Henriet's Blog

You Name It 2...

Happy Friday!

For the end of this week, I'd like to invite you to come up with a caption for this "Segway Sage" photo.

D-Day Remembered

Today is the 63rd anniversary of D-Day. Over 160,000 Allied troops, including thousands of American troops, landed on the beaches of Normandy to begin the liberation of Europe.  Many soldiers gave their lives.  I visited those beaches years ago and remember American Cemetery at Omaha Beach and the memorial museum at Pointe du Hoc.

I am so grateful for the sacrifices that were made! I am now a U.S. citizen but was born in Holland. My country of origin and my family (mom and dad) were liberated.

Let's remember D-Day and honor the soldiers!

Suppress or Embrace?

In President Fred? I wrote about how this first name often is associated with a less than positive image. Other things in life can give us an apparent "false start."

How are we affected when our name, looks, color, gender, or origin seem to predispose us to average rather than prominence? We all have something that might hinder our accomplishments in life. In our politically correct culture, we seem to try to even these out so that nothing stands out--for fear of discrimination. What if we embraced our differences and celebrated the variety? Would it make for a "richer" world?

President Fred?

On the first week of the month, I will look at issues in culture. This month I'm starting with a story related to the race for the White House in 2008.

From Law & Order to the White House... Fred Thompson plays a Republican district attorney in the popular  TV show, was a Senator in Tennessee, and now seems to be considering a run for the presidency. President Fred, could it be?

My husband, Fred, still has a newspaper clipping about a farmer named Fred Tuttle running for the Vermont Senate in 1998 and winning after spending $16 of his own money, beating a millionaire corporate consultant. Who says Freds can't run?

Old news you say? Well, I'm interested in Fred's who run and do other great things (probably infected by my Fred's interest in the same) because typically guys named Fred are portrayed less than stellar. Usually, in cartoons and in sitcoms, Freds are associated with duds and portrayed as 'dufuses'.

Now if you're not a Law & Order fan or dislike Republicans you  might think that Fred Thompson fits the above category of Freds. Personally, I think he's more like President Ronald Reagan, our most popular president and a former actor,  than Fred Flintstone, dufus and "former actor."

In an article on BostonHerald.com, it was reported about Fred Thompson that "during his 1994-2002 Senate tenure, he was considered a reliably conservative vote. But he had few significant legislative achievements and established a reputation as a less-than-hard worker." Fred's answer was: "That’s one rap that you can cure."

In a June 3 GOP Poll tracking how people would vote today, Thompson took third place, behind Giuliani and McCain, even without being an official candidate.  He would get more votes than John Edwards as listed on the Democratic Poll if we voted today.

My encouragement to Thompson: "Run, Fred, Run!" We need more great Freds.

Remember Sesame Street

"Sunny day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street*"

If you're like me, you're hearing or singing this tune in your head.

Why am I putting your through this? It relates to remembering. This week's focus on Memorial Day and remembering reminded me of a Sesame Street episode.  Even though I watched the show with my preschool-aged son, I might have learned more than he did that day.

One of the segments taught kids how to remember. One of the characters (I don't remember which one) asked the other character about a specific item on a street. He reviewed the street in his mind without remembering or seeing the item asked about. What did he do? The show rewound the cartoon street and showed the character rerunning the image in his head again, this time including additional details. Still no luck remembering. So, they rewound and ran it again showing more added detail. They repeated this several times until the requested item appeared.

That's how you remember! Rewind, review and repeat until you remember. 

I've used this technique several times and it works remarkably well. Maybe everything we ever need to know is learned in or before kindergarten?!

*Music and Lyrics by Joe Raposo, Jon Stone & Bruce Hart