Caroline Casey tells an inspiring story about disability, desire, persistence and will. For another take about triumph, again about sight and vision, take a look at Curtis Blackwell's short video. Shared on Twitter by @CreatvEmergence @NewsHour.
Wisdom for Speakers
Love Is a Stranger
Kabir Helminski presents his translations of 44 poems by Jelaluddin Rumi. Here is one about questing.
Search the Darkness
Sit with your friends; don't go back to sleep.
Don't sink like a fish to the bottom of the sea.Surge like an ocean,
don't scatter yourself like a storm.Life's waters flow from darkness.
Search the darkness, don't run from it.Night travelers are full of light,
and you are, too; don't leave this companionship.Be a wakeful candle in a golden dish,
don’t slip in the dirt like quicksilver.The moon appears for night travelers,
be watchful when the moon is full.
Frederic Brussat shares a nice selection from Rumi at his site. I should have noted the beginning of (and my excitement for) Poetry Month yesterday.
Am I a geek or a Luddite?
Professional sports teams are attempting at a furious rate to lure fans away from the comfort of their couches to live games. And sweet technological upgrades to their home venues become a bigger selling point every year.
Roughly a dozen Major League Baseball clubs followed that strategy by making tech-centric improvements to their ballparks in advance of the 2011 season, which kicks off Thursday. Notable upgrades include ballpark-wide Wi-Fi access (Chicago White Sox) and LED high-definition ribbon boards (Arizona Diamondbacks). Here's a deeper look at nine other teams that have made similar significant upgrades.
via wired.com
Wi-Fi access at the Chicago stadium? Cell coverage in Cincinnati? I'd probably use it if I went to the ballpark, but it sure seems like we're missing the boat here. All you really need to have a good time at the ball park are a cap, a mitt, a hot dog, a beer, and a good friend or a date. It helps if the home team wins. Reading this put me in mind of passage from one of Updike's Rabbit novels, and I think I'll spend some time tomorrow looking for it.
What Did Your Dissertation Look Like?
An anatomical heart made up entirely of the words from a dissertation. He put tons of effort into studying a particular cardiac arrhythmia, noted below the heart, and instead of hanging fancy diplomas on the wall, he chose to immortalize his time and efforts into a piece of anatomical art. (via Street Anatomy)
Jay Parkinson posted this composition. Besides being beautiful, it's kind of a stark reminder how much room for creativity and imagination there is in our lives. I bet I'd enjoy meeting this cardiologist and being his patient.