Entries by Claire Gaus

OPINION: Time to leave (writing) the party

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Friday, December 30. 2011

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By Claire Gaus

My mother said to me when I was still a child, “Always leave the party while you are still having fun.” This is without a doubt the best advice ever given to me and could be applied on many levels to many circumstances.

The most obvious and superficial meaning is to leave any social gathering before the enjoyment of the occasion wanes so you can take with you good memories of what transpired. Enough said. Let’s look at the other levels or situations for which mother’s advice would apply.
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OPINION: A personal 9/11 story

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Claire Gaus

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Friday, September 9. 2011

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By Claire Gaus

On the eleventh day of this month people around the world will be remembering the tenth anniversary of a horrific event. Like two previous horrific events — Pearl Harbor and the assassination of JFK – people will ask one another where they were and what they were doing when it happened.

We all have a story to tell about the three events if we are old enough, but even the young have a story to tell about September 11, 2001. My own story fits into several levels. I was frightened; I was shocked; I was angry; I was compelled to do something. [Full Story »]

The virtues of clear speech

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Claire Gaus

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Friday, January 28. 2011

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By Claire Gaus

Lewis Carroll, author of “Through the Looking Glass,” had Humpty Dumpty say to Alice, “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”

Good argument for egg-shaped Humpty, but what about the person who heard the word? Could he have said, “When I hear a word it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less?” In this garrulous world of speakers and listeners, is it possible that dissention in politics or any debate is in part produced by the inability of each party to agree on just what the concrete meaning of “the word” is? [Full Story »]

Entries by Claire Gaus

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