Advice from the Other Side

Poetry is the language of profound observations, and I wouldn't want it to be said that I did not aspire to literary achievement, so here is a cautionary tale as an account of personal experience in traditional lyrical style.

An armadillo in repose
With outstretched arms and pensive nose
Extended to the sky.
Only the armadillo knows the reason why
It’s lying in the road.
Perhaps it paused to think great thoughts
And having thought of lots and lots,
It stood up to command attention,
Preparing for the exposition,
Of insights too profound to mention,
When in due course it was fatally struck
By a careless, careening pickup truck.

Take counsel all you small and great,
When legs are short and hazards wait,
Don't dawdle in obtuse reflection,
Inviting horrible dissection.
Recollect the armadillo
Snuggling asphalt for a pillow.

Here's thinking for you.
Iffy

Intercultural Communication

I had some trouble with my presentation at the conference of the National Council of Teachers of English in San Francisco due to the simple logistical problem of a wireless mouse that was too small for my nervous fingers. I plead Aspasia, either that or early onset dysfunctionality. I was okay once I gave it up and switched back to the keyboard, but when I made one of my cryptic remarks about mice in Orlando with more political influence than Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the middle of the presentation, somebody in the audience said “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I suppose they considered it to be criticaI of the governor of California, although the point was simply that in Orlando Walt Disney World is the political power. California and Anaheim have Disneyland, but it’s not quite the same where an entire region sort of owes its existence to a theme park.

I like Arnie. For a Republican, at least he seems to have some common sense. Everybody wants big cheerful guys to be their friends. I’m all about that, and I considered stopping and explaining the remark, but to me it seemed like it would be even more embarrassing to have somebody explain in the middle of a presentation that mice in Orlando was a reference to Walt Disney World. Would that be a credit to your information fluency? And I wouldn’t want to make the issue any more complex and contentious, because, after all, that one individual represented 20% of my audience.

Here’s thinking for you.

Iffy.