Soft musings

On the way home today, I heard more news coverage about one of the two alleged plagiarizers who've been in the news lately. The president of Raytheon has written a book which he's mostly lifted from a book written in the 40s, down to the title. Today, the board of directors gave him a mild reprimand (boys will be boys, I guess). Meanwhile, a young woman, an undergrad at Harvard (did I mention she's female? and Asian? and at Harvard?) has been raked across the coals, humiliated in the press, had her books pulled from stores, had her next book contract canceled, all for similar, but perhaps lesser, offenses. Who I am to judge? Then again, who is anyone else?

I entered a raffle today. It was cheap, it supported a colleague's daughter's art efforts. It seemed like a nice thing to do. The only problem is that I hope I either lose or that I win prizes in the exact opposite order in which they're offered (that is, if I am to win anything, I'd like to win the fourth, third, second, and first prizes in that order). But I'll probably get my first wish, which is just fine.

And as I left work today, I was reminded once again of something a former office mate told me. This person had spent a lot of time in Ireland and had learned to say "Ay, tis a soft day". And it was exactly that today. The ground was soaking wet. You couldn't see the drops hit the ground, but you could see little bits of rain in the air. An umbrella would have been useless because the air was saturated. I believe "Tis a soft day" is an expression of gratitude for the day not being wetter. So I felt just a little grateful on my trek to the car. As I slid into my car seat, I gave thanks for being finely misted, but not soaking to the bone.

P.S. The astute observers amongst my handful of readers (and gratitude goes out to each of you) may have noticed a new link in my blogroll. The link goes to my Boston AIDS Walk page. If you are inclined to donate this year, that would be a lovely thing, and for a very good cause, too. The walk is Sunday June 4, and I'll be there as I have been every year since 1988. Thanks.