Serif or No Serif?

I've been an editor for a long long time, and always heard and believed that serif fonts were more legible. But I believed without researching beyond swallowing whole the conventional wisdom in a few old graphic design texts I learned from.

The quick brown fox

jumped over the lazy dog.

This article changed my mind. Hope you enjoy it!

RVC Replacement Pros & Cons Needed

Any of my readers have a list of the pros and cons of the  previously suggested solutions? If so, please drop me a line.

The RVC Conundrum

The bronchitis is lifting, WeeM is over, and I'm trying to get my motivation back to work on Mensa projects.

In my last report to the AMC from the Governance Blueprint Task Force, I specifically requested  "A statement from the AMC indicating this project is important, and that they are inclined to actually consider structural changes would do much to encourage our efforts." Since then, I have heard nothing, not even from the AMC members of the task force. I sent out an email to the committee, asking some questions and trying to nudge some action on some of the small governance issues we're hoping to tackle. I asked for some specific actions, such as "We need someone to gather up and list the options [for RVC replacement] considered and the basic pros and cons of them." I received one response from one committee member supporting an idea already discussed (regarding advertising for appointed positions), and utter silence from the rest.

To say that I'm frustrated is an understatement.

Ok, so I already knew that Mensa leaders are not in a "change is good" mood. I get that. So I'm not going to pound my head against a wall in hopes of making sweeping changes. But there are a few that can be made now, and one in particular that MUST be made now-- the RVC Replacement problem must be solved.

So, finding myself being the little red hen, yet again, I'm taking it on and preparing a background paper in hopes that a solution we haven't thought of will leap out. The good news is, I am seeing a shimmer of an inexpensive solution not yet proposed. I prefer not to describe my idea here yet, since I have more facts to gather first and may yet discover that I'm way out in left field.

I've been combing through the bylaws pulling relevant set sections regarding AMC  appointments and RVC elections.

I've been interviewing people —current and past RVCs and LocSecs— to create a thorough  description of what an RVC really does or is expected to do (fascinating and eye-opening, by the way— and yes, I'll blog it later).

Today I'll go find the New York law and section that is hanging us up regarding not letting the AMC or LocSecs appoint replacement RVCs with voting rights. I have a good notion of what it says, but I need the actual words. 

So there you have it— I'm working to make progress, in tiny tiny stages.

Belated Self-Congratulations

I've been keeping this blog up fairly reliably for over four years! Even I am a little amazed that I have that much to say about Mensa. To my knowledge, this is one of only two such topical blogs, so I'm rather proud and hope that I've been able to contribute to the general open discussion so many members claim to want. I have several thoughts percolating into essays now... I'm just waiting until this horrid cold lets go of me so I can breathe for ten minutes at a time.

I Remember

The kids had just gotten to school- kindergarten, and I was at home, alone,  when Matt called to tell me to turn on the TV, someone had flown a second plane into a second building in New York.... and that there was no way this was a coincidence (we, like everyone else, assumed the first plane was an accident). I spent the rest of the day, glued, watching in horror with the rest of the country, unable to believe what I was seeing and hearing.

At one point, I did call the school to see if they needed any assistance... I figured they might be closing and sending kids home, but they stayed open.

Matt works about 4 miles away, at Fermi National Laboratory — high energy physics. They do pure science and have no classified secrets or weapons, but still it was not an unreasonable target in a world where reason seemed to have disappeared.

When the kids finally got home, they walked in and right away I called them for a "double cuddle" (two perfect children in my lap at one time—nothing better in the world)... and then I just broke down, sobbing. Sobbing for them, for the world they would be living in. For the loss. For the unknown.

I don't know how much they understood. Some bad men stole some planes and blew up buildings because they don't like how Americans live and how we believe. Of course it's far more complex than that, but how does one explain to a 5 year old?

It will be interesting to see what they say today, as we watch a bit of the  coverage and...

   ...remember.

(And yes, they really did hold hands on the way to school. It looks adorable, but the truth is that they were making sure neither of them got there "first")

AMC meeting in Arlington, TX

It's strange to not be at the AMC meeting, but the Facebook status updates of some of the board members are quite revealing.