Posted by Bill Kopper on Mar 01, 2021
 
 
Author David Morse
Photos Jim Belenis
 
 
News and Views – By Dave Morse
 
February 26, 2021.  President Vanessa Errecarte started our zoom meeting ringing the club bell at 7:03 am; we sang “Smile” and “American the Beautiful,” led by Chuck Snipes.
 
 
Visiting guests: Speaker Andy Jones, introduced his guest, a former Davis resident now living in Boise: Leslie Madsen,
 
Guest Rotarians: Brian Horsfield from the Davis noon club .
 
Tim Daleidens special to share:
2019/ 2020 Rotary Citation Silver level: presented to clubs with substantial achievements:  presented to 12 of the 70 clubs in our district: Davis Sunrise was recognized for fellowship, gathering at socials, service committees and international service.
 
                                                                            
 
Announcements:
David Murphy, Bob Poppenga and Don Winters will service on the District Youth Committee
Don Winters added Happy Bucks, and let us all know that David and Bob were amazing and so noted by the district representative.
 
Member poll:
 
What is your comfort level for meetings?
 
I’d like to keep zooming for now – 42%
I would enjoy a hybrid option where I can attend in-person or 50% on Zoom, depending on circumstances that week – 50%
I’m ready to meet in-person – 20%
I’d like to keep meeting on Zoom for now with smaller in person socials – 38%
 
Sgt. of the day Sydney Vergas call for Happy Bucks:
                                                                             
Keith Wattenpaugh:
Recognition of first girl Eagle Scouts – also happy that UC Davis seniors will have the opportunity to experience on campus, in -person class under strict guidelines on speaking for Public advocacy.
Will Portello is happy the family cat “Smudge” likes the zoom classroom which keeps the girls interested in class.
Rick Stromberg’s grandchild Morgan, a sophomore at University of Texas is playing her first collegian soccer game.
Kelly Wilkerson,  “teachers are getting vaccinated, got my first vaccination. Less than 5% said not interested in being vaccinated.”
Brodie Hamilton, “ I’ve been calling Rotary Clubs around the country and I’m amazed at how forthcoming folks are about a fund raising event.”
Andrew Newman,  “I watch a lot of TV, came across a show really different on Hulu ’In and of Itself,’ can’t figure out what was so compelling, still think about it all the time.
 
Sgt. Vergas handed fines to all golfers for the Tiger Woods health fund.  Tim Daleiden was fined for getting a citation.
Larry Greene was fined for ending last week’s after meeting chat session by signing off.  Larry (and most of us) was unaware that he ended the meeting for all members.  If you are a Zoom co host the meeting ends if you leave the meeting.
 
Dr. Andy Jones - What Writing a Book Titled “The Determined Writer Has Taught Me About Resolve”
Keith Watenpaugh introduced today’s speaker Andy Jones.  Andy has been a periodic addition to our club, supporter of our club, including our Trivia Night fundraiser and whenever asked for help, he has been there.
Andy teaches writing at the university.  He is past Poet Laureate for the City of Davis.  Andy helped faculty not comfortable with electronic mediums to work in the new off campus instruction model.
 
Reporter’s comment.   I like many of you was challenged to record the quotes, author names, and book titles.  To augment my note taking, I have included comments made by members in the on-line chat section which appears at the end of this article.  I removed commenter names. 
 
Title of talk:  “Resolve” is an important topic, as we commemorate 500,000 American lost lives to Covid.  We have experienced dramatic changes in our habits and routines.  For example, many of us are no longer commuting for work.
Three motivators:  autonomy, mastery and purpose. We have autonomy, but don’t have
connection of purpose, we miss getting together.
 
We have three places: home, work, and other.  Some people may be returning to church, synagogue or the Davis Famer’s Market or restaurants as they open.  We don’t get to congregate at the workplace, or at a third place: like Odd Fellows Hall.  We are largely rooted in our first place, confined to homes. 
I sit in this same chair for this meeting, teaching, writing my weekly column. Around my house I am known as the man with one chair. I’m sitting in our dining room. 
 
Having to multi task all the time, my 20 year old son, brings me frozen meals.   I’m teaching him how to use the microwave while I am teaching classes. 
Studies show that when you are interrupted, it takes 23+ minutes to refocus on what we were doing.  I sit in the middle of the “distraction” factory.”    We need more separation.
 
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, quoted friend Allen Ginsberg:  “first thought best thought,  turn to ideas that come to us first.”   My amendment: first thought, only available thought, then come the interruptions.

We have become multitaskers, this affects our identity.
 
Where do we find wisdom and guidance?  Many people turn to quotations.
 
“We must all suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” 
 
Andy started a project, the determined writer, collecting quotes to inspire writers. 
I thought I would find 200 quotes of wisdom, I have collected 4,000 quotations, I am aiming to get 5,000 quoted.”
 
Kafka: “I need solitude not like a hermit but like a dead man.”
 
“Writing is sweet and drudgery at same time.”
 
“I suggest turn to lives and pithy quotation of writers and following their examples and wisdom might renew purpose in our work.”
 
Questions
 
Lori Raineri:
 “Man’s Search for Meaning” (Viktor Fanki)
Meaning comes from the work you do, meaning comes from giving not taking.
 
Clay Brandow:  Q. I like idea of a third place, Rotary is a third place, I formed a book club with three guys I went to school with. 
  1. Mine is an insight, I’ve been a lot more creative than I was usually.  Some are binge watching television,  others use the dining room table for art projects.
 
 
 
Tom McHale, three truths and a lie:
  • I once climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji.
  • While visiting East Berlin in 1985 I was briefly detained by authorities outside the soviet Embassy.
  • The first time I visited Davis I participated in a Picnic Day Parade.
  • I was born on Valentine’s Day.
 
Answer: Tom was not detained by authorities; he was asked to keep walking as he sat on a sidewalk.
 
Joke of the day. Leap years.
What athletes wear on Feb 28 on leap day?  “a jump suit.”
 
Where to people eat on leap day?
“I hop”
 
Our meeting ended with the ringing of the bell at 8:05 am. 
 
 
After meeting Chat with Andy Jones
 
“if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them.”
― Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow
 
St Augustine.  “The world is a book,  or those who do not travel it is like reading only one page.
 
Rene Descarte: “masked I advanced”
 
Wayne Tiebot:
“The discipline is not a restriction but an aid to freedom.”
 
Andy Jones book “The Determined Writer,”  Lori Raineri says “may be a one book one meeting club, we’ll do it one more time with this book.”
 
Below is some of the screen chatter.  It may be useful for those folks who had trouble following book names, authors, and quotes, like I did. 
 
Member and Andy Jones online chat
the first book is “Atomic Habits,” James Clear
the second book was “Drive.”
by Daniel Pink.
 
He also mentioned an Orhan Pamuk’s book
“Distraction Factory”
I think it was probably the Naïve and Sentimental Novelist, by Orhan Pamuk
His best book is “My Name is Red.”
 
Bowling Alone: “The Collapse and Revival of American Community”  by Robert D. Putnam,  “Bowling Alone” (Robert Putman) is the book that made me realize I needed to join Rotary
 
Wallace Stegner
 
How about something from “The Obstacle is the Way,” Ryan Holiday
 
"Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful." Mary Shelley
"I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea.'" Mary Shelley
 
"First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice." Octavia Butler
 
 “Any string of meaningfully connected words is better than none.” Ursula K. LeGuin
 
 “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” J.D. Salinger
Daniel Pink’s Drive — AMP