Leaders, Life & Purpose

Two Fridays ago I went to listen to a speaker that was sponsored by Leaders, Life and Purpose (I went to an event sponsored by LLP back in October). The main draw of the speech was that it was being held at the US Ambassador’s residence - of course I wanted to see the inside!

The lesser draw was that I have been craving ‘deep, meaningful’ conversation that is NOT about work. I had such a great community in Boston through church, friends, and other social organisations, that I was never lacking for challenging thought, questioning beliefs, and social interaction outside the office. Paris is a different story. I basically live work 100% as my social network consists of only a few colleagues and bell choir rehearsal two hours per week.

The speech Failure in Success? Success in Failure? that was being given by Jonathan Aitken seemed like a good way to have a bit of a life outside the office, even if the title didn’t really ‘capture’ me. But this line in the invitation email did : ‘... with glimpses from his own colorful career as a U.K. Cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament, and ex-prisoner and his experience rebuilding a life after prison, bankruptcy, and divorce.’

As we sat down to the dining table that comfortably fit 30, having a light breakfast, Aitken began his remarks. At first I thought I’d be able to remember the 2-3 points that struck me, soon I had pen and paper out writing down all sorts of things and have been thinking about all he said since then.

Such as :

--CS Lewis said Pride is the greatest sin ; Aitken agrees. ... So then I started thinking about pride, if I have it, who else has it, what I think of it, etc. I have no answers yet, but welcome discussion.

--and that pride is not the same thing as ambition, being driven or having energy

--Denial : Aitken said people do not want to admit they are the cause of their own, or other peoples, problems. That a parent will admit the faults of the children are all due to society, or their children, and not recognising that they could be part of the problem ; and in opposite that parents will not admit their own problems, instead blaming society, unruly children, the economy, etc. ... This is more difficult because it means turning the pointing finger of blame back to myself, and helping others do the same.

--Being rooted : He asked what our roots are, what roots us, in terms of values. ...I have started to think, well what is a list of values? Which do I think are most important? Which do I have and are these different from those I want to have? This has been an interesting inner discussion as I realised I couldn’t name what values I cherish most. More posts to come on this as I discover my answers. Again, welcome discussion.

--Failure : he said he likes to ask people what is their greatest failure. ... And in my first internal reaction, I first thought of things work related. Then I was shocked as I realised I did not first think of a failure I had done to myself on a personal level ; nor how I may have failed my family, my friends, my faith, or society.

--’Pluses of pain’ : when he said this, I really liked it. ... Because so many of us wallow in our own self-pity whenever something goes wrong, and we rarely take the time to look at what good can come from it. And then it made me think about the title of the speech again : Failure in Success? Success in Failure? And how both of these statements can be true - if only we took the time to realise it. And that some success is just like a Pyrrhic Victory.

--He mentioned that one way to get closer to one’s faith, or if not faith, then personal growth, is through small groups - that the personal touch of these, the implied accountability, are important. ... So I’ve begun to search out a small group or two that I can join (book club, social event, etc.) Will keep you posted!

--Other things he mentioned, which I want to check out are : Psalms 130, 51 and 131 (during his time in jail, he devoured all he could on the Psalms and then went into Seminary and focused on them) and the Tom Houston book Public and Private Morality.

--His anecdotes of his time in prison were great - murderers and thieves, and him there on perjury. But that how he learned so much from these men, and they from him. And how a small group prayer/faith study formed almost accidentally. How all this shaped and changed him. It was great in contrast to Jeffrey Archer - another famous UK man who spent time in jail. Archer and Aitken were acquaintances and met after both were released from prison. Archer told Aitken that he learned nothing in jail, indignant that anyone could think he was guilty. ... Hmph!

--In the Q&A portion, one man said he had a similar ‘change in heart’ as Aitken had when he himself was in his 50s/60s, when he asked himself : ‘who will I be when I’m no longer driven by my insecurities and fear, and the need to please other people, and the need for recognition?’ ... Um, ok, wow. Lots to think about there - and I’m hoping my answers to this will come from my self-discovery on my own values.

What was refreshing was that Aitken went to jail at age 57 and then changed his entire outlook on life as a result. Now he uses his time and talents fighting for prison reform and social justice, advocating faith, and enabling positive change. So if he can change at 57, it’s not too late for any of us!

Looking back, this was exactly the type of thing I’ve been craving. Discussion on faith, values, business and politics. And Aitken is certainly good at speaking, quoting scripture, Shakespeare, Kissinger, CS Lewis, etc. A mental workout definitely.

I am glad I did not do research on Jonathan Aitken before going to hear him speak. I think if I had, I would not have respected him as much, or perhaps not listened with an open mind. The articles and his story/actions paint a pretty bleak picture of him. And I realise this is a failing on my part - that I likely would have pre-judged him, despite all the amazing work he has done since. If you do want to know more about him, you can find various articles on The Guardian’s website, or BBC, and of course Wikipedia.

Oh, and the Ambassador’s residence? WOW. The 2 rooms we saw were fantastic. Amazing artwork. The curtains were fabulous. The tassels holding them back were amazing works of art themselves. Originally built for a baroness in the mid 1800s, it was acquired by a Rothschild in 1876 and then sold to the US Government in 1948.

Values

I have to laugh at our corporate values. As a result of the merger of the two groups, new values needed to be created. Fine, good.

Previous Values :
Professionalism
Sense of partnership
Team spirit
Value creation
Respect for the environment
Ethics

New Values of the combined Group:
Drive / Exigence
Comittment / Engagement
Daring / Audace
Cohesion / Cohésion

These were released 6 months ago and I still cannot help feeling it was a step backwards. Something is definitely lost in translation. Daring? What does that mean? The further definition gives us :

Drive / Exigence : guarantee performance over the long term, for all stakeholders ; efficiency ; innovation. Seriously? You get all of that from ‘drive’?

Commitment / Engagement : development with respect for the planet ; provide essential services for people. Ok, but why not keep it ‘respect for the environment’? From ‘commitment’ I certainly do not think about the trees.

Daring / Audace : live with optimism and build a future with creativity. Huh?

Cohesion / Cohésion : shared spirit of teamwork ; sustainable sources of progress and development. Kind of seems like the catch-all value, the feel good one you have to have even if you don’t define it well.

And then the collateral used for this ... well, that’s an entirely separate story which cracks me up!!! See, the corporate communication group does a great job. But for this, the main image was a group of about 100 people walking in a triangle shape, like an arrow sort of. Of course, on the little postcard we all got, I noticed the details. And the details were that these were stock images! See that guy in the khaki pants and red shirt on the left? Well he’s in khaki pants and a blue shirt on the right! And further back in the same outfit! There are probably at least 10 ‘individuals’ who are repeated – either exactly as is, or just with in different colored shirt or trousers. Unbelievable. So much for creativity. At least originality is not one of the values.

Why do I bring up values that were released 6 months ago? Well, the whole ‘respect for the environment’ thing really gets to me. We’re moving office locations over a span of about 6 weeks (different floors/locations move on different weeks). In preparation there have been bins in the hallways for recycling non-sensitive paper material and other bins for shredding documents. Fine, good.

Well, in these clearly marked ‘paper recycle bins’ there was most definitely :
--sensitive information
--non paper stuff
--perfectly good folders, binders, dividers, etc.

In fact, there were so many perfectly good things in the bin that I was doing my own ‘dumpster diving’ and got a nice new stack of office supplies. Several colleagues were trying to stop me, point me to the supply cabinets. So I said somewhat forcefully and in disbelief, ‘but these are perfectly fine! They are like brand new – this is so wasteful to throw all of this away, no respect for the environment. What values?’ And then I’d walk away with my head held high, basking in my saving of the environment one used folder at a time.

Acronyms

France must be an acronym for something if my company is any indication of how things are named in this country (and one really has to wonder, because I’m referring to the half of my company, pre merger, which was state owned and thus more ‘French’ than ‘International’ (in my opinion)).

The each letter in the acronym can represent the first word of the project description ; or 2 letters from the first word, the 3rd letter from the second word, and the last letter of the last word ; or some other crazy system, which lends you no help in trying to determine just what exactly the project is supposed to be. Here is just a sampling of projects, software projects, databases, etc. that we use for all sorts of things including technology updates (email, computer), price curves, valuation tools, etc. :

skipper, melinda, meteor, sicav, actarus, vegas, pomax, valse, pluggin, and my personal favourite, gedy (complete with a picture of C3P0).

And while they are quite creative, spending hours, days, weeks on meetings and votes/polls for names of new projects, naming of children is a bit simpler .... Jean-Philippe, Jean-Claude, Jean-Noel, Jean-Marie, Jean-Charles, Jean-Luc, Jean-Baptiste ...

I’ll give a prize to the best creation of what France, or Paris, could represent.

e.g. Paris = Pretty Area Ruined In Sh!t

Lent

If you are giving up caffeine or chocolate for Lent, I.Don't.Care. All that does is benefit you. But, if you're taking on something new, doing something that benefits other people, that's something about which I do want to know.

As for me, still haven't solidified what, if anything, I'm giving up or taking on. I figure I haven't made/kept any New Year's Resolutions, nor Birthday ones, so I'm not confident in my success rate here.

Happy Birthday Marietta

Happy Founder's Day and 175th Birthday to Marietta College today!

Vacuums

First, updates from my Facebook posts this week :

Last Sunday, Feb 7 : If my BlackBerry had a camera, I could have posted a picture of the 17 blokes, all wearing helmets, in a single file line, in front of the Eiffel Tower, riding Segways.

Last Sunday, Feb 7 : Since the Patriots aren't playing, the Super Bowl doesn't exist for me. The Red Sox report for Spring Training in 10 days. (update - equipment trucks left for Florida!)

Friday, Feb 12 : So happy to be living in a place where it appears that no one cares much about (1) the Olympics ; (2) the We Are the World remake ; and (3) Valentines Day.

Friday, Feb 12 : Happy Birthday Cassie!!

Today...

I had yet another thrilling and exciting morning in the life of a single woman in Paris. I bought a vacuum. Since I bought 2 rugs in Marrakech, I figured I needed one. And my 2nd bedroom has carpet, which I have not vacuumed since I moved in, but as consolation I told myself that all I use it for is drying laundry so it couldn’t be that dirty.

Anyway, two weekends ago I looked at vacuums at Darty (electronics store) but there was too much choice, and I was shocked at the prices. So I went to a local store on Rue Cler today, which only sells vacuums, pretended I understood the woman’s French, and picked one. (Note : Rue Cler is one of the best pedestrian/market streets in Paris. Now overrun with tourists thanks to Rick Steves - but, he doesn’t include this vacuum store in his map!)

And, I’m surprisingly happy! The thing really cleans! And, I did some online research after the fact (a trait of mine ... buy something now, see if price decreases later or if better seats available ; or buy something now and then research to see if there was something better). Turns, out, the price I paid is comparable to what is on Amazon, and this little bit of German engineering gets great marks! Whew. I got the Miele S4212, but in the only color available, maroon (of course I would’ve preferred a shade of blue).

Now, I am procrastinating from doing my US taxes, a Health Assessment form, and balancing my bank statements.

Floods and Photography

Last weekend (Saturday Jan 30) I went to two temporary exhibitions in Paris - and they were both well worth the trip out into the cold when my preference is generally to stay inside with a cup of tea, a good book and a jigsaw puzzle.

These were two things I really wanted to see. For coworker/friend Paul and his wife, my friend, Sybil, these were things they wanted to see, too, but also they’ve been to all the ‘A-list’ museums in Paris, and B-list...they think they’re down to E-list now.

Anyway.

First was Izis : Paris des Rêves. The website is very good, albeit with a lot of flash, as it includes a sampling of the photos.

Israëlis Bidermanas (1911–1980) was Lithuanian, but spent most of his life in Paris. He is known for his more ‘humanist’ photographs, as well as those of circuses and of resistance fighters. ‘Paris of Dreams’ is the title of his first book. In 1950 he joined the staff of Paris Match, and worked for that magazine for 20 years. He also was chosen by Chagall to photograph Chagall’s work / creation of the ceiling of the Paris Opera.

What I liked about this exhibition ...

Izis did a series of photos in London at the time of QEII’s coronation. The difference between the London scenes and Paris scenes is evident, but I cannot find the words to describe it - I just know that the two cities looked/felt different - does that make sense?

The photos were just simple, yet artistic, and showed everyday life - often with either a humorous or sad undertone. He captured expressions, body language, and landscape. I’m not sure if the photos were more powerful because they were all black and white?

He also photographed men fishing along the Seine ; one line from the audio guide said that ‘a fishing rod is like a do not disturb sign.’ I’d never thought of it that way before, but it is so accurate.

At the Hôtel de Ville

From 20 Jan to 29 May 2010

Every day, 10h - 19h, except Sundays and holidays

Admission free ; 5 € for audio guide (and it is a good one)

After lunch we ventured over to the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris for : Paris Inonde 1910.

Wow.

In January 1910, Paris had a huge flood. The website is very good and the ‘carte interactive’ is great. I cannot remember specifically, but it was a result of melting snow, more snow and rain ; plus there were not the dams and water control in place that there is now. The high water lasted from end Jan to beginning March, with the extreme height from 21-28 Jan ; and then clean-up commenced.

The water came to the base of most all the bridges, and spilled into the city. I just cannot imagine what it was like : January, cold, dark. No heat, no lights, no running water.

Galerie des bibliothèques - Ville de Paris

22, rue Malher, 75004

Tues- Sun, 13h to 19h ; Thursdays until 21h

4€ entry

Definitions

Just because I always question which is correct to use, and thus I'm always looking up the usage, I'm posting here so you know, too (from dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster)

So it seems ‘quote’ is a verb and ‘quotation’ is a noun. However, I’m still not sure if it correct to say I went to an art ‘exhibit’ or ‘exhibition’.

Exhibit

Verb, used with object (transitive)

--to offer for view or inspection (exhibit the newest iPods)

--to manifest or display outwardly, especially visible by signs or actions (exhibit anger or interest)

--to place on show for purposes of competition or demonstration

--to submit to a court ; to present/offer officially or in legal form

Verb, used without object (intransitive)

--to make or give an exhibition

--present something to public view

Noun

--an act or instance of exhibiting

--an object or collection of objects shown in an exhibition

Exhibition

Noun

--a public showing (of art, products, athletic skill)

--a large fair of extended duration

Quote

Verb (transitive)

--to speak or write from another source with credit acknowledgement

--to cite in illustration

--to state the bid/offer for a commodity/stock/bond

Verb (intransitive ; w/o object)

--to inform a hearer/reader that matter following is quoted

--to make a quotation

Quotation

Noun

--something that is quoted ; a passage quoted from a book, speech

--the act or process of quoting

--naming or publishing of bids and offers of prices/securities/commodities

Sunday morning

If my BlackBerry had a camera, I could have posted a picture of the 17 blokes, all wearing helmets, in a single file line, in front of the Eiffel Tower, riding Segways. This was too much of an assault on the senses and my sarcastic wit for 10:15 in the morning.

I went to the grocery this morning to get a few things and obviously the grocery list I had started in my kitchen was an old one, as I now have 6 rolls of paper towels, 8 boxes of tissues, and 20 rolls of toilet paper. I guess that song is right ... 'making a list and checking it twice'.

Growing Older But Not Up

Ok, I’ll say it : I do not like celebrating my birthday. I should’ve been a Wednesday’s child, not a Tuesday’s.

It’s not that I care about being older, because that does not faze me. Honestly. 33, 23, 45, whatever. Either you become another year older or you’re dead – so I’ll take being another year older. And everyone ages. Every day in fact. So it’s not like my turning another year older makes me more, or less, special than anyone else.

And, coming from a small family, it’s not like birthdays were huge events in our house. Sure, we celebrated, but it was always small scale. Or inevitably, one of us had gymnastics, soccer, volleyball, study group, you-name-it, after school so plans were delayed or altered. Plus, with a birthday on the heels of Christmas and New Year’s, I’m all partied out. And, growing up, I knew that whatever I had not received on my Christmas list, I was going to receive for my birthday. Both holidays involve sweaters and jeans, it’s not like I can benefit from a summer and winter wardrobe, or new releases of books. I just get the after Christmas sales (which, I will say, I took advantage of this year and bought myself some nice things in the off-season).

Other reasons I could care less about celebrating my birthday :

-inevitably, when someone finds out it’s my birthday (or anyone else’s), said person will say, ‘only # years old? That’s so young!’ or ‘I cannot remember being that young’ or some other such inane thing. Don’t you realise that makes any special feelings I had about my birthday vanish into the pot of your ‘dismissivness’? Don’t trivialize my birthday.

-or, people younger than me say something like ‘you’re # years old? Wow, what’s that feel like?’ And this is exclaimed in a way that makes me feel ancient, uncool, and older than one feels.’ Thanks, but I don’t need that.

-when I wake up, I don’t feel differently. I don’t remember being born. Nothing changes overnight in some magical way.

-in my memory, whenever I have planned a party or anything special like that, it was always way way less than my expectations and I was severely disappointed and let down. So now I figure why go to the hassle of planning, of all the cooking – cleaning – shopping – anticipating – etc., when I will just be frustrated and sad?

- do NOT ‘surprise’ me with a cake at dinner and do NOT try to plan my dinner, or a dinner around the date of my birthday, don’t try to tell me I need to go out with you, and a group of people, to celebrate, and don’t talk down to me if I say I just want to spend my birthday at home doing what I want. It might make you feel better or superior or ‘giving’ when you think you’re doing something ‘for’ me, but I despise it – all you are doing is making yourself feel better. Pat yourself on your back at someone else’s expense, not mine. And I cannot stand the song ‘Happy Birthday’.

-to continue on that thought, I often don’t want to do anything with others for my birthday because I don’t want to subject other people to doing something they may not enjoy ; or I may not know what I want to do / where I want to go until the last minute, and that isn’t fair to the invited people. Sure, I go along with whatever you want to do for your birthday, even if I don’t like it. But I don’t want to subject you to the same discomfort. Human beings are selfish enough anyway, why do we need to go above and beyond?

-living in a different time zone just makes it less special. For me, my birthday is half over by the time most of you are waking up. And do I celebrate my birthday in my current timezone, or do I have to wait until the timezone of my birth location? (At which time, I’ll be in bed asleep.)

-and birthdays just make me play the comparison game in my head. At my age, my parents had been married 10 years and had 2 kids. Refer back to first point, where everyone older than me this past week has been telling me what they were doing ‘when they were my age.’ In every case, it makes it seem like I am the lesser person – I am not married, I don’t have kids, I am not a vice president, I am not travelling SE Asia, I don’t have a doctorate, etc. Sure, I know these people are just making conversation, but the comparison game never works well. Having a birthday just reminds me that I don’t know what I want to do with my life, where I want to do it, or when ; and that other people seem to have done more than me by the same point in their lives.

So, I don’t need people dismissing me, and I don’t need to feel like I’m older than I am or less than I am. I am what I am. Who cares if I survived another year? We should celebrate every day if that were the case.

Why all the megativity around this? Well, I’ve always felt this way, now I’m just voicing it.

For a cultural perspective : in France it is the responsibility of the birthday person to take friends out to dinner and/or bring croissants (or something) in to the office. Overall, probably a good deal as then you never have to foot expensive bills for all of your friends’ random celebrations – this way you only pay once during the year. However, it is a bit annoying to shell out 30 USD before 8 a.m.

To end on positive notes :

-in the last decade (Feb 3 2002 ; Feb 1 2004 ; Feb 6 2005) I had the joy of celebrating my birthday at Super Bowl parties (go Pats!), at which no one knew it was my birthday. So that was fine, and fun.

-2008 was a good celebration because I was in Houston and then on a plane to New Orleans for Mardi Gras where I celebrated with Cassie and Manny – thanks !!!

-with a birthday on the heels of New Year’s, I am given a 2nd chance at completing resolutions and refocusing my life (not like it has mattered or amounted to anything). I feel like I’ve had a month to relax from the holidays and travel, and thus I can spend some time thinking about what I’d like to change in my life.

-the Australian Open and US Figure Skating championships are always around my birthday (not that I watch either, but still)

-I do love receiving emails and cards for my birthday. These I can enjoy at home, read them again and again, and know that you took time out of your busy day to write me. I like that. And I apologise to all of you who received belated birthday cards from me in 2009 (or so belated, none at all). I promise to be better this year!!!

-And, the past few years, I have come to count on Cirque du Soleil, NFL UK, Swarovski, Best Buy, FNAC and Eddie Bauer – I get email birthday greetings from them, always in my mailbox before I wake up. Today, as of 2 p.m. Paris I’ve received 3 email wishes from friends (not w/in the office) and 6 from companies.

Birthday

February 1
Feast day of St John of the Grating, St Henry Morse, St Pionius, St Bride or Brigid of Kildare, St Seiriol, and St Sigebert III of Austria

2005 : Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country to sanction same-sex marriage.
2004 : Super Bowl XXXVIII, Reliant Stadium, Houston, New England Patriots beat Carolina Panthers 32-29. Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.
2003 : Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
1996 : Visa and MasterCard announced security measures that will make it safe to shop on the Internet
1991 : President F. W. de Klerk, says he would repeal all apartheid laws
1982 : "Late Night With David Letterman," debuts on NBC-TV
1979 : Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after 16 years of exile
1978 : Harriet Tubman is 1st black woman honored on a U.S. postage stamp
1978 : Director Roman Polanski skips bail and fled to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
1977 : Heavy blizzard in New England claims 100 lives (what a day!)
1972 : 1st scientific hand-held calculator, the HP-35, introduced for $395
1968 : Former Vice President Richard Nixon announces candidacy for presidency
1968 : Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan is videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams. This image helped build opposition to the Vietnam War. ( this is the image I recall the most, one of the events I recall most often, when I think of Feb 1 ‘this day in history’)
1966 : Buster Keaton died, US silent-film comedian
1965 : Martin Luther King, Jr. and 700 demonstrators arrested in Selma, Alabama
1965 : Peter Jennings, 26, becomes anchor of ABC's nightly news (he was only 26???!!!!)
1965 : NL adopts emergency team replacement plan to restock any club struck by disaster (wow, that’s eerily fascinating)
1960 : 4 students stage 1st civil rights sit-in, at Greensboro North Carolina Woolworth (this is something else I also associate with Feb 1)
1959 : Swiss males vote against voting rights for women
1957 : 1st black pilot (PH Young) on a U.S. scheduled passenger airline
1954 : 1st TV soap opera "Secret Storm" premieres
1953 : "You Are There" with Walter Cronkite premieres on CBS television
1953 : Dr. A de Waal appointed as Netherlands 1st female Assistant Secretary of State
1944 : Piet Mondrian died, Swiss painter
1920 : The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begins operations.
1930 : The Times published its first crossword puzzle (not 100% certain of this, but it’s fun to think it’s true – and not sure which ‘Times’ is meant)
1898 : 1st auto insurance policy in U.S. issued, by Travelers Insurance Co
1896 : Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme," premieres in Turin (no, I’ve never seen this)
1892 : Mrs William Astor invites 400 guests to a grand ball at her mansion thus beginning use of "400" to describe socially elite
1884 : 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published (ok, this is very very cool)
1871 : Jefferson Long of Georgia is 1st black to make an official speech in House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates)
1865 : 13th amendment approved by President Abraham Lincoln
1865 : General Sherman's march through South Carolina begins
1865 : J. S. Rock, 1st black lawyer to practice in Supreme Court, admitted to bar
1862 : Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of Republic"
1861 : Texas becomes 7th state to secede
1851 : Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley died, English novelist
1810 : 1st insurance co managed by blacks, American Insurance Company of Philadelphia
1793 : France declares war on England and Netherlands
1790 : Supreme Court convenes for 1st time (New York City)
1650 : René Descartes died, French scientist and philosopher
1587 : English queen Elizabeth I signs Mary Stuarts death sentence



When looking at who was born on February 1st over the centuries, either I’ve missed my calling, or society doesn’t put much weight into when business leaders were born. Then again, for this data to really mean anything, I’d have to compare it to other birth dates / sun signs / months / etc. to see if there is a trend, or if this is the normal distribution :
Athlete : 49
Actor / Director / Singer : 49
Composer : 24
Military / Politician : 22
Writer : 18
Science / Psychology : 9
Philosophy / Education : 7
Law : 5
Religious : 5
Artist : 3
Business : 3

Births Of note (to me) :
1968 : George Quigley, Jr., born in Cincinnati, Ohio, skeet 1996 Olympics
1968 : Lisa Marie Presley, American Musician
1967 : Tim Naehring, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, infielder for the Boston Red Sox
1965 : Stephanie Marie Elisabeth de Grimaldi, Monte Carlo Monaco, Princess
1948 : Rick James, American Musician
1938 : Sherman Hemsley, Philadelphia, actor, All in the Family, Jeffersons, Amen
1937 : Don Everly, Brownie, Kentucky, vocalist, Everly Bros-Wake Up Little Susie
1931 : Boris Yeltsin, born in Russia, first President of the Russian Federation, endorsed free market economies
1905 : Emilio Segre, born in Tivoli, Italy, physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, discovered antiprotons, a sub-atomic antiparticle and an element used for Fat Man atomic bomb used on Nagasaki
1902 : Langston Hughes, poet/translator
1901 : Clark Gable, born in Cadiz, Ohio, actor, Gone With the Wind
1878 : Hattie Wyatt Caraway, politician/teacher/1st woman elected to senate (not sure if US or State)