“Written in Early Spring” by William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

  I HEARD a thousand blended notes   While in a grove I sate reclined,  In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts  Bring sad thoughts to the mind.  To her fair works did Nature link  The human soul that through me ran;  And much it grieved my heart to think  What Man has made of Man.  Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,  The periwinkle trail’d its wreaths;  And ’tis my faith that every flower  Enjoys the air it breathes.  The birds around me hopp’d and play’d,  Their thoughts I cannot measure,—  But the least motion which they made  It seem’d a thrill of pleasure.  The budding twigs spread out their fan  To catch the breezy air;  And I must think, do all I can,  That there was pleasure there.  If this belief from heaven be sent,  If such be Nature’s holy plan,  Have I not reason to lament  What Man has made of Man?

Randoms

Apple now has more cash than the US Government.

The last time I laughed (I mean really laughed) was a couple of weeks ago. I laughed so hard, I nearly passed out--twice. We were watching "Enterprise," and the Klingons were experiencing the holodeck for the very first time. The Klingon captain (Volok) gave the officer a geographic survey of the home planet for the experiment. The next scene is looking over the shoulder of this knife-wielding, growling, be-fanged alien as he surveys his home planet. He points and says, "I can see my house from here!" I nearly died--I just wanted to share that with you. It was funny.

7 ways our earth changes in the blink of an eye.

Lessons in Leadership: The PBS documentary, "The Greely Expedition" relates following account: "In 1881, 25 men led by Adolphus Greely set sail from Newfoundland to Lady Franklin Bay in the high Arctic, where they planned to collect a wealth of scientific data from a vast area of the world’s surface that had been described as a 'sheer blank.' Three years later, only six survivors returned, with a daunting story of shipwreck, starvation, mutiny and cannibalism. The film reveals how poor planning, personality clashes, questionable decisions and pure bad luck conspired to turn a noble scientific mission into a human tragedy." Also read "Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk."

Literary passage of the week: "We went to his study for coffee, a jolly room full of books and trophies and untidiness and comfort." (John Buchan, "The 39 Steps.")

And remember: anything unrelated to the subject of elephants is irrelephant.

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