November 14 meeting

From Ernest Hemingway:

"The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience. The error of old age is to believe that experience is a substitute for intelligence."

From a Jimmy John table tent in Colorado:

"Can you live a few years like most people won't so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't?"

There was some discussion of Kenny Ausubel's new book "Dreaming the Future" and some "malarkey" dialogue, as Ed Warsaw described it,  from E Philip Oppenheim's 1940 book "Last Train Out."

Ed gave each of the members present an autographed copy of his new book "Serendipity Poets of Cheyenne Journal 2012."

David Sneed

Words

Gaylord Fosdick gave a good program today on words and the problems with use of words.

Translation to and from languages can result in a change of meaning.

What makes it all the more difficult is when someone uses a word that has a connotation to the speaker that is different from that of the hearer. I remember one time in a Baptist church I intentionally made the statement that maybe we should have a catechism class. Immediately everyone became upset because they viewed that catechism is a Roman Catholic concept. I explained that catechism is a method of teaching that is done with questions and answers. While the word catechism usually refers to the teaching of religious doctrine of any church, the catechism method is used for teaching any subject religious or secular.

The program was a good reminder that we need to expand our vocabularies and to think of the way that a listener might construe something we say.

David Sneed

Jack Elam

Jack Elam was an actor who was in more than 50 westerns as well as other movies such as Cannonball Run where he played the doctor. 

Elam classified the stages of a moderately successful actor's life, as defined by the way a film director refers to the actor suggested for a part. (He said this on a George Plimpton ABC documentary about the making of Rio Lobo.) This humorous quote has also been attributed to other actors and writers, such as Harvey Miller, Ricardo Montalban and Mary Astor:

Stage 1: "Who is Jack Elam?"

Stage 2: "Get me Jack Elam."

Stage 3: "I want a Jack Elam type."

Stage 4: "I want a younger Jack Elam."

Stage 5: "Who is Jack Elam?"

I remember in my early career days the word was "Be nice to everyone you meet. You never know who you will pass on your way down."

David Sneed

The Epicure

Thornton Wilder would have been 115 years old today.

The author of such favorites as "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," "Our Town," and "The Matchmaker" died in 1975 in Hamden CT.

Several good quotes from him:

"My advice to you is not to inquire into why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate. (The Skin of Our Teeth)

"Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow." (The Matchmaker)

David Sneed

Quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson

Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. 

90 Year old Couple Celebrating 62 Years of Marriage

Here is a Positive Living couple for you. Age 90 and married 62 years. They were at the doctor's office and saw a piano. They decided to have some fun.
David Sneed


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Words, Thoughts, and Deeds

Two quotes of John Kenneth Galbraith at the January 25 meeting:

"If all else fails, immortality can be assured by spectacular error." First thought is the skipper of the Costa Concordia.

"It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought."

We discussed the Royal Bank Letter, Volume 72 #1, of January/February 1991 called "Words, Thoughts, and Deeds. " The subject is large.

A politician demanded that his opponent retract his statement saying that this politician was not fit to be dogcatcher. The statement was revised.  "He IS fit to be dogcatcher."

During the Civil War time Liberty and Freedom had different meanings to Northerners and Southerners.

Euphemisms are frequently used. A current euphemism is that "inner city youth" means "black teens."

There are generalizations.

There is also symbolism over substance where talking about something is viewed as the same as doing something.

Words are powerful and can be used in so m,any ways.

We of course had other topics of various kinds.

David Sneed