Math show looks worth checking out 

New show called Numb3rs, with Rob Morrow, who played Joel Fleishman on Northern Exposure.

The nature of forgiveness 

Somebody asked me today how I got the three big ugly cuts on my arm. One of my cats messed up me. I find myself not minding in the least that it happened, and in thinking about why it doesn't bother me, I taught myself something about the nature of forgiveness. I've sometimes had a problem with holding a grudge.

What I learned was that the degree to which I'm able to forgive depends on these factors:

Intent. The circumstances were completely understandable. Ali was caught up in the moment, chasing a moth. I was sitting on the sofa with a little plate of coleslaw when she raced over me. She stepped in the slaw, slipped, then got confused and started scrambling for balance. (Heck, I hope friends won't hold me accountable when I'm in a serious moth chase!) But this wouldn't have been enough to completely erase any negative feeling on my part if it were not also for Ali's excellent...

Behavior record. She's the sweetest-tempered being I know. She doesn't usually go around tearing people's flesh. And, last, if I was a saint it wouldn't matter, but I'm not so it does. My forgiveness depends on the degree of my...

Affection for the perpetrator. If I were not disposed to just like her anyway, for reasons quite apart from her non-violent record, I couldn't have given up every ounce of animosity as I did.

So, I have this gash, then a scar for a year, and I don't care, and I learned something.

Thrashing around 

Help me figure out something about using the outliner as a workgroup collaboration tool. Opmlsupport list post.