“To be happy you must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world.”
-George Santayana
Happy Monday, folks. I hope you all had a pleasant weekend.
It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve checked in here. December got off to a bit of a rough start for me. I found myself sick on the couch for the better part of eight days. But, after two courses of antibiotics, a steroid, and a fair amount of Alka-Seltzer Plus, I’m back, and ready to bring 2023 to a satisfying close.
This has been a big year for me. In the coming days, I’ll put together something to share with you all about what 2023 has meant to me. But, as significant as anything this year has been my engagement with you all on this platform. In many other years I’ve written more, but in no other year have I published more. I intend to same the same at the end of 2024.
This has always felt like more of a work in progress than a finished project to me. I’m fairly happy with this Monday Memo thing, and how it is evolving. Now, I need to iron out some kinks with what I want to publish regularly on Fridays. As I’ve mentioned before, I also have some video content in the works.
So, please stay tuned for more. And, if you have any suggestions, please share them with me. If there is something you’d like me to address in my writing, I want to know.
This Week in History
December 10, 1948 - The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
December 11, 1936 - King Edward VIII abdicated the throne of England to marry "the woman I love," a twice-divorced American named Wallis Warfield Simpson. They were married in France on June 3, 1937, and then lived in Paris.
December 12, 1805 - Abolitionist William LLoyd Garrison was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He founded The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper, in 1831, and published it for the next fifty years. He also traveled throughout America delivering scathing antislavery speeches, even advocating that the North should secede from the South. In 1854, he burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution, declaring, "So perish all compromises with tyranny!"
December 13, 1937 - One of the worst atrocities of World War II began, as the Chinese capital of Nanjing (formerly romanized as Nanjking) was captured by the Japanese. Over the next six weeks, Japanese soldiers randomly attacked, raped and indiscriminately killed an estimated 200,000 Chinese persons, in what would become known as the Rape of Nanking.
December 14, 1962 - The Mariner II space probe sent back information from the planet Venus, the first information ever received from another planet.
December 15, 1791 - The Bill of Rights, consisting of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, became effective following ratification by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
December 15, 1863 - Philosopher George Santayana was born in Madrid, Spain. As a child he emigrated to the U.S. and eventually became a teacher at Harvard University. He was best known for stating, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
What I’m Reading
Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002, by David Sedaris
How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
The Crossing, by Cormac McCarthy
What I’m Watching
War & Peace, a 2016 BBC mini-series (on Amazon Prime)
What I’m Listening To
Texas Sharecropper and Songster, Mance Lipscomb
The Gilded Palace of Sin, The Flying Burrito Brothers
Christmas Song, Nat King Cole
Journaling Prompt for the Week #50 of 2023
Have you taken measure of your powers? Have you tasted the fruits of your passion? Have your learned your place in the world? Write about your thoughts on and experiences with each of these.
Have a great week. Thanks for reading.