Sadly, there were also too many cases where the family would be willing to pay for the son, but not the daughter. The decision was clear, we would charge the guys a token sum, but the girls would be trained free. We were not going to refuse anyone. They were then offered jobs so that they could 'pay off' the fees through a small monthly deduction. It worked, and no parent could now deny the girl child this opportunity.

7:09:53 AM    

Some people, however, when asking forgiveness are just being deceitful. Such an apology is unlikely to be accepted.

Today, think of someone you have wronged and have not asked for forgiveness. Be resolved to sincerely ask him for forgiveness. [It's All About Coffee]

There is good wisdom here, in acknowledging that some ask forgiveness deceitfully. Often, I ask in order to put the burden on the other person: “I've asked for forgiveness...now the ball is in your court.” This is, of course, not what forgiveness is about, nor what asking for forgiveness is about.

Something I heard recently: don't ask for forgiveness, ask for insight. Ask what it was like to be hurt by you, to have this said, or that done, or the other neglected. By learning what your wrong was like from the other's perspective, you have the opportunity to deepen your repentance and distaste for doing it again.
6:48:43 AM    

I first encountered Alexander in 1979 when my wife and I were between apartments, staying at the house of a friend for several weeks. Dave was an architect, and had ordered Alexander's three book series:

• The Timeless Way of Building
• A Pattern Language
• The Oregon Experiment

When we found our own apartment, Dave gave me the books, saying I would be more likely to use them (and enjoy them) than he ever would. I remain deeply grateful.

Anyway, the next mention of Alexander I ran into was ten years later, when I read Demarco and Lister's PeopleWare (I read the first edition; link is to second edition), there in the section on building offices for technical workers were references to Alexander's pattern language. (Not that anyone ever listened to us—me, Demarco, or Alexander—when we complained about cube-farms.)

Finally, of course, “patterns” became the hit of the late 1990's, and the patterns movement traced its origins to Alexander.

Now I have read that Alexander's patterns could not be applied naively, that there were problems in applying his theories or ideas...but that has not diminished my respect for someone who went contrary to his profession in seeking to design "places that live" in the hope of promoting the well-being of people above the grandeur of a stunning design.
6:13:48 AM    

The environment produced by office furniture has realized the nightmare of Orwell's 1984 at a level so subtle that many managers are not even aware of it. This is the deathly world that 58 million people in the U.S. are forced to inhabit eight hours a day". Not only is the situation oppressive, but instead of making it better, our culture has invested considerable resources to teach people to accept it without question. Architecture schools and the professional media deliberately mislead the public by insisting that emotional well-being is not a requirement of interior design. As a result, few people imagine that a pleasant work environment is even possible today.

Thanks to Seb's Open Research for the link to Christopher Alexander.
5:48:49 AM    

Home schoolers hit hard by library cuts [LISNews.com]

Interesting link and comment. Many people pull kids out of public schooling because they do not like how (and on what) their tax dollars are being spent. Often these people also vote for tax reductions that eventually kill the libraries that are their vital resources. There is a county here in Washington that may very well cut all funding to their libraries. Since everything is available on the Internet. Of course, many people can only access the Internet from the library but no matter. I believe that helping foster greater learning and the creation of knowledge is one of the social contracts we make to support each generation. Cutting libraries should not be an option, yet it is one of the first to go. It will come back to haunt us. [Richard Gayle: Knowledge Management]

If “these people” had an ability to vote for tax reductions on a line-item basis, would they have chosen to reduce library funding? Not likely. But given a single-income family (not the norm today, in the suburbs, perhaps), could they find the tax burden onerous? Of course. But the social and political priorities of those voting for reductions might not be those of the budget-makers. The article (and comment) makes it seem like the home-schoolers have brought this down on their own heads, but there are other agents involved, once the tax reductions are approved.
4:51:05 AM