Dear Friend,
Haven’t been in touch recently — here’s a quick catalogue of “what’s up” in my life.
1) I’m thinking a lot this month about ethics: I’m writing a paper on socially responsible investing and taking a course on business ethics. I’m realizing just how tangled these issues can become. There are temptations (to give in or not to an unethical action) and dilemmas (two equally valid ethical concerns clash in a grey area). Sample SRI Scenario: Can someone who manages a public fund (like CalPERS) make investments in keeping with his conscience? For example, should he exclude tobacco companies or companies that support porn? What if it results in a lower rate of return for his beneficiaries?
2) I began teaching art to kids today. Had a class of younger students (7 year old girls and my 6 year old son) for an hour and a half, then a class of older students (8 – 11 year olds). It’s remarkable (a) how exhausting teaching can be, and (b) how different 7 and 8 year olds are. In one year, their attention becomes more focused and longer, and their perspective of the world changes dramatically. They begin to conceive of context and perspective. The difference between 9 and 11 is marked, but is also influenced by other factors, like previous lessons in art and personality.
3) Michael and I looked at houses on Monday and submitted two offers through our real estate agents. They’re both good fits for what we want from our home as well as good value/investments. Interestingly, on Tuesday night, our class’ guest speaker lectured on real estate and the national housing market. His researched supported our belief that now is an ideal time to buy and the charts forecast another peak in 2018, a good time to sell. But you never can tell with crystal balls…
4) I have a miniature garden. My corn barely hits mid-thigh and my sunflower is about 9 inches tall and my tomato plants haven’t even grown big enough to require support — but they’re producing “fruits”! Teeny-tiny corns and itty-bitty beefsteak tomatoes. I have one green bean plant the size of my palm, but he has three flowers budding. I would really love to post pictures, but I can’t find the cord for my Olympus which I’ve been using to record my garden’s growth.
5) I am currently procrastinating from writing 2 papers and 6 hours of reading…. And must stop.
Sincerely,
Caitlin
I find that if I reduce the watering on the tomatoes they’ll start ripening. Otherwise, for some reason, they just continue to grow and grow but never mature. I’m sure that means something but I was up at 5 and it escapes me
S