March Madness

Jeez, I'm having the worst time trying to keep up with posting on this blog. Time goes really fast, sure, but I feel like a total slacker. Especially since there is so much cool stuff to keep up with.

You may be thinking that I sound like someone who has left a mountain filled with snowboarders. And, in fact, I have. Not to mention loving the Shaun White post-performance interviews during the Olympics. And the girls with their ipods. And the USA Olympic outfits (uniforms). It was kind of a "golden retriever" Olympics -at least for the X-Games events. Out of control, smiling all the way. AWESOME!!

While we were skiing Beaver Creek, there were fun signs pointing to the ski runs. "Maverick," that way. Then below, an arrow pointing the same way: "Unbranded horse or cow, or one who develops an independent viewpoint..." Clever.

March also brings the Oscars, and this year Jeff and I went to a Julia Child themed party...yep, beef bourguignon, crepes, truffles, French wine...mmm, thanks John (and helpers). I think everyone else came for the repast rather than the awards, but Jeff and I sat on the couch and cheered when our pick for non-animated short won. Ya gotta be a fan.

Colin and Stephanie have birthdays this month, too, and are busy celebrating together in Philly this weekend. The completely miraculous thing about children is that all you have to do is think about them and your heart just swells. From the first moment on. Every time.

But really, the thought that got me going today was March Madness. I am not a basketball fan. In solidarity with Jeff, I try to stay in the room and can perk up when multiple games are all in their last two minutes at the same time and upsets are looming and Jeff is coming out of his chair shouting, but I'm not swept up in the bracket-mania, and I'm sitting here today at home wondering if I'M THE ONLY ONE WORKING TODAY??? Seriously, meetings canceled, email responses not forthcoming, it's like a cloud of corporate silence has descended.

I finally gave up to write this post. Although I doubt anyone will read it until April.

Contradictions?

"There are so many contradictions in all these messages we send. We keep asking, 'how do I get out of here?" 'where do I fit in?'" The Eagles

I heard an NPR story on the way home today where FreshAir was interviewing the author of the book "Jesus, Interrupted" (NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK). This book is about why the author turned from Christian to agnostic - which is fine - but the reasoning for his decision made me shake my head a bit. He found contradictions in the Bible, and specifically in the gospels, and thinks it ruins the truth of one gospel over the other when people combine them and produce contradictions like "Jesus died so our sins could be absolved" vs. "Jesus was wrongly convicted and when people understood that it made them want to change their sinning ways." The two can't co-exist in his mind.

Also disturbing to me, since I'm not a practicing Christian (although it doesn't stop me from commenting, does it!) was his complaint that the idea of the afterlife (heaven and hell in the Christian tradition, but conceived differently in other traditions) didn't really originate in the Word of God as written in the Bible, but actually arose in EARLIER PRE-CHRISTIAN cultures. Hello? There was literally no acknowledgment that religious cultures across the globe and from time immemorial have developed the same concepts, the same stories, the same ways of making sense of the world. Different labels, different spins, but the identical concepts. Coincidence? Part of the human condition? Cultural/genetic memory? Whatever the reason, I feel confident that these beliefs are not the purview of, nor originated by Christians.

But I'm losing my point. My point is about contradictions. Maybe it's because I'm a Libra, but one of the central tenets of my own belief system is that there is very rarely an either-or when it comes to ideology or everyday philosophy. Yin and yang are opposites but exist in the same orb. It is perfectly feasible for the two gospel accounts above to represent different lenses into the same truth. The synthesis of apparent opposites into a more perfect holistic vision of a truth is something I look for, strive for, and accept. The out-of-balance that occurs when polar opposites are insisted upon and staunchly defended is what offends me. Make room for the contradictions. Incorporate them. Make them into a whole. It's amazing how rich, nuanced, and exciting the world will become.

Locked out

I'm locked out of Facebook, due to a random set of corporate blockades. I've been traveling for weeks, and haven't been able to update or respond, except sporadically. And now I am home, after a none-too-pleasant drive from the airport, in pouring thunderstorms. Not a good thing for someone as night-blind as I am. But I was going to catch up, damn it. And suddenly the LDAP server does not like my configuration. Whatever. My email is on the fritz, as well, with every single blessed email be it received or sent providing the helpful message that the database can't be read, with subsequent consequences that I won't bore you with.

A bit of irony, that, since one observation I was going to make had to do with social media behind the firewall. I'm supposed to have access, since it's MY JOB, but no. This trip also featured lack of access to emails on my smart phone, so I've been in the dark, reading posts in response to my non-attributed quote this morning: "Everything has two handles, one by which it can be borne, and one by which it cannot." Friends have been bantying that about all day, and I can't even chime in! The rest of the quote follows: "If your brother sins against you, don't take hold of it by the wrong he did you but the fact that he's your brother. That's how it can be borne." I would have contributed to the conversation, but probably since I didn't, it went just fine anyway.

This rather lengthy post will find its way to you asynchronously whenever I get my access back on line. In the meantime, whatever you're wishing, may it be yours.

Turnout Dancing

Pull up a patch of log as we sit around the fire and spin a tale of yester-year...

The CEO would later swear that it hadn't been a set-up. He really, truly intended to join us (his senior leadership team) at Esalen for the "seminar" entitled "Managing with Heart." But somehow, conveniently, he was called away. So there we were, ensconced in a log cabin motel 25 miles or better away from the place because our HR leader who had volunteered for the site visit refused to go for the roommate requirement of on-site housing. This isn't just 25 ordinary miles, by the way. It's 25 miles on Highway 1 on the Big Sur coastline. And the "seminar" had some rather odd hours. 10 - 12, 4 - 6, 8 - 10, with the rather long afternoon break dedicated to massages, relaxation, gardening, etc. and the evening break dedicated to dinner and kitchen cleaning. So the drive was white-knuckle time, especially for me.

This one week could yield a hundred stories. Like when our CFO fell asleep during meditation and demonstrated to us why his Boy Scout Troop Leader nickname was Evinrude. Or when one of the SVPs who simply couldn't give up his voice mail routine and so perched inside the facility's only phone booth next to the only laundromat and choked on the message he was leaving when a nice young lady filled the washer with her clothes and then added the ones she was wearing.

But, no. This particular angle on the events of the week is devoted to the drive back and forth from the run-down motel to Esalen and back that we made every morning and every late night.

We were a strange species at Esalen. We supposed out loud that the rest of them had never seen business people and were quite intrigued with us. There were psychologists and wild animal park caretakers and devotees of Esalen massage and drifters and random "entrepreneurs" but no other corporate types that we ever saw. And this made for a truly "binding" team-building experience. Common enemy and the like. Every morning the tension built as we drove to the campus, and every night, the tension broke like a dam on the way back.

The nightly routine was to stop and buy wine on the way back to the motel, and once there we sat outside and drank and laughed like the giddy survivors that we were. "Could you believe that woman who said she had been a passenger on the Titanic in a previous life?" "What about that guy who has four-handed 2 hour massages EVERY SINGLE AFTERNOON?" It was like we were aliens examining a new world under a microscope, in wonder at everything.

One night, driving back to our motel, blowing off steam and laughing non-stop, we had Motown oldies playing on the radio. In a fit of spontaneity, our driver whipped the car off the road into a "turnout" as they are called along this stretch of two lane highway, and we all spilled out of the car and danced under the moonlight. Singing, howling, fist pumping, we just danced under the moon and stars until the energy dissipated enough and then we just got back in the car and continued on our way.

Turnout dancing happened again during the trip, including in the parking lot of a very ritzy restaurant where we had gone without reservations, and which did not win us very many friends among the staff. It became our shared experience, our magic, our memory. One we called upon once we returned to work, as we glanced at each other sheepishly, and the CFO tried to figure out what to do with the massage charges on our bills.

Those of you reading this, you know who you are.

Vacation

So, tonight, with the first layer of salt jet-sprayed off of my car, but no prayer for any convertible days soon, I feel the urge to construct my ideal vacation calendar. Now I'm all for adventure, and new experiences, but if I were to construct a "normal" holiday calendar it would look something like this:

January: stay home and get stuff organized. Plan the rest of the year's trips.

February: Secret Harbour, St. Thomas, USVI. My all time favorite winter trip, swimming around the harbour every day while Jeff snorkels below. Drinking frozen White Russians at the beach bar during the day and eating at Blue Moon Cafe at night. Never be-grudging the 10 short steps to the condo, and always tipping the wonderful cleaning crew that ensures the sand vanishes from the tile floors every day.

March: Company ski trip accompanied by long weekend in ATL.. our wanna-be home again. Open-houses, great Buckhead meals, catching up with friends, deck eating and drinking.

April: Visit Steph in St. Pete. Head to St. Pete Beach for great local bands and nearly empty sands...

May: Annual opening day of bass season at Ten Mile Lake during Memorial Day weekend. Ideal because a) I go or b) I have a long, quiet weekend to myself

June: Spiritual Massage retreat wherever it's being held, although Jacksonville would be the fave. Esalen works too.

July: Ten Mile Lake during the only month it is reliably summer. Fishing, for sure. Sailing, skiing more of an iffy proposition. But oh, the dock, and the water, and the peace.

August: Home again doldrums.

September: A great month to visit Colin in Philly and head up to NYC. Love the color, the action, the experience. Rows of Statues of Liberty human sculptures anyone?

October: Sedona. Enchantment. Boynton Canyon. Mii-Amo. Vortex walks, yoga, spa food, fresh squeezed orange juice outside the door, gorgeous casitas, indoor pool with giant fireplace, fabulous art... I can't go enough.

November: No travel - planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas

December: Host others' vacation or travel to be with family...hibernate.

Your ideal???

My picks

Here are my picks for best books and movies of 2009. Caveats: some of the books may have actually been 2008, and I may have even read them in 2008. But if I can't recall putting them on a list before (and if we were talking strictly about my blog that would be true de-facto) I find them fair game to include.

Books - 9, an awkward number, will try to think of a tenth

The book entries are listed randomly; no preference assigned within the group.

The Gargoyle - this would be the one from 2008, most likely, but still so powerful and amazing I will include it again
People of the Book
The Help
The Raw Shark Texts
What is the What
Let the Great World Spin
Await Your Reply
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/The Girl Who Played with Fire (two books, most likely one in 2008, but go get 'em!)

Happy to provide review/commentary on these if you want, but you'll need to ask. My book friends have already suffered through my extensive commentary. But, the list includes historical fiction, futuristic fiction, great detective stories, great love stories, terrific mysteries, and painful/hopeful non-fiction. Many bookes contain multiple categories.

Movies

The movie entries are listed randomly, as well, except for my number one pick: The Road. My picks are only coincidentally the same as Robert Butler's (our KC Star movie critic). There are many times I disagree with him. But this year, we were simpatico. Major picks:

The Road
The Hurt Locker
Up
Up in the Air
Julie and Julia

Honorable mentions/really like them:

The Blind Side
It’s Complicated
Inglorious Basterds
Departures
The Hangover

Could not watch The Time Traveler's Wife or The Lovely Bones, both of which I loved as books. But The Road was as pure and elemental as the book, and equally as true, and it broke and uplifted my heart in the same way.

What's Changing in the World

I've been looking at trend data lately, for purposes related to identifying opportunities for innovation. And while reading up on mobile banking and consumer demand for transparency, and the new "free" economy, I came across a NYT op-ed written by William Falk which promised to reveal which stories were really 2009's most important.

See what you think.

Robotic warfare: President Obama has sanctioned about 50 Predator strikes this year, which killed about 500 people, including important targets and the women and children nearby. The military is building new ones very quickly. Including one called The Reaper, which carries more ordnance. And will soon deploy drones to the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean and the Carribean to look for drug smugglers. And, scariest to me, "nano-drones" are under development. About the size of hummingbirds, they will be able to pursue targets into homes and buildings.

New planets: Techniques for detecting "Exoplanets" - those which may have the right condition to support life - are becoming so sophisticated that over 400 such planets have been discovered so far - 30 in October alone. The discovery of Earth-like planets is now so likely that the Vatican held a conference of astrobiologists this year to discuss the theological repercussions of extraterrestrial life. In an understatement, a professor at the University of Arizona remarked that such a discovery would have "profound implications for our self-image."

Stem cells: Scientists re-engineered regular skin cells from mice into stem-cells, making it possible that in the future, scientists might be able to use a patient's own tissue to produce a replacement organ. Of course, the bad news is that a rogue scientist could create human beings from a few cells scraped from a person's arm. "All the pieces are there for serious abuse," said cell biologist Rober Lanza.

A few things to think about as you wait for the Massachusetts vote to be resolved, in case you don't want to spend your time pondering how out of nowhere, one person can de-rail months of work and render useless terrabytes of debate over health care. No matter which side you're on there, it's a pretty remarkable development.

Blogging

So as I re-dedicate myself to blogging, I find myself thinking about the whys, wherefores, and purpose of said blog. Because I started this one absent a strategy. And that really isn't like me. I mean, Julie Powell had her food blog, Ariana Huffington has her political blog, mommies have their mommy-blogs, but this is just a random thought blog. Not focused. Not for a particular audience. In fact, any thought I've given to "strategy" has been more along the lines of what I should stay away from:

Politics: I love to read political blogs, and love to read-out-loud to friends and family my favorite columnists. But my political views are not necessarily compatible with the interests of my business, and so I conclude they should stay private.

Work: Sort of the same boundary issue. Would never feel comfortable dishing out the gossip, peculiarities, etc. of work. In fact, my recent exposure to the social media listening platforms like Radian 6, has taught me not to even mention my company's NAME when I talk about work, lest my blog show up in lots of people's "rivers of news."

Daily activity: Facebook has enough anecdotes of daily life. In the vast majority of cases posts don't need to be expanded into full blogs. (My last story about mice being a possible exception). I mean, if I was a mommy of young kids who were spouting bizarre and profound thoughts on a regular basis I could see a daily life blog being fun. But I'm an empty-nester, and what I do is work, work-out, go to movies, read books, travel, and eat far too many meals at restaurants. Not spellbinding topics for a blog, especially when someone could go to Rotten Tomatoes, Goodreads, Zagat, etc. for much more robust content on the movies, books, restaurants, etc.

Travel might be an interesting focus, and like always, this year will bring a lot of travel, but not much going on there till the end of February. On the docket: San Jose, Beaver Creek, Atlanta, St. Pete to see Steph, Philly for Colin's graduation from law school, Ten Mile with Terri and Mike over July 4, New York for business, plus many more as yet identified trips.

But I also don't want to lose my outlet for random musings. Lyrics, daily happenings, ironies. So here's what I'm thinking. I keep LyricGirl for the ad-hoc, and create separate blogs for specific topics - thinking travel stories and book reviews, for two.

Thoughts?

Losing the Food Chain Lottery

Last Saturday wasn't a good day to be a mouse seeking refuge in the warmth of our house. Actually, no recent days have been good days to be mice seeking refuge in the warmth of our house, and every day it gets more perilous.

Because the mice - and we - have developed a pattern, and given that at least two of us in the story are humans, we've gone up a learning curve, demonstrating our species' superior survival ability. Here's how it works

• Mouse gets cold and enters garage
• Mouse is still cold, so enters the laundry room (through vents or whatever I don't understand about gaps between the laundry room and the garage)
• Mouse encounters Sid, who has been waiting for him
• Sid grabs mouse, helpfully alerting Jeanne and Jeff with the associated noise
• Sid runs - or more recently, strolls - across the hearth room with the mouse, taking it to his lair (our bathroom)
• Jeanne signals Jeff when Sid turns the corner into our bedroom. Jeff follows Sid and Jeanne follows Jeff
• Jeff retrieves coffee mug and piece of cardboard from the bathroom cabinet while Sid drops the mouse and stares at it
• Jeanne climbs up on the edge of the bathtub
• Jeff pursues - and in high percentage of cases traps the mouse under the cup
• Jeff carries mouse in cup with cardboard bottom to the deck and flings him off into the snow

This exciting new routine began when the weather turned frigid right before Christmas and it shows no signs of letting up. Much discussion about whether we should set traps, call an exterminator, etc. Jeff is of the opinion it's working pretty well right now. We just close the doors to the laundry room when we're not on duty to prevent the cat from "hunting" (lying on the floor waiting for the mouse to come to him). But you know that old question: if you see one mouse, how many more must there be? And I don't know where they go when he drops them and Jeff doesn't catch them. Or how many he catches and drops when we're not around. And there's sometimes a scritching noise behind the bed.

But I bear them no ill will. If they didn't run so fast I wouldn't even have to stand on the edge of the bathtub. So, I found myself feeling a little sorry for last Saturday's mouse. Just when he thought he was warm, Sid recruited him as a playmate. Then, just when he "escaped" Sid (who just drops them and never even uses his teeth), there is Jeff with his coffee mug. And now, out on the deck, where it is cold again. Then flying through the air and down about 20 feet into a snowbank. But then! Popping back up on top of the snow and running toward the tree! Not seeing the hawk that instantly spotted him and swooped down for his lunch. Damn.