Dear Friends,
Today is the hottest day of the year (so far), but that didn’t stop me from walking to campus and back today. This morning Jukie and I walked over to the Davis Food Co-op Teaching Kitchen where my wife Kate runs a support group for new parents on Wednesday mornings. I dropped Jukie off and then rushed to a campus retreat for all 300 or so employees of Information and Educational Technology, where I was the MC. Then I walked home to enjoy a tall glass of water and my second shower of the day.
I’ve been walking so much (I took 685,658 steps in May) that my metabolism has been revving up: now I generate my own heat. The triple-digit timing of my insanely-accelerated step count is unfortunate, and the oscillating fans are turned up to 11. Last night, rather than coming up to our bed as she does every night, our French bulldog just wanted to remain splayed out on the wood of the first floor, looking up at me warily.
Don’t come after me for pointing out that it’s getting warmer. Nina Lakhani, climate justice reporter for The Guardian, points out in today’s newspaper that “Almost four out of every 10 journalists covering the climate crisis and environment issues have been threatened as a result of their work, with 11% subjected to physical violence, according to groundbreaking new research.”
My friend David Breaux, also known as The Compassion Guy, appreciated the writings of Henry David Thoreau, who once wrote that “The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter.” Could Thoreau have imagined the yearly summer fire that all of us face in this century?
A number of us came together to reflect on David and his favorite topic of compassion this past Monday night. I got to MC that event as well as present a poem. You can tell that it is one of my poems because of how it begins with not one but two quotations.
The Giver – a Poem for David Breaux
By Dr. Andy Jones
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
William Wordsworth
“The only way to survive is by taking care of one another.”
– Grace Lee Boggs
Gathering and accumulating, getting and spending,
We stockpile markers of success,
Hedges against downturns, such as those revealed daily in the news.
Enmeshed in fear, the primary source of superstition and cruelty,
We sometimes feel as if we sit beneath a downspout of downturns.
Before long, we stumble under the weight,
Becoming accumulators of accumulations.
We look askance at the man who doesn’t play this game,
The man who sheds rather than accumulates,
The man who reads instead of wading screen-deep into the muck,
The man whose private resolutions are sacred agreements.
Blessed be the rare man who awakens!
Such a man sees what most of us see only at the end:
That kindnesses offered and received matter,
That connections offered and received matter,
That compassion matters. Perhaps it matters the most.
Such treasures of the mystic, such treasures of the poet,
such treasures of the well-read philosopher
cannot be gained through accumulation.
Like a twinkle-eyed smile received from a tall stranger with a notebook,
Such treasures grow through the giving.
Think of your favorite causes, think of your favorite movements:
Someone had to be there at the start who was willing to give and give and give.
Partake in the riches of a twinkle-eyed smile,
Partake in the riches of the curious poet,
Partake in the riches foreseen by a saint of compassion
By giving as he gave, by giving it all away.
I thank David for his friendship and for the ways that he continues to light a path before us, one that will require many steps yet to understand and to set into motion.
I hope you can join us on an especially warm and breezy evening for a pub quiz at Sudwerk. Bring your team to the beautiful outdoor patio where we have room for everyone. As Saint Augustine allegedly said, “Good times and crazy friends make the best memories.” Tonight some will want to play indoors. Understandable!
In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on famous doctors, assistants, pigeons, triple crowns, cocoa, sole survivors, favorite animals, intemperate choices, dashed military hopes, volcanos, female firsts, long waits, pioneers, populous countries, incredible athletes, animals with similarities, guest hosts, adorable constructs, lines of fire, astronomy, decorations, famous lights, suburbs that become their own cities,Pablo Picasso, larks, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. Sometimes a question is substituted at the last minutes because of the day’s news.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Thanks also to Brooke, Jeannie, Becky, Franklin, and More Cow Bell. Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the dependable Mavens, and others who support the Pub Quiz on Patreon(where I am also now sharing drafts of poems). I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of supporters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Three questions from last week.
- Mottos and Slogans. In 2021, DC Comics changed Superman’s slogan to “Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow.” Founded in 1935, what does the D in DC comics stand for?
- Internet Culture. As if life were echoing The Age of Ultron, what Avengers actor took on Open AI last week?
- Newspaper Headlines. What film sneaked past Garfield to win the 2024 Memorial Day box office?