“Up to a point a person’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and changes in the world about them. Then there comes a time when it lies within their grasp to shape the clay of their life into the sort of thing they wish it to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune or the quirks of fate. Everyone has the power to say, "This I am today. That I shall be tomorrow.”
The 2,000 Year Old Man
Jul 27, 2020 7:02:25 PM / by Tim McCarthy posted in Creativity & Favorites
Events in the lives of each of our three children are becoming opportunities for their personal reinvention. Each are facing major life changes and so they must decide who they want to become.
Leading Foundations Pledge to Give More, Hoping to Upend Philanthropy
Jun 30, 2020 10:04:47 PM / by Tim McCarthy posted in Learning and Knowledge
Editor's Note: Not sure I agree with this, but it's an interesting read.
Original Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/business/ford-foundation-bonds-coronavirus.html
The Ford Foundation and four others plan to substantially increase their spending, a splurge financed in part by issuing debt.
By James B. Stewart and Nicholas Kulish
The week after the U.S. economy shut down in March, Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, fielded a stream of phone calls from the heads of dozens of organizations that Ford supports. Many were panicked. One was in tears.
Business Adventures by John Brooks
Jun 30, 2020 9:36:51 PM / by Tim McCarthy posted in Creativity & Favorites
Editor’s note: I’ve read ten books on business and philanthropy over the least few months. None were worth sharing so I’ve been stuck on historical fiction but now it’s back to business. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet’s recommended it so I tried it. It was first published in the late 1960s so it took me a while to adjust to style and numbers and policies from the mid-20th century. Who remembers “Cornering” or the flash crash of 1962? As I adjusted, I realized that is what must have appealed to my business heroes. That in business, as in life, that never changes is that no matter the numbers, practices and policies, we are emotional and irrational beings.
July Joke of the Month
Jun 30, 2020 9:03:05 PM / by Tim McCarthy posted in Creativity & Favorites
This plaque appeared on my dresser one morning. Not sure who placed it there, but I suspect maybe the girl I’ve been hanging with for 45 years? 😊
After reorganizing my paper clip collections during the lockdown, I decided I would finally attack the thousands of files my sisters and I have set aside over the years regarding my family’s history. My Mom and Dad kept various clips, photos and writings about their Grandparents on both sides so we can piece together roughly back to the mid-1800s.