The House of Orange and a New King

Today the people in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (it's a small country in Northern Europe, often associated with wooden shoes!)...

...crowned a new KING! This was a BIG deal because for over 120 years this country has had a succession of queens.

The new King is Willem-Alexander and his wife is Queen Maxima. Willem-Alexander, aged 46, is now the youngest monarch in Europe.

Unlike the Brits, it is common in the Netherlands for the reigning monarch to abdicate the throne in favor of passing on the torch to a younger ruler, and Willem-Alexander's mother, the former Queen Beatrix, decided at age 75 that it was time to hand over the reigns to her son.

 The royal family is from the House of Orange... and so the orange color is flown everywhere during royal festivities. The canals in Amsterdam were filled with orange decorated boats...

...and big-name departments stores and downtown buildings in Amsterdam were decorated with crowns and orange banners...

Of course, I had to wear my Dutch-American pin showing the two flags! My allegiance is to both...

So now you know more about the new Dutch King and the House of Orange!

Blossoms in the Neighborhood

Signs of Spring here... Just wish the temps would match the flora!

You Said What?-- Review

Just finished reading a very short, little book titled You Said What? by Zoller and Preston. It's a quick guide to improving communication, and extremely easy to read! Written by two communications professionals, Zoller and Preston remind us how easily our credibility can be destroyed a by simple communicaton faux pas.

What I like about this book is how simple it is... Zoller and Preston incorporate a series of short vignettes with experiences shared by real people. They share bulleted lists of do's and don'ts in successful business communications. Many of them are obvious, such as don't text while also talking to someone, and listen more than you speak. They also include the brief points to cover in your "elevator speech," the need for a firm handshake, and using correct grammar.

I'm undecided about whether this is THE book for my undergrads, who desperately need help in learning professional communications! This book is more about communication reminders than communication "how-to's"-- so I'm going to continue to explore trade books on good communication skills for the new senior seminar undergrad course I'm developing this summer. I'd like to find a very simple guide to successful communication skills for undergraduates about to enter the job market, and so I'm not looking for a theoretical communications text.

Stay tuned... my Nook is loaded and I have more books to read and review!

Tulips in My Yard

I brought back tulip bulbs from Holland last year, but some critters ate most of them! However, Phillip planted these in the front and back yard and we're enjoying the fruits of his labor!!!

Reading Now...

I'm not one much for re-reading books, but Diane Vaughan's Challenger Launch Decision keeps calling to me! I first read this book while doing course work in my doctoral program, then re-read parts of it as I was working on my proposal, and now, I've finally ordered it for my Nook...

...and am having a leisurely read...  it's always such a pleasure to be able to read and not experience the pressure of taking notes.

The book is a sociological analysis of the causes that led up to the Challenger explosion in 1986- this was the space shuttle that featured the "Teacher In Space" program under President Reagan. The Challenger explosition shocked us all, as we'd become so used to shuttle launches that they seemed almost routine. A Presidential commission concluded that the explosion was caused by weakness in the O-rings which failed to seal properly due to extreme low cold temperatures. Vaughan's sociological analysis of the organization showed that over time, the organization had become used to anomalies in shuttle equipment which didn't affect the shuttle's overall performance, and that just couldn't be explained. Given NASA's budget cuts through the years, management in the organization made decisions that ultimately affected the quality and the culture of the space program. This book is thought-provoking and still holds lessons for students of organizations...

Blooming Tulips

It was tulip time at Wilmington University today!

Trying Out My New Toy- Scanner

Oh boy! My kids may not like this but I just couldn't resist... I'm finally trying out the photo scanner I bought during the Christmas season! Here are some oldies just too cute!

Here's the family for an annual Christmas photo.

Phillip and Lili during one of our trips to Mt Vernon. So sweet!

Lili's first communion-- she's the 3rd from the right.

Aaahhh... these are the "neighborhood girls" -- class of 2002! Lili, Kelly, and Maggie. Cute!

Sophia on the soccer team with Kim P. Sophia is on the far left-- that's probably the only time she ever had short hair!

Phillip at school working on some project. He's the one on the floor looking so serious!

Phillip, Lili, and Sophia at Mt Vernon.

Michael. Was this middle school?

Father and daughter (Sophia)...

Opa, Phillip, Lili, and Sophia in Cape Cod.

Michael and Sophia circa 1986... was this Brookgreen Garden in South Carolina?

Phillip circa 1988... Myrtle Beach vacation at Uncle Max's cabin.

Sisters... Sophia and Lili.
Great trip down memory lane... now when I scan more photographs I have to figure out how to organize them!

DC Daytrip

A few times a year Wilmington University offers low-cost bus trips. This is a great way to offer students opportunities to experience some of the well-known attractions in the mid-Atlantic region, and yesterday we took some students down to Washington, DC. It was pouring rain when we left Delaware, but it had stopped raining when we got to the Smithsonian.

The central location of our drop-off made it easy to walk across the national mall and up toward toward the places we wanted to visit.

Once we got out in front of the Smithsonian, we walked up to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Visitors Center (especially important for criminal justice majors!), and then on to the Crime and Punishment Museum.

It's a small museum, but chock full of history and artifacts related to crimes... and informative too! For example, did you know that once upon a time it was a crime to kiss on Sundays?

Also, I can honestly say that Ed's been in a lineup...

and I have been fingerprinted...

It's a fun little museum which covers the history of crime and punishment from long ago to the present.

After the museum, we set the students free to explore on their own and had lunch at my colleagues' favorite place, the Chop House.

We worked off all those calories from eating dessert by walking a gazillion(!!!) blocks to the Holocaust Museum.

Along the way, there were some wonderful signs of spring!

Isn't this metal sculpture of a tree interesting?

These purple tulips had a bell shape and pointy-petals. Does anyone know what they're called?

We walked and walked to the Holocaust Museum... and we probably should have done this one first in the day because it was very crowded! I think every school group within driving distance to DC was there. I've been to this museum several times, and it always moves me. This museum should be visited by everyone, because is a somber reminder of genocide.

Visitors are given an identification card of an actual person who experienced the Holocaust. The card has a photograph and tells the biography of the person. Some of the most memorable exhibits for me are the shoes,

and walking though the portals of family pictures, and just thinking about how these were pictures...

   ...of family members eating dinner, celebrating life events, and the joys of being together... all before the holocaust. The video section where so many people provided testimonials of their experiences in the concentration camps moved me to tears. I have been to this museum several times, and it always gets to me. It is truly a sobering reminder of man's inhumanity to fellow mankind.

At the end of the day, exhausted from so much walking and museum-ing, we simply enjoyed the weather and sat on a park bench in the national mall. As many times as I've been to DC, I had never had time to do that. It was so very nice!