03 Tuesday Dec 2013
Tags
Amazon's Smile Program, Charitable Giving, Ellen Miller, Money and Politics, Open Govenrment, Open Secrets, Public Campaign, The Center for Responsive Politics, The Sunlight Foundation, Transparency
Have I got a deal for you!
If you use Amazon for on-line shopping, you can have them automatically support your favorite charity (their participating charities now number almost one million). They will contribute 0.5% of your eligible purchases to the charity/charities you so designate.
24 Sunday Nov 2013
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends
Here are a dozen of Ellen’s favorite photos from a recent trip we took to England. We spent four days on the southern coast of England and then returned to London so Ellen could work, and I could play.
If you would like to see the entire group of pictures, click on the link at the end of these 12 pictures.
Click on this link to see all 67 pictures. They are much sharper than the ones I was able to put on this post.
20 Wednesday Nov 2013
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends
Calling for Books You’ve Most Enjoyed Reading in 2013
For four years now, readers of this website have kindly sent in their lists of books they’ve particularly enjoyed over the previous 12 months. I’ve then compiled those lists and posted them at the end of December in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The result each year has been a list of widely varying fiction and nonfiction books that has been a useful reference for many of us.
As I ask for favorite reads again this year, here are a few guidelines that may help in drawing your list and in making my compilation easy:
12 Tuesday Nov 2013
Posted in Family and Friends
01 Friday Nov 2013
Posted in Family and Friends, Go Sox
First Game: 7/09 
Most Recent: 9/13
Dear Eli,
My grandfather, Pappy (Rob Goodman, your great, great grandfather), was the person who introduced me to baseball and to the Red Sox. In all of his years going to Fenway Park (he was a season ticket holder, nights and weekends), he never saw the Sox win a World Series. (He might have seen them play in the World Series one time as the Sox did make it that far in 1946. But he never saw them win because they lost to St. Louis that time.)
The Sox didn’t get to the WS again in Pappy’s life time and so he never got to see what his grandson (me), great granddaughters (your mother Annie & auntie Elizabeth), and great great grand son (you) have had the good fortune to experience.
20 Sunday Oct 2013
Posted in Family and Friends, Go Sox
(Shane Victorino hits a grand slam home run to put the Sox ahead, 5-2 in the the sixth and deciding game of the 2013 ALCS playoffs.)
Dear Eli,
The last time you spent the night at our house, you said, “Tell me how well the Red Sox are doing?”
Well, while you were asleep last night and I was worrying about the game, a Red Sox batter hit a grand slam home run, scoring all three runners who were on base, plus himself. That put the Sox ahead of the Tigers, 5-2, and shortly thereafter, the game ended.
14 Monday Oct 2013
Posted in Family and Friends, Go Sox
No doubt if you’re reading this post, you know of the Sox 8th inning comeback last night from a 5-1 shellacking with an Ortiz grand slam to tie the game and then the win in the bottom the 9th.
27 Friday Sep 2013
Two recent newspaper articles seem to give some answers to questions raised in several of my recent posts.
A couple of months ago I wondered about how to respond to my 4 1/2 year old grandson when he asked me if it was OK to lose at a game. A number of you wrote thoughtfully, either in the Comment section of the post, A Question From a 4 1/2 Year Old, or in an email to me.
Thanks to tips from readers HS and BT, I draw your attention to this article, Losing Is Good for You by Ashely Merryman. While the article focuses on the ‘folly’ of giving trophies to every one who participates in a game, a sport, it also speaks to the larger issue of praise, over praise, and what that does to kids. This issue has deservedly received a good deal of attention recently, and I find I am guilty of erring in this regard too.
The second article, A Season of Tough Lessons for the Nats, by Thomas Boswell, addresses not only the Nats but also all those of you (90+%) who predicted last year’s National League darlings would continue and perhaps do even better this year.
As is often the case in a Boswell article, he seems to nail not only the specific issue he is addressing, in this case, why the Nats failed to live up to expectations, but also has some good advice that goes beyond just the Nats and baseball in general.
17 Tuesday Sep 2013
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends
Tags
"Divine Culture Insider", "The Fragrant Reader's Garden", "The Humble Administrator's Garden", "The Humble Blogger's Garden, Chinese Classical Gardens, Mureen Neuman, Suzhou, Thomas Virnston - Landscape Gardenr
The Humble Blogger’s Garden, pix by Maureen Neuman
It’s probably no surprise for those few of you who follow MillersTime closely (a couple of loyal family members and several other friends who have nothing better to do with their time) that I am thoroughly enjoying my retirement with its freedom from the care taking at The Frost School and of my parents and that I am loving the freedom to choose each day what to do with my time.
But I have to admit that I somewhat frequently get the questions, “Don’t you miss working and what do you do with your time?”
The answer to the first question is an unequivocal “No,” even though those ‘working’ years were wonderful.
The answer to the second question is a bit more complicated, as no two days are similar. I might choose to read an entire day, go to a mid day movie, or work on my second ‘work’ love, writing a post for MillersTime. Or I might focus on the Red Sox (Spring Training for example) or even attend a Nationals’ game with a friend, which is much less stressful than watching a Sox game. Then there are my daughters and whatever is occupying their lives. Trying to keep up with the grand kids has become even more interesting with the addition of a third (see the post, Three Is Much More Than Two). And, of course, there is always travel as I am free to join Ellen on any of her many work trips around the country and around the world, where I spend part of a day observing her world, then explore whatever place she has taken me, before we both add on a few days of langiappe, exploring wherever we are.
All of the above is a somewhat meandering introduction to today’s post.
Another activity that I have been able to undertake has been the two-year planning, development, and creation of two Chinese Classical style gardens in the two small spaces beside and behind our house. Actually, as you will learn from the attached link, I have been thinking about Chinese gardens ever since Ellen, my father, and I first went to Suzhou in the 1980s. Something about those gardens grabbed me and has stuck with me for more than 30 years, even tho I have never thought I had much interest in plants, flowers, and gardens in general.
Anyway, with the completion of a makeover for our kitchen and an upgrade of our study/library and sun porch (another two-year project that I was able to oversee), I turned my attention to the two contiguous outdoor spaces, one next to our kitchen and one next to our sun porch, which I have long been thinking about as possibilities for replicating some of the delights of the Classical Chinese Gardens.
With a wonderful partnership with a landscape gardener, Thomas Virnston, (click to link to his website and a video of the two gardens), we are nearing the completion of these two spaces, which, with the help of our long time friend Ping, we’ve named them The Humbler Blogger’s Garden (after The Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou, one of China’s best classical gardens) and The Fragrant Reader’s Garden.
Through a friend of Thomas’, an article on the creation and completion (mostly) of these two gardens was just ‘published’ on the website Divine Culture Insider: A magazine about traditional culture and contemporary society inspired by the performances of Shen Yun.
The author and photographer for the article, Maureen Neuman, has restored my faith in reporters as I think she has captured the essence of what we’ve tried to create.
If you are using a laptop or desk computer, click on the link below this paragraph and have some patience as the PDF of Maureen’s article may take a few moments to load.
Divine Culture Insider, Fall 2013 Suzhou Gardens – High Res.pdf
It’s also possible to simply read the on-line article from the link below this paragraph, but you will miss the wonderful graphics and some pictures. If you chose this link, be sure to click on the two links below the article as Terri’s reporting in this version is split into three parts.
A Washingtonian’s Suzhou Gardens
Enjoy.
We certainly are.
And consider coming to see the two gardens yourself.
13 Friday Sep 2013
Posted in Family and Friends
So in a moment of weakness, my wife Ellen and I agreed to move into my elder daughter (Annie) and son-in-law’s (Danny) house a couple of weekends ago to take care of the three kids for 24 hours. Annie was surprising Danny for his upcoming 40th birthday with a night ‘on the town’ in DC with their friends.
Promises have a way of coming due, and so we kept our word.
As you can see from the picture above, the kids are getting to be a handful. But we all survived, and I don’t even have my usual list of ‘disasters’ to write about.
But I did get to thinking about the differences between one child, two, and three.
I’ve always felt that two kids were not just one more than one kid. And that three kids simply multiplies the possibilities – joys, opportunities, challenges, etc…
For example, with just one kid, there are only four possible combinations (groupings) that have to learn to get along: Annie + Danny + Eli (1); Annie + Danny vs Eli (2); Annie + Eli vs Danny (3); and Danny + Eli vs Annie (4).
When you add another child, Abby, for example, the combinations, groupings jump to 8.
When you add a third child, Ryan, for example, the combinations jump to 16.
(Not being sure of my math skills, I checked with my numbers’ cruncher (btilis) whose first response was a request for more information (could there only be two separate groups or could there also be a group of all individuals). Then he responded, “I really don’t know. I tried writing them out and can’t come up with a pattern (my brain is fried). The multiple teams really throws things off for me.”
(So I tried to simplify it for him (and he’s the numbers guy, not me), saying just groups, no individuals. His response, I’ll spare you the details, matched mine from above if you also allow for one grouping of all the individuals.)
Bottom line: the difference in the combinations of groups jumps from 4 to 8 to 16, which are multiples, confirming my instinct that having two or three kids is not like adding one or two more. Its a geometric increase, not an arithmetic one.
But then any of you who have more than one kid certainly doesn’t need this posting to confirm that.
Pictures probably say it better:
1. With one child, there are only four possible groups (groupings) that have to learn to get along:
2. With two children, that jumps to eight:
3. With three, the combinations double to 16:
29 Thursday Aug 2013
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends
Tags
"Thirsters", Chinese Classical Gardens, Lagniappe, Lan Su Yuan, Portland, Portland Chinese Classical Garden
Lagniappe: n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit.
I’ve just returned from a week on the ‘left’ coast, where everyone is younger, smarter, more beautiful, more athletic, and more hip (do people still use that word?) than those of us back east. I went to visit some friends and to cheer on my Red Sox in their games against the Giants and the Dodgers (my heroes did well for those of you who do not follow such important events).
But this post is not about baseball. It’s about an unexpected, and delightful, discovery.
Since I had a few days between games in SF and LA, I went to Portland to visit a friend and to observe the Thirsters, a group that has been meeting (almost) every Thursday of the year for the past 10 years to talk about whatever interests them. I had wondered about the possibility of getting such a group underway in DC.
It was in Portland that I received a lagniappe, an unexpected gift, a benefit: an afternoon at Lan Su Yuan, The Portland Classical Chinese Garden.
More than 25 years ago, on the first of several trips to China, I fell in love with the gardens of Suzhou and classical Chinese gardens. Tho I’ve never been particularly interested in plants, flowers, and the like, there was something about these gardens that fascinated me. So much so, that for the past 25 years I’ve thought about importing some aspects of these classical gardens to the two outdoor spaces at our home in DC.
When we recently redid our kitchen, I took the opportunity to create here something along the lines of what I found so pleasing about the gardens of Suzhou. With the work of a wonderful landscape gardener, Tom Virnston, and the help of my wife and several friends, we are nearing completion of our very own two Chinese-like gardens, The Fragrant Reader’s Garden and The Humble Blogger’s Garden. (In another post, at another time, I will write about what we have created and have Ellen take some pictures of it.)
But back to Portland and last week.
I had forgotten that in Portland, OR there was what is probably the most authentic example of a classical Chinese garden that exists anywhere outside of China. Portland, as a result of being a sister city to Suzhou and through the vision of its citizens, businessmen, and politicians, raised the money, brought artisans from Suzhou, and turned a former block long parking lot in the middle of the city into Lan Su Yuan.
It’s simply superb.
In fact, for me it had the one element that was missing from my visits to the gardens in China, the ability to get a feel of what these gardens are truly like. Because of their popularity in Suzhou, the gardens there are filled with visitors, and I always found myself wishing everyone would leave so I could experience them as they were meant to be.
While the replica in Portland was not devoid of visitors, it was possible to get a sense of the peace and harmony and splendor of a classical Chinese garden.
A few pictures below from my iPhone can serve as an introduction (Ellen was not with me so I didn’t have the benefit of her wonderful photography, tho I do plan to return there, with her and her photographic skills.)
If you’re ever in or near Portland, consider spending a morning or afternoon at Lan Su Yuan. You’re in for a treat.
To see more of Lan Su Yuan, check out this 2:34 minute YouTube video.
To read more about Lan Su Yuan and visiting it, check out their website.
12 Monday Aug 2013
Posted in Family and Friends
You can blame/thank our friend FH for this post.
She correctly wanted to know why I had not posted any pictures (other than those when he was born) of Ryan Samuel Orgad, the third grandchild.
Ellen has continued to take endless pictures every time we’re together, but I guess I have been a bit remiss in not posting them. So that’s my excuse for these pictures, taken when Ryan was one and two months old (the good ones are by Ellen, of course).
11 Sunday Aug 2013
…consider spending the 34 minutes and 56 seconds it will take to watch this video, From One Second to the Next.
It was made and directed by Werner Herzog, the accomplished German filmmaker, at the request of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile.
From One Second to the Next will be shown to school groups and government agencies across the country.
But it seems to me that it is also worth all of us seeing this ‘scared straight’ documentary, whether we are an invincible youth, the 24/7 texting millennial generation, or the older and more experienced driver who also thinks that every text message needs to be read and answered upon receiving it or that we must call home to say we’ll be there in five minutes.
A few statistics:
(For more statistics and what the current laws are regarding this issue, see this link.)
I now put my cell phone away when I get in my car to drive. So far, I’ve done this for four days and hope to do so permanently. But I may have to see From One Second to the Next again every so often.
29 Monday Jul 2013
Posted in Family and Friends
Update: 7/29/8:52 PM: See below Scott Simon’s last four tweets about his mother’s death.
* * * * *
I suspect most readers of MillersTime are not ‘on’ Twitter, do not know much about it, or perhaps are disdainful of what they might believe is a waste of time or of a self-indulgence in which they do not wish to participate.
Perhaps.
But I have been drawn to something on Twitter over the past few days that I want to mention and that reminds me of something from my own recent life, experience, and learning.
Scott Simon, journalist and host of NPR’s Saturday’s Weekend Edition, has been live tweeting the last days of his mother’s life. He is doing so from her ICU hospital room (see pix above).
10 Wednesday Jul 2013
Posted in Family and Friends, Go Sox
I was playing the card game “Go Fish” with my four and a half-year-old grandson the other day when he said, “It’s OK not to win, isn’t it?”
That was a bit of a surprise, as in the last six months or so he’s found a way to turn every possible kind of play into a game that has a score and a winner. Plus, he’s been quite skilled at setting the rules, and resetting them, to favor himself.
So clearly I was surprised when he came up with the question about not having to win.
Was some part of his parental unit trying to teach him about winning and losing? Has a teacher or a coach said something to him? Just what was going on here.?
And what should I tell him?
