Auto-Matically Crazy
Feb/27/2009 09:16 AM | Permalink
I had a hard disk crash last week, which means I am
now hopelessly behind in Facebook notes. Yes, I want
to do the album cover, and my 15 "desert isle" CDs,
and my Musical Facts. Those are all cool. But I don't
have time to do those today.
However, these questions, given to me by fellow Nashbillian, JP, have been written up and ready to go for a week..since the day the hard disk crashed...so here you go....(ps: I added the question about wrecks, and today's dream car...) EF
Is it true we are what we drive? Compile a list of vehicles that have been in your life.
(i.e., autos, trucks, any internal combustion or electric/hybrid vehicle)
Instructions: Copy this page to the body in “notes”
Delete previous answers and then add your own.
Tag as many people as you wish to receive it.
Then click “publish” in notes section
1. What is your first “vehicular” memory?
Driving with my grandmother through the streets of Atlanta, Texas and yelling at her to watch out, because I was sure she was going to hit somebody. I have no idea why I did this, at age 4 or 5, or any evidence that she was actually a bad driver.
2. What was the first “amazing” vehicle you ever saw?
The Batmobile from the TV show. I can't remember where I actually saw it, though. It might have been during the short stint we lived in California in the late 60s. I know it was at a shopping mall, and on display. Since Batman was my personal hero, this was an incredibly cool moment.
3. What car did you learn to drive in?
Two cars. My Dad's puke green 1970's Plymouth Valiant-- perhaps the geekiest car ever known to humankind-- and my Mom's powderblue Chrysler station wagon...also, circa 1970s.
4. In what vehicle did you have your first date?
My 1965 For Mustang (see below
5. What vehicle do you most remember riding or driving to school?
My 1965 Ford Mustang (see below)
6. What was the first vehicle that was yours alone and where is it now?
For reasons still unknown to me, my Kentucky grandfather had bought a '65 Mustang, that served as the only car I'd ever known them to own. I remember driving with him around Covington in it. When he died and after I turned 16, we took a special trip to Kentucky to recover several items and bring them back to Texas. Among them: my roll top desk, and that '65 Stang, which then became my first car....given to me by my GRANDPARENTS.
It was, by a factor of 1,000, the coolest car I ever owned, and probably will ever own. Even worse, I had a clear teenage sense of just how cool it was, and lived those years between 16-21 knowing they would be the absolute Zenith of my car coolness.
When I was in graduate school, and the car was now aproaching 30-years-old, it began to break quite a bit. Minor things, really. Had I had any income at all, I would have kept it, and fixed it every time. But I needed reliable wheels, and it was, more and more, becoming a show car.
So, I sold it my good friend, Stu, and his Dad, who wanted to restore it. But, like me, money and time got in their way. They eventually sold it to a guy in Richardson who does restoration. Stu gave me the address once so I could drive by, and told me the guy still had the car. But despite my curiosity, I've never made it by to take a look.
7. Have you ever totalled/wrecked a car? Describe.
Within days of getting my license, I had my first wreck when I went to get my friend, John Ramey, and fishtailed the family station wagon while turning the very first corner at the end of his block. It was wet. It had been raining. And I was trying to be cool, since I knew I was the first friend of John's ever to take him for a ride. (I was the oldest in my class, and always the first to do everything...including get my license...)
We fished-tailed, and the front end of the car ended up over the curb of one of his neighbor's lawns. I freaked, and instead of putting in reverse, I hit the accelerator. The car lurked forward and bumped a tree.
We got out for a second, and then John said, "Let's run! Let's GO!"
So, we drove back to my place in silence, and got out. It was dark, and so we went to inspect the damage. There didn't seem to be any, and so we resolved to tell no one.
Of course, there WAS damage. And the next day, in the light of day, I got in some of the worst trouble of my life...first, for having the wreck, and second, for trying to keep it a secret. It was truly a "fender-bender," but a horrifying experience, nonetheless.
A few years later, I was driving my Dad's Plymouth Valiant to school (I don't know why) and was headed across the parking lot at the corner of Belt Line and Coit. (the Northeast quadrant) There used to be a 7-11 there, and I was headed for 7-11 for a quick snack. A businessman, cutting across the parking lot to avoid the long light (from Westbound Belt Line to Northbound Coit) flew out of nowhere and slammed into me broadside.....literally crushing in the driver and passenger doors.
In retrospect, it's was probably a lot worse of an accident that I realized at the time. It totaled that car...which in a weird way helped the car-hipness of our family, because the Valiant was gone.
In 1999, Dennise had a terrible car accident, and that's really her story to tell. Sufficed to say, it was one of the scariest moments of my life, in that the police called me to the accident scene (at Yale and Central) to recover her phone and purse. I had Maria with me in the baby seat (Dennise was joining us at a party for one of Maria's two-year-old friends...)
Her car was so completely totaled (the roof had been removed by the "Jaws of Life" to extract her) that I didn't even recognize it when I arrived on the scene...I was overcome by the half dozen police, ambulance, and fire trucks. They told me they'd already transported her to Baylor. Given how the car looked, I had the fear that she'd be near dead. And, in fact, the person who phoned in the accident to the police later told his wife, "I don't think the person in the white car made it out alive."
Dennise, turns out, was mostly fine, with what a hospital would probably call "minor" injuries. She had stitches in a few places, had to have hand surgery, and she struggled with short-term memory problems for about a year (She still had a better memory that me!) But she was going to be OK.
Nevertheless, the vision of that twisted piece of metal, the glass scattered across the road, will stay with me always.
8. Your worst vehicle?
This is a toughie. From the Mustang, I went to two small trucks (an S-10 and a Ranger successively) that were both quite reliable. We have a Jeep now that tends to break down a lot, and so I guess I'll go with that. Although, all-in-all, I've liked every car I've ever owned.
9. What’s your current vehicle, and what’s the most favorite vehicle you’ve had?
Two: A Jeep Cherokee (the classic body) and an early Toyota Prius (before they adopted the current body style) I love both of them for different reasons. The Jeep, because of it's classic style...the Prius because....it's a Prius.
10. What is your dream car?
I have two. I would love to be independently wealthy, and find a way to buy back either my 65 Mustang, or another one similar to it. Alongside that, I would love to have one of the models from the last few years. I LOVE the Mustangs of the "2000s" and would love to own one of those too.
But my *favorite* of all time? Hands down, the Mustang.
However, these questions, given to me by fellow Nashbillian, JP, have been written up and ready to go for a week..since the day the hard disk crashed...so here you go....(ps: I added the question about wrecks, and today's dream car...) EF
Is it true we are what we drive? Compile a list of vehicles that have been in your life.
(i.e., autos, trucks, any internal combustion or electric/hybrid vehicle)
Instructions: Copy this page to the body in “notes”
Delete previous answers and then add your own.
Tag as many people as you wish to receive it.
Then click “publish” in notes section
1. What is your first “vehicular” memory?
Driving with my grandmother through the streets of Atlanta, Texas and yelling at her to watch out, because I was sure she was going to hit somebody. I have no idea why I did this, at age 4 or 5, or any evidence that she was actually a bad driver.
2. What was the first “amazing” vehicle you ever saw?
The Batmobile from the TV show. I can't remember where I actually saw it, though. It might have been during the short stint we lived in California in the late 60s. I know it was at a shopping mall, and on display. Since Batman was my personal hero, this was an incredibly cool moment.
3. What car did you learn to drive in?
Two cars. My Dad's puke green 1970's Plymouth Valiant-- perhaps the geekiest car ever known to humankind-- and my Mom's powderblue Chrysler station wagon...also, circa 1970s.
4. In what vehicle did you have your first date?
My 1965 For Mustang (see below
5. What vehicle do you most remember riding or driving to school?
My 1965 Ford Mustang (see below)
6. What was the first vehicle that was yours alone and where is it now?
For reasons still unknown to me, my Kentucky grandfather had bought a '65 Mustang, that served as the only car I'd ever known them to own. I remember driving with him around Covington in it. When he died and after I turned 16, we took a special trip to Kentucky to recover several items and bring them back to Texas. Among them: my roll top desk, and that '65 Stang, which then became my first car....given to me by my GRANDPARENTS.
It was, by a factor of 1,000, the coolest car I ever owned, and probably will ever own. Even worse, I had a clear teenage sense of just how cool it was, and lived those years between 16-21 knowing they would be the absolute Zenith of my car coolness.
When I was in graduate school, and the car was now aproaching 30-years-old, it began to break quite a bit. Minor things, really. Had I had any income at all, I would have kept it, and fixed it every time. But I needed reliable wheels, and it was, more and more, becoming a show car.
So, I sold it my good friend, Stu, and his Dad, who wanted to restore it. But, like me, money and time got in their way. They eventually sold it to a guy in Richardson who does restoration. Stu gave me the address once so I could drive by, and told me the guy still had the car. But despite my curiosity, I've never made it by to take a look.
7. Have you ever totalled/wrecked a car? Describe.
Within days of getting my license, I had my first wreck when I went to get my friend, John Ramey, and fishtailed the family station wagon while turning the very first corner at the end of his block. It was wet. It had been raining. And I was trying to be cool, since I knew I was the first friend of John's ever to take him for a ride. (I was the oldest in my class, and always the first to do everything...including get my license...)
We fished-tailed, and the front end of the car ended up over the curb of one of his neighbor's lawns. I freaked, and instead of putting in reverse, I hit the accelerator. The car lurked forward and bumped a tree.
We got out for a second, and then John said, "Let's run! Let's GO!"
So, we drove back to my place in silence, and got out. It was dark, and so we went to inspect the damage. There didn't seem to be any, and so we resolved to tell no one.
Of course, there WAS damage. And the next day, in the light of day, I got in some of the worst trouble of my life...first, for having the wreck, and second, for trying to keep it a secret. It was truly a "fender-bender," but a horrifying experience, nonetheless.
A few years later, I was driving my Dad's Plymouth Valiant to school (I don't know why) and was headed across the parking lot at the corner of Belt Line and Coit. (the Northeast quadrant) There used to be a 7-11 there, and I was headed for 7-11 for a quick snack. A businessman, cutting across the parking lot to avoid the long light (from Westbound Belt Line to Northbound Coit) flew out of nowhere and slammed into me broadside.....literally crushing in the driver and passenger doors.
In retrospect, it's was probably a lot worse of an accident that I realized at the time. It totaled that car...which in a weird way helped the car-hipness of our family, because the Valiant was gone.
In 1999, Dennise had a terrible car accident, and that's really her story to tell. Sufficed to say, it was one of the scariest moments of my life, in that the police called me to the accident scene (at Yale and Central) to recover her phone and purse. I had Maria with me in the baby seat (Dennise was joining us at a party for one of Maria's two-year-old friends...)
Her car was so completely totaled (the roof had been removed by the "Jaws of Life" to extract her) that I didn't even recognize it when I arrived on the scene...I was overcome by the half dozen police, ambulance, and fire trucks. They told me they'd already transported her to Baylor. Given how the car looked, I had the fear that she'd be near dead. And, in fact, the person who phoned in the accident to the police later told his wife, "I don't think the person in the white car made it out alive."
Dennise, turns out, was mostly fine, with what a hospital would probably call "minor" injuries. She had stitches in a few places, had to have hand surgery, and she struggled with short-term memory problems for about a year (She still had a better memory that me!) But she was going to be OK.
Nevertheless, the vision of that twisted piece of metal, the glass scattered across the road, will stay with me always.
8. Your worst vehicle?
This is a toughie. From the Mustang, I went to two small trucks (an S-10 and a Ranger successively) that were both quite reliable. We have a Jeep now that tends to break down a lot, and so I guess I'll go with that. Although, all-in-all, I've liked every car I've ever owned.
9. What’s your current vehicle, and what’s the most favorite vehicle you’ve had?
Two: A Jeep Cherokee (the classic body) and an early Toyota Prius (before they adopted the current body style) I love both of them for different reasons. The Jeep, because of it's classic style...the Prius because....it's a Prius.
10. What is your dream car?
I have two. I would love to be independently wealthy, and find a way to buy back either my 65 Mustang, or another one similar to it. Alongside that, I would love to have one of the models from the last few years. I LOVE the Mustangs of the "2000s" and would love to own one of those too.
But my *favorite* of all time? Hands down, the Mustang.
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Yeats' Five Book Meme
Feb/11/2009 07:40 AM | Permalink
DIRECTIONS
1. Take five books off your bookshelf.
2. Book #1 -- first sentence
3. Book #2 -- last sentence on page fifty
4. Book #3 -- second sentence on page one hundred
5. Book #4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty
6. Book #5 -- final sentence of the book
7. Make the five sentences into a paragraph:
Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened. He was wrong. The endemic conservatism of Texas, coupled with by fears engendered by the Cold War and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, in which Russia and the U.S. came close to nuclear confrontation, all boosted Walker's public standing. We are framed there in the window in our pajamas, and in different ways for each of us, I suspect we remained there, side by side, always.
"It must have been great!"
Books:
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kinsolver.
Nothin But Good Times Ahead, Molly Ivins.
Case Closed, Gerald Posner
The Eyes of the Heart, Frederick Buechner
Freeing The Creative Spirit, Adriana Diaz
1. Take five books off your bookshelf.
2. Book #1 -- first sentence
3. Book #2 -- last sentence on page fifty
4. Book #3 -- second sentence on page one hundred
5. Book #4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty
6. Book #5 -- final sentence of the book
7. Make the five sentences into a paragraph:
Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened. He was wrong. The endemic conservatism of Texas, coupled with by fears engendered by the Cold War and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, in which Russia and the U.S. came close to nuclear confrontation, all boosted Walker's public standing. We are framed there in the window in our pajamas, and in different ways for each of us, I suspect we remained there, side by side, always.
"It must have been great!"
Books:
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kinsolver.
Nothin But Good Times Ahead, Molly Ivins.
Case Closed, Gerald Posner
The Eyes of the Heart, Frederick Buechner
Freeing The Creative Spirit, Adriana Diaz
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Sixteen Random Things About Me
Feb/08/2009 08:17 PM | Permalink
DMN Reporter , Jeffery Weiss wrote
this interesting story
that ran in this weekend's paper. It's all about the
phenomenon of "25 Random Things." It does seem to be
spreading like wildfire, as is Facebook itself. I can
tell you from my own non-scientific experience that
folks are joining Facebook right and left over these
past few months...a virtual (pun intended) explosion
of old friends and family.
So, in honor of Jeffery's story, I thought I'd repost my list of "things" to my blog. (For those on Facebook, you'll be seeing this for the second time)
I should self-disclose that when this game was forwarded to me, it was only sixteen things. Jeffery's story points out that somewhere along the way it jumped the shark to 25. Who knows how that happened. But I'm sticking with my sixteen....
Sixteen Random Things About Me
And if I had a 17th, it would be that I'm almost always too verbose...
1) I am far more introverted that perhaps many people will realize.
(Although I will observe that most introverts probably have no idea how little or much their introversion shows. So who knows?) Any extroversion I have --in fact, any ability to be in groups of just about any size-- has come through years of very conscious learning. (As it does for all introverts, of course.)
2) My introversion manifests itself in several quirky and illogical phobias.
Phobia 1: For example, I can now speak in front of a group of hundreds, nay, thousands. (And have). And except for a few butterflies here and there, I almost never suffer serious anxiety. But a "song circle" of six folks I don’t know well TERRIFIES me. I have no idea why this is so, and I would think it would be exactly opposite. But there you go.
Phobia 2: I can sit with people through some of the most difficult moments of their life --as someone they love dies in a hospital room beside them, or as they share with me very tough emotion stuff-- and I can do this with a level of confidence and calling. But I am sometimes terrified to call people on the phone and ask them even the most basic question. (Like: "Will you be on this committee?" or, "Can we set this meeting?") I sometimes fret about, and put off, those kinds of calls for days, making whatever the situation is far worse than it really is.
Phobia 3: There are some mornings where it is incredibly difficult for me to get going at all, and I have great sympathy for the story of Brian Wilson.
3) I am deaf in my right ear and have been since birth.
Those close to me know it. I find that many folks do not, which always makes me smile because I am constantly arranging certain things because it. For example, I will almost always stand on your right side if we are walking. I will choose a very specific places to sit at a table, or a specific table in a restaurant as a whole. I will move to certain places in a group if people are standing around, where I believe I will be better able to hear. And I usually do *most* of this without anyone noticing. But while most folks are probably oblivious to this, it’s something I am internally constantly aware of.
Except for being totally lacking in any ability to tell *direction* in sound, I don’t find much else about it very limiting. But I have always imagined that my love of music may come from some inner sense of how precious sound itself is.
So, this one tip, and take this however you like: If you really want me to hear you, speak to me from the left.
4) Although I do not drink soft drinks much anymore, there was a time when I could actually tell the difference between a Dr. Pepper and a Mr. Pibb.
I prided myself on being able to "call out" wait-staff who bogusly tried to pass off the latter as the former. ("Mr. Pibb, I know Dr. Pepper...Dr. Pepper is a friend of mine...and you’re no Dr. Pepper.")
I don’t understand anymore why I was once so proud of this, but there you go.
5) I once knew the parents of one of America’s most infamous serial killers.
The very first church I ever preached at (near Lake Lavon, actually) was home to a Mr. and Mrs. Watson, the parents of Charles “Tex” Watson, one of the Manson family killers. I was very young, and this was back in the days before “the Google.” So when Mrs. Watson casually dropped this bomb on me during our first meeting, I actually had to check out a library book to confirm it. Sure enough, it was so. Charles “Tex” Watson grew up in a sleepy little town, just outside of Dallas, and grew into one of the most feared killers of our time.
Knowing the Watson’s taught me several things: 1) the difference between a person’s public persona and their private life; 2) the challenging path of trying to discern whether or not someone is “rehabilitated” or not; and finally 3) the incredible, and lifelong bond of love that a parent often feels for their child, no matter what.
6) I cried one of the hardest cries of my life the last time I took off a baseball uniform.
It was the summer after my senior year in high school. Despite the fact that I hadn’t made my high school team, I’d managed to play in a summer league with many of the same guys from that team, and manged to keep alive some dream of making the “big leagues” someday.
We were the clear favorite to win the championship that year, but perhaps our overconfidence got to us, and we lost early in the playoffs. My parents were out of town when I got home that night. With stark certainty, it suddenly hit me that this was very likely the last time I’d ever take of a baseball uniform in my life. I wasn’t going to make the major leagues after all, and we weren’t even going to win that championship as a “last hurrah” to salve our egos. So, as I took off that uniform, and finally said goodbye to that dream, I cried buckets of tears alone.
7) I tried pot for one of the only times in my life while on a campout on top of a mountain in Colorado.
I was a young teenager, and it was during the mid-70s. We were around a campfire, looking down at city lights far below, singing “Rocky Mountain High,” and quite literally trying to live it out. Honestly? I don’t think it had any effect. Or, anything that wasn’t just as easily explained by the altitude.
8) My junior high nickname was “Pinky.”
This is perhaps one of the darkest and most unmentionable secrets of my life, and if you start calling me that now I may have to kill you. The nickname was given to me in gym class by the other guys and the coaches, because of 1) my propensity to have “pink” skin when I worked out (ala Jason Witten, btw, in case you’ve noticed...); and 2) my propensity for horrible looking sunburns. “Pinky” was, of course, the nickname of a character on “Happy Days” at the time, and just about the last thing any junior high boy would want to be called. Eventually, everyone in school called me that. Even in the halls. No one called me by my real name. I would meet knew people who would say they didn’t know MY name, but that they *had* heard of “Pinky.”
Mercifully, junior high ends. And, somehow, Pinky stayed in that building and never followed me to high school and beyond.
9) I never expected my adult life to be lived in Dallas.
I’m not entirely sure where I expected to be, but it wasn’t here. Since my high school graduation gift was a set of luggage, I figured it was a pretty clear signal that I was supposed to head out to all points beyond. I assumed I’d only be back for vacations, now and then. But then I moved back for seminary. Then, I went to work at a church quite literally right across the parking lot from there. My next move was only a few miles beyond that circumference. I have now lived an astounding 87 percent of my life in this city.
I now live within a mile of where I grew up. This, too, was unexpected. When I moved to Northaven Church, they had a parsonage, and a part of how they (a church) pays you is often through offering that place to live. It’s a wonderful house. It’s a *great* school system. It’s a mile from my parents (and my daughter’s grandparents).
But it’s far too close to my past. Especially for the first few years we lived here, every place I drove here in North Dallas I saw ghosts....old friends hanging around the park...old girlfriends and I walking down a street....the old-me driving my old car down the streets. These North Dallas streets are filled with ghosts for me. Strangely, in the past two or three years, many of the ghosts seem to have vanished. And in a way, I am grateful for that, because it’s a lot more fun to live in the present. But I also now have the vague feeling that those memories may be lost forever, buried under the archeological sediment of seven new years in the same old place.
10) I love to travel.
Despite the being right here most of the time, I have been a lot of other places....Mexico, Haiti, Nepal, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Germany, England, France, Guatemala, El Salvador. I would travel a whole lot more too, if time and finances permitted it. Our house is filled with art from those travels...a Saraswati statue from Nepal...two icons from Russia...paintings from Haiti...etc... They help me remember how big the world is, and how beautiful the people everywhere are.
11) “If I didn’t know it, I would never have guessed you were a minister.”
This line was first said to me years ago by my old friend, Carolyn H, and has been repeated by several others through the years. I take it as the highest of compliments. The older I get, the more I dislike many religious people. I find their narrow judgmentalism off-putting, and have long since given up doing most arguing with them. I find myself wanting to apologize on behalf of Christian people everywhere for much of what is done in Jesus’ name. But, the older I get, I don’t even feel like doing that anymore. There simply are not enough hours in the day.
Even just a few years back, I was very heasitant to tell many of my musician and artists friends that I was a minister. The church and artists have not always had a great history, shall we say. But, I’m too tired to hide that anymore either...simply not enough hours of the day for this either.
More and more, I simply lean on a line from a Woody Allen character who said, “If Jesus returned today to see everything going on his name, he’d never stop throwing up.”
When I first heard that line in the theater, I laughed for five straight minutes with my friend, Bill Frisbie. Today, I wince more than laugh. I am fortunate to serve a church that is made up of many, many people who have found themselves unwelcome at other churches. Some of them have, quite literally, been shunned by either religious authories or their families and loved ones. Sometimes, it’s because simply because of who they are as people, other times it’s because of beliefs that others found too “outside the box.” Whatever the reason, they have found a way to our church, and have found it to be a “haven” for them. I’m glad for that. I remember that Jesus hung out with the outcasts of his day, much to the chagrine of the religious elites of his day, and I take comfort in that too.
12) I voted for Ronald Reagan twice.
The first two elections I could vote, like many of the other kids my age, I voted Republican. It was that second election --and more precisely, election night-- that began to change my heart. The Reagan-Mondale election was a landslide. It was the jeering throngs of blue-blazered young Republicans --watching returns at the UT Student Union, deriding the Dems, whom they had clearly destroyed in the election-- that started to make me question the politics I had always assumed was the only way to be.
There was something, I thought, about America that did not like a landslide. All sorts of other changes ...socially...spiritually....politically...were at work in me at the time. And by the time I voted a third time, I voted for Jesse Jackson. I’ve consistently voted that side of the aisle ever since. (BTW, Barack Obama is the *first* presidential candidate I’ve ever supported from the very beginning of a primary season, who has actually won.)
13) I was the star of my kindergarten play.
It was the “Selfish Giant,” a musical version of the Oscar Wilde short story. Yes, I was the Selfish Giant. I got the part, best I can tell, because I was the tallest kid in the kindergarten class. There are pics, and even a reel-to-reel tape of this somewhere, and they might be coming to a Facebook page near you. When I was looking for a name for my own songwriting, recording, and home studio, it was only fitting that I call it “Selfish Giant Songs.” Introvert that I am, it’s been a pretty good metaphor for life my life from kindergarten through this moment right now.
14) I once knew George and Laura Bush on a first-named basis.
Perhaps even *more* rare, they knew me by first name too. This was way before he was even Governor, when he was “just” the son of the sitting President. He was a member of the church where I served, and we’d see each other in the halls, and at various functions. I talked to him on the phone a couple of times, we exchanged small talk pretty regularly. He, Laura, and the twins, have gone with me (and Dennise) to serve the homeless together.
Needless to say, these past eight years have been more than surreal than you can possibly imagine. First, to have *anyone* you first know in the real world become President, is a very unique experience that rarely happens to anyone. But then, to have the events that have transpired these past eight years take place? Absolutely bizzare. I have been openly critical of many Administration policies these past eight years, and am unapologetic about that. And I am also aware that I have many friends who don’t just dislike, but absolutely *hate* George Bush. But I will personally never be able to share that “hate.” Having seen “W,” I tend to think that Oliver Stone must share a similar sense of compassion for him that perhaps few of my friends will ever be able to fully understand, and that I am not sure I’ll ever be able to fully explain.
15) I once allowed the criticism of a total stranger to keep me from writing songs for almost three years.
I was in college, and I was playing in the stairwell at Jester Center (those who know it perhaps know that one of the only good thing about Jester are it’s HUGE stairwells, perfect for playing...) An older student, a woman, passed by while I was playing and humming an instrumental song I’d written. To this day, I don’t know what she really said, but I know what I heard from her was that it was plagiarized from some other source. The shame of feeling that I had “stolen” some melody drove me to put away the guitar, at least in terms of writing, for almost three years. To this day, I can no longer remember that song.
16) Don Henley and my Mom grew up about seven miles apart.
He grew up in Linden, Texas, the county seat of Cass County. (if you’ll note: his music company is called "Cass County Music.") Mom grew up in Atlanta (yes, Texas) seven miles away. I have met Don a couple of times around Dallas now, and we’ve talked about East Texas. Everytime we have, his face lights up. He says he remembers listening to my great-uncle on the radio (he had an early “talk show” where he talked about anything and everything...). He says he also remembers visting the "Mays Supercash Grocery Store," that my grandfather co-owed with that same brother.
When Henley sings, "Somewhere back there in the dust...the same small town in each of us..." it’s always been as literally true for me and him as possible.
And it’s reminded me that the world is really very small, you never know who you’re going to meet, and that it’s probably best not to burn your bridges if you can...because people find a way of circling in and out of your life when you least expect it.
People whose lists I would like to see:
Dennise: Because she already knows all this, and I’ve already seen her’s.
Cary: because she started all this.
Tom: Because he starts so many other cool things with Cary.
Chris W: Because he knows much of this stuff too (But don’t post it....just email it...you know why...)
Melanie: Because if she’s not going to move to Texas, she should at least have to share with all us here.
Bill F: Because he gets mentioned in # 11, and for years I’ve been wondering how he is.
Paul I: Because he remembers Pinky and yet has never mentioned it.
Bill N: Because he is one of the greatest human beings on the planet. Seriously.
Paul B: Because it would be good for him.
Vicki C: Because she’s one of those crazy Northaven artists types, and the funniest, most truthful writer I know personally.
Frank R: Because I believe I have modeled how he can make out his list, and descretely find a way not to mention me.
John F: Because I’ve known him almost as long as Frank, and because we’re bandmates.
Rusty K: Ditto for the band-bond, and because he knows Atlanta too.
Ann W: Because she needs a break from her new assignment.
Amy F: Because she just joined Facebook this week, and deserves to be thrown into the fire.
Charles H: Because of the old LFG group, and for being a good guy.
Annie B: Because she is my oldest musician friend, and such an incredible person.
Michael B: Because I have a hunch he’ll havea great list, once he gets back in the country.
Charles G: Because he hates this kind of stuff, which is exactly why it would be good for him.
Sheri B: Because it's been cool to reconnect with her here, and in real life too.
Erik B: Because I know he loves baseball and will appreciate #6.
So, in honor of Jeffery's story, I thought I'd repost my list of "things" to my blog. (For those on Facebook, you'll be seeing this for the second time)
I should self-disclose that when this game was forwarded to me, it was only sixteen things. Jeffery's story points out that somewhere along the way it jumped the shark to 25. Who knows how that happened. But I'm sticking with my sixteen....
Sixteen Random Things About Me
And if I had a 17th, it would be that I'm almost always too verbose...
1) I am far more introverted that perhaps many people will realize.
(Although I will observe that most introverts probably have no idea how little or much their introversion shows. So who knows?) Any extroversion I have --in fact, any ability to be in groups of just about any size-- has come through years of very conscious learning. (As it does for all introverts, of course.)
2) My introversion manifests itself in several quirky and illogical phobias.
Phobia 1: For example, I can now speak in front of a group of hundreds, nay, thousands. (And have). And except for a few butterflies here and there, I almost never suffer serious anxiety. But a "song circle" of six folks I don’t know well TERRIFIES me. I have no idea why this is so, and I would think it would be exactly opposite. But there you go.
Phobia 2: I can sit with people through some of the most difficult moments of their life --as someone they love dies in a hospital room beside them, or as they share with me very tough emotion stuff-- and I can do this with a level of confidence and calling. But I am sometimes terrified to call people on the phone and ask them even the most basic question. (Like: "Will you be on this committee?" or, "Can we set this meeting?") I sometimes fret about, and put off, those kinds of calls for days, making whatever the situation is far worse than it really is.
Phobia 3: There are some mornings where it is incredibly difficult for me to get going at all, and I have great sympathy for the story of Brian Wilson.
3) I am deaf in my right ear and have been since birth.
Those close to me know it. I find that many folks do not, which always makes me smile because I am constantly arranging certain things because it. For example, I will almost always stand on your right side if we are walking. I will choose a very specific places to sit at a table, or a specific table in a restaurant as a whole. I will move to certain places in a group if people are standing around, where I believe I will be better able to hear. And I usually do *most* of this without anyone noticing. But while most folks are probably oblivious to this, it’s something I am internally constantly aware of.
Except for being totally lacking in any ability to tell *direction* in sound, I don’t find much else about it very limiting. But I have always imagined that my love of music may come from some inner sense of how precious sound itself is.
So, this one tip, and take this however you like: If you really want me to hear you, speak to me from the left.
4) Although I do not drink soft drinks much anymore, there was a time when I could actually tell the difference between a Dr. Pepper and a Mr. Pibb.
I prided myself on being able to "call out" wait-staff who bogusly tried to pass off the latter as the former. ("Mr. Pibb, I know Dr. Pepper...Dr. Pepper is a friend of mine...and you’re no Dr. Pepper.")
I don’t understand anymore why I was once so proud of this, but there you go.
5) I once knew the parents of one of America’s most infamous serial killers.
The very first church I ever preached at (near Lake Lavon, actually) was home to a Mr. and Mrs. Watson, the parents of Charles “Tex” Watson, one of the Manson family killers. I was very young, and this was back in the days before “the Google.” So when Mrs. Watson casually dropped this bomb on me during our first meeting, I actually had to check out a library book to confirm it. Sure enough, it was so. Charles “Tex” Watson grew up in a sleepy little town, just outside of Dallas, and grew into one of the most feared killers of our time.
Knowing the Watson’s taught me several things: 1) the difference between a person’s public persona and their private life; 2) the challenging path of trying to discern whether or not someone is “rehabilitated” or not; and finally 3) the incredible, and lifelong bond of love that a parent often feels for their child, no matter what.
6) I cried one of the hardest cries of my life the last time I took off a baseball uniform.
It was the summer after my senior year in high school. Despite the fact that I hadn’t made my high school team, I’d managed to play in a summer league with many of the same guys from that team, and manged to keep alive some dream of making the “big leagues” someday.
We were the clear favorite to win the championship that year, but perhaps our overconfidence got to us, and we lost early in the playoffs. My parents were out of town when I got home that night. With stark certainty, it suddenly hit me that this was very likely the last time I’d ever take of a baseball uniform in my life. I wasn’t going to make the major leagues after all, and we weren’t even going to win that championship as a “last hurrah” to salve our egos. So, as I took off that uniform, and finally said goodbye to that dream, I cried buckets of tears alone.
7) I tried pot for one of the only times in my life while on a campout on top of a mountain in Colorado.
I was a young teenager, and it was during the mid-70s. We were around a campfire, looking down at city lights far below, singing “Rocky Mountain High,” and quite literally trying to live it out. Honestly? I don’t think it had any effect. Or, anything that wasn’t just as easily explained by the altitude.
8) My junior high nickname was “Pinky.”
This is perhaps one of the darkest and most unmentionable secrets of my life, and if you start calling me that now I may have to kill you. The nickname was given to me in gym class by the other guys and the coaches, because of 1) my propensity to have “pink” skin when I worked out (ala Jason Witten, btw, in case you’ve noticed...); and 2) my propensity for horrible looking sunburns. “Pinky” was, of course, the nickname of a character on “Happy Days” at the time, and just about the last thing any junior high boy would want to be called. Eventually, everyone in school called me that. Even in the halls. No one called me by my real name. I would meet knew people who would say they didn’t know MY name, but that they *had* heard of “Pinky.”
Mercifully, junior high ends. And, somehow, Pinky stayed in that building and never followed me to high school and beyond.
9) I never expected my adult life to be lived in Dallas.
I’m not entirely sure where I expected to be, but it wasn’t here. Since my high school graduation gift was a set of luggage, I figured it was a pretty clear signal that I was supposed to head out to all points beyond. I assumed I’d only be back for vacations, now and then. But then I moved back for seminary. Then, I went to work at a church quite literally right across the parking lot from there. My next move was only a few miles beyond that circumference. I have now lived an astounding 87 percent of my life in this city.
I now live within a mile of where I grew up. This, too, was unexpected. When I moved to Northaven Church, they had a parsonage, and a part of how they (a church) pays you is often through offering that place to live. It’s a wonderful house. It’s a *great* school system. It’s a mile from my parents (and my daughter’s grandparents).
But it’s far too close to my past. Especially for the first few years we lived here, every place I drove here in North Dallas I saw ghosts....old friends hanging around the park...old girlfriends and I walking down a street....the old-me driving my old car down the streets. These North Dallas streets are filled with ghosts for me. Strangely, in the past two or three years, many of the ghosts seem to have vanished. And in a way, I am grateful for that, because it’s a lot more fun to live in the present. But I also now have the vague feeling that those memories may be lost forever, buried under the archeological sediment of seven new years in the same old place.
10) I love to travel.
Despite the being right here most of the time, I have been a lot of other places....Mexico, Haiti, Nepal, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Germany, England, France, Guatemala, El Salvador. I would travel a whole lot more too, if time and finances permitted it. Our house is filled with art from those travels...a Saraswati statue from Nepal...two icons from Russia...paintings from Haiti...etc... They help me remember how big the world is, and how beautiful the people everywhere are.
11) “If I didn’t know it, I would never have guessed you were a minister.”
This line was first said to me years ago by my old friend, Carolyn H, and has been repeated by several others through the years. I take it as the highest of compliments. The older I get, the more I dislike many religious people. I find their narrow judgmentalism off-putting, and have long since given up doing most arguing with them. I find myself wanting to apologize on behalf of Christian people everywhere for much of what is done in Jesus’ name. But, the older I get, I don’t even feel like doing that anymore. There simply are not enough hours in the day.
Even just a few years back, I was very heasitant to tell many of my musician and artists friends that I was a minister. The church and artists have not always had a great history, shall we say. But, I’m too tired to hide that anymore either...simply not enough hours of the day for this either.
More and more, I simply lean on a line from a Woody Allen character who said, “If Jesus returned today to see everything going on his name, he’d never stop throwing up.”
When I first heard that line in the theater, I laughed for five straight minutes with my friend, Bill Frisbie. Today, I wince more than laugh. I am fortunate to serve a church that is made up of many, many people who have found themselves unwelcome at other churches. Some of them have, quite literally, been shunned by either religious authories or their families and loved ones. Sometimes, it’s because simply because of who they are as people, other times it’s because of beliefs that others found too “outside the box.” Whatever the reason, they have found a way to our church, and have found it to be a “haven” for them. I’m glad for that. I remember that Jesus hung out with the outcasts of his day, much to the chagrine of the religious elites of his day, and I take comfort in that too.
12) I voted for Ronald Reagan twice.
The first two elections I could vote, like many of the other kids my age, I voted Republican. It was that second election --and more precisely, election night-- that began to change my heart. The Reagan-Mondale election was a landslide. It was the jeering throngs of blue-blazered young Republicans --watching returns at the UT Student Union, deriding the Dems, whom they had clearly destroyed in the election-- that started to make me question the politics I had always assumed was the only way to be.
There was something, I thought, about America that did not like a landslide. All sorts of other changes ...socially...spiritually....politically...were at work in me at the time. And by the time I voted a third time, I voted for Jesse Jackson. I’ve consistently voted that side of the aisle ever since. (BTW, Barack Obama is the *first* presidential candidate I’ve ever supported from the very beginning of a primary season, who has actually won.)
13) I was the star of my kindergarten play.
It was the “Selfish Giant,” a musical version of the Oscar Wilde short story. Yes, I was the Selfish Giant. I got the part, best I can tell, because I was the tallest kid in the kindergarten class. There are pics, and even a reel-to-reel tape of this somewhere, and they might be coming to a Facebook page near you. When I was looking for a name for my own songwriting, recording, and home studio, it was only fitting that I call it “Selfish Giant Songs.” Introvert that I am, it’s been a pretty good metaphor for life my life from kindergarten through this moment right now.
14) I once knew George and Laura Bush on a first-named basis.
Perhaps even *more* rare, they knew me by first name too. This was way before he was even Governor, when he was “just” the son of the sitting President. He was a member of the church where I served, and we’d see each other in the halls, and at various functions. I talked to him on the phone a couple of times, we exchanged small talk pretty regularly. He, Laura, and the twins, have gone with me (and Dennise) to serve the homeless together.
Needless to say, these past eight years have been more than surreal than you can possibly imagine. First, to have *anyone* you first know in the real world become President, is a very unique experience that rarely happens to anyone. But then, to have the events that have transpired these past eight years take place? Absolutely bizzare. I have been openly critical of many Administration policies these past eight years, and am unapologetic about that. And I am also aware that I have many friends who don’t just dislike, but absolutely *hate* George Bush. But I will personally never be able to share that “hate.” Having seen “W,” I tend to think that Oliver Stone must share a similar sense of compassion for him that perhaps few of my friends will ever be able to fully understand, and that I am not sure I’ll ever be able to fully explain.
15) I once allowed the criticism of a total stranger to keep me from writing songs for almost three years.
I was in college, and I was playing in the stairwell at Jester Center (those who know it perhaps know that one of the only good thing about Jester are it’s HUGE stairwells, perfect for playing...) An older student, a woman, passed by while I was playing and humming an instrumental song I’d written. To this day, I don’t know what she really said, but I know what I heard from her was that it was plagiarized from some other source. The shame of feeling that I had “stolen” some melody drove me to put away the guitar, at least in terms of writing, for almost three years. To this day, I can no longer remember that song.
16) Don Henley and my Mom grew up about seven miles apart.
He grew up in Linden, Texas, the county seat of Cass County. (if you’ll note: his music company is called "Cass County Music.") Mom grew up in Atlanta (yes, Texas) seven miles away. I have met Don a couple of times around Dallas now, and we’ve talked about East Texas. Everytime we have, his face lights up. He says he remembers listening to my great-uncle on the radio (he had an early “talk show” where he talked about anything and everything...). He says he also remembers visting the "Mays Supercash Grocery Store," that my grandfather co-owed with that same brother.
When Henley sings, "Somewhere back there in the dust...the same small town in each of us..." it’s always been as literally true for me and him as possible.
And it’s reminded me that the world is really very small, you never know who you’re going to meet, and that it’s probably best not to burn your bridges if you can...because people find a way of circling in and out of your life when you least expect it.
People whose lists I would like to see:
Dennise: Because she already knows all this, and I’ve already seen her’s.
Cary: because she started all this.
Tom: Because he starts so many other cool things with Cary.
Chris W: Because he knows much of this stuff too (But don’t post it....just email it...you know why...)
Melanie: Because if she’s not going to move to Texas, she should at least have to share with all us here.
Bill F: Because he gets mentioned in # 11, and for years I’ve been wondering how he is.
Paul I: Because he remembers Pinky and yet has never mentioned it.
Bill N: Because he is one of the greatest human beings on the planet. Seriously.
Paul B: Because it would be good for him.
Vicki C: Because she’s one of those crazy Northaven artists types, and the funniest, most truthful writer I know personally.
Frank R: Because I believe I have modeled how he can make out his list, and descretely find a way not to mention me.
John F: Because I’ve known him almost as long as Frank, and because we’re bandmates.
Rusty K: Ditto for the band-bond, and because he knows Atlanta too.
Ann W: Because she needs a break from her new assignment.
Amy F: Because she just joined Facebook this week, and deserves to be thrown into the fire.
Charles H: Because of the old LFG group, and for being a good guy.
Annie B: Because she is my oldest musician friend, and such an incredible person.
Michael B: Because I have a hunch he’ll havea great list, once he gets back in the country.
Charles G: Because he hates this kind of stuff, which is exactly why it would be good for him.
Sheri B: Because it's been cool to reconnect with her here, and in real life too.
Erik B: Because I know he loves baseball and will appreciate #6.
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Christmas 2008
Jan/16/2009 04:59 PM | Permalink
I thought I'd posted this to my blog two weeks ago,
but I think I just posted to Facebook. (Things get a
little jumbled up sometimes...)
Here's a video of Christmas at the lake this year, which I am reminded to post today, because we're back here again for quick visit. It's very cold here today, but we're enjoying the fire and the company.
COMMENTS:
Here's a video of Christmas at the lake this year, which I am reminded to post today, because we're back here again for quick visit. It's very cold here today, but we're enjoying the fire and the company.
COMMENTS:
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Dust and old Power Converters
Jan/04/2009 08:18 PM | Permalink
Can a new laptop lead you to redecorate a house?
Maybe not, but it dang sure caused a lot of mid-winter cleaning around here.
I got a new MacBook Pro for Christmas. It's sooooo cool. I can hardly contain myself.
My old computer was one of the very first G-4s, and we got it almost ten years ago, when Maria was probably two. When I got it, Apple was running commercials about how it was the fastest computer on the planet...classified as a military weapon...yadda, yadda, yadda. It's the fourth Mac I've bought since my first Mac 512K Enhanced back in 1985. (If you're eager to read that history, knock yourself out.)
Ten years later? The G-4 is not so fast anymore. So, it's very cool to get the upgrade. And I knew it would mean the chance for a brand new round of home recording and working wirelessly. Which got me thinking about the mess of wires under my desk. Which got me doing something about it.
So, yesterday I started in pulling apart all the wires from underneath the desk.
Which led to a decision to go through the two boxes of wires/cabling that have been sitting here next to the desk since we moved in.
Which led to Dennise join in and go through about five bankers boxes of mail and other crap that have collected over the years.
I use the word "crap" with all due affection, as some of this was actually my child's precious school work, dating back to kindergarten. But, like wires under the desk, it builds up. Lot's of the rest of it was junk mail, or other old bills.
So, here's what I discovered...
First, I found that I probably had ten to fifteen orphaned power converters stored away. They probably went to things like old wireless phones, old routers, old pre-amps for old mics, old Palm Pilots, old video cameras, old...you get the idea.
Each of them seemed to have the standard plug for the wall socket. But each of them also seems to have a completely proprietary adapter on the other end. So, with no components to go with them any more, my question is this:
Why did I ever save this stuff?!!
What was I thinking I was going to do with it? And what was I planning to do with the yards and yards of old TV cable? Or the stereo cable that I used twenty years ago in an old apartment? Or the old phone adapters of all kinds that I've bought at Radio Shack through the years? Or the old instrument cables I bought in high school? Or the old stereo-plug adapters that broke mono into a split signal? (for some reason I no longer remember...)
Yes, all that crap was dutifully saved in two boxes here in the room. But here's the final, ugly truth....the monster below that iceberg tip...
For years and years, out in the garage, there was a duffle bag full of MORE cables and electrical crap. I mean a *huge* infantry-soldier-sized duffle bag.
What was I planning for all *those*cables?
I looked for the duffle in the garage, but couldn't find it. Which makes me think Dennise threw it away years ago and just didn't ever tell me.
Clearly, I have not missed it. So, I went through all that was left. And I tossed about ninety percent of it, buoyed by the realization that the duffle --with four times more crap-- has probably been gone for a couple of years and never been missed.
So as I said, about midway into this, Dennise gets inspired and joins in the clean-up on her side of the study/studio. Which led us to the very quick realization that if we were going to clean all the crap out of *this* room, we would need to finally clean some *other* crap out of the garage, so that we'd have room to put the new crap (new to the garage, of course).
That led to one HUGE trip to Goodwill, and an equally big trip to the Dry Cleaners to return....um...I'm not going to tell you how many clothes hangers.
Anyway, we got the garage crap cleaned out. We went through three desks of drawers, and a couple of file cabinets. I put away tons of old CDs (photos, sound files, etc..), books, assorted guitar gadgets, stacks of papers I still need to go through....and the result is something like this.
Moving the boxes of crap out has allowed me to move all the guitars to one convenient area. I also moved our other instruments over there too. It looks like this now.
So, all that led to rehanging some pictures on the wall in the room, which led to rehanging pictures in some other rooms too. Which had led to thoughts about new furniture. But that's gonna be way down the road.
Which is what got me wondering if a new laptop could help redecorate an entire house.
I am led to several observations. The first will be obvious to any musician of any gender. Our grandparents used to keep immaculate garages, filled with every conceivable gadget. My grandfather had tools lining every wall of his Kentucky garage (and the stairwell too). He had rows and rows of jars filled with nuts, bolts, and god knows what else. Many a grandmother used to keep immaculate kitchens, filled with all kinds of utensils.
Most of us don't have those kind of garages or kitchens anymore. But for a lot of us, our studios/computer kiosks have become those havens in our homes.
I'm lucky enough to have two desks, really. One with the computer and music studio. The other is a genuine writing desk, an old roll top that used to be in the office at my grandfather's Bar and Grill. I refinished it by hand in the first years we were married, and it's a place where a lot of good writing has gotten done, even back to when I was in high school.
A second observation is about the accumulation of dust and old power converters. Jeez, it just piles up when you're not noticing, yes? I heard, long ago, that one of the main ingredients in most household dust is human skin.
I know. It's creepy.
But it's also deeply metaphorical. As we move through this life, things that used to give us life and, ahem, energy get left laying around. They gather dust. We keep the power chords --just in case we need them-- long after we've ditched the tools.
I don't like the word "resolution." I don't know why. I think maybe it just sounds too pompous to me. Resolute people worry me sometimes. But I *do* like the word "intention." Because, really, in the end, all we've got are our intentions. They might line the road to hell, but it seems to me they light the path to heaven too.
So, I have two intentions for the year:
1) Journal.
2) Walk.
I love journalling. Blogging gets at some of it for me, but not all. Several years back, I put down the serious journaling I used to do. I want to pick it back up, just for my sake. It's an interior intention, really. Just telling you because I can.
I also love to walk. And I have been inspired during the holidays by the story of my friend, Tom Prasada-Rao, and his "Gramps." The bad news is that Gramps, who lives in the DC area, was lost for several days but eventually found in a Hospital ICU, the victim of a hit and run. The good news is that he seems to be improving every day.
The incredible news is that Gramps is 101-years-old!!! And a part of his own belief about his own longevity is the fact that he has walked something like 6-10 miles a day for most of his life. I might not be able to do *that* much. But I'm thinking some serious walking this year would do me some serious good. And, frankly, I just find his story inspiring.
That's it. Just those two intentions. I used to do both of them quite a bit. I'm hoping to do more of them this year. And neither got totally clear in my head until I got this study fixed-up today and yesterday.
So then, a final question for YOU:
What old power adapters are *you* planning to ditch this year so you can make room for the things that give you real energy now?
Maybe not, but it dang sure caused a lot of mid-winter cleaning around here.
I got a new MacBook Pro for Christmas. It's sooooo cool. I can hardly contain myself.
My old computer was one of the very first G-4s, and we got it almost ten years ago, when Maria was probably two. When I got it, Apple was running commercials about how it was the fastest computer on the planet...classified as a military weapon...yadda, yadda, yadda. It's the fourth Mac I've bought since my first Mac 512K Enhanced back in 1985. (If you're eager to read that history, knock yourself out.)
Ten years later? The G-4 is not so fast anymore. So, it's very cool to get the upgrade. And I knew it would mean the chance for a brand new round of home recording and working wirelessly. Which got me thinking about the mess of wires under my desk. Which got me doing something about it.
So, yesterday I started in pulling apart all the wires from underneath the desk.
Which led to a decision to go through the two boxes of wires/cabling that have been sitting here next to the desk since we moved in.
Which led to Dennise join in and go through about five bankers boxes of mail and other crap that have collected over the years.
I use the word "crap" with all due affection, as some of this was actually my child's precious school work, dating back to kindergarten. But, like wires under the desk, it builds up. Lot's of the rest of it was junk mail, or other old bills.
So, here's what I discovered...
First, I found that I probably had ten to fifteen orphaned power converters stored away. They probably went to things like old wireless phones, old routers, old pre-amps for old mics, old Palm Pilots, old video cameras, old...you get the idea.
Each of them seemed to have the standard plug for the wall socket. But each of them also seems to have a completely proprietary adapter on the other end. So, with no components to go with them any more, my question is this:
Why did I ever save this stuff?!!
What was I thinking I was going to do with it? And what was I planning to do with the yards and yards of old TV cable? Or the stereo cable that I used twenty years ago in an old apartment? Or the old phone adapters of all kinds that I've bought at Radio Shack through the years? Or the old instrument cables I bought in high school? Or the old stereo-plug adapters that broke mono into a split signal? (for some reason I no longer remember...)
Yes, all that crap was dutifully saved in two boxes here in the room. But here's the final, ugly truth....the monster below that iceberg tip...
For years and years, out in the garage, there was a duffle bag full of MORE cables and electrical crap. I mean a *huge* infantry-soldier-sized duffle bag.
What was I planning for all *those*cables?
I looked for the duffle in the garage, but couldn't find it. Which makes me think Dennise threw it away years ago and just didn't ever tell me.
Clearly, I have not missed it. So, I went through all that was left. And I tossed about ninety percent of it, buoyed by the realization that the duffle --with four times more crap-- has probably been gone for a couple of years and never been missed.
So as I said, about midway into this, Dennise gets inspired and joins in the clean-up on her side of the study/studio. Which led us to the very quick realization that if we were going to clean all the crap out of *this* room, we would need to finally clean some *other* crap out of the garage, so that we'd have room to put the new crap (new to the garage, of course).
That led to one HUGE trip to Goodwill, and an equally big trip to the Dry Cleaners to return....um...I'm not going to tell you how many clothes hangers.
Anyway, we got the garage crap cleaned out. We went through three desks of drawers, and a couple of file cabinets. I put away tons of old CDs (photos, sound files, etc..), books, assorted guitar gadgets, stacks of papers I still need to go through....and the result is something like this.
Moving the boxes of crap out has allowed me to move all the guitars to one convenient area. I also moved our other instruments over there too. It looks like this now.
So, all that led to rehanging some pictures on the wall in the room, which led to rehanging pictures in some other rooms too. Which had led to thoughts about new furniture. But that's gonna be way down the road.
Which is what got me wondering if a new laptop could help redecorate an entire house.
I am led to several observations. The first will be obvious to any musician of any gender. Our grandparents used to keep immaculate garages, filled with every conceivable gadget. My grandfather had tools lining every wall of his Kentucky garage (and the stairwell too). He had rows and rows of jars filled with nuts, bolts, and god knows what else. Many a grandmother used to keep immaculate kitchens, filled with all kinds of utensils.
Most of us don't have those kind of garages or kitchens anymore. But for a lot of us, our studios/computer kiosks have become those havens in our homes.
I'm lucky enough to have two desks, really. One with the computer and music studio. The other is a genuine writing desk, an old roll top that used to be in the office at my grandfather's Bar and Grill. I refinished it by hand in the first years we were married, and it's a place where a lot of good writing has gotten done, even back to when I was in high school.
A second observation is about the accumulation of dust and old power converters. Jeez, it just piles up when you're not noticing, yes? I heard, long ago, that one of the main ingredients in most household dust is human skin.
I know. It's creepy.
But it's also deeply metaphorical. As we move through this life, things that used to give us life and, ahem, energy get left laying around. They gather dust. We keep the power chords --just in case we need them-- long after we've ditched the tools.
I don't like the word "resolution." I don't know why. I think maybe it just sounds too pompous to me. Resolute people worry me sometimes. But I *do* like the word "intention." Because, really, in the end, all we've got are our intentions. They might line the road to hell, but it seems to me they light the path to heaven too.
So, I have two intentions for the year:
1) Journal.
2) Walk.
I love journalling. Blogging gets at some of it for me, but not all. Several years back, I put down the serious journaling I used to do. I want to pick it back up, just for my sake. It's an interior intention, really. Just telling you because I can.
I also love to walk. And I have been inspired during the holidays by the story of my friend, Tom Prasada-Rao, and his "Gramps." The bad news is that Gramps, who lives in the DC area, was lost for several days but eventually found in a Hospital ICU, the victim of a hit and run. The good news is that he seems to be improving every day.
The incredible news is that Gramps is 101-years-old!!! And a part of his own belief about his own longevity is the fact that he has walked something like 6-10 miles a day for most of his life. I might not be able to do *that* much. But I'm thinking some serious walking this year would do me some serious good. And, frankly, I just find his story inspiring.
That's it. Just those two intentions. I used to do both of them quite a bit. I'm hoping to do more of them this year. And neither got totally clear in my head until I got this study fixed-up today and yesterday.
So then, a final question for YOU:
What old power adapters are *you* planning to ditch this year so you can make room for the things that give you real energy now?
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Here Comes the Sun 2008
Jan/01/2009 02:22 AM | Permalink
Richie Havens updates his version of the great song.
Happy New Year, everyone...
Happy New Year, everyone...
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Merry Christmas from Eric, Dennise and Maria!!!
Dec/25/2008 10:49 AM | Permalink
We've been doing e-Christmas letters since before
they were cool. This year's version is below. Happy
holidays, everyone...EF
December 2008.
Greetings from the Folkerth/Garcia household. It's time for the annual electronic Christmas card/letter. A lot more people are doing this kind of thing this year, so we're not quite the freaks we used to be. Hope you enjoy it. As per usual, feel free to click on the links below to go to even more content (movies, music, etc..).
Maria is as tall as her mom now and they wear the same shoe size. She's eleven-years-old. Any day now, she'll pass her mom in height and we‚'ll be sure to send you the pictures at our next Christmas letter. Maria is still involved in competitive gymnastics. This Spring, she participated in the TAAF league State Championships and placed 5th on balance beam for her division. In the fall she participated in the USAG State Championships and placed 5th on beam and 5th on floor exercise for her division. At some point in the season, she was able to compete at the gym where Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin trained. This, as you might imagine, was a big thrill.
At school, Maria was "commended" on two of three areas tested (on TAKS), and on the third scored just one point away from commended. She continues to love math, and she received a school award last six weeks for her work in that subject. She took a school field trip this year to Sky Ranch to do some hands on learning in science. Maria also has a new pet fish named Sky. Here's video of her in the Spring Talent Show. And here's a little from the just completed Christmas musical at school.
Eric and Dennise enjoyed a relatively quiet year on the professional front. We're pretty happy about that. The church has been doing well. The United Methodist General Conference was in Fort Worth this year, and the Northaven took an active role in witnessing to the conference about reconciling ministries. It was a difficult couple of weeks. But many other things at the church have actually been very good this year. Here is a video that was made for our Stewardship Campaign that gives a snapshot of the church right now, and here is a nice historical video.
Most of Eric's musical time was given to Connections Band. If you haven't visited their website, please do. The stunning news is that the band raised over $30,000 in this year alone for Nothing But Nets and UMCOR. That puts the band close to $50K raised in the past three years! Amazing. Please sign up to be on our mailing list, and come hear a show. There are lots of pics, soundclips and videos at the website.
Dennise spoke at the Advanced Family Law Course on ‚"How to present property cases at trial.‚" Dallas Observer named her in the "Best Of" issue. Their exact title was, "Best Judge when your cheap divorce gets expensive." We chuckled at that, but we'll take it. The write up about Dennise's work was very kind. It was a pleasant surprise, in that the Observer did not let on to anyone we know they were working on this category. Dennise was also selected to be co-Vice Chair to the DBA Bench Bar Conference in 2009.
Although this was certainly a big election year, it was truly nice to not be running in this one, after having to run in both 2004 and 2006. However, by this time next year, we'll be back in the thick of things once again. One final thing, did you know Dennise turned forty this year? Enjoy a four-decade retrospective here.
Maria wanted to go to New York for vacation, and while we were in that part of the country, we visited Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Boston. It was a great vacation, and you can see the movie here. We also took a little trip to San Antonio in August and managed to get some time at Sea World.
While we have many blessings we are happy about, but we also have endured some events that deeply sadden us. We've had a number of dear friends and mentors pass away this year. We won't mention them all here, but we will tell you that they had enourmous impact in our lives. From them, we were able to reflect on the chance we are each given in order to make a positive difference in the world. From them, we were able to learn ways in which we can live and make dying a part of our living. We learned an important lesson from one dear friend about dying gracefully. Yet another friend taught us to enjoy our time together as much as possible.
While the loss of these friends and mentors saddens us, we have faith in God. Faith sustains us and helps us with our grief. As the years pass, we know there will be others. This is a part of life. We are grateful for the lives of friends and mentors who have gone before us. We are grateful for you. Each of you touches our lives in some form or fashion. Thank you for being there.
Hope you are having a blessed and peaceful holiday season.
Dennise, Eric and Maria.
December 2008.
Greetings from the Folkerth/Garcia household. It's time for the annual electronic Christmas card/letter. A lot more people are doing this kind of thing this year, so we're not quite the freaks we used to be. Hope you enjoy it. As per usual, feel free to click on the links below to go to even more content (movies, music, etc..).
Maria is as tall as her mom now and they wear the same shoe size. She's eleven-years-old. Any day now, she'll pass her mom in height and we‚'ll be sure to send you the pictures at our next Christmas letter. Maria is still involved in competitive gymnastics. This Spring, she participated in the TAAF league State Championships and placed 5th on balance beam for her division. In the fall she participated in the USAG State Championships and placed 5th on beam and 5th on floor exercise for her division. At some point in the season, she was able to compete at the gym where Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin trained. This, as you might imagine, was a big thrill.
At school, Maria was "commended" on two of three areas tested (on TAKS), and on the third scored just one point away from commended. She continues to love math, and she received a school award last six weeks for her work in that subject. She took a school field trip this year to Sky Ranch to do some hands on learning in science. Maria also has a new pet fish named Sky. Here's video of her in the Spring Talent Show. And here's a little from the just completed Christmas musical at school.
Eric and Dennise enjoyed a relatively quiet year on the professional front. We're pretty happy about that. The church has been doing well. The United Methodist General Conference was in Fort Worth this year, and the Northaven took an active role in witnessing to the conference about reconciling ministries. It was a difficult couple of weeks. But many other things at the church have actually been very good this year. Here is a video that was made for our Stewardship Campaign that gives a snapshot of the church right now, and here is a nice historical video.
Most of Eric's musical time was given to Connections Band. If you haven't visited their website, please do. The stunning news is that the band raised over $30,000 in this year alone for Nothing But Nets and UMCOR. That puts the band close to $50K raised in the past three years! Amazing. Please sign up to be on our mailing list, and come hear a show. There are lots of pics, soundclips and videos at the website.
Dennise spoke at the Advanced Family Law Course on ‚"How to present property cases at trial.‚" Dallas Observer named her in the "Best Of" issue. Their exact title was, "Best Judge when your cheap divorce gets expensive." We chuckled at that, but we'll take it. The write up about Dennise's work was very kind. It was a pleasant surprise, in that the Observer did not let on to anyone we know they were working on this category. Dennise was also selected to be co-Vice Chair to the DBA Bench Bar Conference in 2009.
Although this was certainly a big election year, it was truly nice to not be running in this one, after having to run in both 2004 and 2006. However, by this time next year, we'll be back in the thick of things once again. One final thing, did you know Dennise turned forty this year? Enjoy a four-decade retrospective here.
Maria wanted to go to New York for vacation, and while we were in that part of the country, we visited Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Boston. It was a great vacation, and you can see the movie here. We also took a little trip to San Antonio in August and managed to get some time at Sea World.
While we have many blessings we are happy about, but we also have endured some events that deeply sadden us. We've had a number of dear friends and mentors pass away this year. We won't mention them all here, but we will tell you that they had enourmous impact in our lives. From them, we were able to reflect on the chance we are each given in order to make a positive difference in the world. From them, we were able to learn ways in which we can live and make dying a part of our living. We learned an important lesson from one dear friend about dying gracefully. Yet another friend taught us to enjoy our time together as much as possible.
While the loss of these friends and mentors saddens us, we have faith in God. Faith sustains us and helps us with our grief. As the years pass, we know there will be others. This is a part of life. We are grateful for the lives of friends and mentors who have gone before us. We are grateful for you. Each of you touches our lives in some form or fashion. Thank you for being there.
Hope you are having a blessed and peaceful holiday season.
Dennise, Eric and Maria.
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Summer Vacation 2008
Dec/24/2008 07:57 PM | Permalink
A movie of our trip to Philly, Boston, New York and
Washington. Somehow, we didn't get a single pic of
our friends, Sheri and Evan, which seems so wrong.
With that great omission confessed, enjoy the rest:
With that great omission confessed, enjoy the rest:
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Christmas Musical
Dec/24/2008 07:54 PM | Permalink
Clips from Maria in her school musical a week ago.
Note her spot-on voicing of a Charlie Brown Christmas
character:
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Gymnastics Meets in 2008
Dec/24/2008 07:53 PM | Permalink
Here's a montage of Maria in some of her meets from
this year:
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Prestonwood Talent Show (You Can't Stop the Beat)
Dec/24/2008 07:51 PM | Permalink
Maria and Brittany in the Talent Show last Spring:
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Where The Wild Things Are
Aug/22/2008 05:47 PM | Permalink
In our North Dallas suburban neighborhood,
apparently....
This sign is currently by the side of the road in Far, Far North Dallas...on Davenport...north of Campbell and south of Frankfort. And while many reading this entry might find it incredulous that such warnings are necessary, we can speak from experience...
There's critters 'round these here parts.
As I've mentioned now and then, we seem to have an abundance of wildlife in the area, mostly along the several creeks and railroad right-of-ways in this area of town.
In the past two years, we've personally seen the following:
-- Hawks (lots)
-- Coyotes (several)
-- Rabbits (so many, that they must be multiplying like, well, rabbits...)
-- A Red Fox
-- Two Armadillos
-- Numerous Raccoons
-- A Possum (in our actual backyard!)
We have not yet seen a bobcat. But I assume this sign is out because, from what I've heard, there was an actual bobcat sighting very near my parent's house last week. (Less than a mile from here...one creek over...)
The last animal sighting by me personally was a Coyote, just last week while I was walking the Kiowa Creek trail at the bottom of the hill.
It was about 5 in the afternoon, and the Coyote was walking --rather nonchalantly-- from the end of an alley, across the street, and back into the Kiowa greenbelt. He was only about fifty to a hundred feet in front of me, and if I hadn't been so stunned I would've remembered to whip out my camera and take a shot (picture, that is...). He turned, looked at me as if in total boredom, then slowly loped back into the brush and creek bottom.
What most folks don't realize is that most every North Dallas creek eventually winds its way down to White Rock Creek, and into its vast greenbelt/lake area. And there are lots of critters down there.
Basically, our little neighborhood creeks are critter superhighways.
They find their way up and down these green areas, and pop out now and then...right in the middle of suburbia.
It bothers a lot of people, from what I can tell. So, I know this next thought will probably not be popular with everyone.
I personally think it's marvelous. North Dallas could use a little more wildness now and then.
This sign is currently by the side of the road in Far, Far North Dallas...on Davenport...north of Campbell and south of Frankfort. And while many reading this entry might find it incredulous that such warnings are necessary, we can speak from experience...
There's critters 'round these here parts.
As I've mentioned now and then, we seem to have an abundance of wildlife in the area, mostly along the several creeks and railroad right-of-ways in this area of town.
In the past two years, we've personally seen the following:
-- Hawks (lots)
-- Coyotes (several)
-- Rabbits (so many, that they must be multiplying like, well, rabbits...)
-- A Red Fox
-- Two Armadillos
-- Numerous Raccoons
-- A Possum (in our actual backyard!)
We have not yet seen a bobcat. But I assume this sign is out because, from what I've heard, there was an actual bobcat sighting very near my parent's house last week. (Less than a mile from here...one creek over...)
The last animal sighting by me personally was a Coyote, just last week while I was walking the Kiowa Creek trail at the bottom of the hill.
It was about 5 in the afternoon, and the Coyote was walking --rather nonchalantly-- from the end of an alley, across the street, and back into the Kiowa greenbelt. He was only about fifty to a hundred feet in front of me, and if I hadn't been so stunned I would've remembered to whip out my camera and take a shot (picture, that is...). He turned, looked at me as if in total boredom, then slowly loped back into the brush and creek bottom.
What most folks don't realize is that most every North Dallas creek eventually winds its way down to White Rock Creek, and into its vast greenbelt/lake area. And there are lots of critters down there.
Basically, our little neighborhood creeks are critter superhighways.
They find their way up and down these green areas, and pop out now and then...right in the middle of suburbia.
It bothers a lot of people, from what I can tell. So, I know this next thought will probably not be popular with everyone.
I personally think it's marvelous. North Dallas could use a little more wildness now and then.
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Why I Hate Email
Aug/22/2008 09:02 AM | Permalink
Over the past few years, I have come to a growing and
inescapable conclusion:
I now hate email.
Given the fact that, among my close family and friends, I am still probably the most wired-in person they know, it may sound as if I've gone off some deep end. Maybe you're thinking this makes me a cultural luddite.
I don't care.
But the facts of the matter are that I have grown to hate email for three basic reasons:
1) There's too much of it, and
2) People don't know how to use it, and
3) It can be so easily misunderstood in ways that face-to-face communication almost never is.
For months now, I believed I was alone in this growing distaste. But then, several weeks back, I stumbled on blogger and time management guru Tim Ferriss, author of the book "The Four Hour Workweek." Tim hates email so much that he's all but eliminated it from his life. And he's the most "wired" guy that most of his friends know. Inspired by him, I quickly used some of what I'll write below in a sermon.
Then, yesterday, that hip and happenin' cultural barometer known as the Dallas Morning News (turn on your sarcasm detectors) posted a story, titled "Overloaded in boxes lead to email backlash." And I suddenly knew that email-hate was a true current phenomenon in our cultural zeitgeist.
So, dear readers, if you feel the same growing anger about email that I do, know this:
-- You are not alone.
-- There are things you can do about it.
The way the DMN story sums it up, this was bound to happen, just the way it eventually happened to other cultural phenoms that we now love to hate...
I know this is how I feel.
I've long prided myself in the fact that I can get email at the church, at home, and on my Treo. In fact, I first bought a Treo because it was the first device I knew that allowed me to download email straight to it. I'm talkin' the early Treos, when they were still called a "Visors," and when they actually had an outside manufacturer that came up with a tiny plug-in modem. It wasn't wireless at all. But it was email on my mobile device. And I thought I was too cool for school.
Now, everybody has that and millions think it cool. And right at the time they're coming to this conclusion, I'm rethinking the whole idea altogether.
Part of it, as I said above, is because of how much email there is. I get a lot of email. To manage it, I've pushed it to several email addresses. There's a personal address I use, for family, friends, and music. There's a "music list" address, for various email lists associated with music. There's a church address. There's a "church list" address for my Lectionary Group, and others. There's a "contact" address for the various websites I manage. (Luckily a catch-all for all of them...) And there's even the address Southwestern Bell gave us years ago when we signed up, that we hardly ever use.
Counting all these email boxes, and not counting spam, I probably get between 250-300 email messages a day.
Counting spam?
You don't want to know.
"Oh, there's an easy solution!!!" you gleefully say. "Just fully engage your spam filters, and use a good filing system for inbound messages!!!"
Been there. Done that. Could write the manual.
At a certain point that doesn't help either, just because of sheer volume. I'm subscribed to several email lists that, frankly, I hardly check anymore. There's just no time. Sadly, I have real email friends out there that I hardly correspond with anymore.
But my hate for email also also has to do with how people use it, and how people expect you to respond. Increasingly, I have found that folks use email to write loooong, I mean seriously long, "War and Peace" length correspondence.
They send these two to five page documents, with a first line that says something like, "Review this and get back to me sometime later today."
In fact, studies have shown that more than 60 percent of all people assume that they will get a response to any email they send --of any length, and any complexity-- within 24-hours.
But frankly, sometime the needed response is too complex to dash off in two minutes or less. The writer has spent hours composing their thoughts, and then expects you to magically respond within five minutes.
And there's one more thing --and this is where I get dangerously close to psychoanalyzing above my "paygrade"-- I also think that email rewards those who are somewhat "obsessive/compulsive." They can dash out these long, copious emails, without breaking a sweat. If it's a group setting, they can respond before anyone else, and they often expect you to as well.
Which has led me to conclude that email rewards a certain "obsessive/compulsive" personality. And that certainly can't be good for the rest of us.
Which leads to the final reason for why I hate email: It can be so easily misunderstood.
How many times have you written a friend or family member, and had your words taken out of context? How many times have you emailed a group and had your best joke totally missed?
It happens all the time. That's because words on page are always subject to the interpretation, and creative imagination, of the reader. Whether we're reading a novel or a note from our email group on "Creative Basketweaving," we use far more of our imagination to interpret a writer's intent than we do for, say, face-to-face communication or a even phone conversation. And our own interpretation and imaginative assumptions are interesting, but often not at all what the writer had in mind. (Fine, if you're reading a novel. Not so hot, if you're reading a coworkers email).
Even a phone conversation, while not real "face-to-face," contains ways to interpret the sender's meaning...their inflection...their tone....the anger, joy, or boredom in their voice.
None of that is readily available via email. And that's why email is so often misinterpreted. That's why you end up spending even more time explaining yourself, responding to those who have misunderstood you, then you would have if you'd just picked up the phone in the first place.
AOL did a survey about a year ago, and found some astounding things about American's and their growing email addiction:
86% percent admit to checking email on vacation
43% of those who have portable devices such as Blackberries or Sidekicks say they “keep the device nearby when they are sleeping to listen for incoming mail.”
59% of people with portable email devices admit that they check their email the moment that a new message comes in.
One in four take their email device to bed with them each night.
37% of people admit to checking email while they are driving
53% of people admit to checking email in the bathroom!
And...12% of people check email in church
(so that's what they're doing...)
But does all this email obsession get us anywhere?
Well, in truth, Tim Ferriss cites studies that show the exact opposite:
I first stumbled on Tim Ferriss via Derek Siver's blog. (A great blog for any indie musician, btw...) Tim has two whole categories on his blog devoted to these kinds of issues. One category is called "The Low Information Diet: Selective Ignorance." My favorite is "Email Detox."
They're worth surfing around. There are a lot of ideas for reducing email clutter in your life, and for simplifying things. (Wasn't email supposed to do that for us?)
One of the simplest and most elegant solutions is to just check email twice a day: once in the morning, and once in the late afternoon.
Why not? Tim says. Look, you're not the President of the United States. You've never yet gotten an email where the fate of the Western world hangs on your response. Let's be realistic here. Ask yourself: if your senders don't get a response from you until much later in the day, what's will really go wrong?
He has nine other very practical ideas for reducing the volume of information and clutter in our lives, and you can read them here. He calls them "Nine Not-to-Do Habits."
One of his ideas is to go without email for one day a week. Actually, several major companies have instituted this already....US Cellular....Intel...and others.
Interesting: so, technology companies are banning email for one whole day, so employees will actually talk to each other...
We might want to pause and think about that one, huh?
One other idea --which I read on Tim's blog but cannot get my fingers on right now-- is a rule one company instituted for email exchanges. If employees "A" and "B" are talking about work, and if the "back and forth" between them goes on for two full rounds (two sends, and two receives), then they are required to stop using email, pick up the phone, and (gasp!) talk to each other.
I LOVE this one. One of my own biggest frustrations about email is that it makes simple conversations that used to take seconds via phone last for hours and days.
Well, hope you find something to like in this post.
If you've been finding your own growing hate of email growing, know that you are not alone. If you've got your own solutions, feel free to share them. And if you'd like to chat about it, that's fine.
But, please, just leave me a comment.
Don't send me an email.
Given the fact that, among my close family and friends, I am still probably the most wired-in person they know, it may sound as if I've gone off some deep end. Maybe you're thinking this makes me a cultural luddite.
I don't care.
But the facts of the matter are that I have grown to hate email for three basic reasons:
1) There's too much of it, and
2) People don't know how to use it, and
3) It can be so easily misunderstood in ways that face-to-face communication almost never is.
For months now, I believed I was alone in this growing distaste. But then, several weeks back, I stumbled on blogger and time management guru Tim Ferriss, author of the book "The Four Hour Workweek." Tim hates email so much that he's all but eliminated it from his life. And he's the most "wired" guy that most of his friends know. Inspired by him, I quickly used some of what I'll write below in a sermon.
Then, yesterday, that hip and happenin' cultural barometer known as the Dallas Morning News (turn on your sarcasm detectors) posted a story, titled "Overloaded in boxes lead to email backlash." And I suddenly knew that email-hate was a true current phenomenon in our cultural zeitgeist.
So, dear readers, if you feel the same growing anger about email that I do, know this:
-- You are not alone.
-- There are things you can do about it.
The way the DMN story sums it up, this was bound to happen, just the way it eventually happened to other cultural phenoms that we now love to hate...
"It happened with cigarettes. It happened with red meat. And carbs. And SUVs.
And now it's happening with e-mail. It's lost its cool factor.
According to a growing number of academics, "technologists" and psychologists, our dependence on e-mail – the need to attend to a constantly beeping in-box – is creating anxiety in the workplace, adversely affecting the ability to focus, diminishing productivity and threatening family bonds...."
"Behind the e-mail backlash is a growing perception that, despite its convenience and everything positive it has brought to work and social situations, the tide has turned: The once-friendly e-mail is now a monster that's threatening to ruin our lives..."
"As legions of "knowledge workers" vacation this summer, the question of whether to take along the BlackBerry is more complicated than ever.
Do, and the vacation might not be such a vacation after all. Don't, and you're likely to return to an in-box that takes hours to clear or, worse, the dreaded "your mailbox has exceeded its limits" message.
Long hailed as a timesaving boon, e-mail has taken over the workplace like a midsummer algae bloom."
I know this is how I feel.
I've long prided myself in the fact that I can get email at the church, at home, and on my Treo. In fact, I first bought a Treo because it was the first device I knew that allowed me to download email straight to it. I'm talkin' the early Treos, when they were still called a "Visors," and when they actually had an outside manufacturer that came up with a tiny plug-in modem. It wasn't wireless at all. But it was email on my mobile device. And I thought I was too cool for school.
Now, everybody has that and millions think it cool. And right at the time they're coming to this conclusion, I'm rethinking the whole idea altogether.
Part of it, as I said above, is because of how much email there is. I get a lot of email. To manage it, I've pushed it to several email addresses. There's a personal address I use, for family, friends, and music. There's a "music list" address, for various email lists associated with music. There's a church address. There's a "church list" address for my Lectionary Group, and others. There's a "contact" address for the various websites I manage. (Luckily a catch-all for all of them...) And there's even the address Southwestern Bell gave us years ago when we signed up, that we hardly ever use.
Counting all these email boxes, and not counting spam, I probably get between 250-300 email messages a day.
Counting spam?
You don't want to know.
"Oh, there's an easy solution!!!" you gleefully say. "Just fully engage your spam filters, and use a good filing system for inbound messages!!!"
Been there. Done that. Could write the manual.
At a certain point that doesn't help either, just because of sheer volume. I'm subscribed to several email lists that, frankly, I hardly check anymore. There's just no time. Sadly, I have real email friends out there that I hardly correspond with anymore.
But my hate for email also also has to do with how people use it, and how people expect you to respond. Increasingly, I have found that folks use email to write loooong, I mean seriously long, "War and Peace" length correspondence.
They send these two to five page documents, with a first line that says something like, "Review this and get back to me sometime later today."
In fact, studies have shown that more than 60 percent of all people assume that they will get a response to any email they send --of any length, and any complexity-- within 24-hours.
But frankly, sometime the needed response is too complex to dash off in two minutes or less. The writer has spent hours composing their thoughts, and then expects you to magically respond within five minutes.
And there's one more thing --and this is where I get dangerously close to psychoanalyzing above my "paygrade"-- I also think that email rewards those who are somewhat "obsessive/compulsive." They can dash out these long, copious emails, without breaking a sweat. If it's a group setting, they can respond before anyone else, and they often expect you to as well.
Which has led me to conclude that email rewards a certain "obsessive/compulsive" personality. And that certainly can't be good for the rest of us.
Which leads to the final reason for why I hate email: It can be so easily misunderstood.
How many times have you written a friend or family member, and had your words taken out of context? How many times have you emailed a group and had your best joke totally missed?
It happens all the time. That's because words on page are always subject to the interpretation, and creative imagination, of the reader. Whether we're reading a novel or a note from our email group on "Creative Basketweaving," we use far more of our imagination to interpret a writer's intent than we do for, say, face-to-face communication or a even phone conversation. And our own interpretation and imaginative assumptions are interesting, but often not at all what the writer had in mind. (Fine, if you're reading a novel. Not so hot, if you're reading a coworkers email).
Even a phone conversation, while not real "face-to-face," contains ways to interpret the sender's meaning...their inflection...their tone....the anger, joy, or boredom in their voice.
None of that is readily available via email. And that's why email is so often misinterpreted. That's why you end up spending even more time explaining yourself, responding to those who have misunderstood you, then you would have if you'd just picked up the phone in the first place.
AOL did a survey about a year ago, and found some astounding things about American's and their growing email addiction:
86% percent admit to checking email on vacation
43% of those who have portable devices such as Blackberries or Sidekicks say they “keep the device nearby when they are sleeping to listen for incoming mail.”
59% of people with portable email devices admit that they check their email the moment that a new message comes in.
One in four take their email device to bed with them each night.
37% of people admit to checking email while they are driving
53% of people admit to checking email in the bathroom!
And...12% of people check email in church
(so that's what they're doing...)
But does all this email obsession get us anywhere?
Well, in truth, Tim Ferriss cites studies that show the exact opposite:
"In 2005, a psychiatrist at King’s College in London administered IQ tests to three groups: the first did nothing but perform the IQ test, the second was distracted by e-mail and ringing phones, and the third was stoned on marijuana. Not surprisingly, the first group did better than the other two by an average of 10 points. The e-mailers, on the other hands, did worse than the stoners by an average of 6 points."
I first stumbled on Tim Ferriss via Derek Siver's blog. (A great blog for any indie musician, btw...) Tim has two whole categories on his blog devoted to these kinds of issues. One category is called "The Low Information Diet: Selective Ignorance." My favorite is "Email Detox."
They're worth surfing around. There are a lot of ideas for reducing email clutter in your life, and for simplifying things. (Wasn't email supposed to do that for us?)
One of the simplest and most elegant solutions is to just check email twice a day: once in the morning, and once in the late afternoon.
Why not? Tim says. Look, you're not the President of the United States. You've never yet gotten an email where the fate of the Western world hangs on your response. Let's be realistic here. Ask yourself: if your senders don't get a response from you until much later in the day, what's will really go wrong?
He has nine other very practical ideas for reducing the volume of information and clutter in our lives, and you can read them here. He calls them "Nine Not-to-Do Habits."
One of his ideas is to go without email for one day a week. Actually, several major companies have instituted this already....US Cellular....Intel...and others.
Interesting: so, technology companies are banning email for one whole day, so employees will actually talk to each other...
We might want to pause and think about that one, huh?
One other idea --which I read on Tim's blog but cannot get my fingers on right now-- is a rule one company instituted for email exchanges. If employees "A" and "B" are talking about work, and if the "back and forth" between them goes on for two full rounds (two sends, and two receives), then they are required to stop using email, pick up the phone, and (gasp!) talk to each other.
I LOVE this one. One of my own biggest frustrations about email is that it makes simple conversations that used to take seconds via phone last for hours and days.
Well, hope you find something to like in this post.
If you've been finding your own growing hate of email growing, know that you are not alone. If you've got your own solutions, feel free to share them. And if you'd like to chat about it, that's fine.
But, please, just leave me a comment.
Don't send me an email.
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A test post
Aug/04/2008 04:03 PM | Permalink
OK. I've now tried twice to post a blog, and had
something go horribly wrong both times.
So, for my own sanity, I need to see if I can do a normal post. Sorry for the clutter.
Please, let this word.
(Yes, that's a cheap prayer...)
So, for my own sanity, I need to see if I can do a normal post. Sorry for the clutter.
Please, let this word.
(Yes, that's a cheap prayer...)
I'm All a-Twitter (Yes, That's Horribly Cliche. Sue
me.)
Aug/03/2008 04:22 PM | Permalink
In my shameless efforts to stay hip and current, I
thought I'd let you all know I've joined Twitter.
I've also joined Facebook. As I said when I joined
Myspace, this probably marks the moment when both of
these things become officially un-hip. Which, of
course, has been an un-hip way to describe un-hip
things for about two decades now.
So the truth is, I'm not that hip. But for those of you where are, here's the scoop...
Here's my Twitter feed, for those of you who do that sort of thing.
Here's my public Facebook link.
I have to say, I'm liking Facebook a lot more than Myspace. Facebook seems more "adult." (Read: mature, not racy). And I've re-met a ton of old friends, which has been cool. They seem to pop out of nowhere.
I stuck my Twitter feed right here on the blog sidebar, which I have to tell you is just too cool for words. It seems to be working with every platform/browser...except Internet Explorer for Windows. Which I worried about for a while. And then thought, why is anybody even using that anymore?
So, apologies to those of you who do. Why not try Firefox? Or even Safari?
In fact, if you're a Windows user, I'd love for you to open up the blog in Safari...it's the only Windoze browser that actually renders the pages the way they're supposed to be. (Firefox gets it mostly)
So the truth is, I'm not that hip. But for those of you where are, here's the scoop...
Here's my Twitter feed, for those of you who do that sort of thing.
Here's my public Facebook link.
I have to say, I'm liking Facebook a lot more than Myspace. Facebook seems more "adult." (Read: mature, not racy). And I've re-met a ton of old friends, which has been cool. They seem to pop out of nowhere.
I stuck my Twitter feed right here on the blog sidebar, which I have to tell you is just too cool for words. It seems to be working with every platform/browser...except Internet Explorer for Windows. Which I worried about for a while. And then thought, why is anybody even using that anymore?
So, apologies to those of you who do. Why not try Firefox? Or even Safari?
In fact, if you're a Windows user, I'd love for you to open up the blog in Safari...it's the only Windoze browser that actually renders the pages the way they're supposed to be. (Firefox gets it mostly)
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Dennise is 40!!!
Jun/21/2008 05:12 PM | Permalink
Musical credits:
David Wilcox: "Heart Shaped Medallion" from the CD, "Home Again"
Tommy Emmanuel: "Since We Met" from the CD, "Only"
Pierce Pettis: "You Are Family" from the CD, "Chase the Bufallo"
Political Ad Music: Ron Bobbitt, Piano Compositions
Dixie Chicks: "The Long Way" from the CD, "Taking the Long Away Around"
Indigo Girls: "Free In You" from the CD, "All That We Let In"
Also! Leave Dennise a comment below....
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New Ways to Look at Fathers
Jun/15/2008 06:01 AM | Permalink
"...they would create their own model, one in which they were parenting partners. Equals and peers. They would work equal hours, spend equal time with their children, take equal responsibility for their home. Neither would be the keeper of the mental to-do lists; neither of their careers would take precedence. Both would be equally likely to plan a birthday party or know that the car needs oil or miss work for a sick child or remember (without prompting) to stop at the store for diapers and milk. They understood that this would mean recalibrating their career ambitions, and probably their income, but what they gained, they believed, would be more valuable than what they lost."
Dennise and I have always tried our best to live this new way of co-parenting --dividing chores and responsibilities-- but it's hard work, and there are few role models. But, I'm pleased to see couples like us getting a little due. The story continues:
"There are Marcs and Amys scattered throughout the country, and the most interesting thing about them is that they are so very interesting. What they suggest, after all, is simple. Gender should not determine the division of labor at home. It’s a message consistent with nearly every major social trend of the past three decades — women entering the work force, equality between the sexes, the need for two incomes to pay the bills, even courts that favor shared custody after divorce. And it is what many would agree is fair, even ideal. Yet it is anything but the norm..."
“If you gave people a survey they would probably check all the answers about how things should be equal,” says Francine M. Deutsch, a psychology professor at Mount Holyoke and the author of “Halving It All: How Equally Shared Parenting Works.” But when they get to the part where “you ask them how things work for them day to day,” she says, “ideal does not match reality.”
Deutsch has labeled the ideal “equally shared parenting,” a term the Vachons have embraced. DeGroot prefers “shared care,” because “shared parenting” is used to describe custody arrangements in a divorce, and while “equal” would be nice, it is a bar that might be too high for some families to even try to clear. Whatever you call it, the fact that it has to have a name is a most eloquent statement of both the promise and the constraints facing families today.
“Why do we have to call it anything?” Amy asks.
Marc adds, “Why isn’t this just called parenting?"
Why, indeed.
Someday, it won't seem so strange. I am sure of it. But there are days when it still seems like a challenging, trailblazing, life.
On other matters related to being a father....
The other day, in my wrap-up of the Democratic Primary season, I mentioned an essay by Peggy Drexler, that cited a surprising study about which politicians actually support women's issues the most. She's now unpacked that one quote in complete essay titled: Looking for a Woman's Candidate? Check for Daughters.
Here's what she says:
"A study (done in 2006 and updated last year) sponsored by Yale University and the National Bureau of Economic Research and authored by Ebonya Washington showed that male legislators with daughters are more likely to support women's issues than those without them.
She came to that conclusion through an analysis of roll-call votes in which she compared votes with family composition. She used rankings by major women's groups on 20 women's issues, such as equal rights, women's safety, economic security, education, health and reproductive rights.
It is a political application that mirrors previous research that shows - just as fathers change daughters, daughters change dads.
The dependent, passively feminine daddy's little girls of the past have been replaced by a new and thoroughly re-designed model of young female - ambitious, educated, worldly and in need of nobody's protection.
Instead of preparing his daughter for the time-honored matrimonial hand-off, fathers today can - and are increasingly expected to - have a hand in raising powerful and independent women; women fully capable of making their way in a competitive world where the competitors don't always play nice.
More than most, legislators have a chance to shape that world.
As we wish them a happy father's day, let's also hope the elected fathers of daughters make the most of it."
Happy Father's Day, everyone.
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Theo is Here!
May/27/2008 05:30 PM | Permalink
This is what my brother-in-law Chris called to tell
us yesterday morning. Theo was born yesterday at
about 4 am.
Dennise, Maria and me made a quick (and surprise) visit yesterday afternoon, since we had the day off and Denise was feeling better.
Here are pics from my Dad...
Dennise, Maria and me made a quick (and surprise) visit yesterday afternoon, since we had the day off and Denise was feeling better.
Here are pics from my Dad...
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Holy Hail, Batman!
May/15/2008 11:20 PM | Permalink
We got some pretty serious rain through here last
night, but nothing like what my sister and her
husband, Chris, got down in Austin.
On her picture blog, she sez this:
This was some serious hail. Here's a few of those pics. Check out the size of the hail stones next to a quarter, and the pockmarks in the AC unit:
She doesn't mention it here, but their car, newly back from the shop after a pretty serious accident, got pelted by the hail and will, most likely, be headed back to the shop again. Incredible. Here's the whole photo album.
And as I write things, I am remembering that the six-year-old me took hail stones to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, to give to Dianne on the day she was born. Didn't understand for years why they wouldn't let me give them to her.
I mention this because "Theo"is the new nephew...due any time the next couple of weeks.
Everybody's pretty dang excited.
On her picture blog, she sez this:
Quite a storm blew through Austin at 1 am on May 15, 2008. Everything facing west got the brunt of the wind and hail as it moved W to E across town. That includes the kitchen window, the wooden siding, the garage A/C unit, a roof vent, and the car. The garden and vegetation were shredded. Anyone for bruised peaches or tomatoes? Hail was 2-3 in., or racquetball size, with 55 mph wind gusts. But all are fine, and we are still waiting for Theo...
This was some serious hail. Here's a few of those pics. Check out the size of the hail stones next to a quarter, and the pockmarks in the AC unit:
She doesn't mention it here, but their car, newly back from the shop after a pretty serious accident, got pelted by the hail and will, most likely, be headed back to the shop again. Incredible. Here's the whole photo album.
And as I write things, I am remembering that the six-year-old me took hail stones to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, to give to Dianne on the day she was born. Didn't understand for years why they wouldn't let me give them to her.
I mention this because "Theo"is the new nephew...due any time the next couple of weeks.
Everybody's pretty dang excited.
All's Well
May/07/2008 06:51 PM | Permalink
Thanks for the many notes and emails about Dennise's
surgery.
It's now Wednesday night, and Maria and I have just returned from the hospital and a late afternoon visit. The surgery went perfectly...no complications. There is a pathology being run, but the doc says, from the looks of things, no bad news is expected.
Dennise insisted that Maria and I come home tonight, so that we aren't all three sleeping in a strange place this evening. D's Mom will stay with her at Presby. tonight.
We were well cared for at the hospital by Northaven friends and staff, and have a great home cooked meal tonight from them to come home to.
She'll probably be there until Friday, and then will have as much as two weeks recovery at home.
We appreciate your prayers. We are deeply grateful.
More info as it becomes available.
It's now Wednesday night, and Maria and I have just returned from the hospital and a late afternoon visit. The surgery went perfectly...no complications. There is a pathology being run, but the doc says, from the looks of things, no bad news is expected.
Dennise insisted that Maria and I come home tonight, so that we aren't all three sleeping in a strange place this evening. D's Mom will stay with her at Presby. tonight.
We were well cared for at the hospital by Northaven friends and staff, and have a great home cooked meal tonight from them to come home to.
She'll probably be there until Friday, and then will have as much as two weeks recovery at home.
We appreciate your prayers. We are deeply grateful.
More info as it becomes available.
Your Prayers and Happy Thoughts, Please.
May/05/2008 08:36 PM | Permalink
The Judge will be going into a Presbyterian Hospital
on Wednesday, for surgery to remove an ovarian cyst.
She's expected to be there there until at least through Friday, possibly Saturday.
Please pray for Dennise, the surgeons and staff, and Maria and me.
More later, after we're home...and probably no other entries for some days...EF
She's expected to be there there until at least through Friday, possibly Saturday.
Please pray for Dennise, the surgeons and staff, and Maria and me.
More later, after we're home...and probably no other entries for some days...EF
OK...It Seemed to Work...
Apr/22/2008 07:32 AM | Permalink
Shock of shocks, my blog/website update seems to have
worked. Without too much disruption (besides a
three-month absence) the site is now back in
business.
There are still a couple of unresolved issues:
One issue is that the comments are all screwed up. For reasons beyond my understanding, the comments are not posting to the correct blog entry. In most cases, they seem to be about two entries behind where they should be. This is the one single issue I worked hardest to resolve these past few months, to absolutely no avail. I would have had this site back up two months ago if I could've resolved this issue quickly. But I've given up.
So the truth may be this: any comments for entries prior to this one may be hopelessly screwed up, and there may be no way to ever fix them. Sorry for that.
Also, the picture pages are still messed up. The pic pages are dependent upon iPhoto, and I have yet to repopulate my iPhoto library. The pics are all there, in a folder on the new backup hard drive, but they are totally unsorted and unnamed...and sorting them's gonna take a lot more time. So, please be patient while we work to recreate this section of the website.
Finally, I noticed recently that the blog does not render correctly for people using the Windoze version of Internet Explorer. The margins are all screwed up, and I can't figure out why. If anybody knows the answer to this mystery, please let me know. The pages render just fine using Safari or Firefox...or using any program on a Mac. (Surprised?)
I wouldn't worry about this, but for the sheer number of potential readers out there using IE. So, I am sensitive to this issue and working to resolve it. But if you are inspired, it might be good time to switch to Firefox.
More later...
There are still a couple of unresolved issues:
One issue is that the comments are all screwed up. For reasons beyond my understanding, the comments are not posting to the correct blog entry. In most cases, they seem to be about two entries behind where they should be. This is the one single issue I worked hardest to resolve these past few months, to absolutely no avail. I would have had this site back up two months ago if I could've resolved this issue quickly. But I've given up.
So the truth may be this: any comments for entries prior to this one may be hopelessly screwed up, and there may be no way to ever fix them. Sorry for that.
Also, the picture pages are still messed up. The pic pages are dependent upon iPhoto, and I have yet to repopulate my iPhoto library. The pics are all there, in a folder on the new backup hard drive, but they are totally unsorted and unnamed...and sorting them's gonna take a lot more time. So, please be patient while we work to recreate this section of the website.
Finally, I noticed recently that the blog does not render correctly for people using the Windoze version of Internet Explorer. The margins are all screwed up, and I can't figure out why. If anybody knows the answer to this mystery, please let me know. The pages render just fine using Safari or Firefox...or using any program on a Mac. (Surprised?)
I wouldn't worry about this, but for the sheer number of potential readers out there using IE. So, I am sensitive to this issue and working to resolve it. But if you are inspired, it might be good time to switch to Firefox.
More later...
(Tap, tap....testing, testing...one, two three...)
Miss Me?
Apr/22/2008 12:40 AM | Permalink
If everything goes according to plan (and it seldom
does...) you're reading the first new blog entry from
my in about three months.
I'd like to hope that's been strange for some of you, as I know we had many regular readers back around Christmastime.
But, alas, due to technical difficulties completely within my control, I had a major website mess on my hands at the end of January.
One morning, in a hurry to get out the door, and wishing only to erase a small "SD" card that was leftover from my last Treo, I inadvertently erased my main hard drive back up disk. A bonehead move...totally my fault. Just selected the wrong icon and hit "OK."
It took about five seconds for about a hundred gigs, and ten years of files, to vanish. It took me about six seconds to realize what I had done and let out a blood curdling scream.
Thank God for data recovery software. That's the good news. The bad news is that even if it recovers all your files, it can't recover the things you originally named them. Add to this, I hadn't done a complete back up of my website since about November of 2006.
All this is to say, even though I've been real silent, blog-wise, I've been ridiculously busy, recovering files, and trying to recreate the website from the point of my last backup.
If everything goes according to plan (and, as I said, it seldom does...) I am mostly done with the rebuilding, and you are reading my first blog entry in 90 days.
Didja miss me?
If this works, I will let out a similarly loud scream (of joy this time) and then head to bed...promising to catch everybody up on a day very soon.
I'd like to hope that's been strange for some of you, as I know we had many regular readers back around Christmastime.
But, alas, due to technical difficulties completely within my control, I had a major website mess on my hands at the end of January.
One morning, in a hurry to get out the door, and wishing only to erase a small "SD" card that was leftover from my last Treo, I inadvertently erased my main hard drive back up disk. A bonehead move...totally my fault. Just selected the wrong icon and hit "OK."
It took about five seconds for about a hundred gigs, and ten years of files, to vanish. It took me about six seconds to realize what I had done and let out a blood curdling scream.
Thank God for data recovery software. That's the good news. The bad news is that even if it recovers all your files, it can't recover the things you originally named them. Add to this, I hadn't done a complete back up of my website since about November of 2006.
All this is to say, even though I've been real silent, blog-wise, I've been ridiculously busy, recovering files, and trying to recreate the website from the point of my last backup.
If everything goes according to plan (and, as I said, it seldom does...) I am mostly done with the rebuilding, and you are reading my first blog entry in 90 days.
Didja miss me?
If this works, I will let out a similarly loud scream (of joy this time) and then head to bed...promising to catch everybody up on a day very soon.
Maria at Gymnastics Meet, Spring 2007
Dec/19/2007 08:20 AM | Permalink
Maria at her gymnastics meet on April 21, 2007.
This is video of her bar and floor routine:
This is video of her bar and floor routine:
Merry Christmas from Eric, Maria and Dennise
Dec/16/2007 06:37 AM | Permalink
Hello everyone,
It's Eric and Dennise's annual Christmas letter. We hope this letter finds you and yours doing well.
As you may have noticed, this letter was not so "annual" last year. As the holidays approached, we just couldn't find the energy to get a letter done. But a year later, we're much more rested. So, here is this year's edition.
As usual, this letter contains lots of links to other websites, pictures, and movies. Feel free to click away to your heart's content. We've also switched from a clickable pdf, to a "rich text" html message this year. So, if you're having trouble seeing this message, try going here and read it online.
Click here to download the actual Christmas card above in case, like us, you still enjoy taping these things up around your house during the holidays.
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A big part of what had us so tired at the end of last year was the 2006 election. As you may recall, Dennise was up for re-election then, having served only two years. (Her first election was to fill an unexpired seat)
She won, and she won big: 31,000 votes, and almost nine percentage points. In fact, she won by the widest margin of any county-wide judicial candidate in the past five elections. (Republican or Democrat)
So, on January 1st of this year, Dennise was sworn in again; this time for a full four year term. After two elections in two years, she decided to take it easy on the political front this year.l
But as you may remember, the election of 2006 featured quite a change in Dallas County politics, with dozens of Democratic candidates winning elected office. Overnight, Dennise went from being one of a few elected Democrats to being one of many.
For this and other reasons, she was voted Presiding Judge of the Family Courts in Dallas County. This involves calling, attending, and running various meetings relating to the administration of the courts. Doing this administrative job, running her own court, and supporting all the newly elected colleagues has been a challenge. But it’s been good to learn so much in such a short span of time, and things seem to be calming down now.
This fall Dennise was invited to be a part of the 21st Century Council at SMU. This is a specially selected group of younger alumni who serve as an advisory group to President Turner.
This year, she also received a high honor from the SMU Women's Symposium, being named one of six "Profiles in Leadership" honorees for 2007. Given her long association with the Women's Symposium --dating back to her time as a student-- it was a great honor to receive this award.
She also serves as a member of the board of directors to the Dallas County Child and Family Guidance Center. In August, she gave a speech on “Enforcement in Family Law Cases” at the Advanced Family Law Course in San Antonio.
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Eric continues his ministry at Northaven UMC. The building is beginning to take on more of its own personality as landscaping begins to develop around the church and new signs and art go up. Easter this year saw a huge crowd in attendance; very likely the largest worshipping Sunday at Northaven in many decades.
Since we last wrote, Eric's taken two mission trips to the Gulf Coast with Northaven members and members of Hamilton Park UMC. Even though it’s been two years since Katrina hit, there are still a number of places that look as though it hit yesterday.
Northaven is blessed with a truly wonderful staff right now, and is looking to round that out with the hiring of a new office manager. (Probably in late January). The church was honored to be a beneficiary of the annual Black Tie Dinner for the past two years.
Musically, Eric helped lead a new songwriter's retreat at Mt. Sequoyah in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Eric served as a host for the weekend, and worked with other leaders like Effron White, Emily Kaitz, and Trout Fishing in America. (along with his old friend, Charles Gaby...) It was great confluence of his love for music, the UMC, and Mt. Sequoyah. Everybody involved hopes it will be the first of what will be a great annual event for that region of the country.
Since we last wrote, Eric been playing in Connections Band too. Connections was formed by several UM Ministers, who share a common love for music. The group has found a niche doing "cover" shows of popular artists, and raising money for worthy causes like UMCOR and "Nothing But Nets" in the process.
Shows so far have included tributes to Dan Fogelberg, Eagles, Chicago, James Taylor and Carol King. Here are some pictures from their very first show, and here's some video for that show too. Here are some pics from the Chicago/Eagles Show. And here are some soundclips from several shows. To date, Connections has raised well over $20,000 for these worthy causes. It's been great honor to raise so much money, to use our musical gifts, and to play music that people love to hear. You can always find Connections upcoming schedule at Eric's music website.
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Can you believe that Maria is the fourth grade?! Neither can we. I mean, just look at this gymnastics picture.
And here she is on the first day of school. How did she get so mature?! So poised?! Where'd that little girl go?
Maria still competes in gymnastics, now at "level five," and she participated in her first off campus meets earlier this year. Here's video of her bar and floor routine. Can you believe all the things our "little girl" can do? Also in the spring, she submitted a 3rd grade science fair project titled "Why Does a Singing Bowl Sing?" She apparently got the idea from playing around with the "singing bowl" that Eric brought back from Nepal some years back. She did research on how music is made from vibrations of air... whether it's a singing bowl, or a violin. The work earned her second place in the third grade.
Maria also received a "commended" score on her Math TAKS test. This fall she joined the Prestonwood Elementary safety patrol, and was appointed a classroom representative to the Student Council. As of this Fall, she's also is now a part of their Girl Scout Troop. She and Eric are still active in their Indian Princess program and they still go camping with all the other girls and Dads. Here is a movie from our campout that will show you more of her gymnastics skill in action.
Maria is really in to "American Girl"" dolls (if you don't know, don't ask...), reading books, and Hannah Montana. Surely you know who Hannah Montana is, right? She's more famous to ten-year-old girls than the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Led Zepplin put together.
If you doubt this, the day after the Hannah Montana concert in Fort Worth (we didn't get to go...) Eric read aloud an item from the Dallas Morning News about how Troy Aikman had taken his little girls to see Hannah Montana, and had sat right on the front row.
To which Maria replied, "Who's Troy Aikman?"
-------------------------------------
That story gives you pause about how fleeting fame is, yes? And how little each generation remembers about the last. Which, actually, was a part of the rationale for our Spring Break trip to California. Maria had wanted to go to Disneyland, and Eric and Dennise decided to make it a driving trip. We did this because every kid deserves at least one long car trip in their life, and partly because it's such a great chance to see and learn about so much of the Southwest. And, it seemed to us, that if you fly everywhere, you never really get the sense of just how big the world really is.
As you may know, the trip to California takes you down I-40, which is a lot of the old "Route 66." There's lots of history there to uncover. We stopped to see the Grand Canyon. (That's where the picture at the top comes from...) In California, we visited Disneyland, Universal Studios, and the beach at Santa Monica. (We got to see Eric's old friend, John Ramey, too...)
Take a look at a video of our trip here.
Along the way, Eric remembered that the great guitar store, McCabe's was right here in Santa Monica. And so, while on this trip, Eric bought his long hoped for "Santa Cruz" guitar. You can read the whole story about that here. It was a great trip and we spent some good time bonding as a family in a car. We hope to get in more vacations like this and take the opportunity to see the country this way.
Later in the Fall, Eric and Dennise got away to Memphis for a few days, when Dennise had a conference there. It turned into quite a nice little vacation, and Eric really loved learning about the history of Memphis' music scene. We visited the Civil Rights Museum, Sun and Stax Records, and Beale Street...where Eric got to play on the street one night. True story. Read about it here.
---------------------------------------------
Our contact info hasn't changed. But if you need an update, just reply to this email and ask for it. (Hoping to keep from broadcasting it via email to the world of evil spammers...)
A lot of the links in this letter refer to Eric's blog. And we hope you remember that he blogs there a lot, about a ridiculously strange menagerie of things, and in a format every similar to this letter. Hope you'll visit there. It's a good way to find out what's happening with us personally, in between these annual letters.
We're looking for a restful and relaxing holiday for the next few weeks, and we hope you have one too. We're pleased to be your friends, and grateful for the year that has been.
Wishing you Christmas Peace,
Eric, Dennise, and Maria
Grocery Store- The Extended Dance Mix
Dec/15/2007 04:32 PM | Permalink
A few days back, I posted
this.
What follows is a slightly longer version, stitched
together....just because I think it's so cute:
The Balance of a Gymnast
Dec/15/2007 04:07 PM | Permalink
Here is Maria at a recent Y Princess Campout, showing
no fear on the challenge course, and showing a
balance that comes from her gymnast training:
Maria's Grocerystore Birthday Dance
Dec/07/2007 05:39 PM | Permalink
We gave Maria one of those cool new iPod Nanos for
her birthday in September. I spent a couple of days
loading it up with all her favorite Hannah Montana,
and High School musical songs.
When you're ten, birthdays are still a big deal. You remember, don't you? Remember thinking it was probably the most special day of the year.
So, on Maria's birthday, we were shopping at Albertson's, and she had on the new iPod. What she didn't know is that I had my Treo, and I was taking movies.
Here's just a small portion of Maria's Birthday Grocerystore Dance:
There's about four minutes more I didn't post...
I love the part where we come to an intersection, and she stops for a moment when she sees another shopper. Then, she's got the beat back within seconds.
Remember what it was like to have that kind of special day?
Wonder what you'd feel like if you just cut loose and danced down the vegetable aisle some day soon?
It'd probably feel awesome.
When you're ten, birthdays are still a big deal. You remember, don't you? Remember thinking it was probably the most special day of the year.
So, on Maria's birthday, we were shopping at Albertson's, and she had on the new iPod. What she didn't know is that I had my Treo, and I was taking movies.
Here's just a small portion of Maria's Birthday Grocerystore Dance:
There's about four minutes more I didn't post...
I love the part where we come to an intersection, and she stops for a moment when she sees another shopper. Then, she's got the beat back within seconds.
Remember what it was like to have that kind of special day?
Wonder what you'd feel like if you just cut loose and danced down the vegetable aisle some day soon?
It'd probably feel awesome.
A JackO-Lantern's Heart
Oct/31/2007 08:52 PM | Permalink
To the best of my knowledge, Peter Mayer holds the
distinction of having written the world's only
Halloween folk song. You may not have heard it, but
it's really pretty popular in the acoustic music
world. And when I Googled it, I even
discovered
a sculpture inspired by
it.
I hope you will not only enjoy these lyrics but also support Peter by buying his stuff here.
Happy Halloween, everyone...
"John's Garden" by Peter Mayer.
Farmer John wandered back
And when he reached the pumpkin patch, began to speak.
He said, "The weather's getting colder,
Summer's over and it's almost Halloween.
That's the day, the reason you were raised
When everything about your life will change.
You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you'll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness.
But remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart."
The pumpkins held a meeting then;
Some were very apprehensive and afraid.
"Could this really happen to us?
What could be the meaning?" is what they were saying.
"This is home, it's all we've ever known."
Then one bold, outspoken pumpkin spoke.
He said,
"I don't need eyes to see, it sounds like a lie to me,
I like it just fine here in John's garden.
And remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart."
There is much to ask and to ponder in the pumpkin patch
When imposing old October shows up at last.
Then a pumpkin from the farther end
Who had been silent up till then
Over the commotion, said
"What would you rather have my friends,
A chance to shine, or die here on the vine?
The better way seems very plain to me.
You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you'll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness.
And maybe that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart,
Oh, but one goblin's smile should make it all well worth while,
You know you might even see the starlight.
And knowing that time is brief, makes it that much more sweet
When you have a jack-o-lantern's heart."
Words and Music © Peter Mayer
I hope you will not only enjoy these lyrics but also support Peter by buying his stuff here.
Happy Halloween, everyone...
"John's Garden" by Peter Mayer.
Farmer John wandered back
And when he reached the pumpkin patch, began to speak.
He said, "The weather's getting colder,
Summer's over and it's almost Halloween.
That's the day, the reason you were raised
When everything about your life will change.
You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you'll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness.
But remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart."
The pumpkins held a meeting then;
Some were very apprehensive and afraid.
"Could this really happen to us?
What could be the meaning?" is what they were saying.
"This is home, it's all we've ever known."
Then one bold, outspoken pumpkin spoke.
He said,
"I don't need eyes to see, it sounds like a lie to me,
I like it just fine here in John's garden.
And remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart."
There is much to ask and to ponder in the pumpkin patch
When imposing old October shows up at last.
Then a pumpkin from the farther end
Who had been silent up till then
Over the commotion, said
"What would you rather have my friends,
A chance to shine, or die here on the vine?
The better way seems very plain to me.
You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you'll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness.
And maybe that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart,
Oh, but one goblin's smile should make it all well worth while,
You know you might even see the starlight.
And knowing that time is brief, makes it that much more sweet
When you have a jack-o-lantern's heart."
Words and Music © Peter Mayer
Do you remember, the 21st night of September?
Sep/21/2007 09:23 AM | Permalink
"Do you remember the 21st night of september?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away"
Today is my birthday. And in a deeply personal way, it's always been awesome to have a birthday associated with such a bitchingly cool "Earth, Wind, and Fire" song. Especially one that I remember from my own past, as a great dance track in my high school days. When I DJed dances, back in the day, we'd pretty much play all of EWT's Greatest Hits, and September was among everyone's favorites.
But, for me, late September has always been a magical time for many other birthday reasons. For, you see, next week is my Mom's birthday (September 29th). And so it was always cool to not only have a birthday remembered in an EWT song, but also one close to Mom's too.
That would be cool enough. But, turns out, last Saturday, September 15th, was my daughter's birthday...her tenth.
This, by the way, is completely incomprehensible. Not the date, the number. It is not possible she's ten. And yet, every facet of my life tells me it must be true. And so I am aquiecing to it as a possible truth, even as I am still searching for the evidence that her being ten is an optical illusion. (It has to be...)
In yet another cool connection, my Grandmother's birthday (on Dad's side) was also September 15th. But she and Maria missed knowing each other by couple of decades.
My daughter's birth, 10-years-ago, was the greatest birthday presents for me ever. It solidified these later weeks of September as a sort of spiritually rich time for our family...perhaps a part of the calendar that's also a part of our DNA?
And then, just a few short years later, September 11th happened. And, as anyone with a September celebration can tell you, it changed things for a while. My daughter's birthday that year was muted, to say the least, coming just four days after that horrible day and while we were all still reeling in shock. I'm not even sure we did anything for my birthday that year. I'm pretty sure I didn't want to.
Truthfully? It's felt a little odd to want to "celebrate" anything in late-to-mid September for several years now.
"Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing.
As we danced in the night,
Remember how the stars stole the night away
Ba de ya - say do you remember
Ba de ya - dancing in september
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day"
While I would never want to downplay the significance of September 11th, I am grateful for the years that have passed since; and for the fact that this year, really for the first time since 2001, it somehow feels again like we are celebrating this month as our birthday month. Maybe it's the time that's passed. Or, maybe I'm just not as depressed as I have been the past few years.
Who knows?
But, for me, even with September 11th now permanently mixed-in to my September DNA, this year there is also a certain connection with feeling "normal" again about the month of September. And for me personally? It's really nice.
For the first time in several years, there is postive, life-affirming power, there is a permission --or maybe even a compulsion-- to sing and jam with EW&F again, and to again feel the sheer unadulterated joy of September birthdays.
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away"
Today is my birthday. And in a deeply personal way, it's always been awesome to have a birthday associated with such a bitchingly cool "Earth, Wind, and Fire" song. Especially one that I remember from my own past, as a great dance track in my high school days. When I DJed dances, back in the day, we'd pretty much play all of EWT's Greatest Hits, and September was among everyone's favorites.
But, for me, late September has always been a magical time for many other birthday reasons. For, you see, next week is my Mom's birthday (September 29th). And so it was always cool to not only have a birthday remembered in an EWT song, but also one close to Mom's too.
That would be cool enough. But, turns out, last Saturday, September 15th, was my daughter's birthday...her tenth.
This, by the way, is completely incomprehensible. Not the date, the number. It is not possible she's ten. And yet, every facet of my life tells me it must be true. And so I am aquiecing to it as a possible truth, even as I am still searching for the evidence that her being ten is an optical illusion. (It has to be...)
In yet another cool connection, my Grandmother's birthday (on Dad's side) was also September 15th. But she and Maria missed knowing each other by couple of decades.
My daughter's birth, 10-years-ago, was the greatest birthday presents for me ever. It solidified these later weeks of September as a sort of spiritually rich time for our family...perhaps a part of the calendar that's also a part of our DNA?
And then, just a few short years later, September 11th happened. And, as anyone with a September celebration can tell you, it changed things for a while. My daughter's birthday that year was muted, to say the least, coming just four days after that horrible day and while we were all still reeling in shock. I'm not even sure we did anything for my birthday that year. I'm pretty sure I didn't want to.
Truthfully? It's felt a little odd to want to "celebrate" anything in late-to-mid September for several years now.
"Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing.
As we danced in the night,
Remember how the stars stole the night away
Ba de ya - say do you remember
Ba de ya - dancing in september
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day"
While I would never want to downplay the significance of September 11th, I am grateful for the years that have passed since; and for the fact that this year, really for the first time since 2001, it somehow feels again like we are celebrating this month as our birthday month. Maybe it's the time that's passed. Or, maybe I'm just not as depressed as I have been the past few years.
Who knows?
But, for me, even with September 11th now permanently mixed-in to my September DNA, this year there is also a certain connection with feeling "normal" again about the month of September. And for me personally? It's really nice.
For the first time in several years, there is postive, life-affirming power, there is a permission --or maybe even a compulsion-- to sing and jam with EW&F again, and to again feel the sheer unadulterated joy of September birthdays.
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Watch the World Go By. Literally.
Sep/03/2007 04:28 PM | Permalink
File this under:
"Cool Things You Can Find on the Web"
The clock/counter below comes from this guy.
Even though quantum physics tells us that there is no such thing as time, and that there is no such thing as a "steady state," it's easy to forget this due to the way we actually experience our lives day to day.
Even for those of us who are "in" to Process Theology --which has, as fundamental tenet, that the world is always changing, and that change is a fundamental part of reality-- it's easy to get lulled into the idea that things are sort of permanently the way they are...right now.
Whether we look at these things through the lens of science or philosophy/theology, it's easy to get lulled into the belief that the world is unchanging. But the truth is, the world is always changing, in every moment of every day. And the clock below helps you see that in a really powerful way.
There is something quite powerful about it, really. Kind of like meditating on the vastness of the Grand Canyon, or the stars in outer space. There is something about being aware, even just statistically, of how things are constantly in a state of change, that is deeply spiritual and profound.
So, play around with this counter for a while. And, quite literally, watch the world go by:
Poodwaddle.com
The clock/counter below comes from this guy.
Even though quantum physics tells us that there is no such thing as time, and that there is no such thing as a "steady state," it's easy to forget this due to the way we actually experience our lives day to day.
Even for those of us who are "in" to Process Theology --which has, as fundamental tenet, that the world is always changing, and that change is a fundamental part of reality-- it's easy to get lulled into the idea that things are sort of permanently the way they are...right now.
Whether we look at these things through the lens of science or philosophy/theology, it's easy to get lulled into the belief that the world is unchanging. But the truth is, the world is always changing, in every moment of every day. And the clock below helps you see that in a really powerful way.
There is something quite powerful about it, really. Kind of like meditating on the vastness of the Grand Canyon, or the stars in outer space. There is something about being aware, even just statistically, of how things are constantly in a state of change, that is deeply spiritual and profound.
So, play around with this counter for a while. And, quite literally, watch the world go by:
Poodwaddle.com
Father's Day
Jun/17/2007 05:27 PM | Permalink
Don't think I can really do much better today than to
refer you to
what I wrote
two-years-ago.
Happy Father's Day, everyone.
Happy Father's Day, everyone.
May 29
May/29/2007 11:45 PM | Permalink
Like most dates on the yearly calendar, if you look
back through history at May 29 you find a lot of
interesting things happened.
For example, on this date in 526 Antioch was struck by an earthquake that may have killed as many as 250,000 people.
In 1453, Mehmed II conquered Constantinople, effectively ending the Byzantine Empire.
Rhode Island became a state on this day in 1790.
Bing Crosby recorded his definitive version of "White Christmas" on May 29, 1942.
And 1993, Jose Canseco --an Outfielder/DH by trade-- pitched for the Texas Rangers (and injured his arm...) during a meaningless 15-1 loss.
Yes, there are a lot of things that have happened on May 29 through history. And there's one more memorable thing that happened that year Canseco pitched. Only it wasn't memorable for its boneheadedness. Instead, it's one of the best moments of my life:
On May 29 1993, Dennise and I got married.
We got hitched at 4 pm, at Highland Park UMC, where I served on staff at the time. It was a great wedding attended by a whole lot of folks. So many folks we're sure we never saw them all that day. We had a great reception over at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. And afterwards, it was off in a blaze off bird seed (rice wasn't permitted...).
It had been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Within the span of less than three weeks, Dennise finished her final law exams, we moved our separate possessions into our first house over in "Little Forest Hills," she graduated from law school, officially started her first job, and we got married.
Oh yeah...and when that was done, it was time for her to study for the bar.
Besides that, nothing really happened that first year.
So after that whirlwind of activity, we got to the end of our reception, and realized we really didn't know what we were going to do next. We were hungry, actually, didn't have plans for dinner, and could really use some time to decompress. So, we drove back to Highland Park, picked up our car, and coaxed a few friends to join us at the Blue Goose, down on Greenville. (Including one very confused friend of mine --who shall remain nameless-- and who was arriving for the at the church --she thought the wedding was at 7-- just as we were returning from the reception. We invited to her to go with us too...)
Along with several of my oldest friends in the world, we went out, had Tex-Mex, a couple Margaritas, and just relaxed.
It was awesome.
Today, as we celebrate 14-years of marriage, we did it again. We piled Maria into the Prius with us, and made the sojourn out of the wilds of North Dallas, back to East Dallas.
We dined at the Blue Goose. We drove up and down the streets of our old "hood," remembering coffeehouses and clubs that I'd played at, and parks where we used to take walks. We drove past the log house, just for kicks. (We have new renters moving in this week...) We drove past the house on Huntley, where we lived when Maria was born.
Then, we drove over to "Little Forest Hills," to the first place we lived together...the house on Groveland. Which meant, of course, that we drove past White Rock Lake, and remembered all the walks, picnics, and bike rides we used to take there.
All along the way, we kept a running tour-guide-like narration going for Maria, telling her the meaning and memory behind almost every building in Lakewood, Lower Greenville, Junius Heights, and "Little Forest Hills."
She was singularly unimpressed. Actually, I got that she was very impressed. She's just getting to the age when it's no longer cool to let your parents know you're impressed.
BTW, I've found in recent years that May 29 is also a very fine day for others to get married too. Several of my musicians friends have gotten married on the 29th. Tom and Carrie did just a year ago. And Dave Stoddard and his wife got married on this day a year after us. (Congrats on the adoption, by the way...)
All in all, it's been a really good 14-years. I think actually seeing all our old haunts not only reminded us how both we and they have changed, but also about the ground we've covered in those years.
In new the movie "Rocky Balboa," Rocky is now in his fifties and still lives in South Philly. He runs an Italian restaurant, where his boxing memorabilia lines the walls. The "rounds" he makes now are table-to-table, sharing old war stories of his title fights with the diners. One night, Rocky's walking those old familiar streets, and muses "I think if you live in a place long enough, you become that place."
After more than 40 years here in Dallas it certainly feels more and more that way to me. So many streets --and four or five neighborhoods now-- are filled with so many memories. I find that, on every street I drive with regularity these days, there is not only a present-day meaning, but also --if I let it-- a memory from childhood, high school, graduate school, or early married life. These streets have layers of meaning now, like an old Redwood tree.
I drive down Belt Line in North Dallas, and I remember not only driving that road last week, but I can also see the ghost of the high-school-me, tooling around in my 65 Mustang, gunning that sweet and powerful V-8 engine, and blaring "Hotel California" out the windows. I make the commute to Northaven, in Preston Hollow, and suddenly I'm with Kevin and John --in the days before our voices changed and we gave girls a second thought-- and we're at the Royal Lane 7-11 buying baseball cards
.
I can almost smell the bubble gum.
I go to East Dallas, into Lakewood Hardware, and can remember the first repairs I did on our new house. I drive down Swiss, and remember how we used to take walks with my sister, Dianne, when she lived just blocks away and Maria was in a baby stroller. I drive down Huntley and remember how both Maria and the music for my first CD were born there in that house near the corner of Gaston. I drive down Worth Street and see the log house, and remember wonderful times. And even though I can no longer imagine living there in the right now, there is still something about that house, and all of East Dallas, that will always speak more to who Dennise and I are than North Dallas ever can.
Many ghosts of friends and family, no longer present, still haunt each corner. Most of them are friendly ghosts, and very familiar ones.
The last 14-years of these memories have been spent with Dennise. And it was great to drive around tonight and remember all the ghosts together.
As Maria half-listened, admittedly the stories weren't nearly as monumental as many of the other world events I mentioned. But the world certainly changed for us that day. Long after our family's forgotten Jose Canseco, we'll remember May 29, 1993.
To paraphrase Rocky, I think if you live with a person long enough, you become more that person too. And that's a good thing. It's something that only comes through the living of not just one year, or two, but year after year.
It was good to re-remember some of those places that had been --and still are-- important to us. And above all, important to remember just how much we still mean to each other today.
Happy Anniversary, D.
Love,
E
For example, on this date in 526 Antioch was struck by an earthquake that may have killed as many as 250,000 people.
In 1453, Mehmed II conquered Constantinople, effectively ending the Byzantine Empire.
Rhode Island became a state on this day in 1790.
Bing Crosby recorded his definitive version of "White Christmas" on May 29, 1942.
And 1993, Jose Canseco --an Outfielder/DH by trade-- pitched for the Texas Rangers (and injured his arm...) during a meaningless 15-1 loss.
Yes, there are a lot of things that have happened on May 29 through history. And there's one more memorable thing that happened that year Canseco pitched. Only it wasn't memorable for its boneheadedness. Instead, it's one of the best moments of my life:
On May 29 1993, Dennise and I got married.
We got hitched at 4 pm, at Highland Park UMC, where I served on staff at the time. It was a great wedding attended by a whole lot of folks. So many folks we're sure we never saw them all that day. We had a great reception over at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. And afterwards, it was off in a blaze off bird seed (rice wasn't permitted...).
It had been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Within the span of less than three weeks, Dennise finished her final law exams, we moved our separate possessions into our first house over in "Little Forest Hills," she graduated from law school, officially started her first job, and we got married.
Oh yeah...and when that was done, it was time for her to study for the bar.
Besides that, nothing really happened that first year.
So after that whirlwind of activity, we got to the end of our reception, and realized we really didn't know what we were going to do next. We were hungry, actually, didn't have plans for dinner, and could really use some time to decompress. So, we drove back to Highland Park, picked up our car, and coaxed a few friends to join us at the Blue Goose, down on Greenville. (Including one very confused friend of mine --who shall remain nameless-- and who was arriving for the at the church --she thought the wedding was at 7-- just as we were returning from the reception. We invited to her to go with us too...)
Along with several of my oldest friends in the world, we went out, had Tex-Mex, a couple Margaritas, and just relaxed.
It was awesome.
Today, as we celebrate 14-years of marriage, we did it again. We piled Maria into the Prius with us, and made the sojourn out of the wilds of North Dallas, back to East Dallas.
We dined at the Blue Goose. We drove up and down the streets of our old "hood," remembering coffeehouses and clubs that I'd played at, and parks where we used to take walks. We drove past the log house, just for kicks. (We have new renters moving in this week...) We drove past the house on Huntley, where we lived when Maria was born.
Then, we drove over to "Little Forest Hills," to the first place we lived together...the house on Groveland. Which meant, of course, that we drove past White Rock Lake, and remembered all the walks, picnics, and bike rides we used to take there.
All along the way, we kept a running tour-guide-like narration going for Maria, telling her the meaning and memory behind almost every building in Lakewood, Lower Greenville, Junius Heights, and "Little Forest Hills."
She was singularly unimpressed. Actually, I got that she was very impressed. She's just getting to the age when it's no longer cool to let your parents know you're impressed.
BTW, I've found in recent years that May 29 is also a very fine day for others to get married too. Several of my musicians friends have gotten married on the 29th. Tom and Carrie did just a year ago. And Dave Stoddard and his wife got married on this day a year after us. (Congrats on the adoption, by the way...)
All in all, it's been a really good 14-years. I think actually seeing all our old haunts not only reminded us how both we and they have changed, but also about the ground we've covered in those years.
In new the movie "Rocky Balboa," Rocky is now in his fifties and still lives in South Philly. He runs an Italian restaurant, where his boxing memorabilia lines the walls. The "rounds" he makes now are table-to-table, sharing old war stories of his title fights with the diners. One night, Rocky's walking those old familiar streets, and muses "I think if you live in a place long enough, you become that place."
After more than 40 years here in Dallas it certainly feels more and more that way to me. So many streets --and four or five neighborhoods now-- are filled with so many memories. I find that, on every street I drive with regularity these days, there is not only a present-day meaning, but also --if I let it-- a memory from childhood, high school, graduate school, or early married life. These streets have layers of meaning now, like an old Redwood tree.
I drive down Belt Line in North Dallas, and I remember not only driving that road last week, but I can also see the ghost of the high-school-me, tooling around in my 65 Mustang, gunning that sweet and powerful V-8 engine, and blaring "Hotel California" out the windows. I make the commute to Northaven, in Preston Hollow, and suddenly I'm with Kevin and John --in the days before our voices changed and we gave girls a second thought-- and we're at the Royal Lane 7-11 buying baseball cards
.
I can almost smell the bubble gum.
I go to East Dallas, into Lakewood Hardware, and can remember the first repairs I did on our new house. I drive down Swiss, and remember how we used to take walks with my sister, Dianne, when she lived just blocks away and Maria was in a baby stroller. I drive down Huntley and remember how both Maria and the music for my first CD were born there in that house near the corner of Gaston. I drive down Worth Street and see the log house, and remember wonderful times. And even though I can no longer imagine living there in the right now, there is still something about that house, and all of East Dallas, that will always speak more to who Dennise and I are than North Dallas ever can.
Many ghosts of friends and family, no longer present, still haunt each corner. Most of them are friendly ghosts, and very familiar ones.
The last 14-years of these memories have been spent with Dennise. And it was great to drive around tonight and remember all the ghosts together.
As Maria half-listened, admittedly the stories weren't nearly as monumental as many of the other world events I mentioned. But the world certainly changed for us that day. Long after our family's forgotten Jose Canseco, we'll remember May 29, 1993.
To paraphrase Rocky, I think if you live with a person long enough, you become more that person too. And that's a good thing. It's something that only comes through the living of not just one year, or two, but year after year.
It was good to re-remember some of those places that had been --and still are-- important to us. And above all, important to remember just how much we still mean to each other today.
Happy Anniversary, D.
Love,
E
Bragging on Dennise (Again)
Mar/01/2007 07:27 AM | Permalink
As I mentioned two weeks
ago,
I have yet another reason to brag about Dennise.
Tonight at SMU, Dennise will receive the SMU Women’s Symposium "Profiles in Leadership Award." The Profiles in Leadership Award "recognizes Dallas women who exemplify the purpose of the Women’s Symposium, which is to educate women for social and political leadership."
Judge Garcia is, as you have heard me mention before, the "presiding judge" of the Dallas County Family Courts and the first Hispanic woman elected to a county-wide state district court in Dallas history. Among the other honorees tonight are Rev. Jo Hudson from Cathedral of Hope, and Rev. Bubba Dailey from Austin Street Centre for the homeless.
It's been a pleasure for me to be a colleague to both of them for many years now. I have known Bubba for almost 20 years, and remember fondly many nights when I'd take church groups to the shelter and Bubba and I would "catch up" in between the craziness of serving the clients there. Jo serves a church with many similar social and theological values to ours, and it's been a pleasure visiting with her from time to time about our common dreams and visions for ministry.
Along with Anne Marie Weiss-Armush --founder and chair of the Board of Directors of DFW International-- and Stacy Eppers --who has significant experience in mentoring young women through her work with Community Partners of Dallas-- this is quite a dynamic group of women, and I know Dennise is truly honored to be among them.
What's really fun about Dennise getting this award is that the symposium is an event she was involved in as a student. I recall how, during that first year we met, she worked as a student organizer and participant in the symposium. (In fact, I think the Daily Campus even ran a story about her involvement in the symposium...) So, I can remember how honored she was to be among such women of achievement even back then. And I can specifically remember how honored she was to be among women who broke ground, broke stereotypes, and pushed the boundaries of what women can achieve.
Now, years later, she's one of those women of achievement, breaking ground through her election and service to the courts. And like her election itself --and rise to presiding judge-- I know she's both amazed and humbled at the same time.
She couldn't be more grateful. And you've got to know I couldn't be prouder.
Tonight at SMU, Dennise will receive the SMU Women’s Symposium "Profiles in Leadership Award." The Profiles in Leadership Award "recognizes Dallas women who exemplify the purpose of the Women’s Symposium, which is to educate women for social and political leadership."
Judge Garcia is, as you have heard me mention before, the "presiding judge" of the Dallas County Family Courts and the first Hispanic woman elected to a county-wide state district court in Dallas history. Among the other honorees tonight are Rev. Jo Hudson from Cathedral of Hope, and Rev. Bubba Dailey from Austin Street Centre for the homeless.
It's been a pleasure for me to be a colleague to both of them for many years now. I have known Bubba for almost 20 years, and remember fondly many nights when I'd take church groups to the shelter and Bubba and I would "catch up" in between the craziness of serving the clients there. Jo serves a church with many similar social and theological values to ours, and it's been a pleasure visiting with her from time to time about our common dreams and visions for ministry.
Along with Anne Marie Weiss-Armush --founder and chair of the Board of Directors of DFW International-- and Stacy Eppers --who has significant experience in mentoring young women through her work with Community Partners of Dallas-- this is quite a dynamic group of women, and I know Dennise is truly honored to be among them.
What's really fun about Dennise getting this award is that the symposium is an event she was involved in as a student. I recall how, during that first year we met, she worked as a student organizer and participant in the symposium. (In fact, I think the Daily Campus even ran a story about her involvement in the symposium...) So, I can remember how honored she was to be among such women of achievement even back then. And I can specifically remember how honored she was to be among women who broke ground, broke stereotypes, and pushed the boundaries of what women can achieve.
Now, years later, she's one of those women of achievement, breaking ground through her election and service to the courts. And like her election itself --and rise to presiding judge-- I know she's both amazed and humbled at the same time.
She couldn't be more grateful. And you've got to know I couldn't be prouder.
Valentines Day in the 303rd
Feb/16/2007 12:23 AM | Permalink
Now and then, I get the great honor of bragging about
my wife. (I'll do it again in about two weeks...)
This time, it's a DMN story set to run in this morning's edition (Feb 15) . A reporter and photog followed Dennise and her staff around for the day, working the angle of what Valentine's Day is like in the "divorce court." It's a nice idea, and nicely written. And you can read it here.
valentines303
Yes, I'm the un-named husband who made the mix tape for Judge Garcia. I even learned Tish Hinojosa's "Who Showed You the way to My Heart" in Spanish. (Called a friend for the exact translation from the record...) I believe the other songs were JT's "Something in the Way She Moves," and Fogelberg's "Believe in Me."
One correction to the story: while Dennise and I met her senior year in college, we didn't start dating until the summer afterwards. She had another boyfriend all that year, and we were coworkers to boot. Dennise and I were a part of a great RA staff during what was her last year as an undergraduate and my last year in seminary. I was the Hall Director and Dennise was one of my ten "RAs." I was on four different RA staffs in my my years at SMU. But I don't keep up with any of the others like I do that bunch. Maybe it was because it was our last year, but I think it's really because it was a special group. Rep. Rafael Anchia was on that staff, along with our good friends, Chris, Carolyn, Shannon, and five others. We still see many of them to greater and lesser extents.
Since the story speaks of love and hate, I should confess that Dennise didn't like me at first. Actually, it would be more honest to say that she hated my guts. She thought I was too cheery, and too forgetful.
I was. To some, I am still too much of both.
But at least I grew on her, and by the end of the year all of us were fast friends. Soon after, several things happened in quick succession. First, instead of being sent to away to a church far away, I was sent about 500 feet, across the parking lot to Highland Park. (Who woulda thunk it?) Then, instead of heading to UT to be with that long-distance boyfriend, they broke up, and Dennise stayed in town to go to SMU Law instead. (Who woulda thunk it?)
So, we kept in touch. We'd go to movies, or get pizza and watch TV at my swanky new apartment off of Skillman and Northwest Hwy. Our first "date" wasn't even really a date to begin with. It was just two friends going off to see a movie: the deeply romantic film, "Total Recall," with Arnold Schwartzenegger. (See, it couldn't have been a date. Who in their right mind would pick that for a first date?)
Somewhere during that evening (after the film...) we looked at each other in a whole new way, sparks flew, and the rest became our history.
The best thing about our early romance is that we'd been good friends beforehand for so long already. We knew each other...our likes and dislikes.
In retrospect, it's such a sneaky, covert, way to do it. You're caught by love before you even know what hit you. You're "just friends," and so you don't bother to strap on the the usual heavy-duty dating-armor. You're "just friends," and so you learn things about the other that it would take months to learn about a new lover.
And then, boom. One day it happens, and you realize you're more than friends. And then one day it's fifteen years later, you've got a nine-year-old kid who's the greatest kid in the world, and a wonderful wife who's also a judge, and who gets written up by the DMN telling stories about your first Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day, D.
I still don't quite know who showed you the way to my heart.
But I thank God every day that you found it.
This time, it's a DMN story set to run in this morning's edition (Feb 15) . A reporter and photog followed Dennise and her staff around for the day, working the angle of what Valentine's Day is like in the "divorce court." It's a nice idea, and nicely written. And you can read it here.
valentines303
Yes, I'm the un-named husband who made the mix tape for Judge Garcia. I even learned Tish Hinojosa's "Who Showed You the way to My Heart" in Spanish. (Called a friend for the exact translation from the record...) I believe the other songs were JT's "Something in the Way She Moves," and Fogelberg's "Believe in Me."
One correction to the story: while Dennise and I met her senior year in college, we didn't start dating until the summer afterwards. She had another boyfriend all that year, and we were coworkers to boot. Dennise and I were a part of a great RA staff during what was her last year as an undergraduate and my last year in seminary. I was the Hall Director and Dennise was one of my ten "RAs." I was on four different RA staffs in my my years at SMU. But I don't keep up with any of the others like I do that bunch. Maybe it was because it was our last year, but I think it's really because it was a special group. Rep. Rafael Anchia was on that staff, along with our good friends, Chris, Carolyn, Shannon, and five others. We still see many of them to greater and lesser extents.
Since the story speaks of love and hate, I should confess that Dennise didn't like me at first. Actually, it would be more honest to say that she hated my guts. She thought I was too cheery, and too forgetful.
I was. To some, I am still too much of both.
But at least I grew on her, and by the end of the year all of us were fast friends. Soon after, several things happened in quick succession. First, instead of being sent to away to a church far away, I was sent about 500 feet, across the parking lot to Highland Park. (Who woulda thunk it?) Then, instead of heading to UT to be with that long-distance boyfriend, they broke up, and Dennise stayed in town to go to SMU Law instead. (Who woulda thunk it?)
So, we kept in touch. We'd go to movies, or get pizza and watch TV at my swanky new apartment off of Skillman and Northwest Hwy. Our first "date" wasn't even really a date to begin with. It was just two friends going off to see a movie: the deeply romantic film, "Total Recall," with Arnold Schwartzenegger. (See, it couldn't have been a date. Who in their right mind would pick that for a first date?)
Somewhere during that evening (after the film...) we looked at each other in a whole new way, sparks flew, and the rest became our history.
The best thing about our early romance is that we'd been good friends beforehand for so long already. We knew each other...our likes and dislikes.
In retrospect, it's such a sneaky, covert, way to do it. You're caught by love before you even know what hit you. You're "just friends," and so you don't bother to strap on the the usual heavy-duty dating-armor. You're "just friends," and so you learn things about the other that it would take months to learn about a new lover.
And then, boom. One day it happens, and you realize you're more than friends. And then one day it's fifteen years later, you've got a nine-year-old kid who's the greatest kid in the world, and a wonderful wife who's also a judge, and who gets written up by the DMN telling stories about your first Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day, D.
I still don't quite know who showed you the way to my heart.
But I thank God every day that you found it.
The WOW Starts with Apple
Feb/02/2007 04:56 PM | Permalink
Early on, I drank deeply from the Apple Koolaid. I've
been a
Mac
guy ever since.
Unabashedly.
Unapologeticly.
Unrepentantly.
Unwaveringly.
When I was younger, I used to get into long debates, and enjoyed the tit for tat fight of "Mac vs. PC." But as I got older, I tired of that. I no longer debate with PC-lovers, because I am absolutely certain there's nothing they can do to change my mind, and equally sure there's nothing I can do to change theirs.
In fact, I have come to believe that your choice of computer is a bit like your choice of religion, and that debating someone about it is usually just as pointless. I happen to believe my religion is the best one, at least for me. I also happen to believe my computer is the best one too. I am sure your situation is similar. That doesn't prevent me from waxing eloquently about both, though. I've just come to realize that getting defensive about either is a little pointless.
Two seminal events happen back in January in the separate universes of Mac and PC:
About two weeks ago, Apple announced the long awaited, and much coveted, "iPhone."
Last week, Microsoft unveiled "Vista," its new operating system.
Both are touchtone events in the lives of both companies. But, I believe that long after Vista is forgotten we'll recall the iPhone announcement as something that truly changed an industry.
That doesn't mean I'm out to slam Vista. Frankly, I don't know much about Vista. And, perhaps even more discouragingly for Microsoft, I don't care about Vista. From what I've heard, it functions remarkably like OSX, which is really funny since Vista's marketing slogan seems to be "The Wow Starts Now."
Actually, the "Wow" has been around for close to a decade.
Truth is, computer users have been saying "Wow!" all month. But not about Vista. They've been saying it about the iPhone. What a cool device this is going to be! And while Vista may excite folks for a month or so (until the security breaches are uncovered) the iPhone has the possibility of literally revolutionizing the cell phone for years to come. So far, from what I've heard, there is nothing in Vista that will be nearly so revolutionary.
Think that's too over the top? Think I'm too much of a "homer?"
Well, I will only point out that Apple had done this not once, but twice, before. Twice in their corporate history, their innovations have not just tinkered with a product, but have literally changed the product itself. First, they did it with the personal computer. Then, they did it with the mp3 player. Soon, by all accounts, they'll do it with the cell phone.
Look out everybody, here comes iPhone. And it's going to be a killer.
Worse Than Vacation Pictures: I Now Describe My Personal Computer History
(Yes, That's a play on words. And, yes, there's a point to this...)
I got my first Mac while in
graduate school.
It was a
512
K Enhanced, aka "Mac Plus," one of the very first
Macintosh computers ever made. That computer got me
all the way through grad school, and into the first
years of work. I kept it at home, and got a Mac SE
for the office. Those old computers seem terribly
quaint now. They had less internal memory than the
cell phone in my pocket has now. It was the mouse,
and the easy-to-use graphical interface (GUI), that
made those early Macs head and shoulders above every
other computer. it truly was revolutionary. Sure,
they are on every computer now. But what a
breakthrough it was then.
The really funny thing is how, throughout its existence, people have predicted Apple's demise. When Microsoft won the lawsuit that preserved the right to sell Windoze, people said it would bury Apple.
It didn't.
The second Mac I bought was the
second Powermac ever made.
They said it those computers wouldn't last either.
They said the company had already lost the
computer wars and would soon fold.
It didn't.
In 2000, we took a plunge and got a
G4.
When they came out, they were the fastest
computers on the planet. The military classified
them as a potentially dangerous weapon, and the
first ones could not be exported out of the United
States. They are still amazingly fast. They ran
OSX, Apple's beautiful and sleek operating system.
But, again, folks said "these are nice, but Apple
will probably go belly up soon."
It didn't.
Then came
iPod.
So, after twenty years of enduring the constant
FOX-News-like negative "spin" that Macs were silly
little second class computers, made from a company
allegedly always on the brink of extinction, along
came
this revolutionary music player. Folks said nobody
would buy it either, because it was
an Apple product. Who would buy an
Apple music player?! It was foolish venture, they
said. It didn't matter if it was more beautiful and
easy-to-use than PC-based players. What a sad last
gasp of a doomed company they said. Surely, Apple
will go under soon they said.
It didn't.
(Are you detecting the pattern yet?)
Bet You've Got an iPod, Don't You?
Apple now has 70 percent of the legal music download market. Apple has sold millions and millions of iPods; 21 million in the last fiscal quarter alone. This BTW, being the same quarter that Microsoft introduced the Zune. That's right, not only did the Zune not sell well in its first quarter, but the iPod sold better than ever.
Not only that, but Apple sold more computers during that same fiscal quarter too. By some accounts, their share of the computer market has come up four points over the past ten years; a span that saw virtually every other computer manufacturer LOSE market share.
So, funny thing? Nobody talks about Apple going under anymore!!!
In fact, more and more people are giving Macs a chance. Based on their experience of the iPod, they assume (correctly) that Macs might be just as easy to use. And, mark my word, there will be more of these users coming in the years to come. A completely non-scientific study of my daughter's nine-year-old friends reveals that eighty percent of them have iPods. I bet if you asked around among your friends, you'd find the same thing.
Some of the millions of kids toting around iPods will grow up to be Mac users, mark my word.
In the past few years, Apple made another bold move and changed over to the Intel chips in all their Macs. This means that anybody who just has to have Windoze in order to live, can now run it on their Mac --no problem-- side by side with OSX.
Throughout its history, Windoze has copied both the use of the mouse and the easy-to-use GUI that Apple created. But the Mac OS was the original. And it's still the best. People ARE switching to Macs. And once they use one for a while, they're finally admitting what I've said for years: Macs are better.
She Used to Love the View, But Now It's Overbuilt
But, what do I know? I'm a Koolaid drinker. So, perhaps you'd be more intrigued to hear it from Erika Jonietz.
Jonietz
is a Senior Editor at
Technology Review, and she's just written an essay
entitled:
"Uninspiring Vista: How Microsoft's
long-awaited operating system disappointed a
stubborn fan."
First, she establishes her bonafides as a Microsoft Windows Koolaid drinker:
"For most of the last two decades, I have been a Microsoft apologist. I mean, not merely a contented user of the company's operating systems and software, not just a fan, but a champion. I have insisted that MS-DOS wasn't hard to use (once you got used to it), that Windows 3.1 was the greatest innovation in desktop operating systems, that Word was in fact superior to WordPerfect, and that Windows XP was, quite simply, "it."
When I was forced to use Apple's Mac OS (versions 7.6 through 9.2) for a series of jobs, I grumbled, griped, and insisted that Windows was better...Yet my adoration wasn't entirely logical; I knew from experience, for example, that Mac crashes were easier to recover from than the infamous Blue Screen of Death. At the heart of it all, I was simply more used to Windows. Even when I finally bought a Mac three years ago, it was solely to meet the computing requirements of some of the publications I worked with. I turned it on only when I had to, sticking to my Windows computer for everyday tasks....
So you might think I would be predisposed to love Vista, Microsoft's newest version of Windows, which was scheduled to be released to consumers at the end of January. And indeed, I leaped at the opportunity to review it. I couldn't wait to finally see and use the long-delayed operating system that I had been reading and writing about for more than three years. Regardless of widespread skepticism, I was confident that Vista would dazzle me, and I looked forward to saying so in print.
Ironically, playing around with Vista for more than a month has done what years of experience and exhortations from Mac-loving friends could not: it has converted me into a Mac fan."
Jonietz is honest enough to admit what I said before, that Vista is not really "new":
"...many of Vista's "new" features seemed terribly familiar to me--as they will to any user of Apple's OS X Tiger operating system. Live thumbnails that display petite versions of minimized windows, search boxes integrated into every Explorer window, and especially the Sidebar--which contains "Gadgets" such as a weather updater and a headline reader--all mimic OS X features introduced in 2005. The Windows versions are outstanding--they're just not really innovative."
Jonietz also says Vista is a "memory hog."
"Although my computer meets the minimum requirements of a "Vista Premium Ready PC," with one gigabyte of RAM, I could run only a few °©simple programs, such as a Web browser and word processor, without running out of memory. I couldn't even watch a movie: Windows Media Player could read the contents of the DVD, but there wasn't enough memory to actually play it. In short, you need a hell of a computer just to run this OS."
And, she found that many of her peripherals didn't work either, and that she and many others will probably be forced to buy brand new ones:
"Microsoft's Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor program, which I ran before installing Vista, assured me that my laptop was fully compatible with the 64-bit version. But once I installed it, my speakers would not work. It seems that none of the companies concerned had written a driver for my sound card; it took more than 10 hours of effort to find a workaround. Nor do drivers exist for my modem, printer, or several other things I rely on. For some of the newer components, like the modem, manufacturers will probably have released 64-bit drivers by the time this review appears. But companies have no incentive to write complicated new drivers for older peripherals like my printer. And because rules written into the 64-bit version of Vista limit the installation of some independently written drivers, users will be virtually forced to buy new peripherals if they want to run it."
She concludes with this conversion experience:
"Struggling to get my computer to do the most basic things reminded me forcefully of similar battles with previous versions of Windows--for instance, the time an MIT electrical engineer had to help me figure out how to get my computer to display anything on my monitor after I upgraded to Windows 98. Playing with OS X Tiger in order to make accurate comparisons for this review, I had a personal epiphany: Windows is complicated. Macs are simple."
For those of you who know nothing about Macs, I know this last line seems like gloating. But Jonietz explains how she comes to this conclusion:
"I just want things to work, and with my Mac, they do. Though my Mac barely exceeds the processor and memory requirements for OS X Tiger, every bundled program runs perfectly. The five-year-old printer that doesn't work at all with Vista performs beautifully with OS X, not because the manufacturer bothered to write a new Mac driver for my aging standby, but because Apple included a third-party, open-source driver designed to support older printers in Tiger. Instead of facing the planned obsolescence of my printer, I can stick with it as long as I like.
And my deepest-seated reasons for preferring Windows PCs--more computing power for the money and greater software availability--have evaporated in the last year. Apple's decision to use the same Intel chips found in Windows machines has changed everything. Users can now run OS X and Windows on the same computer; with third-party software such as Parallels Desktop, you don't even need to reboot to switch back and forth. The chip swap also makes it possible to compare prices directly. I recently used the Apple and Dell websites to price comparable desktops and laptops; they were $100 apart or less in each case."
But enough about Vista. As I said, I haven't really been thinking much about it. Really. Strangely, I don't think many other people have been either.
Meet the Phone of Your Future
But
in the same month that the long overdue Vista is
finally released, here comes iPhone. And what a
splash IT made!!! It's already got more buzz
than Vista, and people are already buying Vista.
Mark my word: cell phones will never be the
same. iPhone may never be the best selling
phone; but like the iPod before it, it will
transform an entire industry. But, again, I
suppose you may say I'm just a Koolaid drinker.
So, check out these recommendations:
Chicago Sun Times says: "You Could Call the iPhone Perfect"
PC Magazine (A Windows Publication) says: "A day after Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPhone during his MacWorld keynote on Tuesday morning, I actually got my hands on one. For all of ten minutes. Ten minutes isn't much, but I can safely say that the iPhone is even more impressive than it appeared during the Jobs keyote. And that's saying something."
I am eagerly awaiting the iPhone. I want to get one. Unfortunately, because I washed my Treo 600 with my underwear the other day, I found myself in need of a new phone right now. (note to self and others: cell phones don't wash)
So, I had to go back to Sprint and get an upgrade. Got the new Treo 700. And it's a VERY cool device.
But I can tell you that the iPhone will be better. If you haven't really looked into it yet, and don't want to watch Steve Job's whole MacWorld keynote, check out this story from CBS News for a cool visual sample:
It's phone...it's an internet device...it's a personal organizer...it's an iPod.
Six months from now people will start flocking to replace their phones and iPods with the all-in-one iPhone. iPhone will run OSX, and have a full feature web browser. It will be a full-function iPod too.
This thing is going to be HUGE. It will transform phones. Mark my word.
I only have one major concern (that I am sure Apple will fix) and one minor one (that may just be my own ignorance). The first is that the initial iPhones will only be available in four and eight gigabytes models. But for someone like me, who assumes they'll be replacing their iPod when they get one, that's about twenty-to-forty gigs too small. My hunch is that, like the history of iPod itself, the storage space in these babies will explode over time.
The second concern is minor, and may already be taken care of. At this price range (and, no, they are not the most expensive phones out there!), a lot of the initial buyers will be switching over from other smartphones. They will want to be sure that the "personal organizer" functions of iPhone are top notch.
Apple has not really talked up the iCal functionality of iPhone. That surprises me a little. Along with lots of iPod/iPhoto storage space, the personal organizer side of the phone will be a necessity for me, and I'll want it to be every bit as great at the Treo/Palm world. My hunch is: it already is, but Apple is simply playing up the cooler side of the iPhone design in this initial release.
One of the things I've been noting is how people talk about Apple verses how they talk about Microsoft these days. I'm talking "Zeitgeist" here...not statistics or stock prices...but what is the culture says....
First, I offer this video from Conan O'Brien about iPhone:
Then, there's this skit from Saturday Night Live:
What's fun about both these is that they don't make fun of Apple for pathetic or clunky products. They make fun of Apple for products for being ridiculously, almost inconceivably, good. And the reason these "bits" are funny is because we recognize the underlying truth that Apple products ARE a amazing. They just might invent an iPhone you can keep a kajillion contacts in!
So, while I suppose folks will slowly and begrudgingly migrate to Vista, get ready for the iPhone. It's really going to shake things up. Apple has done it before, and they've done it again.
Unabashedly.
Unapologeticly.
Unrepentantly.
Unwaveringly.
When I was younger, I used to get into long debates, and enjoyed the tit for tat fight of "Mac vs. PC." But as I got older, I tired of that. I no longer debate with PC-lovers, because I am absolutely certain there's nothing they can do to change my mind, and equally sure there's nothing I can do to change theirs.
In fact, I have come to believe that your choice of computer is a bit like your choice of religion, and that debating someone about it is usually just as pointless. I happen to believe my religion is the best one, at least for me. I also happen to believe my computer is the best one too. I am sure your situation is similar. That doesn't prevent me from waxing eloquently about both, though. I've just come to realize that getting defensive about either is a little pointless.
Two seminal events happen back in January in the separate universes of Mac and PC:
About two weeks ago, Apple announced the long awaited, and much coveted, "iPhone."
Last week, Microsoft unveiled "Vista," its new operating system.
Both are touchtone events in the lives of both companies. But, I believe that long after Vista is forgotten we'll recall the iPhone announcement as something that truly changed an industry.
That doesn't mean I'm out to slam Vista. Frankly, I don't know much about Vista. And, perhaps even more discouragingly for Microsoft, I don't care about Vista. From what I've heard, it functions remarkably like OSX, which is really funny since Vista's marketing slogan seems to be "The Wow Starts Now."
Actually, the "Wow" has been around for close to a decade.
Truth is, computer users have been saying "Wow!" all month. But not about Vista. They've been saying it about the iPhone. What a cool device this is going to be! And while Vista may excite folks for a month or so (until the security breaches are uncovered) the iPhone has the possibility of literally revolutionizing the cell phone for years to come. So far, from what I've heard, there is nothing in Vista that will be nearly so revolutionary.
Think that's too over the top? Think I'm too much of a "homer?"
Well, I will only point out that Apple had done this not once, but twice, before. Twice in their corporate history, their innovations have not just tinkered with a product, but have literally changed the product itself. First, they did it with the personal computer. Then, they did it with the mp3 player. Soon, by all accounts, they'll do it with the cell phone.
Look out everybody, here comes iPhone. And it's going to be a killer.
Worse Than Vacation Pictures: I Now Describe My Personal Computer History
(Yes, That's a play on words. And, yes, there's a point to this...)
I got my first Mac while in
graduate school.
It was a
512
K Enhanced, aka "Mac Plus," one of the very first
Macintosh computers ever made. That computer got me
all the way through grad school, and into the first
years of work. I kept it at home, and got a Mac SE
for the office. Those old computers seem terribly
quaint now. They had less internal memory than the
cell phone in my pocket has now. It was the mouse,
and the easy-to-use graphical interface (GUI), that
made those early Macs head and shoulders above every
other computer. it truly was revolutionary. Sure,
they are on every computer now. But what a
breakthrough it was then.
The really funny thing is how, throughout its existence, people have predicted Apple's demise. When Microsoft won the lawsuit that preserved the right to sell Windoze, people said it would bury Apple.
It didn't.
The second Mac I bought was the
second Powermac ever made.
They said it those computers wouldn't last either.
They said the company had already lost the
computer wars and would soon fold.
It didn't.
In 2000, we took a plunge and got a
G4.
When they came out, they were the fastest
computers on the planet. The military classified
them as a potentially dangerous weapon, and the
first ones could not be exported out of the United
States. They are still amazingly fast. They ran
OSX, Apple's beautiful and sleek operating system.
But, again, folks said "these are nice, but Apple
will probably go belly up soon."
It didn't.
Then came
iPod.
So, after twenty years of enduring the constant
FOX-News-like negative "spin" that Macs were silly
little second class computers, made from a company
allegedly always on the brink of extinction, along
came
this revolutionary music player. Folks said nobody
would buy it either, because it was
an Apple product. Who would buy an
Apple music player?! It was foolish venture, they
said. It didn't matter if it was more beautiful and
easy-to-use than PC-based players. What a sad last
gasp of a doomed company they said. Surely, Apple
will go under soon they said.
It didn't.
(Are you detecting the pattern yet?)
Bet You've Got an iPod, Don't You?
Apple now has 70 percent of the legal music download market. Apple has sold millions and millions of iPods; 21 million in the last fiscal quarter alone. This BTW, being the same quarter that Microsoft introduced the Zune. That's right, not only did the Zune not sell well in its first quarter, but the iPod sold better than ever.
Not only that, but Apple sold more computers during that same fiscal quarter too. By some accounts, their share of the computer market has come up four points over the past ten years; a span that saw virtually every other computer manufacturer LOSE market share.
So, funny thing? Nobody talks about Apple going under anymore!!!
In fact, more and more people are giving Macs a chance. Based on their experience of the iPod, they assume (correctly) that Macs might be just as easy to use. And, mark my word, there will be more of these users coming in the years to come. A completely non-scientific study of my daughter's nine-year-old friends reveals that eighty percent of them have iPods. I bet if you asked around among your friends, you'd find the same thing.
Some of the millions of kids toting around iPods will grow up to be Mac users, mark my word.
In the past few years, Apple made another bold move and changed over to the Intel chips in all their Macs. This means that anybody who just has to have Windoze in order to live, can now run it on their Mac --no problem-- side by side with OSX.
Throughout its history, Windoze has copied both the use of the mouse and the easy-to-use GUI that Apple created. But the Mac OS was the original. And it's still the best. People ARE switching to Macs. And once they use one for a while, they're finally admitting what I've said for years: Macs are better.
She Used to Love the View, But Now It's Overbuilt
But, what do I know? I'm a Koolaid drinker. So, perhaps you'd be more intrigued to hear it from Erika Jonietz.
Jonietz
is a Senior Editor at
Technology Review, and she's just written an essay
entitled:
"Uninspiring Vista: How Microsoft's
long-awaited operating system disappointed a
stubborn fan."
First, she establishes her bonafides as a Microsoft Windows Koolaid drinker:
"For most of the last two decades, I have been a Microsoft apologist. I mean, not merely a contented user of the company's operating systems and software, not just a fan, but a champion. I have insisted that MS-DOS wasn't hard to use (once you got used to it), that Windows 3.1 was the greatest innovation in desktop operating systems, that Word was in fact superior to WordPerfect, and that Windows XP was, quite simply, "it."
When I was forced to use Apple's Mac OS (versions 7.6 through 9.2) for a series of jobs, I grumbled, griped, and insisted that Windows was better...Yet my adoration wasn't entirely logical; I knew from experience, for example, that Mac crashes were easier to recover from than the infamous Blue Screen of Death. At the heart of it all, I was simply more used to Windows. Even when I finally bought a Mac three years ago, it was solely to meet the computing requirements of some of the publications I worked with. I turned it on only when I had to, sticking to my Windows computer for everyday tasks....
So you might think I would be predisposed to love Vista, Microsoft's newest version of Windows, which was scheduled to be released to consumers at the end of January. And indeed, I leaped at the opportunity to review it. I couldn't wait to finally see and use the long-delayed operating system that I had been reading and writing about for more than three years. Regardless of widespread skepticism, I was confident that Vista would dazzle me, and I looked forward to saying so in print.
Ironically, playing around with Vista for more than a month has done what years of experience and exhortations from Mac-loving friends could not: it has converted me into a Mac fan."
Jonietz is honest enough to admit what I said before, that Vista is not really "new":
"...many of Vista's "new" features seemed terribly familiar to me--as they will to any user of Apple's OS X Tiger operating system. Live thumbnails that display petite versions of minimized windows, search boxes integrated into every Explorer window, and especially the Sidebar--which contains "Gadgets" such as a weather updater and a headline reader--all mimic OS X features introduced in 2005. The Windows versions are outstanding--they're just not really innovative."
Jonietz also says Vista is a "memory hog."
"Although my computer meets the minimum requirements of a "Vista Premium Ready PC," with one gigabyte of RAM, I could run only a few °©simple programs, such as a Web browser and word processor, without running out of memory. I couldn't even watch a movie: Windows Media Player could read the contents of the DVD, but there wasn't enough memory to actually play it. In short, you need a hell of a computer just to run this OS."
And, she found that many of her peripherals didn't work either, and that she and many others will probably be forced to buy brand new ones:
"Microsoft's Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor program, which I ran before installing Vista, assured me that my laptop was fully compatible with the 64-bit version. But once I installed it, my speakers would not work. It seems that none of the companies concerned had written a driver for my sound card; it took more than 10 hours of effort to find a workaround. Nor do drivers exist for my modem, printer, or several other things I rely on. For some of the newer components, like the modem, manufacturers will probably have released 64-bit drivers by the time this review appears. But companies have no incentive to write complicated new drivers for older peripherals like my printer. And because rules written into the 64-bit version of Vista limit the installation of some independently written drivers, users will be virtually forced to buy new peripherals if they want to run it."
She concludes with this conversion experience:
"Struggling to get my computer to do the most basic things reminded me forcefully of similar battles with previous versions of Windows--for instance, the time an MIT electrical engineer had to help me figure out how to get my computer to display anything on my monitor after I upgraded to Windows 98. Playing with OS X Tiger in order to make accurate comparisons for this review, I had a personal epiphany: Windows is complicated. Macs are simple."
For those of you who know nothing about Macs, I know this last line seems like gloating. But Jonietz explains how she comes to this conclusion:
"I just want things to work, and with my Mac, they do. Though my Mac barely exceeds the processor and memory requirements for OS X Tiger, every bundled program runs perfectly. The five-year-old printer that doesn't work at all with Vista performs beautifully with OS X, not because the manufacturer bothered to write a new Mac driver for my aging standby, but because Apple included a third-party, open-source driver designed to support older printers in Tiger. Instead of facing the planned obsolescence of my printer, I can stick with it as long as I like.
And my deepest-seated reasons for preferring Windows PCs--more computing power for the money and greater software availability--have evaporated in the last year. Apple's decision to use the same Intel chips found in Windows machines has changed everything. Users can now run OS X and Windows on the same computer; with third-party software such as Parallels Desktop, you don't even need to reboot to switch back and forth. The chip swap also makes it possible to compare prices directly. I recently used the Apple and Dell websites to price comparable desktops and laptops; they were $100 apart or less in each case."
But enough about Vista. As I said, I haven't really been thinking much about it. Really. Strangely, I don't think many other people have been either.
Meet the Phone of Your Future
But
in the same month that the long overdue Vista is
finally released, here comes iPhone. And what a
splash IT made!!! It's already got more buzz
than Vista, and people are already buying Vista.
Mark my word: cell phones will never be the
same. iPhone may never be the best selling
phone; but like the iPod before it, it will
transform an entire industry. But, again, I
suppose you may say I'm just a Koolaid drinker.
So, check out these recommendations:
Chicago Sun Times says: "You Could Call the iPhone Perfect"
PC Magazine (A Windows Publication) says: "A day after Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPhone during his MacWorld keynote on Tuesday morning, I actually got my hands on one. For all of ten minutes. Ten minutes isn't much, but I can safely say that the iPhone is even more impressive than it appeared during the Jobs keyote. And that's saying something."
I am eagerly awaiting the iPhone. I want to get one. Unfortunately, because I washed my Treo 600 with my underwear the other day, I found myself in need of a new phone right now. (note to self and others: cell phones don't wash)
So, I had to go back to Sprint and get an upgrade. Got the new Treo 700. And it's a VERY cool device.
But I can tell you that the iPhone will be better. If you haven't really looked into it yet, and don't want to watch Steve Job's whole MacWorld keynote, check out this story from CBS News for a cool visual sample:
It's phone...it's an internet device...it's a personal organizer...it's an iPod.
Six months from now people will start flocking to replace their phones and iPods with the all-in-one iPhone. iPhone will run OSX, and have a full feature web browser. It will be a full-function iPod too.
This thing is going to be HUGE. It will transform phones. Mark my word.
I only have one major concern (that I am sure Apple will fix) and one minor one (that may just be my own ignorance). The first is that the initial iPhones will only be available in four and eight gigabytes models. But for someone like me, who assumes they'll be replacing their iPod when they get one, that's about twenty-to-forty gigs too small. My hunch is that, like the history of iPod itself, the storage space in these babies will explode over time.
The second concern is minor, and may already be taken care of. At this price range (and, no, they are not the most expensive phones out there!), a lot of the initial buyers will be switching over from other smartphones. They will want to be sure that the "personal organizer" functions of iPhone are top notch.
Apple has not really talked up the iCal functionality of iPhone. That surprises me a little. Along with lots of iPod/iPhoto storage space, the personal organizer side of the phone will be a necessity for me, and I'll want it to be every bit as great at the Treo/Palm world. My hunch is: it already is, but Apple is simply playing up the cooler side of the iPhone design in this initial release.
One of the things I've been noting is how people talk about Apple verses how they talk about Microsoft these days. I'm talking "Zeitgeist" here...not statistics or stock prices...but what is the culture says....
First, I offer this video from Conan O'Brien about iPhone:
Then, there's this skit from Saturday Night Live:
What's fun about both these is that they don't make fun of Apple for pathetic or clunky products. They make fun of Apple for products for being ridiculously, almost inconceivably, good. And the reason these "bits" are funny is because we recognize the underlying truth that Apple products ARE a amazing. They just might invent an iPhone you can keep a kajillion contacts in!
So, while I suppose folks will slowly and begrudgingly migrate to Vista, get ready for the iPhone. It's really going to shake things up. Apple has done it before, and they've done it again.
Snow!
Feb/01/2007 08:53 PM | Permalink
It wasn't a lot of snow.
It didn't even cover the ground because of all the rain that preceded it and the mild temperatures of the days before.
But it snowed here today. It snowed for an hour and a half where we were. Big, wet flakes that vanished when they hit the ground, but that calmed and silenced the air in that way only falling snow can.
After school, Maria decided to catch some snowflakes on her tounge, and I was quick enough to remember the camera on my new Treo 700p:
Not only did I get these nice pictures, but I got this video too.
I got such joy from Maria's enjoyment of the snow, that for a moment I was taken back to how fun the dream of snow was when I was a kid. Snow is mostly a dream around here. We get lots of ice, and a few bursts of actual cold. And then we get lots of mild days in between. But snow?
Very rare in these here parts.
So, when it comes, it's really important to pause to take the time to enjoy it.
Kind of a metaphor for life, if you think about it. We get so rushed with all the really "important" and "adult" things we're doing. And, to a certain extent, they are important things. But yesterday, I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts, feelings, and fears, that I almost missed the snow.
I mean, I saw it. I saw it falling. I looked out the car window and thought, "Oh yeah...it's snowing..."
Not, "HEY! It's SNOWING!!!"
So, how blessed I am to remember to pull out the camera phone. How blessed I am to have a daughter reminds me of the appropriate response to snow. This:
And if fell where you were, I hope you took a break to enjoy it too, and did not simply glance at it sideways out the office window.
Because, like most joys of life, snow is a blessing you shouldn't just pass up. Like life itself, the weather on some days is cold and rainy, and on many others just mild and boring.
So when snow comes, celebrate it. No matter how much or how little you get.
It didn't even cover the ground because of all the rain that preceded it and the mild temperatures of the days before.
But it snowed here today. It snowed for an hour and a half where we were. Big, wet flakes that vanished when they hit the ground, but that calmed and silenced the air in that way only falling snow can.
After school, Maria decided to catch some snowflakes on her tounge, and I was quick enough to remember the camera on my new Treo 700p:
Not only did I get these nice pictures, but I got this video too.
I got such joy from Maria's enjoyment of the snow, that for a moment I was taken back to how fun the dream of snow was when I was a kid. Snow is mostly a dream around here. We get lots of ice, and a few bursts of actual cold. And then we get lots of mild days in between. But snow?
Very rare in these here parts.
So, when it comes, it's really important to pause to take the time to enjoy it.
Kind of a metaphor for life, if you think about it. We get so rushed with all the really "important" and "adult" things we're doing. And, to a certain extent, they are important things. But yesterday, I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts, feelings, and fears, that I almost missed the snow.
I mean, I saw it. I saw it falling. I looked out the car window and thought, "Oh yeah...it's snowing..."
Not, "HEY! It's SNOWING!!!"
So, how blessed I am to remember to pull out the camera phone. How blessed I am to have a daughter reminds me of the appropriate response to snow. This:
And if fell where you were, I hope you took a break to enjoy it too, and did not simply glance at it sideways out the office window.
Because, like most joys of life, snow is a blessing you shouldn't just pass up. Like life itself, the weather on some days is cold and rainy, and on many others just mild and boring.
So when snow comes, celebrate it. No matter how much or how little you get.
MLK Day 07
Jan/15/2007 11:33 AM | Permalink
This morning, I am remembering
this entry
from two years ago today.
I hope you are honoring the holiday. In case you need a reminder of why we celebrate this day, here's one of Dr. King's more famous speeches:
I hope you are honoring the holiday. In case you need a reminder of why we celebrate this day, here's one of Dr. King's more famous speeches:
A Brighter Day: Hopes for 2007
Dec/31/2006 10:23 PM | Permalink
Here at home
with the family this New Year's Eve. We're spending a
very lazy and quiet evening at home, and it's
wonderful.
Honestly, these days any evening we all get at home together is wonderful. And we've actually spent much of this holiday being homebodies...as we were at Thanksgiving too.
Longtime friends/readers will note the absence of a virtual Christmas card this year. We started a rough draft about two weeks ago, but just couldn't get it done. Probably not a bad thing to give it a year off anyway. And, if you read back through my blog, you'll probably be able to get the highlights of the year there.
So, tonight we say goodbye to 2006. And, as with the Christmas letter, I can't find the energy to write some long recap for the year.
It did seem to me that there were a surprising number of depressing stories out in the world this year. There were a few notable exceptions, of course.
Right after New Year's last year, my Longhorns became national champions. And, I will remind you, they will remain champions for the next seven days, and approximately 23 hours...but who's counting.
The Mavs made it to the NBA Finals, and that was a very cool thing. My blog on the "Phantom Fouls" became semi-viral for a few days, but it's all but passed now. I am still amazed, however, at the number of folks who still watch/comment on the YouTube videos each month.
The year was marked by a surprising number of governmental resignations:
Mark Foley, Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham, Donald Rumsfeld, Bob Ney, and hosts of others.
Democrats, as you know, swept into the US House in national politics, and the courthouse in the local scene.
This year included the largest single-day protest in not only Dallas history, but TEXAS history, with the incredible MegaMarch of Palm Sunday. As I blogged about at the time, I believe this was a seminal event for Dallas and for our area. And when our history is written years from now, we may look back at it as the single most important local news story. But while half a million marched on that day, a suburban city council passed restrictions on undocumented workers in their town too.
We actually found out this year that spinach can sometimes be bad for you, during an unusual E Coli scare this summer. (who knew?)
There was a horrifying school shooting in Lancaster County, PA, and an moving and inspiring response of love and forgiveness from the families of the victims. Taught us all a little about what Christians ought to do all the time, but what is still a very rare response, indeed.
But the AP tells us the top story of the year was the Iraq War. (Hurricane Katrina got that honor last year, but the Iraq War has, sadly, made a comeback...)
More than 25,000 Americans have been killed or wounded there, including more than 800 killed this year. And now, just this afternoon, comes word that the 3,000th American has died there: a young, 22-year-old Texan. Some analysts now call the situation there "Civil War."
Gerald Ford died, and died just this past week. Ann Richards died this year. (And I never did blog about her, even though I intended to...) And so did Lloyd Benson and Coretta Scott King. As I noted elsewhere, Buck O'Neil died, and so did James Brown.
Saddam Hussein was executed two days ago. Seems like a mostly empty gesture these days, given how the war is going. Seems like a sad gesture, given my own opposition to capital punishment.
All in all, a pretty depressing year for the world of world news. As with last year, probably a year a lot of folks are pleased to this year go. Perhaps in a time of war, we're more glad to see a year end than normal, and more hopeful than usual that the following year might be better? Who knows.
Well, I don't have any great wisdom to empart tonight.
But my friend, Bryn, aka "Paula the Music Junkie," did send me a fun link to a really great Kevin So video the other day. It's to his song, "Brighter Day," and I thought you might enjoy it:
Kevin's a Kerrvert from way back, and a fantastic singer-songwriter who I've had the good fortune to meet several times.
The song's pretty catchy, huh? And honestly, as I sit here right now, right at an hour from the year's end, it's as good a sentiment as I can think of.
Whatever you think of the year that is ending, and where ever your leads you in the year that is ahead, may 2007 be filled with many brighter days; for us, and for the world.
Honestly, these days any evening we all get at home together is wonderful. And we've actually spent much of this holiday being homebodies...as we were at Thanksgiving too.
Longtime friends/readers will note the absence of a virtual Christmas card this year. We started a rough draft about two weeks ago, but just couldn't get it done. Probably not a bad thing to give it a year off anyway. And, if you read back through my blog, you'll probably be able to get the highlights of the year there.
So, tonight we say goodbye to 2006. And, as with the Christmas letter, I can't find the energy to write some long recap for the year.
It did seem to me that there were a surprising number of depressing stories out in the world this year. There were a few notable exceptions, of course.
Right after New Year's last year, my Longhorns became national champions. And, I will remind you, they will remain champions for the next seven days, and approximately 23 hours...but who's counting.
The Mavs made it to the NBA Finals, and that was a very cool thing. My blog on the "Phantom Fouls" became semi-viral for a few days, but it's all but passed now. I am still amazed, however, at the number of folks who still watch/comment on the YouTube videos each month.
The year was marked by a surprising number of governmental resignations:
Mark Foley, Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham, Donald Rumsfeld, Bob Ney, and hosts of others.
Democrats, as you know, swept into the US House in national politics, and the courthouse in the local scene.
This year included the largest single-day protest in not only Dallas history, but TEXAS history, with the incredible MegaMarch of Palm Sunday. As I blogged about at the time, I believe this was a seminal event for Dallas and for our area. And when our history is written years from now, we may look back at it as the single most important local news story. But while half a million marched on that day, a suburban city council passed restrictions on undocumented workers in their town too.
We actually found out this year that spinach can sometimes be bad for you, during an unusual E Coli scare this summer. (who knew?)
There was a horrifying school shooting in Lancaster County, PA, and an moving and inspiring response of love and forgiveness from the families of the victims. Taught us all a little about what Christians ought to do all the time, but what is still a very rare response, indeed.
But the AP tells us the top story of the year was the Iraq War. (Hurricane Katrina got that honor last year, but the Iraq War has, sadly, made a comeback...)
More than 25,000 Americans have been killed or wounded there, including more than 800 killed this year. And now, just this afternoon, comes word that the 3,000th American has died there: a young, 22-year-old Texan. Some analysts now call the situation there "Civil War."
Gerald Ford died, and died just this past week. Ann Richards died this year. (And I never did blog about her, even though I intended to...) And so did Lloyd Benson and Coretta Scott King. As I noted elsewhere, Buck O'Neil died, and so did James Brown.
Saddam Hussein was executed two days ago. Seems like a mostly empty gesture these days, given how the war is going. Seems like a sad gesture, given my own opposition to capital punishment.
All in all, a pretty depressing year for the world of world news. As with last year, probably a year a lot of folks are pleased to this year go. Perhaps in a time of war, we're more glad to see a year end than normal, and more hopeful than usual that the following year might be better? Who knows.
Well, I don't have any great wisdom to empart tonight.
But my friend, Bryn, aka "Paula the Music Junkie," did send me a fun link to a really great Kevin So video the other day. It's to his song, "Brighter Day," and I thought you might enjoy it:
Kevin's a Kerrvert from way back, and a fantastic singer-songwriter who I've had the good fortune to meet several times.
The song's pretty catchy, huh? And honestly, as I sit here right now, right at an hour from the year's end, it's as good a sentiment as I can think of.
Whatever you think of the year that is ending, and where ever your leads you in the year that is ahead, may 2007 be filled with many brighter days; for us, and for the world.
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Time's Person of the Year: Congrats to YOU (And Me)
Dec/23/2006 10:16 PM | Permalink
At first, I thought the editors at
Time
had lost their minds.
Of all the heros, goats, and villains of 2006, the best they could come up with was to name "YOU" as "Person of the Year?!"
As I joked in my last post, I suppose this means we all get to put that on our resumes now. Elsewhere, there have been the inevitable jokes about this being the logical conclusion of a "Me Generation" gone mad.
But take a look at their actual story and you'll discover there's method to their madness. Turns out, the "YOU" they intend to honor isn't any old you. It's the "YOU" who use the internet. It's folks crazy enough to spend a lot of their free time (as I do) creating content for the World Wide Web.
They suggest --following others who've also written on the subject-- that a different kind of World Wide Web it being birthed before our eyes. They claim it's so different that people have taken to calling it "Web 2.0." This "new" web is not dominated by official news sources, big corporations, and big government, but by millions of folks who seem compelled to put themselves, their lives, and their thoughts about...well, almost everything....out there for all to see.
Time says it's not about the old, official sources of news and info on the web, but rather:
Of all the heros, goats, and villains of 2006, the best they could come up with was to name "YOU" as "Person of the Year?!"
As I joked in my last post, I suppose this means we all get to put that on our resumes now. Elsewhere, there have been the inevitable jokes about this being the logical conclusion of a "Me Generation" gone mad.
But take a look at their actual story and you'll discover there's method to their madness. Turns out, the "YOU" they intend to honor isn't any old you. It's the "YOU" who use the internet. It's folks crazy enough to spend a lot of their free time (as I do) creating content for the World Wide Web.
They suggest --following others who've also written on the subject-- that a different kind of World Wide Web it being birthed before our eyes. They claim it's so different that people have taken to calling it "Web 2.0." This "new" web is not dominated by official news sources, big corporations, and big government, but by millions of folks who seem compelled to put themselves, their lives, and their thoughts about...well, almost everything....out there for all to see.
Time says it's not about the old, official sources of news and info on the web, but rather:
"it's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes...."
Time Magazine suggests this is a massive, ongoing, social experiment, and that it involves a whole lot of us:
"...we didn't just watch, we also worked. Like crazy. We made Facebook profiles and Second Life avatars and reviewed books at Amazon and recorded podcasts. We blogged about our candidates losing and wrote songs about getting dumped. We camcordered bombing runs and built open-source software."
Here are some signs of change Time gleans from around the World Wide Web, and some observations about the people (the "YOU") who are leading the charge:
"Car companies are running open design contests. Reuters is carrying blog postings alongside its regular news feed. Microsoft is working overtime to fend off user-created Linux. We're looking at an explosion of productivity and innovation, and it's just getting started, as millions of minds that would otherwise have drowned in obscurity get backhauled into the global intellectual economy."
"Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?"
"The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you."
So, basically, if you've created a blog, left a comment on a blog, posted to YouTube, reviewed a book on Amazon, created a podcast, put up a MySpace page, then apparently you really are Time's Person of the Year for 2006.
But so am I. And so are millions more of us too. The uncomfortably confessional nature of the blog is likely to become more common, not less so. Yes, there is lots of drivel, minutia, and cyber-trash out there. But Time suggests something interesting:
"You can learn more about how Americans live just by looking at the backgrounds of YouTube videos—those rumpled bedrooms and toy-strewn basement rec rooms—than you could from 1,000 hours of network television."
I find it interesting that a major news magazine, owned by a major media corporation (AOL/Time Warner), is the one noting this social trend. I believe it's a real social trend, to be sure. But I also believe that media behemoths like Time, and web behemoths like AOL, clearly have the most to lose. If anybody gets left behind here it's them; or at least the vision of the Web-as-cash-cow that they and other corporations assumed was a sure thing.
And yet, even with all the potential loss of their own corporate skin, Time ends with this hopeful note for the future:
"There's no road map for how an organism that's not a bacterium lives and works together on this planet in numbers in excess of 6 billion. But 2006 gave us some ideas. This is an opportunity to build a new kind of international understanding, not politician to politician, great man to great man, but citizen to citizen, person to person."
That's certainly what I find interesting about the blogosphere, the worlds of MySpace, YouTube, and all the rest. I enjoy doing this just like millions of you seem to. Who knows where this new world of interconnectedness may lead? But it is interesting, to be sure. And I'm pleased to have my tiny little corner of "Web 2.0," and pleased for the few folks who wander by now and then, and seem to enjoy it.
So, as the year draws to a close, thanks to YOU.
And congratulations on your award.
Comments
Blog Trends: November 06
Dec/01/2006 07:16 AM | Permalink
The craziness
of the election caused me to neglect my usual summary
of the "most-read blogs" these past few month. But as
life returns to normal, so does this regular blog
feature.
It's gratifying to know that my little blog is being more widely read all the time. Statistics show that, on average, 120-140 people stop by my website each and every day. And a fair number of those visitors head straight to the blog. (To those blog-only readers, I'd remind you: the rest of the website is pretty interesting too. )
I was hit by an epiphany the other day. I don't have to just rotely list the blog entries that get the most hits during a month. (Heck, it's my blog, I can do anything I want...) I can instead talk list noticeable trends on the blog. So, that's what I've done here, and that's why I've renamed this entry. What follows, then, are some observations about the blog trends for the month, not just a recitation of the most-visited stories.
I should say, there are some entries that continue to get a lot of hits each and every month, and may-well permanently be at the top of the list forever. (All the more reason to talk about "trends," not "most popular" entries). For example, my posting about the "five phantom fouls" from last year's NBA Finals consistently continues to be the single-most-read blog entry; month in and month out. Which is weird to me, because I haven't thought about the issue in a long time. I'm too busy savoring the Mav's current 11-game win streak, and the emergence of Erik Dampier (where did that guy come from?!!! And what happened to the old Dampier? Not that I want him back...).
Another entry consistently near the top each month is my blog on Dan Fogelberg. Nice to see he still has a lot of fans out there. And, no, I don't know how he's doing healthwise. I just go by what I read on his website too.
Buck O'Neil died last month. And, ever since, folks have been stopping by to read this entry about him. It's not a "top five" pick, but it's jumped up noticeably. Which pleases me. Because Buck deserves to be remembered.
So does my friend Ed Upton. And, for reasons I can't rightly figure, this eulogy of Ed has been getting lots of notice the past few months. It's not at the top of the list, but somebody is reading it, and more than I'd expect. Maybe Ed's friends are passing it along to other friends, I don't know. But Ed was a good friend and mentor to me, and deserves to be remembered too.
And rounding out a list of blogs about specific people, a notable number of folks stopped by to read this entry on Judge Merrill Hartman. Since he is in the last weeks before his retirement, it seems good and right that folks are reading about him. He deservers our thanks for his years of service, and for his witness of how to serve the community.
------------------------
It's gratifying to know that my little blog is being more widely read all the time. Statistics show that, on average, 120-140 people stop by my website each and every day. And a fair number of those visitors head straight to the blog. (To those blog-only readers, I'd remind you: the rest of the website is pretty interesting too.
)
I was hit by an epiphany the other day. I don't have to just rotely list the blog entries that get the most hits during a month. (Heck, it's my blog, I can do anything I want...) I can instead talk list noticeable trends on the blog. So, that's what I've done here, and that's why I've renamed this entry. What follows, then, are some observations about the blog trends for the month, not just a recitation of the most-visited stories.
I should say, there are some entries that continue to get a lot of hits each and every month, and may-well permanently be at the top of the list forever. (All the more reason to talk about "trends," not "most popular" entries). For example, my posting about the "five phantom fouls" from last year's NBA Finals consistently continues to be the single-most-read blog entry; month in and month out. Which is weird to me, because I haven't thought about the issue in a long time. I'm too busy savoring the Mav's current 11-game win streak, and the emergence of Erik Dampier (where did that guy come from?!!! And what happened to the old Dampier? Not that I want him back...).
Another entry consistently near the top each month is my blog on Dan Fogelberg. Nice to see he still has a lot of fans out there. And, no, I don't know how he's doing healthwise. I just go by what I read on his website too.
Buck O'Neil died last month. And, ever since, folks have been stopping by to read this entry about him. It's not a "top five" pick, but it's jumped up noticeably. Which pleases me. Because Buck deserves to be remembered.
So does my friend Ed Upton. And, for reasons I can't rightly figure, this eulogy of Ed has been getting lots of notice the past few months. It's not at the top of the list, but somebody is reading it, and more than I'd expect. Maybe Ed's friends are passing it along to other friends, I don't know. But Ed was a good friend and mentor to me, and deserves to be remembered too.
And rounding out a list of blogs about specific people, a notable number of folks stopped by to read this entry on Judge Merrill Hartman. Since he is in the last weeks before his retirement, it seems good and right that folks are reading about him. He deservers our thanks for his years of service, and for his witness of how to serve the community.
------------------------
Judge Merrill Hartman
Oct/20/2006 09:40 AM | Permalink
In the midst
of this election season, it's seems a good time to
remember a judge who is retiring, and whose legacy
will stay with the Dallas Community for years to
come.
The judge is Merrill Hartman, and he is retiring from the bench after being a State District Judge in Dallas County since 1984. Judge Hartman's story intersects with passions of mine (And Dennise's) in many different ways
he's a lover of music...
he's committed to a deep sense of justice for all people....
and he sees it as a high duty of all people of means to serve the poor.
I met Judge Hartman just two years ago, when my wife was elected Judge of the 303rd Family District Court. This court was Judge Hartman's original court, and I know Dennise finds it a high honor to continue to serve in the court where he once served. Judge Hartman started his judicial career as a Democrat, but switched parties at some point.
As I mentioned, Judge Hartman has a passion for music. In his home, there is a study filled with CDs, cassettes and eight-track-tapes. It's also lined with pictures he has taken with his old brownie camera.
Judge Hartman and I found an immediate bond about music. He's wild about music. He's a passionate Elvis fan, but he's certainly not lost in the 50s. He's also a huge fan of jazz, and just about any other music that's out there. As someone who himself still has over 500 old LPs on the shelf in the other room, it was wonderful for me to see Judge Hartman's passion for music, and his diverse tastes. After our first conversation about music, I burned several CDs of my own music for him, and every time he sees me now, he remembers to tell me how much he enjoys it.
Judge Hartman is also passionate about serving the poor. He is widely recognized as one of the forces behind the founding of Dallas' first free legal clinic.
Here's the story of how it happened, as it appears in a Dallas Bar website profile of Judge Hartman:
Often recognized for his many contributions to pro bono legal services, Hartman said he realized he had a gift as an attorney and knew that his services would likely be prohibitively expensive for the most vulnerable among our community to obtain. He also felt a strong moral responsibility as a Christian to love his fellow man. In 1983, Judge Hartman began to offer his legal assistance to the poor. He often tells the story of two of his colleagues, and long-time friends, in attempt to recruit other young lawyers to pro bono service.
When Judge Hartman decided to start a neighborhood legal clinic that would meet at the Dallas Bethlehem Center, he called his friend Will Pryor. The second volunteer to join them was Ellen Smith, at the time a plaintiff’s lawyer with the firm then known as Carter Jones Magee Rudberg & Mayes. Judge Hartman, Will Pryor, Ellen Smith, and others would offer their services on Tuesday evenings, often helping mothers collect child support or obtain temporary restraining orders. They would then meet afterwords for Mexican food to recap the evening’s events. It was not long thereafter that Ellen Smith suffered a terrible cycling accident. She was thrown from her bicycle and run over by a truck, breaking her back. Will Pryor and Judge Hartman visited her in the hospital daily; during this time Will and Ellen fell in love and were later married.
Judge Hartman went on to often recruit friends and colleagues from the Dallas Bar Association and Legal Services of North Texas to start additional clinics. He continues to enlist more volunteer lawyers to help represent low-income clients in court.
After becoming judge of the 303rd Family District Court in 1984, Hartman began holding court at legal clinics as a convenience to clients and their pro bono lawyers. He continues to hold court at clinics at least once a month to accommodate their needs by bringing access to justice for many who might not otherwise be able to make it to court.
Because of Judge Hartman’s pioneering efforts, thousands of people in Dallas have received free legal services. Hartman is constantly recruiting volunteer lawyers, taking time to visit law firms, Bar associations, and pro bono recruiting functions to speak about the importance of assisting low-income people in need of legal help.
The story briefly touches on Judge Hartman's Christian faith. He is certainly not evangelical about his faith --he would never break into long proselitizing stories-- but it's clear in my conversations with others that his quiet faith is what initially called him to the service of being a judge, and drew him to start those legal clinics.
Mutual friends have told me that Judge Hartman will sometimes share the story of being in a hotel room, and of reading a Gideon Bible. Something in that Bible, some passage about God's challenge to serve the poor, touched Judge Hartman deeply. And he resolved to leave his career as a high-powered litigator, and move into public service.
Whenever we talk, the conversation takes a theological tone, and he always mentions how a person of faith has an ethical obligation to help the poor. Which, of course, they do.
Judge Hartman has Parkinson's Disease, and has served honorably these past few years and the disease has progressed. Parkinson's is a tough disease. But his mind is still sharp as a tack. And his wit is still all there. You may have to patiently wait for him to finish a thought, or tell a joke, but it's still always well worth the wait.
Dennise's life intersected with Judge Hartman's in one more key way recently. The Dallas Volunteer Attorney program, which has grown out of Judge Hartman's first free legal clinic, recently held an awards ceremony to honor those attorneys and firms that have contributed volunteer time this past year.
The totals are astounding. An estimated $7.5 million dollars of free legal work was donated to the poor and needy of Dallas County through this program. (The actual figure would surely be much higher, as it is computed at $100/billable hour..) That translates to thousands of hours that attorneys give back to the Dallas community.
And it all came from the pioneering work of Merrill Hartman.
Well, at this awards banquet recently, they honored Judge Hartman. They recognized that the Dallas Volunteer Attorney program might never have existed without him. And then, they announced the creation of a new award to honor him:
"The Judge Merrill Hartman Judicial Service Award."
Created to honor a judge who has given much volunteer time to the service of the Dallas Community, it was bestowed for the first time during that recent Thursday night.
And the first recipient?
Judge Dennise Garcia.
Couldn't be prouder. And she couldn't be more honored.
Dennise can be found at the DVAP clinic almost every time it's open. So, I can testify to the fact that she does volunteer quite a bit. But beyond this, I know she's is honored to be honored with an award named for Judge Hartman.
But more than any award, and like thousand of others in the Dallas area, we are just honored to be able to say we know the man.
The judge is Merrill Hartman, and he is retiring from the bench after being a State District Judge in Dallas County since 1984. Judge Hartman's story intersects with passions of mine (And Dennise's) in many different ways
he's a lover of music...
he's committed to a deep sense of justice for all people....
and he sees it as a high duty of all people of means to serve the poor.
I met Judge Hartman just two years ago, when my wife was elected Judge of the 303rd Family District Court. This court was Judge Hartman's original court, and I know Dennise finds it a high honor to continue to serve in the court where he once served. Judge Hartman started his judicial career as a Democrat, but switched parties at some point.
As I mentioned, Judge Hartman has a passion for music. In his home, there is a study filled with CDs, cassettes and eight-track-tapes. It's also lined with pictures he has taken with his old brownie camera.
Judge Hartman and I found an immediate bond about music. He's wild about music. He's a passionate Elvis fan, but he's certainly not lost in the 50s. He's also a huge fan of jazz, and just about any other music that's out there. As someone who himself still has over 500 old LPs on the shelf in the other room, it was wonderful for me to see Judge Hartman's passion for music, and his diverse tastes. After our first conversation about music, I burned several CDs of my own music for him, and every time he sees me now, he remembers to tell me how much he enjoys it.
Judge Hartman is also passionate about serving the poor. He is widely recognized as one of the forces behind the founding of Dallas' first free legal clinic.
Here's the story of how it happened, as it appears in a Dallas Bar website profile of Judge Hartman:
Often recognized for his many contributions to pro bono legal services, Hartman said he realized he had a gift as an attorney and knew that his services would likely be prohibitively expensive for the most vulnerable among our community to obtain. He also felt a strong moral responsibility as a Christian to love his fellow man. In 1983, Judge Hartman began to offer his legal assistance to the poor. He often tells the story of two of his colleagues, and long-time friends, in attempt to recruit other young lawyers to pro bono service.
When Judge Hartman decided to start a neighborhood legal clinic that would meet at the Dallas Bethlehem Center, he called his friend Will Pryor. The second volunteer to join them was Ellen Smith, at the time a plaintiff’s lawyer with the firm then known as Carter Jones Magee Rudberg & Mayes. Judge Hartman, Will Pryor, Ellen Smith, and others would offer their services on Tuesday evenings, often helping mothers collect child support or obtain temporary restraining orders. They would then meet afterwords for Mexican food to recap the evening’s events. It was not long thereafter that Ellen Smith suffered a terrible cycling accident. She was thrown from her bicycle and run over by a truck, breaking her back. Will Pryor and Judge Hartman visited her in the hospital daily; during this time Will and Ellen fell in love and were later married.
Judge Hartman went on to often recruit friends and colleagues from the Dallas Bar Association and Legal Services of North Texas to start additional clinics. He continues to enlist more volunteer lawyers to help represent low-income clients in court.
After becoming judge of the 303rd Family District Court in 1984, Hartman began holding court at legal clinics as a convenience to clients and their pro bono lawyers. He continues to hold court at clinics at least once a month to accommodate their needs by bringing access to justice for many who might not otherwise be able to make it to court.
Because of Judge Hartman’s pioneering efforts, thousands of people in Dallas have received free legal services. Hartman is constantly recruiting volunteer lawyers, taking time to visit law firms, Bar associations, and pro bono recruiting functions to speak about the importance of assisting low-income people in need of legal help.
The story briefly touches on Judge Hartman's Christian faith. He is certainly not evangelical about his faith --he would never break into long proselitizing stories-- but it's clear in my conversations with others that his quiet faith is what initially called him to the service of being a judge, and drew him to start those legal clinics.
Mutual friends have told me that Judge Hartman will sometimes share the story of being in a hotel room, and of reading a Gideon Bible. Something in that Bible, some passage about God's challenge to serve the poor, touched Judge Hartman deeply. And he resolved to leave his career as a high-powered litigator, and move into public service.
Whenever we talk, the conversation takes a theological tone, and he always mentions how a person of faith has an ethical obligation to help the poor. Which, of course, they do.
Judge Hartman has Parkinson's Disease, and has served honorably these past few years and the disease has progressed. Parkinson's is a tough disease. But his mind is still sharp as a tack. And his wit is still all there. You may have to patiently wait for him to finish a thought, or tell a joke, but it's still always well worth the wait.
Dennise's life intersected with Judge Hartman's in one more key way recently. The Dallas Volunteer Attorney program, which has grown out of Judge Hartman's first free legal clinic, recently held an awards ceremony to honor those attorneys and firms that have contributed volunteer time this past year.
The totals are astounding. An estimated $7.5 million dollars of free legal work was donated to the poor and needy of Dallas County through this program. (The actual figure would surely be much higher, as it is computed at $100/billable hour..) That translates to thousands of hours that attorneys give back to the Dallas community.
And it all came from the pioneering work of Merrill Hartman.
Well, at this awards banquet recently, they honored Judge Hartman. They recognized that the Dallas Volunteer Attorney program might never have existed without him. And then, they announced the creation of a new award to honor him:
"The Judge Merrill Hartman Judicial Service Award."
Created to honor a judge who has given much volunteer time to the service of the Dallas Community, it was bestowed for the first time during that recent Thursday night.
And the first recipient?
Judge Dennise Garcia.
Couldn't be prouder. And she couldn't be more honored.
Dennise can be found at the DVAP clinic almost every time it's open. So, I can testify to the fact that she does volunteer quite a bit. But beyond this, I know she's is honored to be honored with an award named for Judge Hartman.
But more than any award, and like thousand of others in the Dallas area, we are just honored to be able to say we know the man.
Blogs of the Month: August 06
Aug/31/2006 05:05 PM | Permalink
It's been a
full month since the blog-software
meltdown. It's been two months
since the Mavs playoffs. That means we now have a
full month of blog entries not affected by either
my inability to post, or the hits from Gordon
Keith's site.
So, it's back to a relatively calm month for the blog. Lots of you are obviously still stopping by to read.
That's gratifying.
Thanks.
And now, for the August Blogs of the Month:
Numero-Uno:
We Were Robbed
Although the furor over the "phantom foul" post has died down, this entry still comes in at number one, by a factor of three, over its closest competition. (That's down from it being most popular by a factor of TEN last month...) My hunch is that it will continue to move down through the ranks, and drift off into obscurity. Which is as it should be for all blog entries.
Numero-Two-o:
Prairie Chapel Road
What a pleasant surprise! I can only surmise that, since Camp Casey is taking place down in Crawford, Texas once again, that many people out on the internet are searching the name of the road, and coming up with this blog on the song. I'm pleased that this one's come back around. Sadly, my life did not allow me to get back down there this year. And camp breaks at the end of this weekend. It's a real shame to be as close as I am and not to go, but it's just where life is right now. Still, I'm pleased folks are finding the song. It was downloaded another 156 times this month...making it my most downloaded song for a full calendar year.
Numero-Three-o:
Dan Fogelberg
Again, I can only surmise there's lots of folks surfing for the name, and finding the entry. Recently, several of you who have stumbled on my site have also written to say that you were sorry you missed the Tribute Show. And at least two of you have asked me if I know any updates on Dan's condition.
The show was great, and I don't know how he's doing.
My only observation is that there's not much new news coming out about Dan and his fight with prostate cancer. I hope that "no news is good news." But I'll observe that with celebrities, it often isn't.
I really want to be wrong on this, and I really hope he's doing better.
Numero-Four-o:
If Everybody Claims Victory, Does Everybody Win? (Israel and Hezbollah)
Pleased that folks read about this situation. Concerned that nothing really has happened since to resolve it. So I'll observe that this probably means there'll be more fighting soon.
Numero-Five-o
Buck O'Neil
What a pleasant surprise! I have absolutely no idea why this one got read so much this month. Is something up with Buck that I don't know about? Anyway, he's a wonderful human being, and the story of his omission from the Baseball Hall of Fame still chaps my hide. So, I'm glad others are reading about it too.
So, it's back to a relatively calm month for the blog. Lots of you are obviously still stopping by to read.
That's gratifying.
Thanks.
And now, for the August Blogs of the Month:
Numero-Uno:
We Were Robbed
Although the furor over the "phantom foul" post has died down, this entry still comes in at number one, by a factor of three, over its closest competition. (That's down from it being most popular by a factor of TEN last month...) My hunch is that it will continue to move down through the ranks, and drift off into obscurity. Which is as it should be for all blog entries.
Numero-Two-o:
Prairie Chapel Road
What a pleasant surprise! I can only surmise that, since Camp Casey is taking place down in Crawford, Texas once again, that many people out on the internet are searching the name of the road, and coming up with this blog on the song. I'm pleased that this one's come back around. Sadly, my life did not allow me to get back down there this year. And camp breaks at the end of this weekend. It's a real shame to be as close as I am and not to go, but it's just where life is right now. Still, I'm pleased folks are finding the song. It was downloaded another 156 times this month...making it my most downloaded song for a full calendar year.
Numero-Three-o:
Dan Fogelberg
Again, I can only surmise there's lots of folks surfing for the name, and finding the entry. Recently, several of you who have stumbled on my site have also written to say that you were sorry you missed the Tribute Show. And at least two of you have asked me if I know any updates on Dan's condition.
The show was great, and I don't know how he's doing.
My only observation is that there's not much new news coming out about Dan and his fight with prostate cancer. I hope that "no news is good news." But I'll observe that with celebrities, it often isn't.
I really want to be wrong on this, and I really hope he's doing better.
Numero-Four-o:
If Everybody Claims Victory, Does Everybody Win? (Israel and Hezbollah)
Pleased that folks read about this situation. Concerned that nothing really has happened since to resolve it. So I'll observe that this probably means there'll be more fighting soon.
Numero-Five-o
Buck O'Neil
What a pleasant surprise! I have absolutely no idea why this one got read so much this month. Is something up with Buck that I don't know about? Anyway, he's a wonderful human being, and the story of his omission from the Baseball Hall of Fame still chaps my hide. So, I'm glad others are reading about it too.
Too Young for Test Anxiety
Aug/18/2006 04:41 PM | Permalink
For the uninitiated, TAKS stands for "Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills." It's a standardized test given to Texas school children. The descendent of tests first created during George Bush's governorship, they are required for advancement through Texas public school. And they are first given to students in the Spring of their third grade year.
And, from what I can tell, my daughter is anxious about passing it. I don't have any doubt that she will pass it. She's a very bright kid. She's made really fine grades in school so far. But she's worried. She has friends who just finished the third grade. She's heard stories about how you have to study for it, and about how you have to pass....or else...
And so, my third grade daughter has test anxiety.
About a test that she won't even be taking for another semester.
Doesn't anybody else think this is a little screwy?
I guess I should have seen this coming. Way back when Maria was on the cusp of kindergarten, we went to a parent meeting at her school. The kindergarten teachers were in attendance. The Principal was there. The idea, we supposed, was to help us new parents understand exactly what this brave new world of kindergarten would be like.
And the very first words the Principal told us were:
a) we shouldn't worry, and
b) our children would be well-prepared for the TAKS test.
I kid you not. These were the first words she said. She said something like "Welcome! We're so glad you're here. And we want you to know that your kids will be well prepared for TAKS."
Frankly, at that moment, test preparation was the furthest thing from my mind. I had no idea what TAKS was. I just wanted to know if my kid was going to get to make watercolor drawings and macaroni art.
But what I took away from that meeting was that the teachers and staff were worried about TAKS. It's not their fault. It really isn't. They are good teachers, and it's a great school. And now that I know more about the situation, I understand why it was the first thing on their mind. Because, like all public educators in our state now, they are simply trying to comply with state law and parental expectations (which are high in our part of the world...).
However, teachers and parents have seen a couple of years of TAKS now. And a lot of them don't like what they see. Because it's changed the way school is taught. In many cases, it's changed the whole nature of how and what kids learn.
New Texas laws will probably make the situation worse, not better. From an editorial in the Lufkin Daily News:
"Texas Gov. Rick Perry last year helped institute teacher pay bonuses that are tied in part to school TAKS scores. That's a great idea if all you're worried about is making scores higher; it's a terrible plan if you're wanting to reduce the incredible amount of time that students must spend on preparing for the test."
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2006/08/10/eddy/TAKS_test.html
That's absolutely right, of course. If teacher pay and bonuses are tied to these test scores, where do you think the incentives will be:
A) To teach "critical thinking?"
B) Or to teach to a test?
(Choose one, and bubble-in your response. This is not the essay portion of our exam today...)
And if the goal is to raise children's educational levels, why did the legislature create this linkage between test scores and teacher pay? Why did they think THAT was a good solution?
I'll tell you why: because they wanted to be able to show they had "done something." But what they have done, maybe unwittingly, is to create a situation where the nature of teaching itself may chance.
Here's what I mean by that...
In most jobs, merit pay, bonuses, and raises are based on a yearly evaluation of a person which takes into account their overall skills and how well they fulfilled whatever their basic job description is.
So, if a teacher's financial future --and even future job security-- are based on whether or not their students perform well on a standardized test, haven't we, de facto, made this a main (maybe THE main) component of their job description? We may not actually SAY this in so many words. But if that's how they get raises and bonuses, it's more than implied.
And is that what we want of our teachers?
OK, let me answer that (this is the essay part of our test today):
It's not what I want from Texas teachers. I want teachers who, sure, can teach a kid how to pass a test. But I also want teachers who instill a love of knowledge in kids...who inspire them to begin to think for themselves, not just how to memorize answers. I want teachers who help kids see that learning is a lifelong process, that it never ends, and that it is far more than passing a test.
Teachers like that will inspire kids to think about what they will do when they grow up...what kinds of possibilities will be open to them....what kind of careers and learning they will need to get there...what kind of people they will be.
And I guarantee you this: it's why everyone get in to teaching the first place. I'll bet you a million dollars there's not a teacher alive who got into teaching because they had a burning desire to teach kids how to take standardized tests. But I fear, if we are not careful, these are the kinds teachers this laws will create in the future.
I'm all for raising standards for all children. That's a good thing. It really is. And I really have no beef with whether the test is too hard or not. Personally, I vote for hard, rather than too easy.
No, my beef is not with the idea of standards. My beef is when, in our attempt to mandate and raise those standards, we:
Devalue learning, and overvalue testing...
Create kids who are more worried about passing a test than learning to think...
Create a situation where instilling the love learning in a child takes a back seat to jumping through academic hoops...
When my third grader comes to me, worried about a test on the night before the school year starts, aren't things a little out-of-whack? Isn't that a "canary in the coal mine" to tell us that maybe, just maybe, this quest for standards has gotten a little out of hand?
I tried my best to assuage Maria's fears that afternoon. I told her what a good student she is. I told her that she had made great grades so far. I told her that I was certain she would pass TAKS, and that I knew she would work hard. But she stayed worried about it that entire afternoon. She hasn't brought it up since, but I'm sure it's not the last time she will.
Because, apparently, we live in a world where it's OK for a third grader to get test anxiety.
30 Days (A TV Show You Should See)
Aug/12/2006 09:13 PM | Permalink
If you saw the film, you know that the results were shocking.
Spurlock takes that same basic premise --that 30 days is long enough to really challenge someone's beliefs-- and applies it to many life situations. Every episode takes on one of the dichotomies of modern life in America:
A Christian spends 30 days living with a Muslim family...
An Atheist spends 30 days living with a Christian family...
A border-patrolling "Minuteman" spends 30 days living with a family of immigrants...
Spurlock (and his now wife) spend 30 days trying to live on minimum wage...
A pro-choice woman spends 30 days living in a pro-life-run maternity home...
You get the idea.
The results are varied. Sometimes, during the hour-long dramas, the rethinking of moral and social views are dramatic. Sometimes, everybody goes home with much the same opinions they came with. But it's never dull.
In an effort to give the show a ratings boost, FX featured a "30 Days Marathon" today. So, we TiVoed a couple of episodes we'd missed. One that captured both of our hearts --and brought tears to both our eyes-- featured an immigrant family and a "Minuteman" who is staunchly opposed to immigration. In an added twist to the plot the Minuteman, Frank, is himself an immigrant: having come legally with his family from Cuba when he was just a boy. But although he speaks the language, and shares a cultural heritage with this family, he is staunchly opposed to them.
However, after a month of living with them, walking in their shoes, and understanding their life, he finds himself unable to hold his old, hard-line positions. The hour drama was gripping to us, not only for the heartfelt stories of real-life human beings trying to make their way in the world, but also because of the specific issue of immigration. (Which I have written about before)
It's an episode everyone should see. So if you have TiVo, make every effort to record it, because I'm sure it will be on again.
---------------
What's fascinating about this show to me is that it has a very anti-TV premise. Every character, every show (even a reality show), has some kind of "slant" to it.
Jessica Rabbit once said, "I'm not bad....I'm just drawn that way."
If nothing else, there is at least the way the TV stories are edited. We, the viewer, are not able to see the REAL people on the shows. We're encouraged to see in a kind of character-shorthand. We're encouraged to see the symbols, stereotypes and myths that the characters represent.
Paradoxically, as we sit in our own small family units, in front of the glowing screens, we don't so much get our minds changed about anything, as we get our own preconceptions confirmed.
This show, however --while it still offers up characters that represent various moral/social stereotypes-- also challenges us to get behind those assumptions and stereotypes...to get behind what we've learned in schools, churches, from parents, (And yes, even from TV...) and to try to see other human beings as they really are, and not just as our prejudices (pre-judging) would have us see them.
The show's executive producer, RJ Cutler, says this about it:
"The topics for this season of 30 Days are the most pressing social issues facing our country. While the media covers them in broad strokes, 30 Days presents these issues in real terms with real people living well outside of their comfort zones. As with last season, we hope the series leads to discussion among viewers, who are sure to learn more about themselves."
Along these lines, the 30 Days website not only features a page where people can write in their own future story ideas, but also a message board where passionate contributors offer up their own views on the hot moral issues discussed on each episode. How many TV shows do you know with a website that inspires that kind of response?
Watching several of the episodes, I was reminded of my own experiences in Russia.
I got the chance to go to Russia nine times over about an eight year period. Several of the early trips, I had the high honor of staying with an actual family in their home. We ate, slept, shopped, and visited with them about politics, religion, the Cold War, family life, music, art...etc...etc...
It was a powerful thing --in the early 1990s-- to spend a 10-day stretch with folks who had, once-upon-a-time, been our enemies. It certainly changed the way I saw them.
This show does the same thing for many of the folks who are on it.
And, just maybe, it will challenge you to grow in your own human empathy and compassion for other people. Maybe it will challenge you to consider what another person's shoes feel like.
But even if it does none of this, it's still better than the junk that makes up 99.9 percent of the rest of the TV schedule.
So why not give it a shot?
June Blogs of the Month (Hmnn...wonder which one got
read most?)
Jul/05/2006 10:58 PM | Permalink
If you've
been keeping up with my blog lately, they'll be no
real surprises in the June "Blogs of the Month." As
per usual, I will post the five most popular links,
so you can see what other folks found most
interesting this past month:
Numero Uno (And probably the all-time champ forever more...)
Final Score: Mavs 92 Heat 88 (Or that's what it should have been...and here's the video to prove it...)
Like I said, if you're keeping up and keeping score, this is absolutely no shock at all. The blog entry was read more than 2600 times last month. I've revised it a couple of times, and it now has links to all the other entries about this issue. Also, scroll down and read some of the 84 comments (as of this writing) that were left.
Numero-Two-o
We Were Robbed
This was my initial, probably overly emotional, reaction just after the game was over. Keep in mind: the game had just ended, and I was absolutely convinced we were robbed. I'm still convinced Wade got away with murder, but more willing to blame the Mavs for their many faults.
Numero Three-o
Wow, Did I Touch a Nerve... (Thoughts a Day Later)
Starting to see a trend? This entry was the day after the game, when it was just dawning on me how huge this issue would be.
Numero Four-o
Wade Was Treated Differently (And it Made A Difference)
After I started reading more about the stats from the game, I found that there was actual data to support my conclusion that Wade had been treated differently. Sadly, I think a lot of the folks who read the initial entry never came back to read this one.
Which is a shame, because it clearly takes it out of the realm of my opinion of the calls, and puts it in the realm of the stats themselves.
Numero Five-o
"There goes my life" (Thoughts on Fatherhood)
Whoohoo! Something besides basketball!!
Maybe it's because the title (taken from a Kenny Chesney song...) shows up on Google searches. But I like to also imagine that it's because fathers everywhere can identify with the sentiment.
Before the a-four mentioned (yes, that's a pun...) posts were written, this entry was clearly my most popular entry ever. In any given month, it never had tons of hits. But it was always among the top ten. So, overtime, it racked up a lot of hits.
The Maverick's controversy changed all that, and it's kinda sad, really....because it's just this kind of writing that attracts me to blogging. That being said, I'm pleased it made the top five!
Numero Uno (And probably the all-time champ forever more...)
Final Score: Mavs 92 Heat 88 (Or that's what it should have been...and here's the video to prove it...)
Like I said, if you're keeping up and keeping score, this is absolutely no shock at all. The blog entry was read more than 2600 times last month. I've revised it a couple of times, and it now has links to all the other entries about this issue. Also, scroll down and read some of the 84 comments (as of this writing) that were left.
Numero-Two-o
We Were Robbed
This was my initial, probably overly emotional, reaction just after the game was over. Keep in mind: the game had just ended, and I was absolutely convinced we were robbed. I'm still convinced Wade got away with murder, but more willing to blame the Mavs for their many faults.
Numero Three-o
Wow, Did I Touch a Nerve... (Thoughts a Day Later)
Starting to see a trend? This entry was the day after the game, when it was just dawning on me how huge this issue would be.
Numero Four-o
Wade Was Treated Differently (And it Made A Difference)
After I started reading more about the stats from the game, I found that there was actual data to support my conclusion that Wade had been treated differently. Sadly, I think a lot of the folks who read the initial entry never came back to read this one.
Which is a shame, because it clearly takes it out of the realm of my opinion of the calls, and puts it in the realm of the stats themselves.
Numero Five-o
"There goes my life" (Thoughts on Fatherhood)
Whoohoo! Something besides basketball!!
Maybe it's because the title (taken from a Kenny Chesney song...) shows up on Google searches. But I like to also imagine that it's because fathers everywhere can identify with the sentiment.
Before the a-four mentioned (yes, that's a pun...) posts were written, this entry was clearly my most popular entry ever. In any given month, it never had tons of hits. But it was always among the top ten. So, overtime, it racked up a lot of hits.
The Maverick's controversy changed all that, and it's kinda sad, really....because it's just this kind of writing that attracts me to blogging. That being said, I'm pleased it made the top five!
--30--
Blogs of the Month: May 06
May/25/2006 09:49 PM | Permalink
I will
actually be on vacation for the last part of the
month, so I thought I'd go ahead and post the five
most popular blog entries of the month, as they stand
today...and assuming that not much will change in the
next few days.
Numero Uno:
The DaVince Code: What we Know and DON'T Know About Religion
This late comer entry zoomed past all comers and flew to the top of the charts, and ended up being read more than fifty-percent more than all other blogs this month. (Despite on having been posted for just the last six days). It's generated quite a bit of discussion, in its reposted form over on the TPMCafe.
Numero Two-o:
Three Years Ago Today
My summary of the state of the Iraq War, three years after the "Mission Accomplished" photo-op. This entry spent most of the month solidly in the driver seat, before being crushed late by the Steve Nash-like surge of Davinci Code blog. (Can you tell where my mind is this week?)
Numero-Three-o:
MegaMarch: Thoughts on an Historic Day, Immigration, and Racism
I'm pleased folks are still reading this one, since the issue is still very much before us. New immigration bills are being proposed in the Senate as I write this. I would do well for us all to remember the marchers, their numbers, and their desire to be heard.
Fourth Place Tie:
Dan Fogelberg
I find it interesting that folks are still wandering by to read about this, despite the fact that it was posted some months back.
An Incredible Chicago Show and the Stone of Sisyphus:
And, in a nice symmetry, this entry about Chicago and their epic but unreleased CD, ends up tied with Dan Fogelberg.
Fifth Place:
The Frozen Margarita: How Tex-Mex Libation Met 7-11 Technology
Wow. Didn't see that one coming! Maybe people have vacation on the brain? Is Jimmy Buffet launching his summer tour? Who knows. But, as always, it's interesting to see what makes it on this list, and what doesn't.
Numero Uno:
The DaVince Code: What we Know and DON'T Know About Religion
This late comer entry zoomed past all comers and flew to the top of the charts, and ended up being read more than fifty-percent more than all other blogs this month. (Despite on having been posted for just the last six days). It's generated quite a bit of discussion, in its reposted form over on the TPMCafe.
Numero Two-o:
Three Years Ago Today
My summary of the state of the Iraq War, three years after the "Mission Accomplished" photo-op. This entry spent most of the month solidly in the driver seat, before being crushed late by the Steve Nash-like surge of Davinci Code blog. (Can you tell where my mind is this week?)
Numero-Three-o:
MegaMarch: Thoughts on an Historic Day, Immigration, and Racism
I'm pleased folks are still reading this one, since the issue is still very much before us. New immigration bills are being proposed in the Senate as I write this. I would do well for us all to remember the marchers, their numbers, and their desire to be heard.
Fourth Place Tie:
Dan Fogelberg
I find it interesting that folks are still wandering by to read about this, despite the fact that it was posted some months back.
An Incredible Chicago Show and the Stone of Sisyphus:
And, in a nice symmetry, this entry about Chicago and their epic but unreleased CD, ends up tied with Dan Fogelberg.
Fifth Place:
The Frozen Margarita: How Tex-Mex Libation Met 7-11 Technology
Wow. Didn't see that one coming! Maybe people have vacation on the brain? Is Jimmy Buffet launching his summer tour? Who knows. But, as always, it's interesting to see what makes it on this list, and what doesn't.
--30--
Muse and Views (A Blog Worth Checking Out
May/11/2006 10:01 PM | Permalink
I've written
about my friend, Charles Geilich, a couple of times
on this blog.
I told you about the book he's written. I told you about my visit to the radio show that he cohosts. And, finally, I told you about the great Maverick seats he and his wife Mary have. (I understand that he's enjoying the playoffs so far...)
Charles has now taken the blogging plunge, and has set up shop over on blogspot.com.
His blog is called "Muse and Views" and you can read it here.
Check him out. He's a good writer, and he'll probably push your buttons, and make you think...and that's never bad.
I told you about the book he's written. I told you about my visit to the radio show that he cohosts. And, finally, I told you about the great Maverick seats he and his wife Mary have. (I understand that he's enjoying the playoffs so far...)
Charles has now taken the blogging plunge, and has set up shop over on blogspot.com.
His blog is called "Muse and Views" and you can read it here.
Check him out. He's a good writer, and he'll probably push your buttons, and make you think...and that's never bad.
--30--
Blogs of the Month: April
Apr/29/2006 10:08 PM | Permalink
Thought you
might be interested to know what the most popular
blog entries were for this month. Yep, I'm a geek and
I can (and do) track these things. It's mostly just
interesting to me to see what interests other
people...ie, what stuff at my website seems to
resonate with folks for one reason or another.
In order of "most read," the most popular entries of the month were: (click "Read More" below)
1) MegaMarch: Thoughts on an historic day, immigration, and racism
My blog about the historic march in Dallas on April 9th, where 500,000 people marched peacefully through the streets of downtown.
2) The Living Legacy Band
An entry full of pictures of the "Living Legacy Band" members
3) Living Legacy: A Tribute to the Music of Dan Fogelberg
The "catch all" entry that collects all the other writing and links I've created on the Dan Fogelberg Tribute Show.
4) Living Legacy Show Pictures
Pictures from the actual live show.
5) Dan Fogelberg
An entry about my love of Dan Fogelberg, posted way back in February, when we started the whole "Living Legacy" project.
As you can see, the Living Legacy show clearly dominated your interest in my blog this month.
The most popular song download, for the ninth straight month, is "Prairie Chapel Road," which continues to be downloaded between 75-100 times a month, and more than 2,500 times since last August.
In order of "most read," the most popular entries of the month were: (click "Read More" below)
1) MegaMarch: Thoughts on an historic day, immigration, and racism
My blog about the historic march in Dallas on April 9th, where 500,000 people marched peacefully through the streets of downtown.
2) The Living Legacy Band
An entry full of pictures of the "Living Legacy Band" members
3) Living Legacy: A Tribute to the Music of Dan Fogelberg
The "catch all" entry that collects all the other writing and links I've created on the Dan Fogelberg Tribute Show.
4) Living Legacy Show Pictures
Pictures from the actual live show.
5) Dan Fogelberg
An entry about my love of Dan Fogelberg, posted way back in February, when we started the whole "Living Legacy" project.
As you can see, the Living Legacy show clearly dominated your interest in my blog this month.
The most popular song download, for the ninth straight month, is "Prairie Chapel Road," which continues to be downloaded between 75-100 times a month, and more than 2,500 times since last August.
--30--
Trust Reunion's Not In Vain (About the Trip Back to
Sequoyah
Apr/18/2006 10:21 PM | Permalink
In both the ancient languages of Greek and Hebrew, the words for "wind" and the words for "spirit" are exactly the same. So, there is something deeply spiritual about being with a group of people who help you test where the winds are blowing. I think that, in the more recent years since my Sequoyah-time ended, my Kerrville friends have filled that same hole.
I certainly do believe that each of us have special places --actual geographic spaces-- that become holy for us. Sequoyah is that kind of place for me. We always went up there in October. And it's easy to pay attention in October up there, because the leaves are turning. Sometimes, right before your eyes, they'd turn the most stunning lavender, burnt orange, or brilliant ruby. You'd wake up one morning, and a new tree would be on fire; the stiff breezes slowly coaxing the leaves from their bourgeoisie lives on the branch, and off into the danger and excitement of a new life floating in air.
The smell. It was the smell of leaves, cedar, oak...it was the smell of crispness. We don't really get a Fall in Dallas. Or, better said, by the time it usually comes (in and around Thanksgiving) our minds have well-accepted that the seasons are shifting. At Sequoyah, it was always early in Fall when we went, and the trees themselves taught us a lessons about time that never stops, and seasons that ever change. So, this place --that always felt like it was alive with life's moving on and changing, in the lives of the trees, and the lives of my friends-- was a place of renewal...a place where I always knew I'd could take stock and pause to breathe in slowly.
And when it was clear that my life was changing directions some years back --that I'd no longer be working with single adults fulltime-- I took what I knew would be a last trip to Sequoyah for a while.
By then, some of this group had already "rotated off" the leadership team, and weren't even coming back to the mountain any more. New folks had taken their place. The winds blew one of the founding team members, Susan, off the bourgeoisie branches and into the winds of eternity. Cancer. There's a garden in her memory now, just outside the cabin where we always stayed. And just about everyone else was moving to different places too. As we should have been. The winds are always changing, why shouldn't life be too?
On the last afternoon of that last day --just minutes before I would pack up my stuff to come back to Dallas, and while looking over the valley towards Fayetteville and the hills beyond-- I jotted down some lyrics. They were the lyrics to the song "Sequoyah," and it would become the last song to make it on my first CD. Larry Norman was the only other person still up on the mountain at that moment, and through some pretty major tears, I sang it to him. I thought to myself, "This the saddest song I've ever written...I don't know if I can ever sing it in a show."
Then, something happened on the way home. I drove back down the new highway that connects Fayetteville with I-40 (can't remember the name...) and the drive was so incredibly beautiful. Stunning, really. Those same Fall colors were ablaze in every inch of those hills, all the way down that road. I had Ellis Paul on the CD player, and there was something so positive in his songs that I found myself surrounded by a surprising joy. I started thinking more about how those winds blow...but also about how they back back and forth. By the time I got home, I had sung the new song hundred times. Only it was no longer sad, really. It was a goodbye song, but it was a goodbye song that believed in hope...in the changes of life...in the winds that blow us to and fro....and in the possibility of reunion.
You can hear it here.
So...fast forward to this Spring...
Larry calls from Louisiana. He says that, it just so happens, he and Treva will be up at the mountain for the first full week of April. Judy actually lives up that way, so she will plan to come by. He calls Maryle who agrees to come up from New Mexico. Lane says he's "in" from Austin. So, I agree to try and get up there for a day. And, despite the busy season, I managed to get up for a day and a half.
Drove up on a Wednesday afternoon, and got in just before dinner time. The drive was really quick...four and a half hours. I'm still not quite sure how I made such good time.
One of the things that always made our gatherings so great was that we would do a "check in" time with each other. We'd find some place to gather, and go around the circle and "check in," see how each person was doing...what had happened in their life...what had changed for the better, or changed for the worse. It was during that time, as a community together, that we lifted our fingers to the wind to see what was happening in life.
What was great about it is that everyone always felt free to challenge other people. If we thought they were missing, or conveniently leaving out something, we'd tell 'em; sometimes pretty bluntly too. There was a high level of trust, and a high level of honesty. And I have to say that, to this day, I really haven't replaced this level of sharing in my "everyday world," and just about everyone else in the group who showed up for this reunion said that they hadn't either.
Invariably, you learned something about how the winds are always shifting. Because each time we gathered, someone's life had gone from bad to great, and someone else's had gone from great to bad. And three or four other's lives would be about the same.
But this learning was one of the powerful lessons (for me) in those gatherings: that life's "always rearranging where we're led."
There was a comfort in knowing that, if your's was the life that currently sucked, someone else's experience might assure you that change was right around the corner. And, if your's was the life really going well, hearing other people's stories of pain and dreams deferred would remind you not to get too cocky or complacent.
So, we gathered up there two weeks ago....at least five of us from that old group did.
Here we are that first night, in the middle of our first "checking in" with each other.
From left: Me, Treva, Larry, Meryle, Lane, Judy
It was interesting. I won't go into the specifics of what we shared. That's too personal. But it did seemed as if almost everyone's life was in a pretty good place right now. Lot's had happened to all of us. Sufficed to say, we had our usual blunt, honest sharing time with each other. Four of us stayed up late by the camp fire that night. I played guitar and we all talked. We talked about how we had changed and what was different about how we now see the world. Almost everyone agreed that the world seems more confusing than it used to.
I won't speak for the others, but I offered that I am definitely more cynical, and less naive, than I used to be. I don't particularly think that's a bad thing. I've been a pretty rose-colored-guy for most of my life. Probably still am at heart. But I can definitely tell I'm more cynical now...more prone to distrust what I hear in the media, from the govenment, from strangers, even from friends....more prone to believe that there ARE folks out there who are genuinely out to cause you or others harm....more prone to not just dismiss such things as random or abnormal. I'm sure some of this is post-911 feeling. But a lot of it comes from knowing not only what others are capable of, but what my own government, and country, are capable of too. (Can you say, "Abu Grhaib?") But I'm also talking about every-day folks. I've finally grown up enough to realize that there are real con-men (and women) out there...folks who have no intention of treating you well or kindly, and who would steal your shirt if you give them the chance.
Again, I don't find much of this to be a bad development, really. I think I'm still basically a dreamer at heart. I still insist that, in our heart of hearts, each of us has a good core. It may get covered up with the pain that we and others cause, but it's always still there. And there can always be redemption. So, I still have these core beliefs within me, but with a little more world-wounded heart than I used to have. That's all.
The week was a scheduled "work week" at Sequoyah, which meant that anyone could stay for free and eat for cheap, so long as they helped fix the place up. So, we spent the day Thursday painting at "Bishop's Cottage."
It rained most of that day, which put a damper on our outdoor plans. In between the scattered showers, we ran into town and bought a birdbath to put in Susan's garden. In the late afternoon, Lane and I got away for a hike down the nature trails. (Since our time on the mountain, the city of Fayetteville has bought the land on the East side, and it's now a series of beautifully wooded nature trails. Down in the middle of it, you'd never know you were still right in the outskirts of the city itself....)
The next morning, we got up and it was pretty much time to go.
It was interesting to meet the current directors of Mount Sequoyah. They have big plans for the place....a major rennovation and capital campaign. They talked to me about rewriting some of the lyrics to my song, so that it could be used in promotional materials. (Stay tuned for that...)
On the way out of town, we stopped by an amazing chapel called St. Catherine's that Larry found somehow.
This chapel looks like an old English country chapel. But, in fact, it was just recently finished in the late 1990s, by the folks who own the land. You can read the story of this incredible little place here. What a surprise! That right in the midst of Fayetteville, just outside the city, was the pastoral place, that takes you back hundreds of years. When we walked in, we found the chapel had a small spiral staircase that reminded everyone of the chapel in Santa Fe. Turns out, that's where the builder got his inspiration. He built this entire chapel by hand, and without using a single architectural drawing. Pretty amazing.
Anyway, this is where we said our "goodbyes" again. Lane and I drove back together as far as Dallas, then he continued on to Austin. Larry took Meryle to the airport later that morning. Treva snaked down the highways and back to Missouri. Judy's life continued moving forward there in Northeastern Arkansas.
Life's moved on enough, and is busy enough, that every-year reunions are probably not going to work. At least not for me. There are too many other demands on the time away from home. But, every couple or three years? That might be doable.
During our last breakfast, I was asked to lead the devotional for the everyone still on mountain (there were probably 100 folks up there still working that Friday). I told them all the story of our little group, much like I've just done for you here. Then, I played the song. And with some of the folks who inspired these very lines listening in, I sang:
"And if we never meet again, we wonder how we'll cope
So trust reunion's not in vain, and in this trust keep hope."
How strange that life has, yet again, come back around again and allowed me to sing this song to some of the very folks who inspired it.
And now, having met up with them again, and with the assurance that we'll meet down life's road once more, I'm thinking of other words:
"In the valley down below,
On these mornings cool and cold,
There's a cloud that circles round this mountainside.
And there's a cloud inside God's soul,
Where we come and where we go,
And where the ones we hope to see again reside."
Until we meet again, we'll all be there in that great cloud of witnesses.
--30--
Return to Sequoyah
Apr/05/2006 08:38 AM | Permalink
I'm headed
back to Mount Sequoyah today, the retreat
center that inspired
the
song.
And, I'm heading back to see many of the very people
that inspired the song, actually. One of our group of
friends, Larry Norman, has orchestrated a reunion of
sorts, and many of our old gang are up there all this
week...some for just a day or two. I'm going up
tomorrow, and heading home Friday morning...
And as I prepared to head out, it strikes me how weird it is to actually be living out something I wrote about in the song:
And if we never meet again, we wonder how we'll cope,
So trust reunion's not in vain, and in this trust keep hope.
May the seasons change, then back again, allowing me to see
All the friends and smiling faces that become like family.
Should be interesting, going back to see those good friends. Haven't seen many of them since the day I wrote the song all those years ago.
It's Spring at Sequoyah now. Haven't ever been there in the Spring. Like the song says, we always went in October. But Spring is good. I bet it's beautiful right now.
Many seasons have changed. And back again too. We're all older. We have moved on with our lives, just as the song predicts. Still, though, it's a good thing to keep up with old friends, you know? The older I get, the more valuable and rare they seem.
I'll let you know how it goes.
And as I prepared to head out, it strikes me how weird it is to actually be living out something I wrote about in the song:
And if we never meet again, we wonder how we'll cope,
So trust reunion's not in vain, and in this trust keep hope.
May the seasons change, then back again, allowing me to see
All the friends and smiling faces that become like family.
Should be interesting, going back to see those good friends. Haven't seen many of them since the day I wrote the song all those years ago.
It's Spring at Sequoyah now. Haven't ever been there in the Spring. Like the song says, we always went in October. But Spring is good. I bet it's beautiful right now.
Many seasons have changed. And back again too. We're all older. We have moved on with our lives, just as the song predicts. Still, though, it's a good thing to keep up with old friends, you know? The older I get, the more valuable and rare they seem.
I'll let you know how it goes.
--30--
A New Puppy
Mar/14/2006 07:54 AM | Permalink
Yes, he's a REALLY CUTE puppy...seriously cute. He comes to us, via one of the clerk's in Dennise's court, whose dog had a litter about six weeks back. To the best of anyone's knowlege he's part labrador, and part terrier. In other words, an "original."
![Photo_031106_002[1]](page9_blog_entry44_2.jpg)
(see a short movie of Scruffy)
We still have our other dog, Grace, and as soon as Scruffy gets a little bigger it's our hope that they'll be fast friends. (To my mind, Scruffy's too much the size of a squirrel right now for him to stay out with Grace...you know what a dog can do to a squirrel...)
Well, I wasn't for this whole puppy thing....but Maria's taking pretty good care of him. And, he is pooping and peeing outside for the most part.
And he's just so dang cute.
--30--
Not bad at all...
Mar/06/2006 08:06 AM | Permalink
Got
eighty-percent right.
That's not half bad. Dennise came in with a 62, so this is the first time I've ever beat her...but who's counting (heh, heh...).
Seriously, though, with this, the Super Bowl and the National Championship Game, maybe I should become an oddsmaker.
Didn't see "Crash" coming for best picture. But then, I don't think a lot of people did.
I was really please to see how Jon Stewart did. To my mind, he really find a fantastic job...but since I watch him almost every night, I'm not really surprised and am totally biased...
My own biggest personal joy? That Larry McMurtry got an Oscar. I've been a big fan of since way before Lonesome Dove. And his son is one fine, fine songwriter too. Come to think of it, he'd be a good entry for this category. Anyway, I'm pleased to see him win.
All in all, one of the more watchable Oscar shows in recent memory.
That's not half bad. Dennise came in with a 62, so this is the first time I've ever beat her...but who's counting (heh, heh...).
Seriously, though, with this, the Super Bowl and the National Championship Game, maybe I should become an oddsmaker.
Didn't see "Crash" coming for best picture. But then, I don't think a lot of people did.
I was really please to see how Jon Stewart did. To my mind, he really find a fantastic job...but since I watch him almost every night, I'm not really surprised and am totally biased...
My own biggest personal joy? That Larry McMurtry got an Oscar. I've been a big fan of since way before Lonesome Dove. And his son is one fine, fine songwriter too. Come to think of it, he'd be a good entry for this category. Anyway, I'm pleased to see him win.
All in all, one of the more watchable Oscar shows in recent memory.
--30--
Ocsar Predictions
Mar/05/2006 08:07 AM | Permalink
2006 Oscar Night Predictions
Best Picture
Dennise: Brokeback Mountain
Eric: Brokeback Mountain
Best Director:
Dennise: Ang Lee
Eric: Ang Lee
Best Actor:
Dennise: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Eric: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Best Actress:
Dennise: Reese Witherspoon
Eric" Reese Witherspoon
Best Supporting Actor:
Dennise: Paul Giamatti
Eric: George Clooney
Best Foreign Film:
Dennise: Tsotsi
Eric: Tsotsi
Best Documentary Feature:
Dennise: March of the Penquins
Eric: March of the Penguins
Best Documentary Short:
Dennise: God Sleeps in Rwanda
Eric: God Sleeps in Rwanda
Best Short Film-Animated:
Dennise: The Moon and the Son
Eric: The Moon and the Son
Best Short Film-Live Action:
Dennise: Our Time is Up
Eric: Ausreisser- The Runaway
Best Film Editing:
Dennise: Munich
Eric: Crash
Best Sound Editing:
Dennise: War of the Worlds
Eric: King Kong
Best Sound Mixing:
Dennise: The Chronicles of Narnia
Eric: King Kong
Best Animated Feature:
Dennise: Wallace and Gromit
Eric: Wallace and Gromit
Best Art Direction:
Dennise: Memoirs of a Geisha
Eric: Memoirs of a Geisha
Best Cinematography:
Dennise: Brokeback Mountain
Eric: Brokeback Mountain
Best Costume Design:
Dennise: Memoirs of a Geisha
Eric: Memoirs of a Geisha
Best Makeup:
Dennise: Chronicles of Narnia
Eric: Chronicles of Narnia
Best Original Score:
Dennise: Brokeback Mountain
Eric: Brokeback Mountain
Best Original Song:
Dennise: Hustle and Flow
Eric: Crash
Best Visual Effects:
Dennise: Chronicles of Narnia
Eric: King Kong
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Dennise: Brokeback Mountain
Eric: Brokeback Mountain
Best Original Screenplay:
Dennise: Crash
Eric: Crash
That's it....see, it's not just how you do at the top of the charts. What's really impressive is if you can correctly guess the downballot races.
We'll check in soon to see who actually did better...but what we're both most interested in seeing is how Jon Stewart does!
Domestic Relations (It's a kind of law, and a new
novel)
Feb/23/2006 04:47 PM | Permalink
Charles
Geilich is a friend to both Dennise and me. He's the
cohost of a radio show, "A Lawyer and a Cop,"
that I've been
a guest on a couple of times in the
past year. He and his wife, Mary, are also the
friends who have really
great Maverick tickets. (I offer both of these
facts, in the interest of relatively full
disclosure...)
Before Charles got trained as a lawyer, he got trained as a writer: a journalism degree from UT Austin. As we've gotten to know each other, we've found that, except for golf, we have a lot other things in common. (For Charles, however, this is akin to saying "Except for breathing, we have a lot in common") We both have UT journalism degrees. We're both married to family law judges. We both like the same kinds of music and political thought. And we were both at that same undergraduate school at about the same time, and even find that we were at some of the same events (concerts at the Frank Irwin Center).
Which makes us wonder, if we met each other back then, were we nice to each other?
But, I digress...you can read more about Charles here. And you can read about his profession as a lawyer here. And as I said, before Charles was a lawyer, he was a writer. And now he's come back to those roots, with the publication of his first novel, "Domestic Relations."
The title refers to the old-timey name for "Family Law." In fact, I am told that older lawyer sometimes still refer to it this way. If you're like me, and you grew up here in Dallas County, you'll really identify with much of the "background" of this book. In fact, it may sound a bit like your own life. (Especially the early chapters about growing up in the suburbs...)
The book chronicles the life and times of family lawyer Norman Spiczek. It's written in an easy-to-read, and very conversational first-person, style. You'll feel as if an old friend is reading to you from his journal over coffee. But it's filled with humor too. If you can imagine Woody Allen ghost-writing an old Raymond Chandler "film noir" novel (only the lead character is a sophisticated urban Dallas attorney, not a gritty New York detective. And, nobody dies) then you can begin to understand "Domestic Relations."
In real life, Charles has wonderfully dry, quick, and sometimes cynically delicious sense of humor. So does his lead character, Norman Spiczek. In fact, there were at least two moments in the book where I literally guffawed out loud (as Norman relates his fears about having sex with his pregnant wife, and later when he's visiting a doctor for a vasectomy). But there is humor throughout the book.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and sometimes truth and fiction are both pretty strange. I don't know a lot about family law, but I know more than the average human being. And I know enough to say that sometimes family law truth and family law fiction are both a little strange, and Charles Geilich does a good job of capturing all that strangeness. This is not a courtroom drama. No Perry Mason pyrotechnics here. But, then, much of a the average legal case does not actually take place in the courtroom. So, in that sense, it's much more realistic than the average book about the legal profession.
If I had complaints, they would be two, and they would be minor. One is a complaint is that Norman really loves to describe the female anatomy....breasts, specifically. Just about every woman character except his mother, secretary, and opposing counsel, are described in terms of their breasts.
The second complaint would be that almost all the "clients" come off as less than sympathetic. They are rich North Dallas people with far too much money to spend on a divorce. They are men who have gotten themselves into trouble. And they are old childhood friends who have totally changed their affectation and manner. Most of them have done things that make them unsympathetic to the reader, and it's Norman who rides to their legal rescue; making you sometimes question their motivations, other times his. Such stereotypical clients do exist in Dallas, and I know enough about this kind of law to know that most of the anecdotes in the book are loosely based on real-life situations.
But, I would bet that, now and then, Norman Spiczek encounters clients that he can actually, and deeply, sympathize with without reservation(he says as much at one point). I would bet he has clients whose stories he believes, and who don't lie to him, and who genuinely need a lawyer to help them get out of a jam. It would have been nice to have a story or two about them, to break up the line of annoying and petty clients.
We do end up with a lot of sympathy for the old high school friend, Lisa. And perhaps her becoming "human" by sharing a deep secret with Norman serves to remind us that each of these clients have similar stories of pain and angst, lurking beneath the shiny surface of their North Dallas personas.
All in all, such complaints are really pretty minor, and Charles does a great job of blowing a humorous kiss at his profession and the city of Dallas.
Learn more below:
You can read a profile on Charles that ran in last Sunday's Dallas Morning News here.
You can find another bio of Charles here.
And you can order the book right now from Amazon.
Before Charles got trained as a lawyer, he got trained as a writer: a journalism degree from UT Austin. As we've gotten to know each other, we've found that, except for golf, we have a lot other things in common. (For Charles, however, this is akin to saying "Except for breathing, we have a lot in common") We both have UT journalism degrees. We're both married to family law judges. We both like the same kinds of music and political thought. And we were both at that same undergraduate school at about the same time, and even find that we were at some of the same events (concerts at the Frank Irwin Center).
Which makes us wonder, if we met each other back then, were we nice to each other?
But, I digress...you can read more about Charles here. And you can read about his profession as a lawyer here. And as I said, before Charles was a lawyer, he was a writer. And now he's come back to those roots, with the publication of his first novel, "Domestic Relations."
The title refers to the old-timey name for "Family Law." In fact, I am told that older lawyer sometimes still refer to it this way. If you're like me, and you grew up here in Dallas County, you'll really identify with much of the "background" of this book. In fact, it may sound a bit like your own life. (Especially the early chapters about growing up in the suburbs...)
The book chronicles the life and times of family lawyer Norman Spiczek. It's written in an easy-to-read, and very conversational first-person, style. You'll feel as if an old friend is reading to you from his journal over coffee. But it's filled with humor too. If you can imagine Woody Allen ghost-writing an old Raymond Chandler "film noir" novel (only the lead character is a sophisticated urban Dallas attorney, not a gritty New York detective. And, nobody dies) then you can begin to understand "Domestic Relations."
In real life, Charles has wonderfully dry, quick, and sometimes cynically delicious sense of humor. So does his lead character, Norman Spiczek. In fact, there were at least two moments in the book where I literally guffawed out loud (as Norman relates his fears about having sex with his pregnant wife, and later when he's visiting a doctor for a vasectomy). But there is humor throughout the book.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and sometimes truth and fiction are both pretty strange. I don't know a lot about family law, but I know more than the average human being. And I know enough to say that sometimes family law truth and family law fiction are both a little strange, and Charles Geilich does a good job of capturing all that strangeness. This is not a courtroom drama. No Perry Mason pyrotechnics here. But, then, much of a the average legal case does not actually take place in the courtroom. So, in that sense, it's much more realistic than the average book about the legal profession.
If I had complaints, they would be two, and they would be minor. One is a complaint is that Norman really loves to describe the female anatomy....breasts, specifically. Just about every woman character except his mother, secretary, and opposing counsel, are described in terms of their breasts.
The second complaint would be that almost all the "clients" come off as less than sympathetic. They are rich North Dallas people with far too much money to spend on a divorce. They are men who have gotten themselves into trouble. And they are old childhood friends who have totally changed their affectation and manner. Most of them have done things that make them unsympathetic to the reader, and it's Norman who rides to their legal rescue; making you sometimes question their motivations, other times his. Such stereotypical clients do exist in Dallas, and I know enough about this kind of law to know that most of the anecdotes in the book are loosely based on real-life situations.
But, I would bet that, now and then, Norman Spiczek encounters clients that he can actually, and deeply, sympathize with without reservation(he says as much at one point). I would bet he has clients whose stories he believes, and who don't lie to him, and who genuinely need a lawyer to help them get out of a jam. It would have been nice to have a story or two about them, to break up the line of annoying and petty clients.
We do end up with a lot of sympathy for the old high school friend, Lisa. And perhaps her becoming "human" by sharing a deep secret with Norman serves to remind us that each of these clients have similar stories of pain and angst, lurking beneath the shiny surface of their North Dallas personas.
All in all, such complaints are really pretty minor, and Charles does a great job of blowing a humorous kiss at his profession and the city of Dallas.
Learn more below:
You can read a profile on Charles that ran in last Sunday's Dallas Morning News here.
You can find another bio of Charles here.
And you can order the book right now from Amazon.
--30--
Sunday in the Park (How quickly the time passes...)
Jan/09/2006 11:40 AM | Permalink
Sunday
afternoon, Maria and I went down to the park at the
end of our block. It's a small city
park, with a nice little playground. She rode her new "Razor" scooter down there. She wanted to go so she could do the monkey bars. I can remember when I had to help her with the monkey bars...when she didn't have the strength to do them alone. Now, she zips through them, effortlessly, like she's skipping across on her hands.
She's also FAST on that scooter. She got well ahead of me at several points in our trip, and I had to yell at her to get her to slow down and wait for me. I read a book on fatherhood when she was first born that said that toddlers run away from their parents, and then always come back... enjoying the game itself, and gaining trust by the ever-longer distances they travel.
It's stunning how quickly it passes and how much she's changed. I know people have told me this my whole life. But like much of the other good advice I've gotten in life, I just asssumed it would be different for me...
As she scooted down the hill, so fast that it took my breath away, I thought about the incredible Sally Fingerett song, "The Return":
"Promise me, promise me, you will outlive me,
It's the natural order, the way it should be.
Break from me, take from me, all you can carry,
It's nature, it's nuture, and then it's your turn.
The things that I teach you I learn.
Tossed in the air, your baby goes flying,
Into the sun, under wide open skies,
Bright blue and shining
She's earthbound and she's running,
There in her eyes, it's your love that will
Always return."
While we were there, I sat wordlessly next to a couple from somewhere in South Asia. Vietnaam, perhaps? It was clear they spoke almost no English, because they didn't respond to my severalattempts to engage them. They grinned kindly, and smiled at Maria.
They were probably in their early sixties, and were there with a small baby in a stroller that I can only assume is a grandchild.
Was this their first visit? Had they come all the way from somehwhere like Vietnaam to see her? What did they think of North Dallas, or of Maria and I? What incredible things had they seen inlife? Did they know anyone caught up in the Tsunami?
So many unanswered questions. And instead, they just grinned and smiled and me, and I at them. And as they shuffled back up the street, I thought about what an amazing and small world we live in.
park, with a nice little playground. She rode her new "Razor" scooter down there. She wanted to go so she could do the monkey bars. I can remember when I had to help her with the monkey bars...when she didn't have the strength to do them alone. Now, she zips through them, effortlessly, like she's skipping across on her hands.
She's also FAST on that scooter. She got well ahead of me at several points in our trip, and I had to yell at her to get her to slow down and wait for me. I read a book on fatherhood when she was first born that said that toddlers run away from their parents, and then always come back... enjoying the game itself, and gaining trust by the ever-longer distances they travel.
It's stunning how quickly it passes and how much she's changed. I know people have told me this my whole life. But like much of the other good advice I've gotten in life, I just asssumed it would be different for me...
As she scooted down the hill, so fast that it took my breath away, I thought about the incredible Sally Fingerett song, "The Return":
"Promise me, promise me, you will outlive me,
It's the natural order, the way it should be.
Break from me, take from me, all you can carry,
It's nature, it's nuture, and then it's your turn.
The things that I teach you I learn.
Tossed in the air, your baby goes flying,
Into the sun, under wide open skies,
Bright blue and shining
She's earthbound and she's running,
There in her eyes, it's your love that will
Always return."
While we were there, I sat wordlessly next to a couple from somewhere in South Asia. Vietnaam, perhaps? It was clear they spoke almost no English, because they didn't respond to my severalattempts to engage them. They grinned kindly, and smiled at Maria.
They were probably in their early sixties, and were there with a small baby in a stroller that I can only assume is a grandchild.
Was this their first visit? Had they come all the way from somehwhere like Vietnaam to see her? What did they think of North Dallas, or of Maria and I? What incredible things had they seen inlife? Did they know anyone caught up in the Tsunami?
So many unanswered questions. And instead, they just grinned and smiled and me, and I at them. And as they shuffled back up the street, I thought about what an amazing and small world we live in.
--30--
2005: A Look Back at the Year Behind
Jan/02/2006 11:57 AM | Permalink
2005: A
Look Back at the Year Behind
Yesterday was a work day, and so today is the day that feels like New Year's to me personally. It's always funny when New Year's falls on a Sunday. A lot of the Sunday stuff gets pushed to Monday. So, I'm half-watching the Cotton Bowl right now, dong this writing, and looking forward even more to Wednesday night.
This extra holi-day has given me time to look back at the year a little. You can, of course, read a lot about the year Dennise and I had by going here. Last year, I wrote a blog at the end of the year which was pretty negative, in retrospect. And this year doesn't feel like it's ended much more positively for the world.
Nevertheless, I thought I'd look back at the year that was...
But before I do my personal reflection, here's the year in review, from the funny folks at JibJab.
Seems to me the first big story of 2005 actually happened in 2004: the Tsunami. I read recently that 179,000 people are confirmed dead, tens of thousdans still missing, and tens of thousands more still living in tents and other temporary housing. Hard to imagine still now terribly devastating this event was. But, it was gratifying to see the response of the world community, wasn't it? And it made Bill Clinton and GHW Bush good friends...so miracles do happen, don't they?
In March, we were obsessed with the case of a woman in Florida. Everyone in America, including me, seemed to have an opinion about whether or not she should live or die. Even Congress had an opinion. She finally was allowed the die the good death that she and her husband had agreed on years earlier.
During the late Spring, there seemed to be a lot of silly celebrity news that obsessed folks....Martha Stewart got released from prison. Michael Jackson avoided going. Prince Charles got remarried.
In the late Spring, the Pope died and a new, more conservative one, was elected in his place. I happened to be in El Salvador at the time. And it was fascinating to see a mostly-Catholic country respond to the news. We were actually there to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. We took part in a huge march through San Salvador that featured probably in excess of 40,000 people from all over the world. The atmosphere was so peaceful and optimistic. It was so amazing to see so many people from so many parts of the world coming together in peace and solidarity.
Summer brought more terrorism...this time in the London "Tube." What it showed more than anything, of course, is that the "first world" is by no means immune to terrorism, and that the question for our country is not "if" by "when" it will happen again.
Sometime in August, my personal year got incredibly busy and never slowed down again. (This can been seen in the dramatic drop off in blog entries around the time...)
What happened first was the Camp Casey movement just down the road in Crawford, Texas. It was truly an amazing thing, and I was grateful for the chance to play a small part in that movement. Although lots of folks say they don't agree with Cindy Sheehan, more than half the country clearly agrees with her, and her main question remains unanswered to this day. ("What is the noble cause of this war?")
I happen to believe that a just war needs a noble cause. And so I did support her asking that question. Lots of folks criticized her and the groups around her, and I certainly don't find myself in total agreement with everything every person or group stands for within the peace movement. I never have, frankly. There are always groups with side-causes and agendas that distract from the main message.
But, to this day, I still cannot see the "just" nature of this war, according to what I understand "just war" theory to be. And Cindy was right in asking the questions about the "noble cause."
Speaking of the war, sometime during the Fall, America passed the 2,000 mark in casualties for the year. At the end of the year, we find ourselves having lost over 2100 service men and women, with tens of thousands more injured and wounded.
Quite literally on the heels of the the three-weeks of Camp Casey ending, Hurricane Katrina hit along the Gulf Coast. As of this writing, much of the Gulf Coast is still in shambles. Questions are still being asked about the government's response at every level. And more than a hundred thousand people have permanently moved to Texas...in what is probably the largest single migration to this state ever.
Still weary from Camp Casey, I jumped right into Katrina....through our church, I had the chance to work downtown at Dallas' main emergency center. I heard first-hand heart-wrentching stories of how people literally walked out through the water. I saw folks with looks of shock on their face...folks who'd been staying for days in the Superdome, Baton-Rouge, and finally the Convention Center in Dallas. What was most heart-breaking to me was to know that no matter what aid we could give these folks, we still could not give them back what they had lost.
Along the way, our church got involved with a particular family called the Lees. We helped set them up in a rent house, over on Abrams, furnished the house, and paid for some supplies for them. It was certainly not enough, but again I was really moved by the stories they told us of their escape from New Orleans. I had promised myself all Fall that I would blog about them, but simply haven't had the time. But I carry all their stories in my heart, and hopefully one day I will share them with their permission.
As September flew by, dominated by Katrina, October brought preparations for our church's move into our new building. This is what totally dominated my October and November. I don't think I can ever remember being quite so busy in the church as I was those two months. Again, the absence of my blog entries tells you all you need to know about how busy I was.
The new building move is another of the great personal highlights of my year. We've been dreaming/planning this move ever since I came to Northaven in 2001. And to actually finally be in the new building is a great joy. Architecturally, it's truly a stunning place. Attendance is way up. The attitude of everyone is good and filled with excitement. There have already been plenty of new challenges, and plenty more on the way, I am sure....but it's been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Then, came the Christmas season. As you might imagine, it's also always an incredibly busy time of year too. Piled on top of the joy of the holiday were two back-to-back funerals, in the days just before Christmas Eve. Once again, a busy, busy time.
So, that's pretty much my year in review. Makes me tired to think about it. Although I've been sleeping a lot the past few days, to just try and clear my mind a little and get ready to get at 2006. It's been really, really good to get a little break here these past few days.
---------------------------
Another interesting thing to review for this year is the growth of my website. According to my year-end statistics, I had almost 20,000 visitors to my site, and more than 10,000 "unique" visitors this year.
To put that in some perspective, I've this website for more than five years, and in that time I'd only ever accumulated about 20,000 visitors. In one month alone (August) I had over 2,000 visitors, as folks downloaded "Prairie Chapel Road." (More than 6 gigs of downloads that month alone....for a song that's only 3.5 megs...you do the math...) The song was played on radio stations around the country, and has been used in two documentary films, and in a story on BBC radio.
So, that's been terribly gratifying. But the growth in website visits has continued. Ever since August I've averaged almost 900 visitors a month!! I am sure that some of you are stopping by to see if there's anything new posted to the blog, or any new music news. So, I will promise to be a better correspondent from now on.
I probably will not surprise you that the most popular blog entry is the "Prairie Chapel Road" entry. What might surprise you is to know that the second-most popular blog entry is the one I wrote on Father's Day last year.
---------------------
Well, with a little rest these last days, I feel like I'm recovering a sense of "normal" again. And this morning, I spend about thirty minutes going through old emails. I had over 600 messages in my "read" mail folder that needed to be filed. Did that.
Then, I cleaned out my "file attachments" folder too. It's the place where I send all the file attachments folk send my via email. And it's interesting to look back at the stuff that accumulates in that folder. Most junk, really.
...Tons of embedded jpgs.
...Lots of pdf folks thought I'd like to see.
...Assorted "vcf" cards.
...A movie someone sent me about a dog running around with a lit Roman candle in his mouth.
...A bunch of doc files from work.
...A ton of useless html spam files.
When I got done clearing it out, and deleting it from the trash, it turned out to be about 2/3rds of a GIG of information. That's right, 2/3rds of ONE GIG. And that appeared to only be six month's worth....
The average file attachment folder, and the average human life, accumulates a lot of junk in the span of a year. One of the blessings of a New Year is the chance to start again. As the grown-up children we are, we adults get to call "do over" every January 1st. Perhaps that's why folks jump and yell and scream in Time Square....it's thrilling to imagine wiping the slate clean, and starting over.
Of course, we never forget the experiences of joy, pain, sorrow, love, that we were touched by in any one year. Like jpegs in an html spam file, those experiences stay embedded in us for a long time. But life moves on. I will be forever grateful this year for the move to the new church....for the chance to be involved in the epic history of Camp Casey...for the chance to do a little for Katrina victims...for the chance to march in El Salvador. But mostly, I am grateful for every day with my family. And I mean that sincerely.
Some years, I have made huge lists of resolutions. I have only one general one for this year. That's to get back to music with a vengeance. I really want to get the CD done and out for public consumption. I really want to play more live shows than I've been playing. Many of you are kind to write me and ask me when I'll be playing and when the CD will be done, and I appreciate your gentle prodding.
I need music for balance in my life and I find that life is not nearly as full when I get busy with so many other demands on my time. So, somehow, I'm resolving to work music back in much more directly and powerfully than it's been these past few months.
In the meantime, I'm praying for peace, working for peace, and hoping that whatever comes in this next year will be full of new adventure and excitement.
Hope the New Year brings you adventure and excitement too.
Yesterday was a work day, and so today is the day that feels like New Year's to me personally. It's always funny when New Year's falls on a Sunday. A lot of the Sunday stuff gets pushed to Monday. So, I'm half-watching the Cotton Bowl right now, dong this writing, and looking forward even more to Wednesday night.
This extra holi-day has given me time to look back at the year a little. You can, of course, read a lot about the year Dennise and I had by going here. Last year, I wrote a blog at the end of the year which was pretty negative, in retrospect. And this year doesn't feel like it's ended much more positively for the world.
Nevertheless, I thought I'd look back at the year that was...
But before I do my personal reflection, here's the year in review, from the funny folks at JibJab.
Seems to me the first big story of 2005 actually happened in 2004: the Tsunami. I read recently that 179,000 people are confirmed dead, tens of thousdans still missing, and tens of thousands more still living in tents and other temporary housing. Hard to imagine still now terribly devastating this event was. But, it was gratifying to see the response of the world community, wasn't it? And it made Bill Clinton and GHW Bush good friends...so miracles do happen, don't they?
In March, we were obsessed with the case of a woman in Florida. Everyone in America, including me, seemed to have an opinion about whether or not she should live or die. Even Congress had an opinion. She finally was allowed the die the good death that she and her husband had agreed on years earlier.
During the late Spring, there seemed to be a lot of silly celebrity news that obsessed folks....Martha Stewart got released from prison. Michael Jackson avoided going. Prince Charles got remarried.
In the late Spring, the Pope died and a new, more conservative one, was elected in his place. I happened to be in El Salvador at the time. And it was fascinating to see a mostly-Catholic country respond to the news. We were actually there to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. We took part in a huge march through San Salvador that featured probably in excess of 40,000 people from all over the world. The atmosphere was so peaceful and optimistic. It was so amazing to see so many people from so many parts of the world coming together in peace and solidarity.
Summer brought more terrorism...this time in the London "Tube." What it showed more than anything, of course, is that the "first world" is by no means immune to terrorism, and that the question for our country is not "if" by "when" it will happen again.
Sometime in August, my personal year got incredibly busy and never slowed down again. (This can been seen in the dramatic drop off in blog entries around the time...)
What happened first was the Camp Casey movement just down the road in Crawford, Texas. It was truly an amazing thing, and I was grateful for the chance to play a small part in that movement. Although lots of folks say they don't agree with Cindy Sheehan, more than half the country clearly agrees with her, and her main question remains unanswered to this day. ("What is the noble cause of this war?")
I happen to believe that a just war needs a noble cause. And so I did support her asking that question. Lots of folks criticized her and the groups around her, and I certainly don't find myself in total agreement with everything every person or group stands for within the peace movement. I never have, frankly. There are always groups with side-causes and agendas that distract from the main message.
But, to this day, I still cannot see the "just" nature of this war, according to what I understand "just war" theory to be. And Cindy was right in asking the questions about the "noble cause."
Speaking of the war, sometime during the Fall, America passed the 2,000 mark in casualties for the year. At the end of the year, we find ourselves having lost over 2100 service men and women, with tens of thousands more injured and wounded.
Quite literally on the heels of the the three-weeks of Camp Casey ending, Hurricane Katrina hit along the Gulf Coast. As of this writing, much of the Gulf Coast is still in shambles. Questions are still being asked about the government's response at every level. And more than a hundred thousand people have permanently moved to Texas...in what is probably the largest single migration to this state ever.
Still weary from Camp Casey, I jumped right into Katrina....through our church, I had the chance to work downtown at Dallas' main emergency center. I heard first-hand heart-wrentching stories of how people literally walked out through the water. I saw folks with looks of shock on their face...folks who'd been staying for days in the Superdome, Baton-Rouge, and finally the Convention Center in Dallas. What was most heart-breaking to me was to know that no matter what aid we could give these folks, we still could not give them back what they had lost.
Along the way, our church got involved with a particular family called the Lees. We helped set them up in a rent house, over on Abrams, furnished the house, and paid for some supplies for them. It was certainly not enough, but again I was really moved by the stories they told us of their escape from New Orleans. I had promised myself all Fall that I would blog about them, but simply haven't had the time. But I carry all their stories in my heart, and hopefully one day I will share them with their permission.
As September flew by, dominated by Katrina, October brought preparations for our church's move into our new building. This is what totally dominated my October and November. I don't think I can ever remember being quite so busy in the church as I was those two months. Again, the absence of my blog entries tells you all you need to know about how busy I was.
The new building move is another of the great personal highlights of my year. We've been dreaming/planning this move ever since I came to Northaven in 2001. And to actually finally be in the new building is a great joy. Architecturally, it's truly a stunning place. Attendance is way up. The attitude of everyone is good and filled with excitement. There have already been plenty of new challenges, and plenty more on the way, I am sure....but it's been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Then, came the Christmas season. As you might imagine, it's also always an incredibly busy time of year too. Piled on top of the joy of the holiday were two back-to-back funerals, in the days just before Christmas Eve. Once again, a busy, busy time.
So, that's pretty much my year in review. Makes me tired to think about it. Although I've been sleeping a lot the past few days, to just try and clear my mind a little and get ready to get at 2006. It's been really, really good to get a little break here these past few days.
---------------------------
Another interesting thing to review for this year is the growth of my website. According to my year-end statistics, I had almost 20,000 visitors to my site, and more than 10,000 "unique" visitors this year.
To put that in some perspective, I've this website for more than five years, and in that time I'd only ever accumulated about 20,000 visitors. In one month alone (August) I had over 2,000 visitors, as folks downloaded "Prairie Chapel Road." (More than 6 gigs of downloads that month alone....for a song that's only 3.5 megs...you do the math...) The song was played on radio stations around the country, and has been used in two documentary films, and in a story on BBC radio.
So, that's been terribly gratifying. But the growth in website visits has continued. Ever since August I've averaged almost 900 visitors a month!! I am sure that some of you are stopping by to see if there's anything new posted to the blog, or any new music news. So, I will promise to be a better correspondent from now on.
I probably will not surprise you that the most popular blog entry is the "Prairie Chapel Road" entry. What might surprise you is to know that the second-most popular blog entry is the one I wrote on Father's Day last year.
---------------------
Well, with a little rest these last days, I feel like I'm recovering a sense of "normal" again. And this morning, I spend about thirty minutes going through old emails. I had over 600 messages in my "read" mail folder that needed to be filed. Did that.
Then, I cleaned out my "file attachments" folder too. It's the place where I send all the file attachments folk send my via email. And it's interesting to look back at the stuff that accumulates in that folder. Most junk, really.
...Tons of embedded jpgs.
...Lots of pdf folks thought I'd like to see.
...Assorted "vcf" cards.
...A movie someone sent me about a dog running around with a lit Roman candle in his mouth.
...A bunch of doc files from work.
...A ton of useless html spam files.
When I got done clearing it out, and deleting it from the trash, it turned out to be about 2/3rds of a GIG of information. That's right, 2/3rds of ONE GIG. And that appeared to only be six month's worth....
The average file attachment folder, and the average human life, accumulates a lot of junk in the span of a year. One of the blessings of a New Year is the chance to start again. As the grown-up children we are, we adults get to call "do over" every January 1st. Perhaps that's why folks jump and yell and scream in Time Square....it's thrilling to imagine wiping the slate clean, and starting over.
Of course, we never forget the experiences of joy, pain, sorrow, love, that we were touched by in any one year. Like jpegs in an html spam file, those experiences stay embedded in us for a long time. But life moves on. I will be forever grateful this year for the move to the new church....for the chance to be involved in the epic history of Camp Casey...for the chance to do a little for Katrina victims...for the chance to march in El Salvador. But mostly, I am grateful for every day with my family. And I mean that sincerely.
Some years, I have made huge lists of resolutions. I have only one general one for this year. That's to get back to music with a vengeance. I really want to get the CD done and out for public consumption. I really want to play more live shows than I've been playing. Many of you are kind to write me and ask me when I'll be playing and when the CD will be done, and I appreciate your gentle prodding.
I need music for balance in my life and I find that life is not nearly as full when I get busy with so many other demands on my time. So, somehow, I'm resolving to work music back in much more directly and powerfully than it's been these past few months.
In the meantime, I'm praying for peace, working for peace, and hoping that whatever comes in this next year will be full of new adventure and excitement.
Hope the New Year brings you adventure and excitement too.
Carcinoma Update (The doctor says it's gone...)
Jul/13/2005 11:53 AM | Permalink
An update
on this.
Had my appointment Monday with my dermatologist, who also happens to have graduated high school with my mother in Atlanta, Texas. He removed what was left of my small "bcc." He said there wasn't much left, actually, and that he thinks he got it all. Wants to see me in a month to check in about it. But, the bottom line is, as many of you told me it would be, that everything looks to be OK.
Sooo... thanks for all the many prayers, happy thoughts, and other feelings you've been sending my way. I 'preciate it all a great deal.
Thanks again.
Had my appointment Monday with my dermatologist, who also happens to have graduated high school with my mother in Atlanta, Texas. He removed what was left of my small "bcc." He said there wasn't much left, actually, and that he thinks he got it all. Wants to see me in a month to check in about it. But, the bottom line is, as many of you told me it would be, that everything looks to be OK.
Sooo... thanks for all the many prayers, happy thoughts, and other feelings you've been sending my way. I 'preciate it all a great deal.
Thanks again.
Basal Cell Carcinoma (Yes, it's a big word. Yes, it's
caner.And yes, I've got it...)
Jul/05/2005 11:50 AM | Permalink
Basal
Cell Carcinoma (Yes, it's a big word. Yes, it's
cancer. And yes, I've got it...)
Got a call from my dermatologist today. It was good news and bad news, I suppose.
The bad news is that I have a skin cancer. It's a basal cell carcinoma. From everything I read, this is mostly good news, if you consider anything about cancer to be good news. Although I won't really jump for joy until the thing is removed, the tests are done, and it's shown that it's really nothing more than one small spot...
I've been more cautious about being in the sun these past few years, since my father had a melanoma removed. That's the skin cancer word you DON'T want to hear. Basically, if they catch that one early enough, you're perfectly fine. If they don't you'll probably die. Nothing like clear choices in life.
They caught my father's early, and he's absolute
Got a call from my dermatologist today. It was good news and bad news, I suppose.
The bad news is that I have a skin cancer. It's a basal cell carcinoma. From everything I read, this is mostly good news, if you consider anything about cancer to be good news. Although I won't really jump for joy until the thing is removed, the tests are done, and it's shown that it's really nothing more than one small spot...
I've been more cautious about being in the sun these past few years, since my father had a melanoma removed. That's the skin cancer word you DON'T want to hear. Basically, if they catch that one early enough, you're perfectly fine. If they don't you'll probably die. Nothing like clear choices in life.
They caught my father's early, and he's absolute