“That many battles are not worth fighting, but others definitely are, and sometimes one kind masquerades as the other.”

I’ve been pondering this sentence because I have felt that unsettling feeling too. Perhaps as parents, we waver on the question of ‘is this a biggie or one to let pass’ because we have so many of those decisions to make. And I’m always conscious that it’s a truly important job. In my corporate life, I saw people get all excited over a meeting or report and thought how misplaced their emotion was. But with kids, your efforts actually matter.

The sentence is from The New York Times Motherlode column by Lisa Belkin. Belkin writes a poignant and funny column worth reading.

“Knowledge is wealth.”

Money can’t buy most truly important things in life. But this quote struck me as especially fitting for our harsh economic times. Learning is (usually) free. I see the joy in my children’s faces as they learn to read. Sometimes we forget as adults how fun the quest for knowledge can be. I want to know more about the constellations and to further my French. What’s on your Life Learning List ?

“Consider the insomniac dyslexic agnostic. He stays up all night wondering if there really is a dog.”

There’s a first for everything. I haven’t blogged a joke before — but this one circulating on email chains got my funny bone. Ha!

“When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one and a lily with the other.”

This old proverb reminds me of our current economy. Even if you haven’t had to face job loss or mortgage problems – I think we’re all looking at spending money differently. It forces me to assess the true value I get from a purchase. I value the experience of renting a movie more than buying a mocha. I ask myself if I need to own a book or can reserve it at the library. And I’d enjoy a free walk in our meadow with my family more than spending money on just about anything. Money is so intertwined with our values. These times help us see the status or superfluous purchase for what it is. It helps us separate the chaff from the wheat. Now if I could only find one perfect lily to put on my counter…

“I’m sorry Mr Kipling, but you don’t know how to use the English language.”

Those were the words of the Editor of the San Francisco Examiner, rejecting a short story from author and poet Rudyard Kipling. In case you have a writing goal on your resolutions list, it offers hope to keep famous rejections in mind.

George Orwell, Sylvia Plath, Stephen King, Irving Stone – all have received now laughable rejection letters. One more to comfort the soon-to-be famous writers among you. This one was written by a publisher rejecting Joseph Heller’s Catch 22:

“I haven’t really the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say… Apparently the author intends it to be funny – possibly even satire – but it is really not funny on any intellectual level.”

“When you sell a man a book, you don’t sell him 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue – you sell him a whole new life.” Christopher Morley

If you are finishing up your gift list, consider visiting your friendly neighborhood bookstore. I have heard, that along with other businesses, the economy has pinched book sales too this season. But I don’t think there’s a government bailout waiting for booksellers! So consider a book – with it’s power to be life-changing, funny or simply entertaining, books are probably one of the best values around. Happy shopping!

‘Tis the season to curl up by the fire with a good book and a maybe a hot buttered rum. But if you have that empty feeling that your cupboard is bare… try this site to find your next read.

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/search

You simply enter a a favorite book and it makes recommendations. I tried a few and the results weren’t always the obvious choices. So a suggestion might be on a very different subject but appeal to readers with similar tastes. Happy reading!

I’ve quoted from a variety of sources but this is a first from the Food Network show Iron Chef America. Talking about food and wine can have its poetic moments… this was more of a silly moment.

“In the best possible way, the soup tastes like a puddle of cheese. And the puddle is a place I want to frolic.”

That was judge John T. Edge on the cheddar cheese battle in Kitchen Stadium. Iron Chef is a fun, campy show hosted by word-enthusiast Alton Brown.

“Oh I don’t think anybody matures. I think adults are just children who have money.”

As a parent, let’s hope that’s not true. However, that is some of the wisdom from this 1992 movie directed by Kenneth Branagh about college friends who have a reunion over New Years Eve at an English country manor. There are some witty lines and good British humor in Peter’s Friends … though I’d put it in the good, not great, category.

“I love to bring people into the oval office…and say, this is where I office.” George W. Bush

I used to think it wasn’t professional to say I worked at home. But then I was explaining to my kids that Barack Obama and his family would soon be moving into the White House and I realized even the President of the United States works at home! His home office is just oval, and fancier, and, well, not the same at all as my little spot under the stairs. But it made me feel better.

Obama pronounced his soon-to-be home office “pretty nice” after touring the White House earlier this week.