The Chautauqua

Plot

2010-03-15T05:06:00.000-06:00

My life has great characters,

I just haven’t figured out the plot.

– Ashleigh Brilliant

email: thechautauqua@gmail.com

Work

2010-03-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

Don’t do unnecessary work

because your grandmother did,

There was not half so much to be done in her day.

– Good Housekeeping 1885

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Stress

2010-03-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Stress is the fear

that you don’t have the resources

to successfully meet your challenges.

– Susan Love and Alice Domar

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Enemy

2010-03-08T05:36:00.000-07:00

It is possible to learn from an enemy

things we can't learn from a friend.

- unknown

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March 5, 2010 Chautauqua

2010-03-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

From the Editor's Computer

Vancouver 2010 will not be forgotten any time soon.

From the Opening Ceremonies - with the poignant minute of silence to remember Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili - which I watched, as thrilled and mesmerized as the audience in BC, to the Closing Ceremonies - I chuckled as Michael J. Fox claiming all the other nations’ athletes (and their medals!) for Canada - they were quite the Olympic Games!

Our first Gold medal, won on Canadian soil, was presented to Alexandre Bilodeau in Freestyle Skiing - Men's Moguls. A proud moment that he shared with his brother Frederic, and that touched our hearts.

History was also made, when Figure Skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won Gold in the Ice Dance.

Our women speed skaters stole the show and a few medals too. From Christine Nesbitt’s Gold to Clara Hughes’ Bronze, our women showed the world how fast they can skate. We can’t forget how well the men did either.

Joannie Rochette’s Bronze in Ladies Figure Skating was a triumph, in more ways than one.

We also excelled in the many free-style events on the ski hills.

I watched the Gold medal matches in Women’s and Men’s Curling. Yes, I admit I watched curling, and yes, I admit that I enjoyed it - only because it was more dramatic with a gold medal on the line. Cheryl Bernard’s rink was outstanding, as was Kevin Martin’s, for Silver and Gold respectively.

Our women’s hockey team won their third consecutive gold medal. I watched, as did most of Canada, as the men’s team kept us on the edge of our seats as we waited for that final winning goal by Sidney Crosby.

As Canadians, we have lots to be proud of. The most gold medals won ever in a Winter Olympic Games (14) and a total of 26 medals which is an outstanding number for Canada.

Our Canadian athletes “owned the podium” in ways we never have before. Not just the athletes who stood on the podium, but ALL our athletes, no matter where they placed.

Those are just some of our special stories from Vancouver 2010. Every other athlete and nation represented also has their own story and together, those stories make up the magic that was evident in these Games.

Hats off to all the athletes - no matter what country they represented, the coaches, the volunteers and everyone who made the Vancouver 2010 Games possible and so magical for us all.

Let us keep the feeling alive as we prepare to cheer on the Paralympic athletes March 12 - March 21.

“I believe in the power of you and I…”

Beth

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Patience

2010-03-03T07:55:00.002-07:00

The secret of patience

is doing something else in the meantime.

- unknown

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Habits

2010-03-01T07:26:00.001-07:00

Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables.

- unknown

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Winners

2010-02-26T05:09:00.000-07:00

The real winners in life are the people

who look at every situation with an expectation

that they can make it work or make it better.

– Barbara Pletcher

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Making a Point

2010-02-24T05:06:00.001-07:00

If you have an important point to make,

don’t try to be subtle or clever.

Use a pile driver.

Hit the point once.

Then come back and hit it again.

Then hit it a third time

– a tremendous whack.

– Winston Churchill

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Inaction

2010-02-22T04:56:00.003-07:00

Iron rusts from disuse;

water loses its purity from stagnation...

even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.

- author unknown

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February 19, 2010 Chautauqua

2010-02-19T05:21:00.001-07:00

From the Editor's Computer

By chance, the other day, I read a blurb about a 3D printer that is now available for home usage. Granted the price tag is still pretty high (roughly $30,000), thus prohibiting every household to have one. Never fear though, the price is dropping, as it tends to do with most electronic and computer related products.

Currently, 3D printers are predominantly marketed to businesses as a way of creating affordable scale models and prototypes of new products without having to hire outside companies and wait days. The ease of use allows anyone with computer skill to use it. Within hours, or even minutes, a company could “print out” their prototype and start testing and tweaking it. The process would not only save money for the company, it would also save valuable time and allow new products to be available to consumers sooner.

The most common 3D printers - according to the blurb I read - have a laser that turns a powder or a liquid polymer into a hard plastic. The finished product can be any shape at all.

By using any 3D creation program (i.e. a CAD program) or even a 3D representation of an object in a computer file, the printer is able to manufacture that object into a solid item.

While it may seem a little out of this world, how many things in our world - that were once only the stuff of science fiction books and movies - are now mainstream? Computers and phones are now small enough to carry in our pockets. A few years ago, we’d have laughed that such things were possible.

Though 3D printers are certainly not mainstream yet, the possibilities for future application are incredible, especially if the printers are able to handle a variety of materials besides plastic. For example, a 3D printer could open up the world of art and sculpture to the average person as they produce a design of 3D form on the computer, which is then reproduced. Need a spare part, just open the online manual and print it off. Or maybe you will order a piece of clothing, a kitchen appliance, or a car online, download a special computer file, and then “print” your new purchase in the comfort of your home without having to worry about shipping costs.

It boggles the mind!

Beth

Click here to read the complete issue of The Chautauqua.

To contact The Chautuauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.

Dare

2010-02-17T05:45:00.002-07:00

It is not because things are difficult

that we do not dare.

It is because we do not dare

that things are difficult.

– Seneca

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Become

2010-02-15T05:42:00.001-07:00

In order for us to become truly happy,

that which we can become,

we must become.

– Abraham Maslow

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Extra

2010-02-12T05:35:00.000-07:00

The last 1 percent most people keep in reserve

is the extra percent champions

have the courage to burn.

– Chris Carmichael

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Want

2010-02-10T05:31:00.000-07:00

I can show anyone how to get what they want.

The only trouble is I can't find anyone

who can tell me what they want.

– Mark Twain

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Rhino Skin

2010-02-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

[What does it take to create a life worth leading?]

The skin of a rhino and soul of an angel.

– Albert Schweitzer

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February 5, 2010 Chautauqua

2010-02-05T05:20:00.001-07:00

From the Editor's Computer

Lately I have been experiencing a different relationship with time. While the first month of the year seemed to whiz by so fast, individual days are not speeding by as fast.

Part of the reason for this strange phenomenon is that my watch stopped working three weeks ago and I’ve been watchless ever since. That is the longest I’ve even been without a watch. In fact, I usually feel incomplete if I don’t have a watch on my wrist to look at all the time.

While I don’t have a watch, I have access to a number of clocks at any given time - on my computer, my cell phone, on my desk, on the wall, in my car and watches on other people’s wrists. So I still know what time it is.

Without a watch to let me know how fast the minutes are winging by, I have noticed that they don’t fly by quite so fast. It seems I am able to get more done, and with much less rush.

Our perception of time truly is elastic, as it stretches and shrinks depending on what we are involved in, and whether we are thinking of the past, present or future.

I was having a good time
and the hours flew by.
I was bored and time dragged.
I was on a tight deadline
and time was running out.
The beauty of the mountains
was so breathtaking that time stood still.
– Deepak Chopra

Beth

Click here to read the complete issue of The Chautauqua.

To contact The Chautuauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.

Footprints

2010-02-03T05:18:00.001-07:00

You can’t leave a footprint in a moving stream.

– Indian saying

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Troubles

2010-02-01T05:09:00.001-07:00

If you see ten troubles coming down the road,

you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch

before they reach you.

– Calvin Coolidge

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Change

2010-01-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

To change one’s life:

start immediately,

do it flamboyantly,

no exceptions.

– William James

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Good Day

2010-01-27T05:04:00.001-07:00

At the end of the day

if you smiled more than you frowned,

laughed more than you cried,

told your family and friends you loved them,

and had a pretty good time

doing what you do for a living,

then it was a good day.

Go to bed and say thanks.

– Larry Winget

email: thechautauqua@gmail.com

Lost Causes

2010-01-25T05:59:00.001-07:00

Lost causes are sometimes

the only ones worth fighting for.

From each defeat, you try to build forward.

– Robert Cooper

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Change

2010-01-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

If I can’t change the people around me,

I change the people around me.

– Chuck D

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Liming

2010-01-20T05:31:00.000-07:00

Liming:

Caribbean art of doing nothing, guilt free.

-unknown

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Patience

2010-01-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

Infinite patience produces immediate results.

– Peggy McColl

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