Buying some real estate

Some exciting news to share.  I just bought some more real estate: www.benevolentgangs.com
Details coming soon.

be•nev•o•lent
[buh-nev-uh-luh  nt]
adjective

1. characterized by or expressing goodwill or kindly feelings.
2. desiring to help others; charitable.
3. intended for benefits rather than profit.
(Random House)

1.  marked by or disposed to doing good
2.  organized for the purpose of doing good <a benevolent society>
3.  marked by or suggestive of goodwill <benevolent smiles>
(Merriam-Webster)

benevolence (n.) etymology

c.1400, "disposition to do good," from Old French benivolence and directly from Latin benevolentia "good feeling, good will, kindness," from bene "well" (see bene-) + volantem (nominative volens) present participle of velle "to wish" (see will (v.)). In English history, this was the name given to forced extra-legal loans or contributions to the crown, first so called 1473 by Edward IV, who cynically "asked" it as a token of good will toward his rule.
(Online Etymology Dictionary)

gang
[gang]
noun

1. a group or band.
2. a group of people with compatible tastes or mutual interests who gather together for social reasons.
3. a group of persons working together.
(Random House)

1. group: as (1) :  a group of persons working together  
2:  a group of persons having informal and usually close social relations
(Merriam-Webster)

gang (n.) etymology
from Old English gang "a going, journey, way, passage," and Old Norse gangr "a group of men, a set," both from Proto-Germanic *gangaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Danish, Dutch, Old High German, German gang, Old Norse gangr, Gothic gagg "act of going"), from PIE root *ghengh- "to step."

The sense evolution is probably via meaning "a set of articles that usually are taken together in going" (mid-14c.), especially a set of tools used on the same job. By 1620s this had been extended in nautical speech to mean "a company of workmen," and by 1630s the word was being used, with disapproving overtones, for "any band of persons traveling together."
(Online Etymology Dictionary)

Everyday Teachers

A little quote three-pack to take with you on your wanderings this week.  I like to write them on index cards and ponder them when I am out on a walk, on the subway, or waiting in line. 

Wisdom begins in wonder. 

                                                                                    -Socrates

Every moment instructs, and every object: for wisdom is infused in every form.

It has been poured into us as blood; it convulsed us as pain; it slid into us as pleasure; it enveloped us in dull, melancholy days, or in days of cheerful labor;

we did not guess its essence, until after a long time.                

                                                                                    -Emerson, "Nature"

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence,

and I learn, wherever state I may be in, therein to be content.

                                                                                    -Helen Keller