lao-ocean-girl

This is from the book, Steinbeck: A Life in Letters.  In it, Steinbeck response to his eldest son Thom’s 1958 letter, in which the teenage boy confesses to have fallen desperately in love with a girl named Susan while at boarding school.  His words of wisdom are tender and timeless.

New York
November 10, 1958

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second — There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply — of course it isn’t puppy love.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it — and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone — there is no possible harm in saying so — only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another — but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

Sounds good to me. [Click on the title to read the article.]

Yes, sometime after college and during the time I was in Korea, grammar rules changed. Muscle memory still wants me to put two spaces after a period, but I’m open to the evolution of grammar.  [Click on the title to read the article.]

Two professors (astrophysics and applied economics) at John Hopkins University have developed a calendar that allows every date to have a permanently synched day of the week on which it falls.

I did what most people would do, check to see when their birthday would fall.  New Year’s Eve (my birthday) always falling on a Saturday?  Awesome.  Christmas on Sunday?  No problem.  But wait… where’s Halloween?

I’ve come to the realization that I can’t eat meat during the day when I’m at work.  For example, a lunch of leftover beef and rice will make me feel lethargic by 2pm.  So, I’m only been eating a vegetarian lunch for the last four months, and I love it!  I never crash in the afternoon and have lots of energy to spare by the time the school bell rings at 3:00pm.

This is my typical lunch, which I’m STILL not bored by.  The above picture has butter lettuce, lentils, edamame, mozzarella balls, beets, and tangerines.  I vary the toppings but I always use butter lettuce, lentils, edamame, and my favorite salad dressing – Annie’s Organic Asian Sesame.