And … Just One More Thing….
Life really is what happens while you’re busy making other plans… and also while you’re eating s’mores.
:)
Archive for the ‘Every Day Life’ Category
Often I Learn the Most from People Who are Clueless.
Yesterday, my friend Sherry and I were “out and about,” enjoying a relatively warm, dry, and sunny late November day in Seattle.
Sherry is a woman of many talents; in a past life was a Specialized Ed teacher. Eventually our day included a discussion of how those students who most needed help to learn were often the most resistant; but if/when a student would allow themselves to receive help, a whole new world often opened for them.
Sadly, this situation/perception is not limited to students enrolled in Specialized Ed programs; the world is full of people blind to their weaknesses (er, “areas of opportunity for improvement”) which instead they perceive as their strengths, as captured within several of my prior blog posts.
There is a Buddhist saying “when the student is ready, the teacher will come.” I realize I have missed opportunities I was not ready to recognize, ackowledge, and/or receive at the moment they appeared.
The past few years were a bit of a roller coaster ride. Sometimes I was lucky enough to work and partner with dedicated, smart, and awesome teammates and customers, and two really great managers, all whom taught me a lot about life, leadership, team work, selflessness, and business.
At the same time, I may have learned the most from those people who were clueless, who were blinded by their own pride and/or incompetence - and whom I suspect remain unchanged; as Lao Tzu wrote, “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
“You don’t have to be a “person of influence” to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they’ve taught me.” - Scott Adams
Serendipity, Part 2
Serendipity occurs when one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.
Andre Gide said “One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”
Sometimes those new lands are physical places; but sometimes the new land is an internal place one must weather turbulent waters to reach.
In both cases it is about the destination as well as the journey - particularly the people you meet along the way, and who choose to stick with you through the end.
Often the people who impact my life the most appear through Serendipity. While I don’t always realize their impact at first, when I do - I really do; thank you.
“I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be.” - Douglas Adams
Abdel Wright: Another Great Musical Artist You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
“Abdel Wright was born in 1977 in Trinityville, St. Thomas, Jamaica. His single mother was mentally unstable, and Wright was placed in the custody of the state when he was only nine months old, bouncing from orphanage to orphanage until he finally ended up at the SOS Children’s Village in Montego Bay.
The facility was partially funded by country singer Johnny Cash, who owned a home nearby. Wright was allowed to visit the star, and Cash’s music and his commitment to human rights issues were big influences on the child.
Wright received his first guitar as a Christmas gift when he was 12 years old, and soon learned to play it, as well as piano and flute. Later he learned to play drums and harmonica as well.
Wright began to write his own songs by the time he was 18, and he showed an early ability to outline social and political inequities in his music. Once he left the orphanage, however, he was forced to turn to crime to support himself, eventually getting busted on a gun charge. He was sentenced to eight years in a Jamaican prison. Wright served five years of his sentence, using his incarceration to further develop his songwriting.
Following his release, he began working Jamaica’s club scene, and he eventually came to the attention of rockers Dave Stewart and U2’s Bono. Stewart ended up executive producing Wright’s debut album, simply called Abdel Wright, most of which was recorded at an Ocho Rios studio, while Bono in turn played the album for Interscope Records head Jimmy Iovine, who loved it and released it in the summer of 2005.
Wright, who Bono has called “the most important Jamaican artist since Bob Marley,” eschews Jamaica’s prevalent dancehall styles for a more acoustic approach that centers around roots and cultural themes, and while Wright’s music is distinctly Jamaican, it also has a universal pop and folk-rock feel.”
- Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
Abdel Wright, Quicksand, Abdel Wright
Abdel Wright, Dust Under the Carpet, Abdel Wright
Abdel Wright, Strange World, Abdel Wright
Ibid
So - looks like Dave Reichert won reelection after all. Congratulations, Dave - maybe this is the term you’ll finally make us all proud.
Even better - It’s another rainy fall here in Seattle - the weather forecast this week is:
Monday, November 10 - rain
Tuesday, November 11 - rain
Wednesday, November 12 - rain
Thursday, November 13 - rain.
James Young and the Eli Young band got it right:
Eli Young Band When It Rains
Come On, Darcy Burner…
If you ever wonder whether your vote counts, it would this year in Washington’s 8th Congressional District race… go Darcy.
WA 8th Congressional District
55% precincts reporting
| Reichert (R) | 50% | 95,221 |
| Burner (D) | 50% | 93,368 |
Yes, We Did
U.S. President - Electoral College
 Obama (D) - 349 |
||
| McCain (R) - 147 |
Now we just need Darcy Burner to pull this one out too:
| U.S. House - District 8 - General | |
| November 05, 2008 | |
| Washington - 49% of all Precincts Reported |
|
“If you don’t want to fight fires, don’t be a firefighter. If you don’t want to stop crime, don’t be a policeman. And if you don’t want to vote on tough issues, don’t run for Congress.” - Mike Synar
”You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” - Albert Einstein
You Must Be the Change You Wish to See in the World
- Sen Barack Obama, 10-28-08
Two really good reasons I voted absentee in the November 4, 2008 election and supported Obama-Biden:
“We cannot spend the next four years as we have much of the last eight, hoping for our luck to change at home and abroad.” - Sen. John McCain (Sat, 25 Oct 2008 BBC News)
“We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us,” - Sen. John McCain (Sun, Sep 07, 2008, Melbourne Herald Sun)
Our nation is (still) at war; our economy is a depressed mess; health care should not be optional; and it is about the high cost of energy - as well as everything else.
Now it’s your turn.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi
“I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change to Washington… I’m asking you to believe in yours.” - Sen. Barack Obama
Oíche Shamhna
… although here in the States, it’s called Halloween - and loaded with junk food, store bought costumes which will show up at Goodwill this weekend; and very little memory of its origin.
Oíche Shamhna was Pre-Christian Celts’ end of summer “fire festival” when the dead revisited the mortal world and large communal bonfires were lit to ward off evil spirits.
In any case, hope yours was happy…
New and Old Memories, Cemented by Smores
One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting near a roaring fire burning (er TOASTING) marshmallows into a sticky mass also known as S’MORES:
Ingredients:
- Graham crackers, broken into squares
- bittersweet chocolate bars, broken into sizes to fit the graham cracker squares
- Large marshmallows
Equipment:
- 8 wood sticks or long metal skewers (for roasting the marshmallows)
- open fire
1) Build roaring fire
2) Roast marshmallows over fire
3) Sandwich melted marshmallows between graham cracker and chocolate pieces
4) Enjoy!
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