This year's special Pi day

It's 3/14/15 Wow! Happy Pi day of the century and it's a bit early for alcohol so I'm having a special latte at 9: 26: 53 am. This date/time will give us ten digits of pi: 
3.141592653 

Joseph Stromberg of Vox wrote: 

"Savor this moment. Appreciate it. Think of circles. It won't happen again until 2115, when you'll probably be dead." 

Pi is universal. It is the ratio of every single circle's circumference to its diameter, every circle past, present, real or imagined. 

Pi i infinite Pi literally never ends. We stop somewhere in math class arbitrarily, but that creates a false dead attitude toward the infinity of Pi in our children. They do not get enough infinity.

As Joseph said, "For the briefest of moments, pi will fill the gap in your soul."

Gene Wilder as the Fox in The Little Prince

The sweetest, most beautiful moments of the 1974 musical film of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's classic The Little Prince. Wilder has the sweetest, most beautiful face, perfect for playing The Fox, who gets to say the most important sentence in the book: It is only with the heart that one can see clearly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.



The little prince realizes on his own that now that he has tamed the fox, he feels responsible for him. Someone tamed me in the 1980's, but never felt responsible in any way. He will never know what he still costs me every day of my life.

Damn you, UNC-Chapel Hill

Wilson Library, the old Graduate Library

Dear The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

I am an alumna, MA '86, PhD '91.

"I read the news today, oh boy."

UNC-Chapel Hill opened its door to students in 1795. Since that time, the university has worked hard for, deserved, and received the highest honors as one of original 8 public ivies.

Yet for as long as I can remember, UNC has admitted students (athletes) who could not do the academic work and propped them up. These students would never have been admitted were it not for the big money that has grown ever larger in NCAA sports.

That was bad enough.

Now I learn, the world has learned, that for almost two decades you have run "classes" that had no professors, no classroom, no attendance.

You have embarrassed me a very deep shade of red, made deeper by my anger. You have made my two degrees from Chapel Hill worth thousands of dollars less than  they were just Wednesday, before the news broke early Thursday morning.

Here's the deal: DO NOT EVER CALL OR WRITE to me with your hand out at fundraising time. Obviously, I have already paid, and you were already NOT in my will.

I loved that school and remember when Chapel Hill was "The Village of Chapel Hill." I received a good education there, but then again I did spend two years at MIT as a Visiting Scientist as part of my education. That experience certainly did not hurt.

I will keep my treasured memories of the school, the campus, the village, the people.

As for the several thousand dollars you just cost me, I will call and give you my snail mail address where you can send my check right away.

It's going to be some kind of Halloween this year, isn't it?

Sincerely,

Victoria Walker Massey, MA '86, PhD '91

The iconic Old Well

The most beautiful place to be in Autumn

Who do you think you are, Richard?

from BVW



I have to work hard deep in my soul to keep from hating certain people. I've forgiven everyone who has ever hurt me and tried to be friends with them. In my opinion, those who cannot or will not forgive the loved ones in their life who screw up are the lowest creatures on the planet. Do they think they are perfect and that you have never had to forgive them over the years in order to get to this day?  What hubris. And you know where that leads. I can't wait to see it. And that is the hatred that I fight.

50 years since the murders of Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner

Scherwner, Chaney, and Goodman
murdered by the Klan 50 years ago today
Philadelphia, Mississippi

Today, June 21, marks the 50th anniversary of the murders of three civil rights workers near Philadelphia, Mississippi. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were working for things as pure as voter registration. On that night they were pulled over for speeding, beaten and shot, and their bodied were not found for weeks. The movie "Mississippi Burning is based upon this history. Justice was never served. The lines between so-called "law enforcement" and the KKK were incredibly blurred. One Klansman was convicted on minor charged but it took until 2005 - THAT'S NOT EVEN 10 YEARS AGO - for a Klansman to be convicted and then of only manslaughter. Dozens got away with murder to this day.

And yet the Roberts' Court says we don't need crucial portions of the Voting Rights Act and Voter Suppression Laws sprout and grow like weeds all over the red states, Southern or not.

We cannot forget Cheney, Goodman, and Schwerner.

Schwerner and his wife Rita in their little VW Beetle coming down from NY to begin what was to be a lifetime of service. Goodman, a Queens College classmate of Paul Simon. And Chaney, black and born in Mississippi with the courage to join the Congress of Racial Equality when he was only 20. Rest in peace and never let us forget.

I'm just left sad and ashamed and afraid that history will repeat.

And Casper Makes Four

Meet Casper

That's Mr. Casper to Certain Folks!

Yesterday, Sunday, March 23rd, Casper joined my family. He now lives with me, Kia The Pyr Queen, and Readmore The Cat. And everyone has been getting along beautifully.  You may remember that when I tried to adopt German Shepherds, after a lifetime of adoring them and assuming I would have them all my life, Readmore, would hide for weeks and not come out! I love him too much for that. But the minute Kia walked into the door in 2010, Readmore was fine. He must have sensed the gentleness of the Pyr.

Casper, my new little boy, is three years old. Kia is eight, almost nine. Readmore, we do not know. All are Rescues, of course. Here is Kia. She's prettier than this, but this comes close to capturing her sweet face.

Kia, my love, and now I've made her a cougar.

So we all walked a lot yesterday afternoon and again last night. Casper stays close by. He's a snuggler, a cuddler, a Velcro dog, the Rescue tells me. So, by last night …

Casper right by me

By about 10 or 10:30, both doggies were all tired out and sleeping together:

Two Pyrs sleeping

Readmore was at home on the sofa:

What a sweet cat!

And this morning, Readmore posed as a bookend:

Bookends, like Old friends...

I wanted to get photos of the dogs out on our walks today, but Casper is learning to walk with us, and I am learning to handle two dogs. Kia is fine and perfect. But I couldn't quite get by with two dogs, two leashes, two poop bags, and my phone camera. I'll get some outdoor adventure pictures soon.

All three are sleeping now. I'd better have a cup of coffee or I will be going with them. 

Fallen Soldiers

This is Prince, a Viet Nam soldier, killed in the war. He has been gone almost four decades, but his handler, his human, still thinks of him every day and will never forget him. He took an old picture of Prince and digitally inserted the handsome war dog into this photo of the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington, DC.

The title of this photo is "Where Is My Name?"

Indeed, where is Prince's name? Where are the names of all the dogs who were killed in action in the war in Viet Nam, many of whom took bullets that were meant for their human handlers, their best friends.

And what became of the valiant K-9 soldiers who survived? We abandoned them. We left the dogs behind in Viet Nam.

We should have brought all the survivors home. Home. Home is such a beautiful word.

The way we left those canine heroes behind is just one more huge black mark against us. We are not the good people we pretend to be. Thank God, the military is trying to keep dogs and handlers together after discharge now, but what about the broken hearts of those poor K-9 heroes who were so totally bonded to their soldiers and then abandoned in the past? I am so ashamed. And hurt.

Prince should have his name, among all the other dogs who gave their lives for their country and were killed in action in Viet Nam, engraved right there on that wall of heroes.

Teardrops fall. But they help no one.

Still, they fall.