Valentine’s Day 2015…

I hope this special day is turning out well for you.   I’ve spent most of mine preparing for the winter weather forecast to smack the southeast on Monday.   There are citrus plants to protect after I strip off much of the fruit,  and seed pots of various veggies,  and last year’s pepper plants,  still bearing, to be stuffed amongst the other cold-intolerant plants which are taking up temporary residence in my house.

Big Girl is very curious about the intruders,  inspecting each and every one.   She has a phenomenal memory for the placement of objects  —  if I move one just an inch,  she will notice it and re-inspect.   She doesn’t like having the front hall full of plants,  and she isn’t sure so many need to be stacked up next to the kitchen windows,  so that she can’t just gallop full bore in there,  but I am certain none of them will be getting up to any mischief with her on guard.

I have bread baking,  a crock-pot full of soup simmering,  and a rack of ribs in the oven.   If the power goes off,  I’ll have good food easily reheated on my gas grill.  I am prepared.   If you’re in any of the danger areas,  I hope you are as well.

Now,  for this Valentine’s Day,  let’s start with Debby Witt’s charmingly eclectic  collection   of links,  shall we?   Then take a   small dose  of cynicism from Megan McArdle.   Molly Dodd  wonders if  love is still a factor in sex and relationships,  but there’s an effort to  bring dating  back on college campuses.   That’s a good sign,  as Valentine’s is full  of Christian  connections.

Lighten up with a  cute puppy  with a curious birthmark.   Look to Dunkin Donuts for something  even sweeter,  or perhaps you’d like  something stronger.   NRO has a  nice symposium  on love stories.   The last is the best  —  a  cherished letter,  returned to its author after many years.

Stay warm,  and be safe.

 

 

 

 

Let your kids fail…

Megan McArdle has a new book out,  “The Up Side of Down”,  in which she posits that the  creative destruction  of free enterprise and entrepreneurship is not possible without the experience of failure.  Will the high school student afraid to take a hard subject because it might harm her grade point average be the one to produce the next Microsoft or Netflix?   Not remotely likely.   I happen to agree with her,  and also with Kathy Shaidle’s position that a college degree is unnecessary for most jobs.   My  mother expected me to get straight A’s,  which I seldom did.   My father wouldn’t tolerate D’s or F’s,  but as long as I learned something,  he wasn’t as fussy about letter grades.   None of the jobs I’ve had over the years required a degree,  but the fact that I possessed one may have impressed some of my bosses.

More than a few blacks regard requirements for a college degree as an attempt to bar them from jobs,  and I’m sure that they were right in some cases.   Unfortunately,  few modern college degrees seem to confer actual education upon their recipients. A major in women’s studies?   That is even more useless than a degree in art history,  since there are few jobs in the world where it is of even slight use.