. pointed out in his piece The Great Metaphor.

I have written in this space about the scandal at Penn State and hoped not to have to write about another low point in college sports. Alas, yesterday’s comments by Allan Pinkett, former All-American at Notre Dame, sadly compel comment.

Now before any of you Golden Domer’s go nuts, I will admit that his comments do not even remotely approach the level of scandal at PSU, so calm down. But I do hope you take a moment to reflect on what his comments say about college football, college athletics, and more importantly, what they say about Notre Dame and what she stands for.

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Monastic Cell or Prison Cell?

I enter into my heart to find you,

But I can’t see you.
Instead I see bars on the windows,
Casting long shadows across the floor.
You promised you would be here.
You told me that if I opened the door,
You would enter and sup with me.
 

It wasn’t always like this;
When did you leave?
When did I enter this prison?
The one I carry in my breast.
No, I never entered willingly;
I built it around myself.
Will you come again and open the door?