From the bleak mid-winter of our souls, we emerge into hope. When we hope, we look to the future, as we wish it to be. It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day,…
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Value for Saturday of Week 20 in the season of Growth
Being Reliable
Being reliable goes beyond being merely responsible. People know, with a heightened degree of certainty and confidence, that they can count on someone who is reliable.
- Being taken for granted is an unpleasant but sincere form of praise. Ironically, the more reliable you are, and the less you complain, the more likely you are to be taken for granted. [Gretchen Rubin]
- Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. [attributed to Alfred A. Montapert]
- Science is a way of life. Science is a perspective. Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner that’s precise, predictive and reliable – a transformation, for those lucky enough to experience it, that is empowering and emotional. [Brian Greene]
Jean-François Millet, A Shepherdess and Her Flock (1862-63)When people count on us, it is good for them to know that they can rely on us to carry out our responsibilities.
Real
True Narratives
Technical and Analytical Readings
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
From the dark side:
- Clive James, Always Unreliable (Picador, 2004): “Over there, cabdrivers know who James is: the ebullient man who hosted many comic and erudite television programs over the years. We have no one quite like him over here: Think Johnny Carson combined with Edmund Wilson.” (Always Unreliable combines Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England, and May Week Was in June.)
Poetry
Poems:
- William Wordsworth, “The Widow on Windermere Side”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
In jazz ensembles, the side players are indispensable to the creation of great music. Great jazz sidemen, among many others, include:
- Freddie Green, with his playlists;
- Herb Ellis, with his playlists;
- Sonny Clark, with his playlists;
- Wynton Kelly, with his playlists;
- Red Garland, with his playlists;
- Paul Chambers, with his playlists; and
- Charlie Rouse, with his playlists.
Albums:
- Geri Allen, “The Gathering” (1998) (61’)
Music: songs and other short pieces
- OK Go, "I Won't Let You Down" (lyrics)
Visual Arts
- Gustave Caillebotte, Portrait of Henri Cordier, Teacher at the School of Oriental Languages (1883)
Film and Stage
- You Can Count On Me: The brother and sister whose lives are at the center of this story have lost their parents during their childhood to an automobile collision. The older sibling, the girl, has become a sing mother struggling to support her child. Her younger brother, who “has been drifting around the country barely making ends meet,” provides life lessons to her son that she is too damaged to provide. Both siblings wish to do what is right but each of them is limited, and gifted, in particular ways.
- Romántico: a man struggles heroically to provide for his family.
