He would blog for peace

After finishing Jacqueline Kennedy's Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, I am reminded of how much faith he had in humanity and how dedicated he was to avoiding unnecessary conflict. Perhaps because he'd served in war himself.

And so, this restless, not-yet-sunny Saturday pre-dawn, I am doing my part for Mimi's upcoming Blogblast for Peace by sharing some of his quotes on the subject of conflict and our future as a nation.

If you need words for your own Peace Globe, feel free to steal some of his. He wouldn't mind.

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.

The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate ... we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just.

If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

I look forward to a great future for America - a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us.

The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Mrs. Potter's Lullaby

1. Adam Duritz (writer and lead sing of Counting Crows) mentions previous girlfriends in songs. In Mrs. Potter's Lullaby he sings “There a little piece of Maria in every song I sing”. Is there a piece of an ex that will always be a part of you? Yes. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of him wish him well. He was (and still is, I'm sure) a very nice man.

2. Who was your very first significant friend? The one I creatively refer to as My Oldest Friend. There is photographic evidence that we met in late 1962. I remember Beatle-bonding with her in February 1964, when we were in first grade, and I plighted my troth to (not yet Sir) Paul and she to George.

3. What are four (4) things you hope to do this weekend? (1) Get to and from downtown the Loop for lunch with a coworker -- a trial run for my daily commutes when I return to work on Wednesday; (2) do some exercise of some type; (3) catch some of the NCIS marathon on USA network -- have I mentioned lately how much I love Gibbs? (4) Give extra affection to my cat, Charlotte, as I'm worried about her medical malady

4. What do you consider to be the main purpose of your blog? To create an honest snapshot of my life at this moment

5. Tell us something that you've never before written about in your blog because it's too personal. There really hasn't been anything. I'm just careful that "the names have been changed to protect the innocent." Usually me.

6. If you could choose your doctor, do you prefer someone of the same or opposite sex? Why can't I choose my own doctor?

7. If you could dream about anything tonight, what would the subject matter be? Him. But most emphatically not Bill Clinton. I had a very detailed sex dream about The Big Dog and it upset me terribly. I mean, fantasizing about a President? That's creepy. Whose next? Abe? Thomas Jefferson?

8. How do you react to practical jokes when they're played on you? My best friend used to play them on me constantly. At the time I hated it. But now that we see one another so seldom, I miss it.

9. What's on your agenda after this weekend for the upcoming week? I'm returning to work for the first time in more than a month! I expect my agenda to include apologizing for having to wear sweats and other oversized elastic-waistband pants to the office.