Yale Archives - Page 5 of 6

So This Is Why W Reunioned at the White House

By Chris Carosa on April 26, 2012

It’s 11:35pm on a Tuesday night. I’m sitting on a train, the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited, on my way to Chicago. I boarded the train in a Rochester rain at 11:25pm, twenty-five minutes later than the schedule dictated. It didn’t matter. I’m not in a hurry. I haven’t been in a hurry since the sun first rose.

Yes, my lackadaisical day began in surprising sunshine. I say “surprising” because I happened to be in New Haven, Connecticut. In another era, it would have been raining. I would have also Continue Reading “So This Is Why W Reunioned at the White House”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life Tagged 30th Reunion, Animal House, Chicago, Davenport, John Ford, New Haven, Rochester, Secession Party, The Cottage, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Yale

The Chair

By Chris Carosa on April 5, 2012

It began on a spring day in the late nineteenth century, a very tiny pod of dust. After many agonizing months, the ground burst open. Ah, fresh air and sunshine! It felt good.

During the tough first two years, the sapling had to fight for its life. The older more mature members of the immediate area crowded the young ones, pulling the very air from them. Still, the generously provided sunlight found a path through the thick branches above the wheezing seedling. Rain, of course, never posed a problem, thanks to gravity. The water droplets always sought the low ground, and as soon as they did, the thirsty dirt sponged them up. The young bud would then drink from the soil as its tiny subterranean tentacles sucked up the precious Continue Reading “The Chair”

Posted in Slush Pile Tagged irony, Yale

PAC-MAN – A Last Look Back

By Chris Carosa on January 12, 2012

[This Commentary originally appeared in the January 10, 1991 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Just over twenty years ago, a new game began sprouting among aging pinball machines in arcades across the land. Its instant popularity helped solidify the video game market. Two things distinguished PAC-MAN from its immediate predecessors and, especially, the granddaddy of all video games – Space Invaders.

Foremost, PAC-MAN employed a novel Continue Reading “PAC-MAN – A Last Look Back”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Growing Up, PAC-MAN, risk aversion, Space Invaders, Video Game, Yale

My Lunch with Pearl Bailey

By Chris Carosa on September 15, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the September 13, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

I used to always ride the train. An unnatural fear caused me to seek every opportunity to avoid flight. Yes, yes, I know all the actuarial tables say flying is the second safest form of transportation (after elevators). In that portion of my life when time seemed less important (namely, both during and immediately after my collegiate years), I viewed the train as the preferred method of travel.

The train relaxed me. It allowed me to read. It permitted me to get up and walk around. It provided the opportunity to be alone or discover new friends, depending on my mood. Most importantly, it forced me to slow down. Once I boarded the train, I knew I would next step Continue Reading “My Lunch with Pearl Bailey”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Growing Up, Pearl Bailey, train, Yale

Leon Tec’s Targets – The Book That Started It All

By Chris Carosa on January 16, 2011

“Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.”
– Baltasar Gracian

Like most undergraduates, I enjoyed college. I viewed those four years as a time of experimentation, a release from the staid banality of suburban pabulum.

But not in the way you think.

Some people collect nostalgia. Some people collect materials. I collect experiences. And it started almost immediately upon setting foot in a courtyard surrounded by walls of ivy. And my parents reacted like most parents of university students. They told me to stop it.

But I couldn’t. As I explained at the time, I was like a shark. These carnivorous Continue Reading “Leon Tec’s Targets – The Book That Started It All”

Posted in Book Reviews Tagged goal, goal-setting, Growing Up, Lifetime Dream Process, Yale

The Morning the Music Died

By Chris Carosa on December 9, 2010

[This Commentary originally appeared in the December 14, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel. I decided, for the purposes of this blog, to switch this so it better coincides with the actual anniversary; hence, the beginning parenthetical note that occurred in the original publication might seem a little strange until you read next week’s post.]

(C Note: OK, OK, so I’m a week late. I just thought it would be better to give our local merchants a plug as early in the Christmas season as possible.)

Chronologically, I was too young to grow up with the Beatles. Still, a very young aunt and several teenage cousins provided the avenue for me and my brother to experience at least the fringe of Beatlemania.

Not that we fully understood everything. Let me share with you just one example. During one family party in the summer of 1967, a cousin spirited me away to her room, warning me not to tell my mother what she was about to show me. She proceeded to Continue Reading “The Morning the Music Died”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Beatles, Dream, John Lennon, Yale

Legalize Drugs?!

By Chris Carosa on October 7, 2010

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 5, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

In a recent CBS-New York Times survey, 64% of the respondents named drugs as the nation’s top problem. The high degree of attention currently being paid to our country’s drug epidemic may be due to President Bush’s initiatives of just about a month ago. (A similar poll taken last July revealed only 22% of the people claimed drugs to be the nation’s number one plight.)

With all the political news coming from Washington D.C. and the war stories emanating from Columbia, the issue of uncontrolled use of controlled substances has supplanted Continue Reading “Legalize Drugs?!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged cocaine, Honeoye Falls, internet, Mendon, Prodigy, Rotary, Yale

Outfitting Today’s Athlete

By Chris Carosa on September 30, 2010

[This Commentary originally appeared in the September 28, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

The last time I bought sneakers Jimmy Carter occupied the White House, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dragged along at 800, and the city of New Haven provided its first taste to a freshman from Rochester. The old fashioned red, white and blue Nikes I purchased saw much action. They cushioned my soles against the city pavement when I walked the half mile each way to Science Hill (and Ingalls Rink). They accompanied me on the intramural battlefields, (but witnessed precious little action in the many squash courts which dotted the campus).

After graduation, the sneaks helped cut grass – their white skin becoming progressively Continue Reading “Outfitting Today’s Athlete”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Growing Up, Mendon, sneakers, Volleyball, Yale

A Personal Reflection of A. Bartlett Giamatti

By Chris Carosa on September 9, 2010

[This Commentary originally appeared in the September 7, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

I sat in Woolsey Hall with 1,300 other Freshmen nearly 11 years ago to the day. At the podium stood the newly ordained University President, who’s very pompous pontification my Gates-Chili classmates had earlier warned me to be wary of. “Remember, Chris,” they advised me prior to my departure in early September, “don’t let their fancy words and snobby accents intimidate you. After all, they’re only Continue Reading “A Personal Reflection of A. Bartlett Giamatti”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged family, Gates Chili, Giamatti, Growing Up, Italian, Yale

3 Reasons You Should Never Resort to a Panel of Experts

By Chris Carosa on May 25, 2010

I sat in on a lecture at a prestigious enclave recently. The guest speaker enthralled the audience with an exciting and informative lecture. As with all good speakers, he left the audience wanting by giving them a question to ponder. One by one the members of the audience – all certified experts in the subject matter – rose to offer commentary and ideas. More of an outsider, and certainly without the credentials of all others, I mulled over my own thoughts. A mortal fear the esteemed scholars would laugh me out of the room should I ask a stupid question kept me at bay. Here’s what I did instead.

I listened.

Set aside your first thought (i.e., “there are no ‘stupid’ questions” – we’ll get to this later) and instead focus on the opportunity provided by foregoing my own ego and simply listening to these intellectual chieftains. In my sedentary yet attentive state, a profound idea stuck me. It exposes a problem that represents the biggest sin every policy maker Continue Reading “3 Reasons You Should Never Resort to a Panel of Experts”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings Tagged philosophy, politics, Yale