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The Monday Morning Memo

“As a young man, Achilles ventures forth into the world, where he proceeds from one exploit to the next, vanquishing all manner of opponents until his reputation precedes him far and wide. Then, at the very height of his fame and the peak of his physical prowess, Achilles sets sail for Troy to join the likes of Agamemnon, Menelaus, Ulysses, and Ajax in the greatest battle ever fought by men.

But somewhere on this crossing, somewhere in the middle of the Aegean Sea, unbeknownst to Achilles, the widening rays of his life turn their corners and begin their relentless trajectory inward.

Ten long years, Achilles will remain on the fields of Troy. Over the course of that decade, the area of the conflict will grow smaller as the battle lines of the conflict grow ever closer to the walls of that besieged city.  The once countless legions of Greek and Trojan soldiers will grow smaller, diminishing with every additional death. And in the tenth year, when Hector, prince of Troy, slays the beloved Patroclus, Achilles world will grow smaller still.

From that moment, the enemy with all its battalions is reduced in Achilles mind to the one person responsible for the death of his friend.”

– Amor Towles, The Lincoln Highway, p. 502-503

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Random Quote:

“When I was growing up, parents would whack their kids on the ass if they didn’t obey.

No one thought anything about it. But if you hit your kid with your fist, you were going to jail. Not cool.

In the classic ass-whack, the Dad would grab his kid’s left forearm with his left hand, lift the kid in the air, then give him a couple of swats on the butt with the open palm of his right hand. If the Dad was talking to a friend, this whole sequence could happen while Dad continued talking to his pal. It was such a small thing that kids often forgot to cry.

In those days, an aerial ass-whack was the equivalent of your mom speaking your name sharply and waggling her finger at you.

Then someone wrote a book suggesting that Dads should use something other their open palms to whack their kids. “If you swat them with your hand, your child will fear YOU. But if you whack them with a thing, they will fear the THING instead.”

Okay. If you say so.

Then someone decided that it wasn’t cool to whack your kids at all. You should just say mean and hurtful things to them.

Uh-oh. Now we’re listening to a psycho.

Then came the day of tiger moms, always hovering, always pestering, always causing their kids to be fearful of failure, fearful of falling short, fearful of not being the child their parents were hoping they would be.

If you are a kid today and are not being raised by tigers, you are likely being raised by helicopter parents, always hovering, pestering, causing you to be fearful of dangers, fearful of strangers, fearful of friends from bad families, fearful of bullies, fearful of mean girls, fearful of falling down and skinning your knee, fearful, fearful, fearful of climbing that sweaty, steep, rocky trail that is this wild adventure we call life.”

- Roy and Pennie Williams, August 22, 2025

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