Milquetoast Christmas

  From Wikopedia Caspar Milquetoast

I'm sure there was a time in my life that I had some milktoast.  My memory is faint but I'm sure Grandma enjoyed her milktoast - a comfort food for a nervous tummy.   I remember dunking grahmcrakers into milk as a snack but never a daily diet of milktoast.

So how did milktoast become a term for timid, over tolerant, shrinking, and apologetic person.  That was a discovery today as I was reading "Prayer - Finding the Heart's True Home" by Richard Foster.  He mentioned  that humility had nothing to do with a "Casper Milquetoast  kind of personality". 

Having just used the expression in a previous blog, I began to wonder it's etymology.  Yet again I was "beamed" back to the 1920's and H.T. Webster who probably grew up on milktoast and decided to create a character with a personality behind it. 

We are entering the season of saying "Merry Christmas".  Business has worried about the issue of religious tolerance and political correctness around this time of year.  So the fear of saying "Merry Christmas" has morphed into a bland "Happy Holidays". 

I'm sure today's Caspar Milquetoast's Christmas Card would say:  "It may be too early in the calendar to say this - but Season's uh - er  Greetings - if you are willing to let me broach the Holiday subject - since you may not believe it is a valid holiday."

Failing Vocabulary

From Washington Irving's "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent."  Volume 1 (The Knickerbocker Press 1895), I read the short story "Rip Van Winkle".   We all know the story - but the real question is have you read it?  If so - exactly how many words did you skip over?

WOW - my vocabulary is not of 1820 literary caliber!   I decided to pick out 75 words in the 28 pages ( I estimate about 3,500 words total).  I knew (and some not very precisely) only 48 of the 75 words  below - a mere 64% -   a 'D' in English Vocabulary!

You can try it yourself:

obsequious, conciliating, pliant, termagant, amiable, impunity, insuperable, aversion, assiduity, perseverance, pestilent, patrimonial, galligaskins, incessantly, eloquence, provoked, adherent, precipitation, rubicund, junto, vehemently, approbation, august, virago, clamor, reciprocated, precipice, shagged, skulked, glen, jerkin, alacrity, torrent, peals, azure, visages, countenance, desisted, smote, flagons, quaffed, roisters, gambol, famished, perplexities, invariably, haunts, bittern, desolateness,connubial, metamorphosed, phlegm, tranquillity, bilious, haranguing, akimbo, austerity, squall, confounded, bewilderment, throng, province, corroborated, evinced, cronies, impunity, reverenced, torpor, despotism, tyranny, venerable, propitiated, vexations, beetling, chivalrous.

The key here is not to guess - or depend on context.  Just the precise definition, Ma'am.

 If you need some context here's an excerpt from Rip Van Winkle:

"I have observed that he was a simple, good-natured man; he was moreover, a kind neighbor, and an obedient, hen-pecked husband.  Indeed, to the latter circumstance might be owing that meekness of spirit which gained him such universal popularity; for those men are most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who are under the discipline of shrews at home.  Their tempers, doubtless are rendered pliant and malleable in the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation; and a curtain-lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long-suffering.  A termagant wife may therefore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so Rip Van Winkle was thrice blessed.

And even if your vocabulary fails you -  here is the  real message for all you husbands out there --- :) ----- Remember "Happy Wife, Happy Life". 


PS -  Washington Irving also wrote "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"  (in Volume 2) a favorite story and memory of D'Lane and I.

Reply All

I wonder if there is a course in high school or college about email?  I remember this subject in high school (it may have been a quarter focus in English).  Those of us, past the days of formal education, have just discovered our own equilibrium on how to compose and reply to emails.

My current pet peeve is those people who constantly hit "reply all". 

Think about the "reply all" feature - only email technology has recently allowed this capability.  Group discussions were relegated to committee meetings and even then only a few participants (the vocal ones) participated. There is always one person in the committee meeting that "needs to be heard" - call him (or her) the actor of the group.

I rarely use the reply all button when responding to an email.  It clutters my email when I receive them and provides little added value in information. 

So don't be the guy in the committee that wants to hear himself speak- skip the reply all button.

Vampire Prejudice

I had successfully avoided the Vampire Fantasy Romance movies until last night. I was drafted to sit in the movie theater with Ellen and her friend and forced to watch (and I hope the last of these movies) Breaking Dawn - Part 2.  Unfortunately the movie (and I presume the book) ended with a chance of another sequel - ugh!!!

While I can't be a perfect critic (since I didn't read any of the best selling books or see the first four movies), it seems to me that this fantasy series has permanently ruined the whole image of Vampires. Who wants to see a "Friends" type format with Vampires celebrating Christmas in a cozy cottage around a family gift exchange!

Even the remake of Dark Shadows (which I didn't see) is described as a fantasy comedy.  How could Johnny Depp even be considered a serious candidate for a Vampire anyway.  Where has the rightful frightful place of the Vampire King?

I remember as a kid watching Vampire and Frankenstein movies at midnight and being scared to death.  The dynamic dual for frightful supremacy between Boris Karloff and Bella Lagusi helped keep plenty of nightmares fresh and kids wanting to sleep with their parents for safety.

I hope this Vampire "milk toast thing" is not some subliminal Hollywood theme promoting tolerance. 

One thing I'm certain of in my fantasy land - I will always be prejudiced against Vampires.

Copy Cat

The digitization of content has created exponential growth in the issue of intellectual capital ownership.  Who had the idea first? Who said it first? Whom owns the idea?

Actually an idea is worthless until it is shared with others.  The idea can manifest itself into a physical object (e.g. inventions, sheet music; books, etc.) or passed on in the moment (e.g. verbal, performance, etc.).  Once shared in the public domain, the idea is subject to being duplicated, manipulated, and enhanced.  The U.S. Constitution Article One addresses exclusive right to respective writings and discoveries and the 1790 U.S. Patent Act help formalize what has become the World's standard in addressing Intellectual Property Rights.   The intent was to economically protect the "owners" of an idea from copy cats. 

USPTO

 



"Everything that can be invented, has been invented"  Charles H. Duell - U.S. Commissioner of Patents 1899

At LCP Tech Holdings LLC, we received our patent 7,125,449 on 10/24/2006 (originally filed 08/13/2001).  I joined LCP Tech back in 2002 because I thought it was interesting to join with some inventors that have a patent pending on a "new composition of matter".  Yet this idea (and the patent) is "a solution in need of a problem" - tabled until a need overrides the cost of producing versus alternate competitive technologies. In fact since our patent was issued two other patents (one by our development partner Delta Faucet/Masco) have referenced our patent.  Are they copy cats? 

My opinion of patent law (based on my experience at LCP Tech) is conflicted.  While I see the need to reward the inventor, the reality is that it becomes a false sense of security and "full employment act" for attorneys.  I also believe it slows the growth of innovation. 

There is a great advantage to copy cats - it accelerates the idea, stimulates rapid improvements, and frankly demonstrates ultimate freedom in exchange of ideas.  Once you share your idea (and that is your personal freedom of choice) - everyone owns it and is free to use it.

Christmas in the Eyes

The tradition at the Wisner's is Thanksgiving Day holiday decorating (at least for Jenna - the head decorator; me - the physical labor; and Ellen - dutifully following sister orders while helping Susan cook). 

So today (the day after Thanksgiving) the house is transformed - inside and out with the sights of Christmas. 

The lights are the distinguishing feature that makes the viewing so beautiful.  Hundreds of small lights surrounding garland, trees, and outdoor bushes softly enter the quiet dark crevasses of the night. 

Here is where being nearsighted has a great advantage when I remove my glasses.  You can experience this too by just filming the sights  with an out of focus camera. 

The lights expand into small circles of various strengths in luminosity. They meld together into a mosaic of magic  creating a small corridor of peace. Nothing around them is sharp - the extra softness of the blurred background gives the light its preference in priority.  Not one but many together creating the beauty. 

Maybe the lights are the eyes of Christmas - looking at us with hope.

Thanksgiving Story

The smell of cooking, the warm sun penetrating our family room,  and the crisp morning amble to get the paper start this Thanksgiving day.  Yes - I'm thankful and today allows each of us the opportunity to remember what blessings we have. 

Last night Jenna, Ellen and I went to "Life of Pi" a movie bound to quickly exit the theater because it is philisophical with no explicit violence, sex, or foul language.  Still the special effects were outstanding, and the story was compellingly interesting for the two plus hours of viewing. 

I believe a movie is good when you continually recall it - visually, intellectually, and replay it in your mind.  Life of Pi might even motivate me to read the book. 

The ending is intriguing since the movie deals with Pi's search for God (also fear, faith and religion). When he poses the question to the interogators about his story and replies "and so it goes with God" - the meaning of our lives emerges from Pi's search for God.

Our story can be one we can regret; or  that we thankfully remember.