If I had one resolution for 2013, it would simply be to focus on my goals. I remember reading a quote on a poster in my middle school library which said:
“Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”
It’s easy to get discouraged by little setbacks but that should never stop one from trying harder to make something good happen.
Peace to all of you for the new year.
-Mark
WRAL says a home invasion took place in the city early this morning:
Two Raleigh homeowners were tied up during a home invasion early Sunday, police said.
Two armed men broke into the house at 3105 Sherry Drive around 4 a.m., woke up the couple who live there and demanded money from them, police said. The men tied up the couple and left after about 30 minutes, taking an unknown amount of money and a few other items.
This caught my eye as a man we met at a neighborhood restaurant last week told us that a home invasion had taken place in Mordecai last month. He said it wasn’t well-publicized. I’m trying to track down the police report on the incident in case there’s anything to it.
via Couple tied up during Raleigh home invasion :: WRAL.com.
Today a Facebook friend posted a quote she attributed to Gandhi:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Gandhi didn’t say that, I thought to myself, that’s Margaret Mead’s quote.
Except that it isn’t Margaret Mead’s quote, either. One of the earliest print references the is on page 79 of the book Earth at Omega: Passage to Planetization, by Donald Keys. Another item on Wikiquote says it was on T-shirts seen at a 1960s protest, though I haven’t seen any proof of this.
A bit more searching on The Internets brings one to the Institute for Intercultural Studies, where question 1 on the FAQ is about the source of this quote:
Continue reading
Perhaps the N&O’s sports section isn’t the only one that could use some editing attention. A friend alerted me to the misspelled name of Capitol Broadcasting CEO Jim Goodmon, which appeared in a caption on page A1, above the fold, in Saturday’s paper.
Misspelling Goodmon’s name is akin to misspelling the governor’s name, at least here in the Triangle.
I don’t know what it is with the N&O’s editing, or lack thereof. It seems particularly bad for the sports section. It may due to my bias for the N.C. State Wolfpack but it seems there’s a general lack of knowledge for State coverage. I don’t know because I usually only skim the Duke or UNC stories.
N.C. State’s basketball team beat Western Michigan yesterday in a game in Raleigh. Sports writer J.P. Giglio wrote a good story on the game, but because Giglio referenced last week’s game against St. Bonaventure, whomever supposedly edits the sports page listed St. Bonaveuture as yesterday’s opponent on the front of the sports page.
Giglio wrote:
Just like the previous game against St. Bonaventure, Richard Howell fouled out Saturday against Western Michigan.
… and this is what appeared on the front of the sports page:
The Pack played Western Michigan, not St. Bonaventure.
The N&O has a chance to offer the best coverage of local sports, and generally the paper does. For many subscribers, sports coverage is very important. That’s why I’m mystified that the N&O has let its sports editing get so bad. It may be enough to drive people away from the newspaper.
Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane, Governor Perdue, and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall sign the lease creating Dix Park
I got to watch today as Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane, Governor Perdue, and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall signed the least that created Dix Park this afternoon. It was a fantastic occasion. I look forward to helping shape this wonderful new park.
Here’s Laura Leslie of WRAL’s story on the signing:
In one of her final acts in office, outgoing Gov. Beverly Perdue formally signed an agreement Friday to lease the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus to the City of Raleigh, which plans to turn it into a “destination park.”
The Raleigh City Council and the Council of State, a panel of 10 statewide elected officials, approved the agreement earlier this month, and Friday afternoon’s signing finalized the deal on the 325-acre site that is just south of downtown.
There was much hand-wringing among Southeast Raleigh residents when Kroger recently announced the imminent closing of two of its grocery stores in the area, citing disappointing sales. What many folks don’t know is that one of the stores that many now turn to for their groceries was also on the verge of closing just a few years ago.
The shopping center that the Raleigh Boulevard Food Lion occupies was once plagued with crime. Residents were getting mugged in the parking lot, sketchy individuals were hanging out, stores were struggling, and there was zero investment in the shopping center from its owner. Inside the grocery store, more food was walking out than money was going in. Something had to be done.
Continue reading
As I stopped by Costco’s gas station to fill up this afternoon, I noticed a woman in front of me put the pump nozzle in her car and then get back in her car. I can’t recall ever seeing a man do this. I suppose some women get chilled while they’re waiting for their tank to fill.
Getting back into the car can result in women getting warmer than they anticipated. There have been some reports of gas station fires apparently sparked by static electricity that built up when the driver rubbed against the car seat. Here’s video from one that happened in Oklahoma City this past January. Fortunately no one was hurt.
I’ll never understand why some gun owners get bent out of shape when someone posts the addresses of gun permit holders. It’s a public record, after all. Some gun owners defend their right to bear arms by saying their guns somehow “keep the government in check,” but the government already knows who has guns, so what’s the big deal?
And just what harm do gun owners think it will do to have their address listed? Do they think that it will somehow make them a target for burglary? Do you know of any crooks dumb enough to break into the home of someone that they know is packing heat? Isn’t that a bit suicidal?
There is already a ton of information out there on everyone. Everyone is in someone’s database, whether it be voter records, driver license records, criminal records, tax records, real estate records, credit records, medical records, travel records, credit card records, customer loyalty records, utility records, and on and on and on. Hell, some of us even give away more information by writing blogs.
Letting people know that you own a gun doesn’t make you any less safe, I probably makes you safer. Posting the info of those who point to already publicly-available information – doing everyone a favor by reminding us how documented our lives already are – only makes gun enthusiasts look petty and vindictive. That’s not the image gun owners should be trying to cultivate.
As I walked out of my son’s piano recital at Ruggero Piano last month, a colorfully-painted piano, decorated with pencils, caught my eye. A sheet on a nearby music stand carried an explanation:
My name is Arnav Subramanya. I am asking for your help in obtaining a new acoustic piano for a rural elementary school in Gates County, North Carolina.
Last year my brother performed with a group at several elementary schools in the eastern counties of our state. He came back with horror stories of elementary schools which thought that a 51 key casio with no pedals and no speakers was a piano. I doubt very much that the students sitting on the gym floor 15 rows back even heard the music being played!
I decided to do something about improving this situation. I can’t fix our country’s budget deficit; but with your help, I can change the musical lives of 1500 elementary school children in one district. To achieve this goal a fund has been set up at Ruggero Piano. 100% of all money donated is going towards the purchase of a studio piano, to include delivery, 2 years of tuning, and a “truck”/dolly for the piano to sit on.
Continue reading
