Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
This morning while biking to campus I listened to part of the Brené Brown audiobook titled The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connection, and Courage. In it, Dr. Brown presents a helpful definition of belongingness:
“Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us. Because this yearning is so primal, we often try to acquire it by fitting in and by seeking approval, which are not only hollow substitutes for belonging, but often barriers to it. Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.”
One thing I loved about my dad, who died on this day in 2004, and my late best friend Tito, whose birthday is today, is that they both made me feel included and appreciated despite my being such a quirky and imperfect young person. Could it be true that I spent more time in the 1970s conversing with Tito than I did with my dad? Perhaps. But the love they both shared with me helped to strengthen and deepen the person that I became.
Belongingness and love, Brown says, compel us to find, invest in, and spend time with lovable people who accept us, despite our flaws. These feelings speed my bike home faster on weekday afternoons, and perhaps play a factor in your joining us for Pub Quiz on Monday evenings. I feel lucky to play a part in bringing you together with your pub quiz friends.
My wife Kate works with parents who are trying figure out how best to connect with and care for their own children, whether those children are newborns who join her new parents group at the teaching kitchen of the Davis Coop on Wednesday mornings, or the parents of children with significant challenges and disabilities. Kate’s beautiful blog entry (complete with some home video) about Rare Disease Day (February 29th, 2020) has already been shared more than 30 times on Facebook and Twitter, and has been viewed more than 2,000 times. Thanks to the Pub Quiz regulars (and wonderful people) who have recently made a donation to the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation to support medical research.
If you would like to follow their lead, and make belongingness more possible to people without the advantages that you and I have, I hope you will also consider sending a donation. Happy March 2nd to you. I hope you can join us tonight for the Pub Quiz.
Here are some hints: Tonight expect questions on towns and cities, monarchs, Davis businesses, tech giants, The Economist, cute little pelicans, famous books that you’ve probably read, politics, French words, New York City, severance payments, happy creatures, sediment, trickery, gasses, pitchers, nearby clocks, small businesses, chestnuts, states that start with W, literary laureates, superhero films, souls, the Central Pacific, Apollo, big cities, Catholic emus, Sacramento on TV, and Shakespeare.
Poetry Night Thursday will feature Izzy Lala and Lauren Frausto!
Yours,
Your Quizmaster
https://www.yourquizmaster.com
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P.S. See you tonight!
P.P.S. Here are some sample questions from this week in 2012:
- Mottos and Slogans. “Don’t be evil” is the informal corporate motto (or slogan) of what company?
- Internet Culture. What video arcade game, released in 1981, had third-party international knock-offs / clones with the following titles? Mill Pac, Magic Maggot, Jackler, Slither, and War of the Bugs or Monsterous Manouvers in a Mushroom Maze?
- Fashion. The fashion designer who is the creative director of Liz Claiborne was the subject of the 1995 documentary film Unzipped. Name him.