Pusillanimity at the O.K. Corral

November 28, 2011

Had a very nice weekend with family. On Saturday morning, Tommy's girlfriend Pattarapan made Thai huevos rancheros for all of us and they were spectacular. Great talk afterwards about all things to be thankful for. Love this quote from a new book I read about over the weekend:

"An animal that eats and thinks must think big about what it is eating and not to be taken for an animal."
—Adam Gopnik, in his new book, "The Table Comes First: Family, France and the Meaning of Food"

Final stretch on centennial package for our February Arizona Statehood issue. Worked all weekend on several art approaches both for cover and inside feature.

Debating two titles: "The Outrageous History of Arizona From The Beginning of Time to Statehood," or, "Outrageous Arizona" with a subhed, "From the beginning of time to statehood."

Does anyone remember the comedy bit about taking a surprise pop quiz in high school and the question has a word in it (I think it was "moribund") that destroys your ability to answer and so the comic does this imitation of a hapless student padding out the answer, by first re-asking the question, "The problem with moribund is a question that has. . ." and then the comic turns the page because he's writing real big to fill space. Who was that comedian? Stein-something? I can just see him. Anyway, I was reading a review of the new book "Civilization: The West and the Rest," by Niall Ferguson, and he has this great quote:

"The biggest threat to Western civilization is posed not by other civilizations, but by our own pusillanimity—and by the historical ignorance that feeds it."

Okay, I was thrown by that one word, which by the way, I looked up and it means "timid," or "lacking courage."

"Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more."—William Cowper