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Practically Idealistic blog
 
The title for this blog originated with use of the term “practical idealist” in this 1996 opinion piece, which asked: “To what kind of work should a practical idealist aspire?” A century and a half earlier, Emerson, in his 1841 essay Circles, wrote: “There are degrees in idealism.  We learn first to play with it academically. . . .  Then we see in the heyday of youth and poetry that it may be true, that it is true in gleams and fragments.  Then, its countenance waxes stern and grand, and we see that it must be true.  It now shows itself ethical and practical.”  John Dewey and Mahatma Gandhi embraced practical idealism in the 20th century, as did UN Secretary General U Thant.  Al Gore invoked it in a 1998 speech. In the context of this blog, the term is meant to convey idealism tempered but not overwhelmed by realism: a search for the ideal on a path guided by common sense.
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Saturday, February 27, 2016

Basketball, Bedtime, and a Boy Growing Up

Tonight was Yale men’s basketball’s senior night.  After the ceremony where we recognized the seniors and their families, my brother and his son joined my son and me in watching the first half.  By halftime, it was already 9 p.m., and the boys were sleepy.  So we drove a mile home.  As my wife put our son to bed, our daughter returned with me to the Yale gym for the second half.  Yale defeated Dartmouth in dramatic fashion, in overtime, as my daughter and I joined the home crowd.

Previous posts, for example in March 2013 (March 10) and February 2015 (February 1), addressed Yale (and UConn) basketball.

Also, readers: Please indulge this father’s personal prerogative to record a seemingly mundane family milestone.  My son finally lost his first baby tooth at school yesterday, on February 26 – news that he delivered with glee and pride, as he greeted me with a hug upon my return home in the evening!

11:05 pm est 


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