Wisdom on Wednesday: EB White

(Quote from The Second Tree from the Corner (1954) by E.B.White)

My daughter reminded me this morning that tomorrow (1 December) is the start of Advent, at least as far as the opening of countdown calendars for Christmas is concerned. I think, strictly speaking, that the various religious definitions of Advent are quite different, and it usually commences on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.

Anyway, in some respects this morning's declaration caught me by surprise: "What? Already?" and in other ways I've had a lot of warning.  Shops have had Christmas goods on the shelves since early October, decorations have been hanging in public spaces for weeks, Christmas catalogues were in mailboxes at the start of November and I've even heard the carols muzak in stores.

I wonder if this extended warm-up to Christmas (the 'wrapping' referred to by E.B.White?) takes some of the gloss off the Festive Season itself. By the time the 25th of December comes around we've already eaten more than our fair share of fruit mince pies.

Before our time, Christmas wasn't anticipated quite so early in the year. 

What do you think is a reasonable lead-up time for Christmas? Should there be declared limit? e.g NO tinsel before 1 December?

Blending in by standing out

Back before our time towards the end of the 19th Century, military uniforms were traditionally brightly coloured. (Think bright red jackets worn by horsemen charging across green fields with their muskets at the ready.)

These distinctive forms of uniform had a number of strategic purposes: it allowed generals (or whoever was in charge) to see at a glance where their own troops were, it stopped soldiers from unintentionally slaying one of their own, and in certain cases where a particular regiment had a fearsome reputation, the mere sight of their distinctive colours could be enough to send terror through the enemy, forcing a retreat. (See an interesting history of military camouflage clothing, here.)

However time marched on, military technology improved, and with the development of weapons with longer ranges and greater accuracy (e.g. rifles, machine guns, grenades, missiles) it was not advantageous to signpost to the enemy exactly where you were.

So, what we now think of as regular army dress (khaki and camouflage) was developed as a way of disguising personnel in the field. The mottled colouration of garments is designed to blend with the natural background and it is available in a variety of colourways to blend with different environments.

However one instance where it would have the opposite effect is if you were to wear full camouflage gear and walk through a busy urban area. In fact, far from blending in, it would probably rouse a great deal of suspicion.

It is one of the ironies of the present day that one of the best ways to blend in, in almost any circumstance, is to don a garment which was originally designed to make you stand out - the high-visibility fluoro vest.

Fluorescent clothing was originally a military development (during World War II) designed to protect soldiers from unintentional friendly fire. Now, high-visibility clothing is worn by everyone from post delivery workers to road crew, cyclists to removalists.  If you want to look like you have an 'official' reason to be somewhere, put on a fluoro vest and you can walk around unaccosted.

In an article in The Guardian in 2005, Jon Ronson examined this phenomenon:

"So maybe ubiquity is to blame. Or perhaps, as dazzling as high-visibility clothing is, even more compelling is the public's desire not to notice those people who scurry around at our feet, fixing holes, mending tracks, cleaning up after us. We trust them and we don't want to think about them. This is how Bryan Ferry's son Otis and the other fox hunting aficionados got into the House of Commons to disrupt a debate last year. They put on fluorescent jackets and told the first policeman they met that they were "going to inspect the electrics". The policeman shrugged and waved them on.

The surveillance specialist Peter Jenkins - who teaches private investigators how to follow people without being spotted - is a fan of the fluorescent jacket, too. He says that if you're observing a target in a rural environment, use hedges and ditches and trees. But if you want to be invisible in a city, just put on a fluorescent jacket and sit in the passenger seat of a transit van, or queue up at a telephone box. (Remember to turn off your mobile phone first.)"

I drove past a neighbour's house a few days ago where two guys wearing high-vis tops were filling an unmarked truck with furniture and effects from the house. They (the neighbours) may have actually been being robbed, but the wearing of the high-vis clothing reassured me that a legitimate house move was taking place.

But was this a fair assumption?

According to an item on the BBC website, thieves just this month targeted homes in an English housing estate while clean-up from a flood was occurring:

"Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said thieves had been spotted wearing high-visibility vests to blend in with council workers helping with the clear up."

We rarely give a second glance to 'fluoro-collar workers'. Add an ID on a lanyard round their necks and we'd never question their legitimacy. 

But the flip side of this, is that we also don't notice those workers. They are, in fact, rendered invisible by their visibility and we don't necessarily see them as individuals doing a valued job.

UK photographer, Stephen Gill explored this concept in his 2005 book and exhibition, Invisible which contained photographs of all those people who, by the wearing of high-visibility clothing were rendered invisible to the general public. He was inspired by his own experience as a photographer. He had discovered that by wearing a fluoro vest he drew very little attention to himself when carrying a camera, far less than if he wasn't wearing one.

Do you notice the 'fluoro-collar' workers? Is it time for a new form of high-visibility?

Wisdom on Wednesday: Sydney J. Harris

There's a reason the lead-up to Christmas is known as 'the silly season'.

There's the mad rush in lunch breaks, running around the shops getting all the Christmas shopping done in between impending deadlines at work, and a hectic schedule of social engagements.

And then if there are kids in the household, you do all of the above...and schedule in end-of-year concerts, and school cocktail parties, and gifts for teachers, and mailing letters off to Santa.

I'm constantly checking the notes on the fridge to see which child needs a plate of food for what function, what costumes are needed where and when, what parties are to be attended (both adults and kids)...my head spins.

The end result is that most adults just scrape themselves through to Christmas Day, collapsing into a semi-comatose state on the sofa after lunch.

The quote above is right...it's exactly at this time of year that you need to relax, but the trick is to squeeze in 'relaxation' time that delivers the maximum benefit in the minimum amount of time. 

Although on the face of it, it doesn't sound 'relaxing', I find that a Zumba class can totally reset my frame of mind.  It's a quick hour at the gym, and I feel so much better afterwards.  But I know that for many people, that would not seem relaxing at all!

What's your relaxation activity of choice when you don't have time to relax?

TXT-SPK

Watching today's teenagers communicate via on-line messaging or texting on their mobile phones is like being dropped behind enemy lines in a country where you don't speak the native tongue. You're not quite sure what they're saying, but you know they're probably discussing you, and that if you don't keep your wits about you, it could all turn quite ugly.

It can be a completely foreign language.

In teen-texting, spelling and grammar are tossed out the window, clarity is sacrificed in the quest for speed,  and some words are appropriated for uses they were never intended for. Acronyms reign supreme.

It's almost a form of code.  But is this a new phenomenon?

During World War II, before our time, defence personnel and their sweethearts used acronyms in correspondence.

According to an entry at everything2, the World War II acronyms developed as a way of expressing endearments with extreme brevity (e.g. for use in telegrams) or as a 'secret' language between the lovers. The words could be concealed in sentences, or written across the back of the envelope.

Although some of these examples are well-known now, I wonder if the parents of that generation (and the correspondence censors) were as much in the dark about the meaning of BURMA, SIAM and ENGLAND as today's parents are about PSOS or ROFLMAO?

Some of the less saucy World War II examples are:

• ITALY: I trust and love you
• HOLLAND: Hope our love lasts and never dies
• SWALK: Sealed with a loving kiss

 And my favourite (although a little racier):

• NORWICH: 'Nickers off ready when I come home   

The now widely used acronyms SNAFU and FUBAR are also thought to have had their origins among American military personnel in the Second World War.

But the fun didn't stop with the Silent Generation. The Baby Boomers and their Generation X children have (among a multitude of other language tweaking practices) created a treasure-trove of acronyms to describe demographics and lifestyle choices:

• DINKS: Double income, no kids
• YUPPIES: Young upwardly-mobile professionals 
• LOMBARD: Lots of money but a real dickhead 

And the one which always makes me LOL (laugh out loud):

• SITCOM: Single income, two children, outrageous mortgage 

The corporate world has also weighed in with examples such as:

• SMART goals: Specific, measurable, agreed, realistic, time-bound goals 
• SWOT analysis: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats analysis 

Imagine these in context:

Q: Where's Bruce?
A: He's in the stationery cupboard, doing a SWOT on the supplies situation. He plans to set some SMARTS regarding paperclips, envelopes and fluoro marker pens.

Most acronyms seem to have originated with the Brits or the Americans, however I did come across one which the good people at BBC' s h2g2 attributed to Australian origins. We Aussies have the dubious honour of coming up with the following acronym to describe someone with an elevated opinion of him/herself:

• FIGJAM: F*** I'm good, just ask me

Is coded language used in your world?

Wisdom on Wednesday: Eudora Welty

Way back in the dark ages when I was at university, (not quite before our time, but in the next postcode) I spent three months in the United Kingdom on an extended holiday.

I have a thick photo album from that time - one of those horrible ones where you stick the photos to the pages and then smooth the clear plastic back over them.  It contains around 250 photos and I often get it out and flick through the pages. 

A single photo of two of my friends in a pub in Oxford reminds me of the day we all met up there from our various, separate travels. Three photos of Stonehenge prompt memories of the day I spent there with my Aunt and Uncle, and how it was the winter solstice (one of the only days of the year you were allowed to go right into the stones).

For three months, 250 photos is not a huge number of snapshots but, like the quote above says, they captured enough of the experience to lock it into my memory, ready to be triggered when I view the album.

Fast-forward 20-something years and I returned from a recent (three week) holiday with over 3,000 photos. Digital camera technology has made it just too easy to photograph every place, every occasion, every person from every angle imaginable.

But does that 'stop the moment running away'? Or is, in fact, the moment running away before we even realise it is there, as we're too focused on the digital screen?

Sometimes I have to remind myself to put.down.the.camera and experience what is right there in front of me.

Is life what happens when you're not looking through the viewfinder?

Tips from the archives: Boiling an egg

"Have ready a saucepan of boiling water; put the eggs into it gently with a spoon, letting the spoon touch the bottom of the saucepan before it is withdrawn, that the egg may not fall, and consequently crack. For those who like eggs lightly boiled, 3 minutes will be found sufficient; 3 3/4 to 4 minutes will be ample time to set the white nicely; and, if liked hard, 6 to 7 minutes will not be found too long."

Mrs Beeton's Household Management by

Isabella Beeton. First published 1861

Everyone knows how to boil an egg, right?

Right? 

Apparently, not.

I'd always assumed there was just one way to boil an egg, and that was my way.  But watching my husband boil eggs this morning, I realised he uses a completely different method.

So I consulted the oracle of domesticity, Mrs Beeton, and it seems she sides with him.  While I had been labouring under the misapprehension that eggs were placed into cold water and then brought to the boil before starting the timer, Mrs Beeton and my husband put the eggs into water that is already boiling.

What do you think? Start from cold, or drop into boiling?

The Triangle of Happiness

In the late 18th Century, before our time, my ancestors mostly lived in small villages across Scotland. They would have worked within walking distance of their homes and shopped for anything they didn't grow or produce themselves at the local village shops.

Their work/sleep/shop triangle would have been very small and therefore, according to Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000) they were happier than if they had a large triangle between those points.

Putnam, who is a Harvard political scientist and Professor of Public Policy, is credited with the 'Triangle of Happiness' theory.

Putnam likes to imagine that there is a triangle, its points comprising where you sleep, where you work, and where you shop. In a canonical English village, or in a university town, the sides of that triangle are very short: a five-minute walk from one point to the next. In many American cities, you can spend an hour or two travelling each side. “You live in Pasadena, work in North Hollywood, shop in the Valley,” Putnam said. “Where is your community?” The smaller the triangle, the happier the human, as long as there is social interaction to be had. In that kind of life, you have a small refrigerator, because you can get to the store quickly and often. By this logic, the bigger the refrigerator, the lonelier the soul.

'There and Back Again.The soul of the commuter' by Nick Paumgarten. New Yorker, April 16 2007

Putnam points out however, that a small triangle equals a happier human only when social interaction is also involved. Reducing your triangle to one of working from your bedroom and ordering all the groceries on-line for delivery would be counter-productive to your happiness!

My local shops are walking distance, but getting to and from my workplace and my kids' school (and their various after-school activities) requires the car.  Some days my life as a chauffeur looks more like the Oblong of Exasperation than the Triangle of Happiness, but that is the reality of the life we have chosen to lead, and the key is to minimise the angst of the time spent in the car. 

I've tried a number of ways of making time in the car productive - listening to audio books, brushing up on a foreign language using audio programs and if the children are in the car, using the time to talk about their days. The most enjoyable activity when it's just me however, is to ensure the car radio is on a quality (usually ABC) talk radio station so that my time in the car is informative and/or entertaining. 

My 'commute' is under 10 kilometres, which is not much at all. However, a recent Federal Government report Population Growth, Jobs Growth and Commuting Flows in Melbourne, predicted ''an increase in journeys to work involving a road distance of more than 30 kilometres and an increase in the average commuting distance'' as the city is expected to add another million residents by 2025.

That's a really large Triangle of Happiness/Unhappiness for a significant proportion of our city's population, and the challenge ahead will be to try to create more jobs on the outskirts of the city - thereby reducing the size of those triangles.


What geometric shape is your work/sleep/shop life in?

Wisdom on Wednesday: Samuel Ullman

 

Ten random tips to foster enthusiasm

1. Make time for friends and family
2. Challenge your brain
3. Always have a project on the go
4. Switch around your exercise routine
5. Recognise and celebrate milestones, however small
6. Have future plans to look forward to
7. Learn new skills
8. Join an organisation or group
9. Create and maintain family traditions
10. Find ways to help others

What tips would you add?

Tips from the archives: Handling good china

"Always allow good china to cool after being washed in hot water and before stacking the pieces together. Prevents glaze from cracking."

The New Idea, 7 October 1959, p.44

The glazes used on everyday crockery now are a lot more durable than those from before our time, but reading this tip from the archives made me wonder whether there are some 'rules' that apply to putting china into the dishwasher today.

I checked our dishwasher manual, and it says that most modern china patterns are dishwasher safe. As most dishwashers operate with water heated to somewhere between 40 and 70 degrees C, modern crockery is designed to withstand the heating and cooling without damage. Heating the water to these levels helps to dissolve the stains and also disinfects the dishes.

However, the manual also states that antique items, hand-painted china, items with patterns painted over the glaze or ones with gold rims, may be more sensitive to machine washing, and that if there is any doubt to wash them by hand.

Interestingly, the manual also says not to empty the dishwasher immediately after washing. It recommends opening the door slightly to allow steam to escape and waiting until the dishes are warm to the touch before unloading.  In a  modern day update to today's tip from the archives, this is not to save the glaze from cracking, but to ensure that the dishes are dried properly.

Do you have any china-handling habits to share?

Wisdom on Wednesday: Eleanor Roosevelt

Is this right?

Was it perhaps more true of women in Eleanor Roosevelt's time when it wasn't always so usual for women to display their strength publicly?

I do know several women who, in dealing with adversity in their lives, have shown incredible dignity and strength of character, but then I also know some women who show their strength every day, not just in times of crisis.

What do you think?