"Gym class was another little brush with fascism. You line up in your squads, and you better be wearing your little gym suits. If you are not wearing the gym suit, you are not taking gym class. 'Remember, kids, exercise has no effect unless you're wearing these special suits.'
A gym teacher is a strange occupational choice. What is this job? You're walking around in shorts with a whistle all day long. You've got an office next to a shower, you're torturing and humiliating young boys all day. It's weird.
Any day that you had gym was a weird school day. It started off kind of normal. You had English, Geometry, Social Studies, and then suddenly you're in Lord of the Flies for forty minutes. You're hanging from a rope, you have hardly any clothes on. Teachers are yelling at you, 'Where's your jockstrap?!' Kids are throwing dodge balls at you, snapping towels - you're trying to survive. And then it's History, Science, Language.
There's something off in the whole flow of that day."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
On Core
"A very important point: You do not 'create' or 'set' core ideology. You discover core ideology. It is not derived by looking to the external environment; you get at it by looking inside. It has to be authentic. You can't fake ideology. Nor can you just 'intellectualize' it. Do not ask 'What core values should we hold?' Ask instead: 'What core values do we actually hold?'" - Jim Collins
Is that so different from life's purpose? To some extent we can develop an enthusiasm for something. But we have natural tendencies, natural passions and talents. Perhaps we derive greatest joy from helping others. It could be raising children. For some, it's competing and winning. For me, it's teaching. What do we value? What is it that brings the happiest tear to the eye, or that we can lose ourself in for hours as if they were moments? And if we're destined to lead in life, we find ways to communicate this passion to others... our words, our scheduling, our money follows it. We don't have to be loud, just consistent, just persistent.
Is that so different from life's purpose? To some extent we can develop an enthusiasm for something. But we have natural tendencies, natural passions and talents. Perhaps we derive greatest joy from helping others. It could be raising children. For some, it's competing and winning. For me, it's teaching. What do we value? What is it that brings the happiest tear to the eye, or that we can lose ourself in for hours as if they were moments? And if we're destined to lead in life, we find ways to communicate this passion to others... our words, our scheduling, our money follows it. We don't have to be loud, just consistent, just persistent.
Product(ive) Recall
"Apparently, we can generate positive emotional feelings if we are highly practiced at it.
Happy people tend to be able to quickly recall lots of positive events, such as their child's school play, walking the dog, a productive brainstorming session at work, or the clever thing they said at a party. Depressed people, because they have a habit of focusing on the negatives of life, can easily recall recent problems, upsets, failures, and setbacks."
I don't know about you, but turning off the replay button on negative events has been the greatest personal plague to overcome for me. When we wake up in the morning we choose the tone for our day. What runs through our mind in the shower? Troubles or victories? Worries or dreams? One trick I've found to be uplifting as I head to the office is to pretend that today is my retirement day. Maybe it's because we think of things more fondly when we're about to leave them behind. Maybe it's because frets of the future are replaced with warm memories of the past. Whatever, it works. Changing our thought pattern is really such a simple choice, yet takes energetic focus to sustain until a habit is formed.
Happy people tend to be able to quickly recall lots of positive events, such as their child's school play, walking the dog, a productive brainstorming session at work, or the clever thing they said at a party. Depressed people, because they have a habit of focusing on the negatives of life, can easily recall recent problems, upsets, failures, and setbacks."
I don't know about you, but turning off the replay button on negative events has been the greatest personal plague to overcome for me. When we wake up in the morning we choose the tone for our day. What runs through our mind in the shower? Troubles or victories? Worries or dreams? One trick I've found to be uplifting as I head to the office is to pretend that today is my retirement day. Maybe it's because we think of things more fondly when we're about to leave them behind. Maybe it's because frets of the future are replaced with warm memories of the past. Whatever, it works. Changing our thought pattern is really such a simple choice, yet takes energetic focus to sustain until a habit is formed.
Moore Power To Us
Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting with the CEO of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Charlie Moore. A self-described "purpose-driven guy" is the type of person who gets things done, and I was also glad to hear him describe consensus-building as a strength of his. He is also a fountain of ideas and told me more than once that it's a challenge for him to "shut up." He was frank with me about his perceptions of Leadership McLean County and I was glad to see his passion about it. Next year will not be "business as usual" for the program - as one example he puts priority upon clear budgets, knowledge that I think we'll all enjoy having. He does intend to be more present with LMC which has potential to be a powerful asset. While it'll take a little more time for me to determine whether or not I'll be a good team member for Charlie, the conversation conjured up the personal importance I place on listening as a leader. Sometimes the more I think I know, the more I put my foot in my mouth. Group think has its own peril, and the wise leader can tell when to tend the rudder and get things back on track, but I swelled up with satisfaction earlier this week to sit in on a couple of my team's meetings at work and listen to ideas flow with increasing excitement. High-functioning team members feel like owners, not slaves.
Had A Bawl, Thanks
I'd been in the professional work force for about a year when my supervisor called me into his office with a heated voice. If words were fire, by the end of that meeting not even my ashes would have survived! I'd like to say that my personality was strong enough to learn from it, shake it off and move on, but in truth it took me a while to recover. Whether it's being bawled out for performance issues or any other matter, whether or not it's deserved (and in my case, there was a clear performance issue that needed addressing in some fashion), life will punch us in the gut and leave us staggering from time to time. Fighters don't get embarrassed by that, it just comes with the trade. Winning fighters persevere through their own confidence - bruises heal, as long as we don't continue to beat ourselves up.
Our Meetingversary
Yesterday was the 14th anniversary of the day that Dena and I met. We were introduced via blind date, so like most Americans I had almost no expectations.
This could be the jumping off point where I give a sentimental, romantic love-at-first-sight account of the whole experience, but it wasn't like that. In fact I'm glad for that, because although Dena's a beautiful person inside and out, I've been dazzled by things too quickly before that lacked the roots to really last. Our love grew gradually for two years, bloomed into marriage a year after that, and has filled us with color and life for nearly eleven wonderful years ever since.
The world needs a lot more Denas!
This could be the jumping off point where I give a sentimental, romantic love-at-first-sight account of the whole experience, but it wasn't like that. In fact I'm glad for that, because although Dena's a beautiful person inside and out, I've been dazzled by things too quickly before that lacked the roots to really last. Our love grew gradually for two years, bloomed into marriage a year after that, and has filled us with color and life for nearly eleven wonderful years ever since.
The world needs a lot more Denas!
Monday, February 23, 2009
That's Where The Muggers Hang Out
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there." - Jalal-Ad-Din Rumi
We may not live as long as we'd like if we suspend all notion of right and wrong, but our hair will probably be a little less gray and skin less wrinkly if we head in that direction.
We may not live as long as we'd like if we suspend all notion of right and wrong, but our hair will probably be a little less gray and skin less wrinkly if we head in that direction.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
LMC Facilitator's Corner: March 2009
I was invited to write another "Facilitator's Corner" piece for the Leadership McLean County alumni newsletter:
A New E-Birth of Freedom
Last time I posed the question “New governor?”, and now we (and Letterman) have the answer. This had a major impact on LMC.
Government Day’s visit with officials and Capitol tour are part of LMC’s earliest roots. This year, though, the governor’s state budget address threatened to shut down Capitol access. Day chairs Joann Schuster and Kelly TenHaken-Freeman not only juggled several alternate plans, but seized opportunity when the address was postponed. We ended up having the Capitol almost entirely to ourselves!
LMC’s e-creativity continues to respond to these challenging economic times. Tonya Kaberna snapped over 40 photos of Government Day (posted on the LMC Facebook page, which now has over 60 members as well as long-awaited photos and bios of LMC ’09). Chamber Staff Brian Davis also introduced online evaluations, which have both saved time and added depth in response quality.
Business Ownership Day chairs Elizabeth Binning, Amy McFarland and Tony Petersen used ISU’s College of Business Building and faculty to cover the topics of integrity and ethics. Average score of 8.60 is high praise, and just ahead of the October day featuring husbands John Binning and Michael McFarland (sorry, boys).
A New E-Birth of Freedom
Last time I posed the question “New governor?”, and now we (and Letterman) have the answer. This had a major impact on LMC.
Government Day’s visit with officials and Capitol tour are part of LMC’s earliest roots. This year, though, the governor’s state budget address threatened to shut down Capitol access. Day chairs Joann Schuster and Kelly TenHaken-Freeman not only juggled several alternate plans, but seized opportunity when the address was postponed. We ended up having the Capitol almost entirely to ourselves!
LMC’s e-creativity continues to respond to these challenging economic times. Tonya Kaberna snapped over 40 photos of Government Day (posted on the LMC Facebook page, which now has over 60 members as well as long-awaited photos and bios of LMC ’09). Chamber Staff Brian Davis also introduced online evaluations, which have both saved time and added depth in response quality.
Business Ownership Day chairs Elizabeth Binning, Amy McFarland and Tony Petersen used ISU’s College of Business Building and faculty to cover the topics of integrity and ethics. Average score of 8.60 is high praise, and just ahead of the October day featuring husbands John Binning and Michael McFarland (sorry, boys).
Official: Obama Plans To Slash Deficit In Half
Now, I haven't spent time trying to reconcile the alignment between authorizing a $787 billion stimulus plan and halving the federal deficit, but "debt reduction" sure sounds good:
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to help revive the economy and is working on a plan to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term.
Obama will touch on his efforts to restore fiscal discipline at a White House fiscal policy summit on Monday and in an address to Congress on Tuesday. On Thursday he plans to send at least a summary of his first budget request to Capitol Hill. The bottom line, said an administration official Saturday, is to halve the federal deficit to $533 billion by the time his first term ends in 2013. He inherited a deficit of about $1.3 trillion from former President George W. Bush.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the president has not yet released his budget for the fiscal year 2010, which begins Oct. 1, said the deficit will be shrunk by scaling back Iraq war spending, ending the temporary tax breaks enacted by the Bush administration for those making $250,000 or more a year, and streamlining government.
"We can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that seemed to preview his intentions. He said his budget will be "sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline."
Republicans were not convinced. They said Obama's plan would hurt small businesses, including many filing taxes as individuals and possibly facing higher taxes under his plan.
"I don't think raising taxes is a great idea," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "And when our good friends on the other side of the aisle say raising the taxes on the wealthy, what they're really talking about is small business."
Obama's budget also is expected to take steps toward his campaign promises of establishing universal health care and lessening the country's reliance on foreign oil.
Obama has pledged to make deficit reduction a priority both as a candidate and a president. But he also has said economic recovery must come first.
Last week, he signed into law the $787 billion stimulus measure that is meant to create jobs but certainly will add to the nation's skyrocketing national debt. He also is implementing the $700 billion financial sector rescue passed on Bush's watch; about $75 billion of which is being used toward Obama's plan to help homeowners facing foreclosure.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to help revive the economy and is working on a plan to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term.
Obama will touch on his efforts to restore fiscal discipline at a White House fiscal policy summit on Monday and in an address to Congress on Tuesday. On Thursday he plans to send at least a summary of his first budget request to Capitol Hill. The bottom line, said an administration official Saturday, is to halve the federal deficit to $533 billion by the time his first term ends in 2013. He inherited a deficit of about $1.3 trillion from former President George W. Bush.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the president has not yet released his budget for the fiscal year 2010, which begins Oct. 1, said the deficit will be shrunk by scaling back Iraq war spending, ending the temporary tax breaks enacted by the Bush administration for those making $250,000 or more a year, and streamlining government.
"We can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that seemed to preview his intentions. He said his budget will be "sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline."
Republicans were not convinced. They said Obama's plan would hurt small businesses, including many filing taxes as individuals and possibly facing higher taxes under his plan.
"I don't think raising taxes is a great idea," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "And when our good friends on the other side of the aisle say raising the taxes on the wealthy, what they're really talking about is small business."
Obama's budget also is expected to take steps toward his campaign promises of establishing universal health care and lessening the country's reliance on foreign oil.
Obama has pledged to make deficit reduction a priority both as a candidate and a president. But he also has said economic recovery must come first.
Last week, he signed into law the $787 billion stimulus measure that is meant to create jobs but certainly will add to the nation's skyrocketing national debt. He also is implementing the $700 billion financial sector rescue passed on Bush's watch; about $75 billion of which is being used toward Obama's plan to help homeowners facing foreclosure.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Love And Optimism
From Lou Tice:
For most of us, the greatest source of happiness in life is to love and be loved. Today I am going to tell you why love and optimism go hand in hand.
When I think of the strongly optimistic people I know, I am always struck by the depth and scope of their relationships. Optimists are great lovers! They love many things passionately - nature, sports, music, art, gardening - you name it.
But most of all, they love people. They respond to children and old folks with enthusiasm. They are deeply connected to their families. They are usually involved in doing something to help people in trouble. In fact, they reach out to others all the time, giving the gift of their attention and interest, and they have a wonderful way of making the people they are talking to feel valued and important.
Their ability to admire and enjoy others is a powerful force that helps account for their optimism and keeps their positive outlook alive. Because of all the loving energy they put forth, they have a lot of love coming back at them, too. In tough times, they find themselves in the center of a supportive network that helps them make it through the rough spots.
There's no question about it. Loving relationships nurture optimism, and optimism helps us become more loving. I want you to remember something: love is not a noun. It's a verb and therefore requires action to become real.
For most of us, the greatest source of happiness in life is to love and be loved. Today I am going to tell you why love and optimism go hand in hand.
When I think of the strongly optimistic people I know, I am always struck by the depth and scope of their relationships. Optimists are great lovers! They love many things passionately - nature, sports, music, art, gardening - you name it.
But most of all, they love people. They respond to children and old folks with enthusiasm. They are deeply connected to their families. They are usually involved in doing something to help people in trouble. In fact, they reach out to others all the time, giving the gift of their attention and interest, and they have a wonderful way of making the people they are talking to feel valued and important.
Their ability to admire and enjoy others is a powerful force that helps account for their optimism and keeps their positive outlook alive. Because of all the loving energy they put forth, they have a lot of love coming back at them, too. In tough times, they find themselves in the center of a supportive network that helps them make it through the rough spots.
There's no question about it. Loving relationships nurture optimism, and optimism helps us become more loving. I want you to remember something: love is not a noun. It's a verb and therefore requires action to become real.
A Familiar Life
From Lou Tice:
There is great comfort in the familiar, but there is also great danger, too.
Most of us feel secure in the belief that we can trust the familiar in our lives, and we feel that there is comfort and peace in the predictable. Actually, while this is true to some degree, it can also be a trap.
You see, it is the unfamiliar, the risk, and the unpredictable that liberates us from boredom, unleashes our creative spirit, and enlivens our relationships. And it is the unplanned and unknown occurrences that make our life rich in possibilities.
Of course, some order, predictability and security are necessary for our survival and sanity. But a life without mystery, excitement and risk is merely an existence. I believe life was meant to be lived - joyfully, with a sense of wonder and surprise.
So take some time to think about it. How much of your life is planned down to the last minute? How much of your free time is completely controlled by a tight schedule? Why not try relaxing and just letting things happen without trying to plan or control them?
You know, the world is full of delight, if you will only allow it to unfold naturally around you. It is surprise and spontaneity that keep us and our relationships from becoming dried out, locked up and eventually numbed and even deadened by repetitive daily routines.
There is great comfort in the familiar, but there is also great danger, too.
Most of us feel secure in the belief that we can trust the familiar in our lives, and we feel that there is comfort and peace in the predictable. Actually, while this is true to some degree, it can also be a trap.
You see, it is the unfamiliar, the risk, and the unpredictable that liberates us from boredom, unleashes our creative spirit, and enlivens our relationships. And it is the unplanned and unknown occurrences that make our life rich in possibilities.
Of course, some order, predictability and security are necessary for our survival and sanity. But a life without mystery, excitement and risk is merely an existence. I believe life was meant to be lived - joyfully, with a sense of wonder and surprise.
So take some time to think about it. How much of your life is planned down to the last minute? How much of your free time is completely controlled by a tight schedule? Why not try relaxing and just letting things happen without trying to plan or control them?
You know, the world is full of delight, if you will only allow it to unfold naturally around you. It is surprise and spontaneity that keep us and our relationships from becoming dried out, locked up and eventually numbed and even deadened by repetitive daily routines.
Beatles Playlist
Found a cool YouTube clip that led me to a whole Beatles playlist. Hidden Bloggers know that it's a dream of mine to play Beatles songs live in a foursome, somewhere... in front of an audience that has very low standards of musicianship!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LedUjMuTR7Q&feature=PlayList&p=5FFD03A4A8F36FFC&index=0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LedUjMuTR7Q&feature=PlayList&p=5FFD03A4A8F36FFC&index=0
Vision Bigger Than My Seat
You've heard the old phrase "eyes bigger than my stomach," for people who stagger out of restaurants with one too many pancakes, chicken wings or scoops of ice cream in their bellies.
What catchy new phrase could I invent? How about "vision bigger than my seat." By that I mean the ambitious tendency to do so much that we end up doing not only our own work but that of the guy next to us. That can drain the life out of an organization, or out of the person with vision... not to mention that the person in the next seat may be a little miffed about being squeezed.
These visions often sneak up with the best intentions at heart. When I was a member of a band years ago, I tried to be vocalist, guitarist, membership recruiter, song-chooser, and on-stage speaker. Could I have pulled it off? Could the vision of a packed house have become reality? Probably, for a while. But who would follow? Even in the short run, it created some teamwork friction, and didn't end well.
Sometimes today my vision for Leadership McLean County starts to swell, causing me to think about (and occasionally do) advancing ideas to help people in other roles like alumni, marketing, even chairing the steering committee. But that not only dilutes focus, but walks a fine line between usefulness and interference. Those lessons of past life come in pretty handy, keeping me in my seat and letting others thrive as they're destined to do.
What catchy new phrase could I invent? How about "vision bigger than my seat." By that I mean the ambitious tendency to do so much that we end up doing not only our own work but that of the guy next to us. That can drain the life out of an organization, or out of the person with vision... not to mention that the person in the next seat may be a little miffed about being squeezed.
These visions often sneak up with the best intentions at heart. When I was a member of a band years ago, I tried to be vocalist, guitarist, membership recruiter, song-chooser, and on-stage speaker. Could I have pulled it off? Could the vision of a packed house have become reality? Probably, for a while. But who would follow? Even in the short run, it created some teamwork friction, and didn't end well.
Sometimes today my vision for Leadership McLean County starts to swell, causing me to think about (and occasionally do) advancing ideas to help people in other roles like alumni, marketing, even chairing the steering committee. But that not only dilutes focus, but walks a fine line between usefulness and interference. Those lessons of past life come in pretty handy, keeping me in my seat and letting others thrive as they're destined to do.
Work, With A Side Order Of Pain, Please
Suppose that our brains could be hooked up to a computer which resulted in our feeling perfectly happy, all the time. The catch is that, although the computer would provide images of winning awards, going to your child's choir concert, and making love to your spouse... there would no longer be work, relationships, or experience the hardships of life.
"We have presented this question to thousands of students in classes we have taught. In our experience, about 95 percent of the students opt for work, social connections, and pain over orgasmic bliss."
"Hedonism without pursuing meaning leaves most people feeling empty. However, too much purpose without actually feeling good leaves something to be desired as well. Consummate happiness includes both pleasure and meaning." - Ed Diener
When I read stuff like this (and I see it from time to time), I ponder the pursuit of heaven by some who see it as a painless place of eternal happiness. What instead of mastering our own minds to attain steady happiness in a flawed world?
"We have presented this question to thousands of students in classes we have taught. In our experience, about 95 percent of the students opt for work, social connections, and pain over orgasmic bliss."
"Hedonism without pursuing meaning leaves most people feeling empty. However, too much purpose without actually feeling good leaves something to be desired as well. Consummate happiness includes both pleasure and meaning." - Ed Diener
When I read stuff like this (and I see it from time to time), I ponder the pursuit of heaven by some who see it as a painless place of eternal happiness. What instead of mastering our own minds to attain steady happiness in a flawed world?
Surveys Said...
"We know, for example, that the elderly are about as happy as people in their twenties and thirties. We know that money adds to happiness, but often only a modest amount. We know that in many nations religious people are happier on average than their nonreligious peers, but not in all societies. We know that long commutes to work drag down a person's happiness, even when people are traveling to a better, higher paying job." - Ed Diener
He Said, She Said, Me Said
"Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality." - Les Brown
Who knows us better than ourselves? Well, actually, the feedback of others can point out blind spots which if acted upon can move us forward by leaps and bounds. Still, it occurs to me that some wish I were more forceful, others more blunt, others more religious or family-centered. Learners do well, studying not only ourselves but our relationships with others. We may conform, or diverge, or give both a try. Courage comes from measuring our own values, respecting those of others, and moving boldly and openly in the direction that brings the most life out of us.
Who knows us better than ourselves? Well, actually, the feedback of others can point out blind spots which if acted upon can move us forward by leaps and bounds. Still, it occurs to me that some wish I were more forceful, others more blunt, others more religious or family-centered. Learners do well, studying not only ourselves but our relationships with others. We may conform, or diverge, or give both a try. Courage comes from measuring our own values, respecting those of others, and moving boldly and openly in the direction that brings the most life out of us.
It's Green On This Side Of The Fence, Too
"If you are not happy here and now, you never will be." - Taisen Deshimaru
Still, in my experience it pays to be on the lookout for the better match of our gifts. Sometimes we are destined to suffer, where there are still points of light to fasten our attention to for happiness. To simply accept circumstances as they are might be to misread our destiny though. The grass holds some shade of green on this side of the fence, but it may be greener on the other side.
Still, in my experience it pays to be on the lookout for the better match of our gifts. Sometimes we are destined to suffer, where there are still points of light to fasten our attention to for happiness. To simply accept circumstances as they are might be to misread our destiny though. The grass holds some shade of green on this side of the fence, but it may be greener on the other side.
Friday, February 20, 2009
That Matches My Talents
"The perfect man does nothing... he merely contemplates the universe." - Chuang-Tzu
That does relieve the pressure of the ego, or the frustrations of trying to change our corner of the world as if a grain of sand could change the tide.
Of late I've thought it to be a worthy goal to keep my blood pressure as steady as possible throughout the day, to enjoy the comings and goings of work and home as if a child on a fascinating ride. Not success, not failure, merely experience with a light heart and open eyes.
That does relieve the pressure of the ego, or the frustrations of trying to change our corner of the world as if a grain of sand could change the tide.
Of late I've thought it to be a worthy goal to keep my blood pressure as steady as possible throughout the day, to enjoy the comings and goings of work and home as if a child on a fascinating ride. Not success, not failure, merely experience with a light heart and open eyes.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Heard Like The Dickens
"He did each single thing as if he did nothing else." - Charles Dickens
Good tip for effective living, whether doing our own work or listening to someone else - distractions tempt, but focus breeds success and good feeling. Of late I've been trying to do a cardio workout three times a week and weight workout another three. Tonight was a cardio night, but after going out with some LMC alumni pals and snarfing down a double-portioned grilled chicken sandwich (muscle-building protein, right? Even the fries?) the gut was telling me to call it a night rather than pumping my legs for 40 minutes. But focus on the goal... that 14% body fat New Year's resolution... pushed on, so after an hour of digestion and a decent workout, a perk of some extra energy to keep me blogging past midnight turned an average day into a pretty darned good one.
Good tip for effective living, whether doing our own work or listening to someone else - distractions tempt, but focus breeds success and good feeling. Of late I've been trying to do a cardio workout three times a week and weight workout another three. Tonight was a cardio night, but after going out with some LMC alumni pals and snarfing down a double-portioned grilled chicken sandwich (muscle-building protein, right? Even the fries?) the gut was telling me to call it a night rather than pumping my legs for 40 minutes. But focus on the goal... that 14% body fat New Year's resolution... pushed on, so after an hour of digestion and a decent workout, a perk of some extra energy to keep me blogging past midnight turned an average day into a pretty darned good one.
If You've Gotta Miss, Do It Like This
The coach never considered any other option.
It didn't matter that his DeKalb, Ill., High School basketball team had ridden a bus two and a half hours to get to Milwaukee, then waited another hour past game time to play. Didn't matter that the game was close, or that this was a chance to beat a big city team.
Something else was on Dave Rohlman's mind when he asked for a volunteer to shoot two free throws awarded his team on a technical foul in the second quarter. His senior captain raised his hand, ready to go to the line as he had many times before.
Only this time it was different.
"You realize you're going to miss them, don't you?" Rohlman said.
Darius McNeal nodded his head. He understood what had to be done.
It was a Saturday night in February, and the Barbs were playing a non-conference game on the road against Milwaukee Madison. It was the third meeting between the two schools, who were developing a friendly rivalry that spanned two states.
The teams planned to get together after the game and share some pizzas and soda. But the game itself almost never took place.
Hours earlier, the mother of Milwaukee Madison senior captain Johntel Franklin died at a local hospital. Carlitha Franklin had been in remission after a five-year fight with cervical cancer, but she began to hemorrhage that morning while Johntel was taking his college ACT exam.
Her son and several of his teammates were at the hospital late that afternoon when the decision was made to turn off the life-support system. Carlitha Franklin was just 39.
"She was young and they were real close," said Milwaukee coach Aaron Womack Jr., who was at the hospital. "He was very distraught and it happened so suddenly he didn't have time to grieve."
Womack was going to cancel the game, but Franklin told him he wanted the team to play. And play they did, even though the game started late and Milwaukee Madison dressed only eight players.
Early in the second quarter, Womack saw someone out of the corner of his eye. It was Franklin, who came there directly from the hospital to root his teammates on.
The Knights had possession, so Womack called a time out. His players went over and hugged their grieving teammate. Fans came out of the stands to do the same.
"We got back to playing the game and I asked if he wanted to come and sit on the bench," Womack said during a telephone interview.
"No," Franklin replied. "I want to play."
There was just one problem. Since Franklin wasn't on the pre-game roster, putting him in meant drawing a technical foul that would give DeKalb two free throws.
Though it was a tight game, Womack was willing to give up the two points. It was more important to help his senior guard and co-captain deal with his grief by playing.
Over on the other bench, though, Rohlman wasn't so willing to take them. He told the referees to forget the technical and just let Franklin play.
"I could hear them arguing for five to seven minutes, saying, `We're not taking it, we're not taking it," Womack said. "The refs told them, no, that's the rule. You have to take them."
That's when Rohlman asked for volunteers, and McNeal's hand went up.
He went alone to the free throw line, dribbled the ball a couple of times, and looked at the rim.
His first attempt went about two feet, bouncing a couple of times as it rolled toward the end line. The second barely left his hand.
It didn't take long for the Milwaukee players to figure out what was going on.
They stood and turned toward the DeKalb bench and started applauding the gesture of sportsmanship. Soon, so did everybody in the stands.
"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was the right thing to do."
Franklin would go on to score 10 points, and Milwaukee Madison broke open the game in the second half to win 62-47. Afterward, the teams went out for pizza, two players from each team sharing each pie.
Franklin stopped by briefly, thankful that his team was there for him.
"I got kind of emotional but it helped a lot just to play," he said. "I felt like I had a lot of support out there."
Carlitha Franklin's funeral was last Friday, and the school turned out for her and her son. Cheerleaders came in uniform, and everyone from the principal and teachers to Johntel's classmates were there.
"Even the cooks from school showed up," Womack said. "It lets you know what kind of kid he is."
Basketball is a second sport for the 18-year-old Franklin, who says he has had some scholarship nibbles and plans to play football in college. He just has a few games left for the Knights, who are 6-11 and got beat 71-36 Tuesday night by Milwaukee Hamilton.
It hasn't been the greatest season for the team, but they have stuck together through a lot of adversity.
"We maybe don't have the best basketball players in the world but they go to class and take care of business," Womack said. "We have a losing record but there's life lessons going on, good ones."
None so good, though, as the moment a team and a player decided there were more important things than winning and having good stats.
Yes, DeKalb would go home with a loss. But it was a trip they'll never forget.
"This is something our kids will hold for a lifetime," Rohlman said. "They may not remember our record 20 years from now, but they'll remember what happened in that gym that night."
It didn't matter that his DeKalb, Ill., High School basketball team had ridden a bus two and a half hours to get to Milwaukee, then waited another hour past game time to play. Didn't matter that the game was close, or that this was a chance to beat a big city team.
Something else was on Dave Rohlman's mind when he asked for a volunteer to shoot two free throws awarded his team on a technical foul in the second quarter. His senior captain raised his hand, ready to go to the line as he had many times before.
Only this time it was different.
"You realize you're going to miss them, don't you?" Rohlman said.
Darius McNeal nodded his head. He understood what had to be done.
It was a Saturday night in February, and the Barbs were playing a non-conference game on the road against Milwaukee Madison. It was the third meeting between the two schools, who were developing a friendly rivalry that spanned two states.
The teams planned to get together after the game and share some pizzas and soda. But the game itself almost never took place.
Hours earlier, the mother of Milwaukee Madison senior captain Johntel Franklin died at a local hospital. Carlitha Franklin had been in remission after a five-year fight with cervical cancer, but she began to hemorrhage that morning while Johntel was taking his college ACT exam.
Her son and several of his teammates were at the hospital late that afternoon when the decision was made to turn off the life-support system. Carlitha Franklin was just 39.
"She was young and they were real close," said Milwaukee coach Aaron Womack Jr., who was at the hospital. "He was very distraught and it happened so suddenly he didn't have time to grieve."
Womack was going to cancel the game, but Franklin told him he wanted the team to play. And play they did, even though the game started late and Milwaukee Madison dressed only eight players.
Early in the second quarter, Womack saw someone out of the corner of his eye. It was Franklin, who came there directly from the hospital to root his teammates on.
The Knights had possession, so Womack called a time out. His players went over and hugged their grieving teammate. Fans came out of the stands to do the same.
"We got back to playing the game and I asked if he wanted to come and sit on the bench," Womack said during a telephone interview.
"No," Franklin replied. "I want to play."
There was just one problem. Since Franklin wasn't on the pre-game roster, putting him in meant drawing a technical foul that would give DeKalb two free throws.
Though it was a tight game, Womack was willing to give up the two points. It was more important to help his senior guard and co-captain deal with his grief by playing.
Over on the other bench, though, Rohlman wasn't so willing to take them. He told the referees to forget the technical and just let Franklin play.
"I could hear them arguing for five to seven minutes, saying, `We're not taking it, we're not taking it," Womack said. "The refs told them, no, that's the rule. You have to take them."
That's when Rohlman asked for volunteers, and McNeal's hand went up.
He went alone to the free throw line, dribbled the ball a couple of times, and looked at the rim.
His first attempt went about two feet, bouncing a couple of times as it rolled toward the end line. The second barely left his hand.
It didn't take long for the Milwaukee players to figure out what was going on.
They stood and turned toward the DeKalb bench and started applauding the gesture of sportsmanship. Soon, so did everybody in the stands.
"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was the right thing to do."
Franklin would go on to score 10 points, and Milwaukee Madison broke open the game in the second half to win 62-47. Afterward, the teams went out for pizza, two players from each team sharing each pie.
Franklin stopped by briefly, thankful that his team was there for him.
"I got kind of emotional but it helped a lot just to play," he said. "I felt like I had a lot of support out there."
Carlitha Franklin's funeral was last Friday, and the school turned out for her and her son. Cheerleaders came in uniform, and everyone from the principal and teachers to Johntel's classmates were there.
"Even the cooks from school showed up," Womack said. "It lets you know what kind of kid he is."
Basketball is a second sport for the 18-year-old Franklin, who says he has had some scholarship nibbles and plans to play football in college. He just has a few games left for the Knights, who are 6-11 and got beat 71-36 Tuesday night by Milwaukee Hamilton.
It hasn't been the greatest season for the team, but they have stuck together through a lot of adversity.
"We maybe don't have the best basketball players in the world but they go to class and take care of business," Womack said. "We have a losing record but there's life lessons going on, good ones."
None so good, though, as the moment a team and a player decided there were more important things than winning and having good stats.
Yes, DeKalb would go home with a loss. But it was a trip they'll never forget.
"This is something our kids will hold for a lifetime," Rohlman said. "They may not remember our record 20 years from now, but they'll remember what happened in that gym that night."
Monday, February 16, 2009
Do-It-Yourself Happiness
"Perhaps most important, you need to understand that happiness is a process, not a place; a way of traveling, not a destination. Happiness requires positive attitudes about life and the world, and continuing fresh involvement with activities. A life full of meaning and values, supportive social relationships, and rewarding work is the framework for a happy life." - Ed Diener
I think our minds are powerfully influenced by repetition. We condition ourselves to our "normal" state of mind by the deliberate or unwitting processes we apply in our heads. Do we allow ourselves the habit of looking back on the little joys of the day or the week? Do we exercise happiness by actively repelling angry thoughts with warmer memories, exciting plans and dreams? Our muscles and our attitudes are as strong as we discipline ourselves to make them. We're much more resilient than we think. The potential to positively influence the world around us lies untapped until we commit ourselves to the victories, small at first and eventually with great momentum, of seeing and speaking the bright side.
I think our minds are powerfully influenced by repetition. We condition ourselves to our "normal" state of mind by the deliberate or unwitting processes we apply in our heads. Do we allow ourselves the habit of looking back on the little joys of the day or the week? Do we exercise happiness by actively repelling angry thoughts with warmer memories, exciting plans and dreams? Our muscles and our attitudes are as strong as we discipline ourselves to make them. We're much more resilient than we think. The potential to positively influence the world around us lies untapped until we commit ourselves to the victories, small at first and eventually with great momentum, of seeing and speaking the bright side.
What's A Hedonist?
It's pronounced HEE-done-ist, but what is it?
It's a person who thinks that the most important pursuit in life is...
1. Sharpening dental instruments
2. Worshiping nature, especially the sun
3. The rebirth of the Confederacy
4. Pleasure
See the comment for the answer.
It's a person who thinks that the most important pursuit in life is...
1. Sharpening dental instruments
2. Worshiping nature, especially the sun
3. The rebirth of the Confederacy
4. Pleasure
See the comment for the answer.
Traveling Lightly
At the place where I work there's a U-shaped driveway that's surrounded by 4-story buildings except at the open end of the U. The driveway is curbed by a sidewalk, and the parking garage is 100 yards ahead and slightly to the right. That means that on most days people walking to their car will do so in an arc, with driveway on their left and building on their right.
One sunny late afternoon I started down that trail myself when I noticed that a good part of the route sat in the shade, which is refreshing on a summer day but not a February one. However, the shadows hadn't quite reached the driveway itself.
Why not step onto the driveway, I thought? There were no cars driving through. All that kept me from choosing the warmer route was basically groupthink of all the pedestrians gamely following the herd.
The famous poem about taking the road less traveled doesn't fairly apply here - I think its central point was to take a risk into the unknown, whereas I was pretty certain that I would be more comfortable, less crowded, and equally safe from being crushed by a car as everyone else. Maybe the moral here is to look around and make the most of the little joys that life offers us, rather than living resigned to routine or safety in numbers with our heads down. Life is as interesting as we choose to see it.
One sunny late afternoon I started down that trail myself when I noticed that a good part of the route sat in the shade, which is refreshing on a summer day but not a February one. However, the shadows hadn't quite reached the driveway itself.
Why not step onto the driveway, I thought? There were no cars driving through. All that kept me from choosing the warmer route was basically groupthink of all the pedestrians gamely following the herd.
The famous poem about taking the road less traveled doesn't fairly apply here - I think its central point was to take a risk into the unknown, whereas I was pretty certain that I would be more comfortable, less crowded, and equally safe from being crushed by a car as everyone else. Maybe the moral here is to look around and make the most of the little joys that life offers us, rather than living resigned to routine or safety in numbers with our heads down. Life is as interesting as we choose to see it.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Jeff Dunham
Valentine's Day for the McDonalds included comedian Jeff Dunham's show at the Coliseum in town. He proved himself to be an immensely talented ventriloquist with an incredible vocal range. My favorite character of his is Achmed the dead terrorist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go
This was quite a study in diversity too. I was amazed at the tremendous reaction of the crowd - over 10,000 strong between two shows that day - to a heavy dose of comedy that channeled the mind of a 13-year-old:
- High-pitched squealing over and over in an attempt to annoy
- Farting (and various other bathroom humor) jokes
- Sexual innuendo
- Ethnic slurs about Native Americans, Indians, Southerners, African Americans, and the Chinese
- Punchlines consisting mostly of profanity
It's good to know that if I'm ever in a tight spot I've a decent chance of easing the tension with a little cursing about my private parts in a foreign accent!
The guy did do some great ad-libbing when the crowd cried out a few times. That's a big part of stand-up comic genius, I think, and why my sweet spot is in play writing instead of being on the big stage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go
This was quite a study in diversity too. I was amazed at the tremendous reaction of the crowd - over 10,000 strong between two shows that day - to a heavy dose of comedy that channeled the mind of a 13-year-old:
- High-pitched squealing over and over in an attempt to annoy
- Farting (and various other bathroom humor) jokes
- Sexual innuendo
- Ethnic slurs about Native Americans, Indians, Southerners, African Americans, and the Chinese
- Punchlines consisting mostly of profanity
It's good to know that if I'm ever in a tight spot I've a decent chance of easing the tension with a little cursing about my private parts in a foreign accent!
The guy did do some great ad-libbing when the crowd cried out a few times. That's a big part of stand-up comic genius, I think, and why my sweet spot is in play writing instead of being on the big stage.
Lincoln's In Town!
That's the name of the play written about Abraham Lincoln's experiences in McLean County during his time as a lawyer, prior to heading to the national stage. The special production was written, directed, and mostly if not entirely staffed by locals. Talented locals... I really enjoyed some of the creative devices they used. Like referring to one of Lincoln's second occupations as a lecturer (he did one, for example, on his scientific predictions for the future, like "harnessing the wind") not by re-enacting the lecture, but by a scene of several ladies quilting the following day and talking about it.
You know Lincoln's my favorite leader for reasons discussed at length elsewhere in Hidden Blog, so I won't recount them here. This was just a good chance to reflect on the 200th anniversary of his birthday, and how great of an impact his life still continues to have on the leadership of our nation today.
You know Lincoln's my favorite leader for reasons discussed at length elsewhere in Hidden Blog, so I won't recount them here. This was just a good chance to reflect on the 200th anniversary of his birthday, and how great of an impact his life still continues to have on the leadership of our nation today.
Treasure Chest
My friend Kim made the e-paper!
Cancer survivor Kim Stephan, of Normal, kisses the crowd while be honored with other survivors during Saturday afternoon's, February 14, 2009, halftime portion of Illinois State University and Wichita State women's basketball game at Redbird Arena in Normal.(THE PANTAGRAPH/B MOSHER)
Cancer survivor Kim Stephan, of Normal, kisses the crowd while be honored with other survivors during Saturday afternoon's, February 14, 2009, halftime portion of Illinois State University and Wichita State women's basketball game at Redbird Arena in Normal.(THE PANTAGRAPH/B MOSHER)
Being Like Mona Lisa
Scientists analyzed the famous painting and concluded that the sum of all the emotions across her face (in her eyes, lips, etc.) were about 17 percent negative and 83 percent positive. Tying to the last post, perhaps that is part of Mona Lisa's appeal - a subliminal expression that it's okay to feel negative sometimes, against a backdrop of generally positive feelings.
- From Ed Diener
- From Ed Diener
Before You Read This, Answer: What Is Your Happiness On A Scale Of 1-10?
When individuals complete happiness surveys that use a one to ten scale, those scoring around an eight often tend to fare the best in achievement. Why might the eights of the world outperform their friends and neighbors who are nines or tens? It could be that eights benefit from the creativity and energy of happiness, but also maintain a touch of worry that helps to motivate them.
In 1976, thousands of college students were surveyed. They were contacted twenty years later and asked to report their incomes, and the results had surprisingly high correlation. The sevens, eights and nines generally did better than everyone else, including the tens.
- From Ed Diener
In 1976, thousands of college students were surveyed. They were contacted twenty years later and asked to report their incomes, and the results had surprisingly high correlation. The sevens, eights and nines generally did better than everyone else, including the tens.
- From Ed Diener
Fantasy Baseball Notes
Regular readers of this blog will probably want to skip this one. This time of year is exciting for me because fantasy baseball uses numbers, research and strategy to win. Around this time magazines start coming out with projections of how well real-life major league baseball players will do this year, and in my league you rank a couple hundred players before letting the computer simulate a draft to form twelve teams that square off all summer. Below describes notes on my ranking system this year so that I can refer to it quickly a year from now rather than reinventing the wheel.
Projections came from the Fantasy Baseball Index (FBI) which hit the shelves approximately the first week of February. I reserved the right to adjust some of their projections. For example, some young players had "breakout" years nearly double any previous output, and FBI projected that same level of output, so I'd tone it down. Some (like Kerry Wood's 2.05 ERA when he's never been below 3.00) just plain didn't make sense. As I typed the projections into my spreadsheet's "Data" tab, I took some creative license to adjust those numbers accordingly.
In the "Draft" tab, I jotted down the level of performance required to earn 10 points in each category. The five usual categories for hitters (runs, home runs, runs batted in, stolen bases, batting average) applied. For pitchers, I allow a higher ERA for starters than relievers, so that the average comes out to reach the 10 point level (assuming 200 innings pitched x 5 starters, and another 250 from relievers). This year, a starter's ERA of 3.60 and reliever's 3.00 would hit the 3.48 team mark. I do likewise for SO%, asking 80% for starters and 100% for relievers to hit 83% overall. For walks+hits per inning pitched (WHIP), the difference between starters and relievers would've been so small that I just set the levels equal. For starters, categories are wins (15, every year), strikeout percentage, ERA and WHIP. For relievers: saves, strikeout percentage, ERA and WHIP. For starting pitchers, no points are awarded for reaching 200 innings but 1 point is docked for failure to reach at least 180 innings; for relievers, the point total is reduced by two. This is to limit the chance of pitchers' totals from exceeding hitters' totals, and likewise to keep relievers at or below starters.
I grant one point for each category in which the 10 point level is projected to be reached. If someone is way below that level, I grant a negative point, and if way above then two points. That keeps people like Juan Pierre from being overvalued... his runs and stolen bases might be high (1 R point + 2 SB points) but his power numbers are so abysmal (-1 HR point -1 RBI point) that he stays close to zero in value.
Here's what "way above" and "way below" are:
Runs (target 90): +/- 20
Home runs (22): +/- 10
RBI (85): +/- 20
SB (14): +/- 10
AVG (.286): +/- .020
W (15): +/- 5
SV (28): +/- 10
SO%: +/- .10
ERA: +/- .25
WHIP (1.24): +/- .10
IP* (200): - 20
* For innings pitched I wanted to get a measure of durability. So for purposes of strikeout percentage I used the projected value, but in terms of granting points for innings pitched I used their three year average. That way, if a pitcher's only in his third year or less (like Tim Lincecum), he likely ends up with -1 point. In the case of known injury risks like Rich Harden and Joba Chamberlain, I arbitrarily subtracted an additional point.
Then I sorted them according to their points, before making further rankings within each rating (e.g. sorting ratings of "5" relative to each other).
Projections came from the Fantasy Baseball Index (FBI) which hit the shelves approximately the first week of February. I reserved the right to adjust some of their projections. For example, some young players had "breakout" years nearly double any previous output, and FBI projected that same level of output, so I'd tone it down. Some (like Kerry Wood's 2.05 ERA when he's never been below 3.00) just plain didn't make sense. As I typed the projections into my spreadsheet's "Data" tab, I took some creative license to adjust those numbers accordingly.
In the "Draft" tab, I jotted down the level of performance required to earn 10 points in each category. The five usual categories for hitters (runs, home runs, runs batted in, stolen bases, batting average) applied. For pitchers, I allow a higher ERA for starters than relievers, so that the average comes out to reach the 10 point level (assuming 200 innings pitched x 5 starters, and another 250 from relievers). This year, a starter's ERA of 3.60 and reliever's 3.00 would hit the 3.48 team mark. I do likewise for SO%, asking 80% for starters and 100% for relievers to hit 83% overall. For walks+hits per inning pitched (WHIP), the difference between starters and relievers would've been so small that I just set the levels equal. For starters, categories are wins (15, every year), strikeout percentage, ERA and WHIP. For relievers: saves, strikeout percentage, ERA and WHIP. For starting pitchers, no points are awarded for reaching 200 innings but 1 point is docked for failure to reach at least 180 innings; for relievers, the point total is reduced by two. This is to limit the chance of pitchers' totals from exceeding hitters' totals, and likewise to keep relievers at or below starters.
I grant one point for each category in which the 10 point level is projected to be reached. If someone is way below that level, I grant a negative point, and if way above then two points. That keeps people like Juan Pierre from being overvalued... his runs and stolen bases might be high (1 R point + 2 SB points) but his power numbers are so abysmal (-1 HR point -1 RBI point) that he stays close to zero in value.
Here's what "way above" and "way below" are:
Runs (target 90): +/- 20
Home runs (22): +/- 10
RBI (85): +/- 20
SB (14): +/- 10
AVG (.286): +/- .020
W (15): +/- 5
SV (28): +/- 10
SO%: +/- .10
ERA: +/- .25
WHIP (1.24): +/- .10
IP* (200): - 20
* For innings pitched I wanted to get a measure of durability. So for purposes of strikeout percentage I used the projected value, but in terms of granting points for innings pitched I used their three year average. That way, if a pitcher's only in his third year or less (like Tim Lincecum), he likely ends up with -1 point. In the case of known injury risks like Rich Harden and Joba Chamberlain, I arbitrarily subtracted an additional point.
Then I sorted them according to their points, before making further rankings within each rating (e.g. sorting ratings of "5" relative to each other).
Thursday, February 12, 2009
40 Years Of Thanks
The firefighter crawled on his stomach through the pitch-black apartment, the smoke so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Somewhere inside was a baby and he had to find her.
A window broke, light filled the room, and he saw her lying in her crib, dressed only in a diaper, unconscious. Soot covered her tiny nose. She wasn't breathing and had no pulse.
He grabbed her and breathed life into her as he ran from the apartment.
A newspaper photograph captured their image - a white firefighter from South Boston with his lips pressed to the mouth of a black baby from the Roxbury public housing development - at a time when riots sparked by racial tensions were burning down American cities.
But despite this most intimate of introductions, they remained strangers. William Carroll won a commendation for the rescue, stayed on the job another 34 years, and retired. Evangeline Harper grew up, lost her family to drugs and illness, had six children of her own, and became a nursing and teaching assistant. And through it all someone would often tell her the story about the day she almost died and the man who would not let it happen. She always wanted to meet him and say thank you.
Yesterday, more than 40 years after the fire, she finally did.
In the neighborhood where they first met, Carroll, a slim 71-year-old, got out of his car, dressed in a navy blue uniform he had borrowed from a fellow firefighter, strode up to the 40-year-old woman, and beamed.
"You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you," he said, laughing and putting out his hand. She smiled, gently took his hand, and looked at him almost shyly.
"Thank you so much for remembering me," he told her.
Then he pulled her into a tight embrace and they held on to each other as they stood on Keegan Street, just a few yards from where he had carried her limp body decades ago.
"Thank you so much," she said softly.
The Globe arranged the meeting after Evangeline Harper, now Evangeline Anderson, introduced herself to a reporter at a community meeting and asked for help tracking down Carroll.
Anderson, who now lives in Dorchester, had tried twice before to locate the firefighter, first when she was 18, after her adoptive mother told her about the rescue, and again right after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
She tried to get his address from the Fire Department, but they said they could not give out personal information. She left her name and phone number, but never heard back.
"I thought, 'Oh, forget it. He probably doesn't remember," she said. " 'He's not interested.' "
That could not have been further from the truth.
"Evangeline Harper," Carroll said. "I'll never forget her name if I live to be 100 years old."
He heard once that she had been trying to get in touch with him, but somehow her phone number was lost and he did not know how to reach her.
For a while, Anderson stopped looking. Then, she heard the news about Lieutenant Kevin M. Kelley, the firefighter who was killed in January after his firetruck crashed into a Mission Hill building.
" 'Oh my God, this could have been this gentleman, and I never got a chance to say thank you,' " she recalled thinking. "I didn't want him to leave this earth or I to leave this earth without saying thank you."
Yesterday, she brought her youngest child, 6-year-old Reginald, and her godmother, Jacqueline Greer, who witnessed the rescue. For the meeting, Anderson swept her hair in a curly updo and carefully applied lip gloss.
The women brought Carroll a giant stuffed bear, and a thank-you card tucked inside an envelope addressed "To Our Hero."
Richard Paris, vice president of the firefighters union, stood nearby with Carroll's wife and little Reginald, who kicked at the frozen snow on the sidewalk as Greer, Carroll, and Anderson reminisced about the neighborhood. Gone were the brick high-rises that had once formed Orchard Park. In their place were two-level attached apartments painted in pastels and browns.
"I haven't been here in so long," Carroll said.
No one could remember exactly what started the fire on Nov. 7, 1968, but Greer said it began in the family's kitchen. Carroll, who was assigned to Engine 3, heard the report of children trapped in a burning building.
When Carroll arrived, Greer was at the scene, screaming and crying hysterically.
Carroll saved Evangeline, while Firefighter Charles Connolly rescued her 17-month-old brother, Gerry, and handed him to Lieutenant Joseph O'Donnell, who gave the boy mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
"He just cared," Greer, now 60, said of Carroll. "It wasn't that the child was black or she was white. It was a child and he was trying his best to bring her back her life."
Yesterday, both remembered who was missing from the reunion. Connolly and O'Donnell died long ago of heart problems. Anderson's brother Gerry succumbed to pneumonia as a toddler. Her grief-stricken mother turned to drugs for comfort, and died of an overdose at age 25. Her two sisters died young of natural causes. Last year, Anderson lost both her adoptive mother and uncle.
"I wish my friends . . . were here," Carroll said. "But they're up there watching over us."
"That's what I say about my family," Anderson said.
The two quickly built a rapport. He asked about her children, and she told him her eldest son was studying forensic science in college and how musical her other children are.
He told her he wanted to get to know her, and she promised to cook him some soul food.
"Oh, baby," he said, laughing. "I love it, but my stomach don't."
Carroll then took the group for lunch at Florian Hall, the union's headquarters, where Carroll still goes every week for coffee with friends or to help fellow retirees with healthcare questions. Over sandwiches, the group looked at old black-and-white photos of that day and traded stories about the challenges of raising children.
Carroll bonded with Anderson's son, who drew a picture of himself holding Carroll's hand.
Parting in the parking lot, Carroll hugged Greer and Anderson and told Reginald to call him.
"There's your new grandpa," Anderson said to her son.
"What a beautiful day," the retired firefighter said as he turned and walked back inside.
A window broke, light filled the room, and he saw her lying in her crib, dressed only in a diaper, unconscious. Soot covered her tiny nose. She wasn't breathing and had no pulse.
He grabbed her and breathed life into her as he ran from the apartment.
A newspaper photograph captured their image - a white firefighter from South Boston with his lips pressed to the mouth of a black baby from the Roxbury public housing development - at a time when riots sparked by racial tensions were burning down American cities.
But despite this most intimate of introductions, they remained strangers. William Carroll won a commendation for the rescue, stayed on the job another 34 years, and retired. Evangeline Harper grew up, lost her family to drugs and illness, had six children of her own, and became a nursing and teaching assistant. And through it all someone would often tell her the story about the day she almost died and the man who would not let it happen. She always wanted to meet him and say thank you.
Yesterday, more than 40 years after the fire, she finally did.
In the neighborhood where they first met, Carroll, a slim 71-year-old, got out of his car, dressed in a navy blue uniform he had borrowed from a fellow firefighter, strode up to the 40-year-old woman, and beamed.
"You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you," he said, laughing and putting out his hand. She smiled, gently took his hand, and looked at him almost shyly.
"Thank you so much for remembering me," he told her.
Then he pulled her into a tight embrace and they held on to each other as they stood on Keegan Street, just a few yards from where he had carried her limp body decades ago.
"Thank you so much," she said softly.
The Globe arranged the meeting after Evangeline Harper, now Evangeline Anderson, introduced herself to a reporter at a community meeting and asked for help tracking down Carroll.
Anderson, who now lives in Dorchester, had tried twice before to locate the firefighter, first when she was 18, after her adoptive mother told her about the rescue, and again right after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
She tried to get his address from the Fire Department, but they said they could not give out personal information. She left her name and phone number, but never heard back.
"I thought, 'Oh, forget it. He probably doesn't remember," she said. " 'He's not interested.' "
That could not have been further from the truth.
"Evangeline Harper," Carroll said. "I'll never forget her name if I live to be 100 years old."
He heard once that she had been trying to get in touch with him, but somehow her phone number was lost and he did not know how to reach her.
For a while, Anderson stopped looking. Then, she heard the news about Lieutenant Kevin M. Kelley, the firefighter who was killed in January after his firetruck crashed into a Mission Hill building.
" 'Oh my God, this could have been this gentleman, and I never got a chance to say thank you,' " she recalled thinking. "I didn't want him to leave this earth or I to leave this earth without saying thank you."
Yesterday, she brought her youngest child, 6-year-old Reginald, and her godmother, Jacqueline Greer, who witnessed the rescue. For the meeting, Anderson swept her hair in a curly updo and carefully applied lip gloss.
The women brought Carroll a giant stuffed bear, and a thank-you card tucked inside an envelope addressed "To Our Hero."
Richard Paris, vice president of the firefighters union, stood nearby with Carroll's wife and little Reginald, who kicked at the frozen snow on the sidewalk as Greer, Carroll, and Anderson reminisced about the neighborhood. Gone were the brick high-rises that had once formed Orchard Park. In their place were two-level attached apartments painted in pastels and browns.
"I haven't been here in so long," Carroll said.
No one could remember exactly what started the fire on Nov. 7, 1968, but Greer said it began in the family's kitchen. Carroll, who was assigned to Engine 3, heard the report of children trapped in a burning building.
When Carroll arrived, Greer was at the scene, screaming and crying hysterically.
Carroll saved Evangeline, while Firefighter Charles Connolly rescued her 17-month-old brother, Gerry, and handed him to Lieutenant Joseph O'Donnell, who gave the boy mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
"He just cared," Greer, now 60, said of Carroll. "It wasn't that the child was black or she was white. It was a child and he was trying his best to bring her back her life."
Yesterday, both remembered who was missing from the reunion. Connolly and O'Donnell died long ago of heart problems. Anderson's brother Gerry succumbed to pneumonia as a toddler. Her grief-stricken mother turned to drugs for comfort, and died of an overdose at age 25. Her two sisters died young of natural causes. Last year, Anderson lost both her adoptive mother and uncle.
"I wish my friends . . . were here," Carroll said. "But they're up there watching over us."
"That's what I say about my family," Anderson said.
The two quickly built a rapport. He asked about her children, and she told him her eldest son was studying forensic science in college and how musical her other children are.
He told her he wanted to get to know her, and she promised to cook him some soul food.
"Oh, baby," he said, laughing. "I love it, but my stomach don't."
Carroll then took the group for lunch at Florian Hall, the union's headquarters, where Carroll still goes every week for coffee with friends or to help fellow retirees with healthcare questions. Over sandwiches, the group looked at old black-and-white photos of that day and traded stories about the challenges of raising children.
Carroll bonded with Anderson's son, who drew a picture of himself holding Carroll's hand.
Parting in the parking lot, Carroll hugged Greer and Anderson and told Reginald to call him.
"There's your new grandpa," Anderson said to her son.
"What a beautiful day," the retired firefighter said as he turned and walked back inside.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
An Attitude Movie
Mom sent this one along... any of you who enjoy "Successories" posters will probably be keen on this:
http://www.anattitudemovie.com/
http://www.anattitudemovie.com/
Monday, February 9, 2009
Shall We Discuss This Quote By Conference Call?
"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings.'" -- Dave Barry
It’s Time To Be A Good Neighbor To State Farm…
Nice to see some support for the tough decision State Farm made in Florida recently...
http://blog.winterhavenfl.com/
Posted by Bob Gernert on January 30, 2009 at 11:39 am
(This post is longer than we normally write … but the situation is complex and has great potential to impact all Polk County businesses. If you want a healthy local economy in the future - it’s well worth the read and you’ll find email links at the end to do your part. We have never suggested you forward a blog post but we encourage you to do just that — send this link to every Florida taxpayer you know. - BG)
State Farm’s decision to withdraw from Florida’s property insurance market has rocked the state … but perhaps more troubling is Governor Crist’s “good riddance” attitude toward a company that, under currently approved rates, would become insolvent as early as 2011. One doesn’t have to look far to see the results of companies less prudent – the line for bail out money is ever expanding.
No community in Florida – perhaps no county stands to lose more if State Farm is forced to exit all lines of business (as Crist has suggested) than Winter Haven and Polk. Those who remember when State Farm first located its regional office to Highway 17 North in 1962 can testify to the incredible economic impact it brought to our area. Within 10 years of the office opening, Winter Haven saw each of it’s three banks expand their locations, Southeast Plaza opened and Winter Haven Hospital had built its multi-storied tower. Southeast Winter Haven exploded with growth as John Wood and other developers built to accommodate the workforce.
But it didn’t stop there. State Farm is more than “a good neighbor.” They are a model corporate citizen. It would be difficult to find a local cause, project or service organization that has not benefited from the involvement of State Farm and its employees.
Contrast the current Tallahassee attitude to the fact that not long ago Governor Jeb Bush visited the Cypress Gardens Boulevard complex and told employees assembled in the massive foyer that State Farm was the premier “student mentoring organization” within the state. The company makes a major commitment to education and encourages their employees to mentor students while they are “on the clock.”
Cooler heads must prevail to address the current situation. Here is what the Florida Chamber had to say about State Farm’s property insurance decision.
“State Farm Florida’s announcement is extremely disappointing but understandable. This should serve as a wake-up call that conditions in Florida’s property insurance market are unsustainable and we are financially unprepared for a major hurricane. It is critical that Florida look at making improvements to restore the health of our property insurance market and reduce our overreliance on state-run insurance companies to provide affordable hurricane insurance by charging less than actuarially sound rates. We need a healthy property insurance market where the risk of hurricanes is not on the taxpayers’ backs but on private insurance companies.
For nearly 80 years, State Farm has been one of the state’s most significant corporate citizens, providing Floridians with strong and secure products to protect their property. State Farm has consistently been a significant contributor to Florida’s economy, providing more than 10,000 jobs throughout the state as well as contributing millions of dollars annually that support our state’s economy through investment in our communities and essential state infrastructure.
This decision by State Farm is a clear indication of the risk inherent with Florida’s unstable property insurance market and our over reliance on post-hurricane assessments. Hopefully we won’t have to see them leave the state, but we recognize the significant risk private insurers must be willing to accept to write hurricane insurance in Florida.”
It is indeed ironic that faced with falling tax revenues the Legislature finds no other alternative to balance the budget than cutting services. Yet State Farm – a private company – is expected to insure tremendous risk (think 2004 hurricane season) with declining reserves. The fact is – if you are paying out more than you are taking in — you just can’t make it up in volume.
Furthermore it is really a personal matter for you and every other citizen of Florida. Here’s what Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas wrote January 29.
“State Farm is bailing out of Florida, and Charlie Crist says good riddance. I’m not sure the thousands of policyholders about to be thrown into the maw of Charlie’s socialized insurance market will agree. And the consequences extend well beyond that.
State Farm is about to dump 1.2 million policies, which means a massive expansion of the state-run Citizens Property Insurance. That will put taxpayers at even greater risk when the next big hurricane hits because Citizens is woefully underfunded.
It also threatens the credit rating of not only the state but also the dozens of small private insurance companies that have set up shop in the past few years. Those insurers, many of them untested in a catastrophic event, depend on the state’s ability to borrow money to help them pay their claims after a major storm. That borrowing capacity is dwindling as the gap between the state’s hurricane obligations and its ability to meet them grows.
A major rating agency for small insurers, Demotech, has notified them that they have until May 15 to demonstrate an ability to pay claims if the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund goes bust, which would be a given after a major storm.
The fund is obligated to pay out $29 billion in claims but only has about $10 billion in the bank — most of that borrowed money, by the way.
You need insurance to buy a house. A wholesale rating downgrade of Florida’s insurance carriers could roil a real-estate market just showing signs of life.
This is serious stuff. And it could not be happening at a worse time … Crist has Florida on a path toward junk-bond status. It would have been better to simply give State Farm its rate increase. As a State Farm customer, I would have liked the option of accepting the increase or going with a different insurer. I don’t need Crist and company making that decision for me. This also would have created a much more orderly retreat of State Farm from the Florida market. Alas, it did not fit in the script Charlie has written for his moral crusade against the insurance industry. (You can read Mr. Thomas’s complete column here.)
And we would add, if Citizens runs out of money to pay claims … who will cover the shortfall?
All Florida residents should now look in the nearest mirror.
This IS serious stuff. It is time we become as neighborly to State Farm as they and their 10,000 Florida employees have been to us. Send a positive note of encouragement to Governor Crist and our Legislative delegation today. This situation demands compromise.
We suggest you write the email, copy the text and send to the following ….
http://blog.winterhavenfl.com/
Posted by Bob Gernert on January 30, 2009 at 11:39 am
(This post is longer than we normally write … but the situation is complex and has great potential to impact all Polk County businesses. If you want a healthy local economy in the future - it’s well worth the read and you’ll find email links at the end to do your part. We have never suggested you forward a blog post but we encourage you to do just that — send this link to every Florida taxpayer you know. - BG)
State Farm’s decision to withdraw from Florida’s property insurance market has rocked the state … but perhaps more troubling is Governor Crist’s “good riddance” attitude toward a company that, under currently approved rates, would become insolvent as early as 2011. One doesn’t have to look far to see the results of companies less prudent – the line for bail out money is ever expanding.
No community in Florida – perhaps no county stands to lose more if State Farm is forced to exit all lines of business (as Crist has suggested) than Winter Haven and Polk. Those who remember when State Farm first located its regional office to Highway 17 North in 1962 can testify to the incredible economic impact it brought to our area. Within 10 years of the office opening, Winter Haven saw each of it’s three banks expand their locations, Southeast Plaza opened and Winter Haven Hospital had built its multi-storied tower. Southeast Winter Haven exploded with growth as John Wood and other developers built to accommodate the workforce.
But it didn’t stop there. State Farm is more than “a good neighbor.” They are a model corporate citizen. It would be difficult to find a local cause, project or service organization that has not benefited from the involvement of State Farm and its employees.
Contrast the current Tallahassee attitude to the fact that not long ago Governor Jeb Bush visited the Cypress Gardens Boulevard complex and told employees assembled in the massive foyer that State Farm was the premier “student mentoring organization” within the state. The company makes a major commitment to education and encourages their employees to mentor students while they are “on the clock.”
Cooler heads must prevail to address the current situation. Here is what the Florida Chamber had to say about State Farm’s property insurance decision.
“State Farm Florida’s announcement is extremely disappointing but understandable. This should serve as a wake-up call that conditions in Florida’s property insurance market are unsustainable and we are financially unprepared for a major hurricane. It is critical that Florida look at making improvements to restore the health of our property insurance market and reduce our overreliance on state-run insurance companies to provide affordable hurricane insurance by charging less than actuarially sound rates. We need a healthy property insurance market where the risk of hurricanes is not on the taxpayers’ backs but on private insurance companies.
For nearly 80 years, State Farm has been one of the state’s most significant corporate citizens, providing Floridians with strong and secure products to protect their property. State Farm has consistently been a significant contributor to Florida’s economy, providing more than 10,000 jobs throughout the state as well as contributing millions of dollars annually that support our state’s economy through investment in our communities and essential state infrastructure.
This decision by State Farm is a clear indication of the risk inherent with Florida’s unstable property insurance market and our over reliance on post-hurricane assessments. Hopefully we won’t have to see them leave the state, but we recognize the significant risk private insurers must be willing to accept to write hurricane insurance in Florida.”
It is indeed ironic that faced with falling tax revenues the Legislature finds no other alternative to balance the budget than cutting services. Yet State Farm – a private company – is expected to insure tremendous risk (think 2004 hurricane season) with declining reserves. The fact is – if you are paying out more than you are taking in — you just can’t make it up in volume.
Furthermore it is really a personal matter for you and every other citizen of Florida. Here’s what Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas wrote January 29.
“State Farm is bailing out of Florida, and Charlie Crist says good riddance. I’m not sure the thousands of policyholders about to be thrown into the maw of Charlie’s socialized insurance market will agree. And the consequences extend well beyond that.
State Farm is about to dump 1.2 million policies, which means a massive expansion of the state-run Citizens Property Insurance. That will put taxpayers at even greater risk when the next big hurricane hits because Citizens is woefully underfunded.
It also threatens the credit rating of not only the state but also the dozens of small private insurance companies that have set up shop in the past few years. Those insurers, many of them untested in a catastrophic event, depend on the state’s ability to borrow money to help them pay their claims after a major storm. That borrowing capacity is dwindling as the gap between the state’s hurricane obligations and its ability to meet them grows.
A major rating agency for small insurers, Demotech, has notified them that they have until May 15 to demonstrate an ability to pay claims if the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund goes bust, which would be a given after a major storm.
The fund is obligated to pay out $29 billion in claims but only has about $10 billion in the bank — most of that borrowed money, by the way.
You need insurance to buy a house. A wholesale rating downgrade of Florida’s insurance carriers could roil a real-estate market just showing signs of life.
This is serious stuff. And it could not be happening at a worse time … Crist has Florida on a path toward junk-bond status. It would have been better to simply give State Farm its rate increase. As a State Farm customer, I would have liked the option of accepting the increase or going with a different insurer. I don’t need Crist and company making that decision for me. This also would have created a much more orderly retreat of State Farm from the Florida market. Alas, it did not fit in the script Charlie has written for his moral crusade against the insurance industry. (You can read Mr. Thomas’s complete column here.)
And we would add, if Citizens runs out of money to pay claims … who will cover the shortfall?
All Florida residents should now look in the nearest mirror.
This IS serious stuff. It is time we become as neighborly to State Farm as they and their 10,000 Florida employees have been to us. Send a positive note of encouragement to Governor Crist and our Legislative delegation today. This situation demands compromise.
We suggest you write the email, copy the text and send to the following ….
Sunday, February 8, 2009
What Is Truth?
"Do not seek for the truth, only stop having an opinion." - Seng Ts'an
How many wars, great and personal, are over a difference of opinion? The quote won't solve all problems, but enough.
How many wars, great and personal, are over a difference of opinion? The quote won't solve all problems, but enough.
Rain
Dena spotted a while back that the Beatles tribute band "Rain" was scheduled at the Peoria Civic Center yesterday, which the band later mentioned was the 45th anniversary of the first time the Beatles set foot on American soil.
It started at 8:00 and ran until just after 10:00, with a fifteen minute intermission or so at 9:00.
They went through several costume changes, starting with my favorite (in terms of songs, not necessarily in dress) suit-and-tie motif from the early years. Later they moved into their more colorful gear.
One thing that stood out to me was all the choreography. On the large side video screens they played several clips of old commercials and popular shoots like JFK's "ask not what your country can do for you" line. Throughout the concert, they simulated the raininess of their Shea Stadium concert, reconstructed the set of the old Ed Sullivan show (including a look-alike to introduce them). The uncanny similarity of their voices and appearance to the actual Fab Four... even their heights. The skill of some of those extended guitar riffs, with "George Harrison"'s fingers flying all over the frets, is always impressive and humbling for a hack guitarist like me. And I dare say that in those moments that they bantered with the audience, they were actually smoother than the Liverpool mop tops.
The seats averaged about $50 a pop, but it was worth every penny to me.
It started at 8:00 and ran until just after 10:00, with a fifteen minute intermission or so at 9:00.
They went through several costume changes, starting with my favorite (in terms of songs, not necessarily in dress) suit-and-tie motif from the early years. Later they moved into their more colorful gear.
One thing that stood out to me was all the choreography. On the large side video screens they played several clips of old commercials and popular shoots like JFK's "ask not what your country can do for you" line. Throughout the concert, they simulated the raininess of their Shea Stadium concert, reconstructed the set of the old Ed Sullivan show (including a look-alike to introduce them). The uncanny similarity of their voices and appearance to the actual Fab Four... even their heights. The skill of some of those extended guitar riffs, with "George Harrison"'s fingers flying all over the frets, is always impressive and humbling for a hack guitarist like me. And I dare say that in those moments that they bantered with the audience, they were actually smoother than the Liverpool mop tops.
The seats averaged about $50 a pop, but it was worth every penny to me.
The Bare Minimum Amount Of Exercise You Need To Stay Healthy (It's Less Than You Think!)
From Healthy Living:
We've heard time and time again that people should be active almost daily to stave off weight gain and disease. But busy people want to know: What's the least amount of exercise I can get away with and still stay healthy? The answer will shock you...
What number did you guess? An hour a week? A half hour? Try seven minutes.
Check out these exercise trends for 2009!
According to British researchers, just seven minutes of exercise weekly may prevent diabetes by controlling your blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 246 million adults worldwide and accounts for 6 percent of all global deaths. People with this condition gradually lose the ability to use insulin to convert food to energy.
Here's the catch: The exercise has to be vigorous. (We're talking on the level of an all-out sprint.) But at seven minutes a pop, I can deal with that! And you don't even have to do those seven minutes all at once, either. In the study, volunteers rode exercise bikes four times a day in 30-second spurts twice a week. After two weeks, subjects had a 23 percent improvement in how effectively their body cleared blood sugar from their bodies.
Studies show that vigorous exercise also reduces the risk of breast cancer.
How much exercise do you get weekly? Do you prefer moderate or intense workouts? Would you do a vigorous seven-minute workout if you knew it would prevent diabetes?
We've heard time and time again that people should be active almost daily to stave off weight gain and disease. But busy people want to know: What's the least amount of exercise I can get away with and still stay healthy? The answer will shock you...
What number did you guess? An hour a week? A half hour? Try seven minutes.
Check out these exercise trends for 2009!
According to British researchers, just seven minutes of exercise weekly may prevent diabetes by controlling your blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 246 million adults worldwide and accounts for 6 percent of all global deaths. People with this condition gradually lose the ability to use insulin to convert food to energy.
Here's the catch: The exercise has to be vigorous. (We're talking on the level of an all-out sprint.) But at seven minutes a pop, I can deal with that! And you don't even have to do those seven minutes all at once, either. In the study, volunteers rode exercise bikes four times a day in 30-second spurts twice a week. After two weeks, subjects had a 23 percent improvement in how effectively their body cleared blood sugar from their bodies.
Studies show that vigorous exercise also reduces the risk of breast cancer.
How much exercise do you get weekly? Do you prefer moderate or intense workouts? Would you do a vigorous seven-minute workout if you knew it would prevent diabetes?
Stage Coach
"Leaders are always on stage." - Dr. Rick Ringer
The point is that as a leader - including leadership in our personal lives when we're around others - people are always watching (1) what we pay attention to and (2) what we don't pay attention to, especially in crisis. And those people - our co-workers, our children - will follow suit.
The point is that as a leader - including leadership in our personal lives when we're around others - people are always watching (1) what we pay attention to and (2) what we don't pay attention to, especially in crisis. And those people - our co-workers, our children - will follow suit.
A-Line-Ment
As part of a psychological experiment, seven people were seated in a room where four lines were drawn on a board. Three of the lines, labeled A, B and C, where grouped closely together, with A clearly longer than B which was clearly longer than C. Off to the right was line D, which clearly was the same length as the middle line B. The trick was, six of the seven people were in on the experiment, and only one was the test subject. The other six were asked which line they thought matched line D first, and they all said A. And in no less than 40% of the cases, the no doubt mystified test subject agreed with them.
1. Situations arise where our confidence, weighed against overwhelming opinion, is checked. We question ourselves as to whether we're overlooking something obvious, or maybe stopped listening long enough to slightly mishear the directions.
2. At the same time, conflict is productive if exercised right. It's a true form of "diversity" that is so popular in CEO memos but so tough to live in practice. Though I'm no master in it, my theory is that the key is to present it as an alternative view intended to draw out reality and help the team succeed, rather than as some great idea that I came up with. Successful people don't come up with great ideas; like Thomas Edison, they simply unearth useful thoughts.
Test subject #7 could've said "I think it's most similar to line B." Had his teammates not been in on the fix, but genuinely believed that line A was correct, they might have gone on the defensive against this subjective comment so blatantly in the minority. Or he could have said "It looks to me as if there's a small dot on the whiteboard between the two groups of lines and it's near the top of lines B and D." The example's far-fetched, but it lays out whatever facts support the conclusion, and also replaces "I think" (i.e. here's how good my brain is to come up with the right answer) with "It looks to me" (i.e. my brain's interpreting the facts like this, but there may be more to the story). Leaders have to stand boldly behind their convictions once they arrive at them; personally, I know I'm imperfect enough that the right answer is an analyzed combination of my thoughts and others. So one of my convictions is that the best teamwork emerges by gathering input with fascination, and then sifting through it for gold nuggets of success.
1. Situations arise where our confidence, weighed against overwhelming opinion, is checked. We question ourselves as to whether we're overlooking something obvious, or maybe stopped listening long enough to slightly mishear the directions.
2. At the same time, conflict is productive if exercised right. It's a true form of "diversity" that is so popular in CEO memos but so tough to live in practice. Though I'm no master in it, my theory is that the key is to present it as an alternative view intended to draw out reality and help the team succeed, rather than as some great idea that I came up with. Successful people don't come up with great ideas; like Thomas Edison, they simply unearth useful thoughts.
Test subject #7 could've said "I think it's most similar to line B." Had his teammates not been in on the fix, but genuinely believed that line A was correct, they might have gone on the defensive against this subjective comment so blatantly in the minority. Or he could have said "It looks to me as if there's a small dot on the whiteboard between the two groups of lines and it's near the top of lines B and D." The example's far-fetched, but it lays out whatever facts support the conclusion, and also replaces "I think" (i.e. here's how good my brain is to come up with the right answer) with "It looks to me" (i.e. my brain's interpreting the facts like this, but there may be more to the story). Leaders have to stand boldly behind their convictions once they arrive at them; personally, I know I'm imperfect enough that the right answer is an analyzed combination of my thoughts and others. So one of my convictions is that the best teamwork emerges by gathering input with fascination, and then sifting through it for gold nuggets of success.
Who's Middle Aged?
Someone said that middle age is when you think more in terms of how much time you have left than what you're going to do next.
Credit Is Doo
Someone complimented me on my work with Leadership McLean County. I love the affirmation, I just can't take credit for it. Prior to LMC, I was active in a ministry but floundering - long hours of effort amounting to little, regularly out of sync with the team. Now in LMC, it's the opposite. It just happens that my natural gifts and instincts align with LMC's needs and purpose. How can I take credit for that? If a flower was placed in thorny ground, it'd take root, grow briefly, and then choke. If the same flower was placed in a garden, it would flourish. It's just a blessing to be planted in the right place.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
And The Commercials Were Even Better
Okay, let me set this up here.
First, find your way to the 2:00 minute mark of this clip and get a sense of Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas's gravelly voice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j5_pkXq_kc
Next, for your non-football fans, a primer on hard-hitting defensive terror Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrfoHUaKUZw
And finally, a splendid Onion article:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/polamaluesque_puppy_dominates
First, find your way to the 2:00 minute mark of this clip and get a sense of Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas's gravelly voice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j5_pkXq_kc
Next, for your non-football fans, a primer on hard-hitting defensive terror Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrfoHUaKUZw
And finally, a splendid Onion article:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/polamaluesque_puppy_dominates
Wanna Cookie?
During one of those "longitudinal studies" where they conduct an experiment and then observe the person for many years afterward, a series of children were placed in a room with a big, delicious cookie. The researchers explained that they would leave the room, and that if the child refrained from eating the cookie until the researcher returned, then they would earn a second cookie.
What would you do?
Amazingly (to me), several children ate the cookie - their impulses to enjoy the moment being too strong to justify waiting around for the reward of the second one. As you might have guessed, those children grew up to be people with some fairly ugly problems later in life.
But maybe I shouldn't be amazed. After all, I still find myself sitting with a proverbial cookie in front of me from time to time. My ego cries for things to change for my betterment and right now. And I've eaten the cookie more than once, with disastrous results like broken relationships and failed projects. Life is natural, nature is gradual, and there's more than one right path to success most of the time. The more I sit back and accept today for what it is, with eyes on the more distant future and visions of a joyful ending, the better I eat!
What would you do?
Amazingly (to me), several children ate the cookie - their impulses to enjoy the moment being too strong to justify waiting around for the reward of the second one. As you might have guessed, those children grew up to be people with some fairly ugly problems later in life.
But maybe I shouldn't be amazed. After all, I still find myself sitting with a proverbial cookie in front of me from time to time. My ego cries for things to change for my betterment and right now. And I've eaten the cookie more than once, with disastrous results like broken relationships and failed projects. Life is natural, nature is gradual, and there's more than one right path to success most of the time. The more I sit back and accept today for what it is, with eyes on the more distant future and visions of a joyful ending, the better I eat!
Is A Bad Attitude Really All That Bad?
Someone made a comment yesterday that "When someone says 'Watch your attitude,' they really mean 'Watch your behavior.'" How true! We all have bad attitudes at least once in a while, don't we? Bad attitudes are simply bad thoughts, which are a problem in their own right, culminating in things like heart attacks, crippled posture or wrinkles in the wrong places. But relationship-wise, bad attitudes only become a problem if they turn into words. As I heard on one cops-and-robbers show between a commanding officer and a blunt detective, "Just because you have the thought doesn't mean you have say it." Hence the beauty of the venting e-mail that you type and then delete, or the satisfaction in letting go of anger. Or the habit of respecting differences of others. The other day a friend of mine whose husband is Hispanic was shocked to hear some landscapers make racially insensitive comments to a group of visitors. Coming to grips with the fact that we're each naturally superior and inferior to everyone else in something, so that we treat each other with a spirit of humility, is what molds us from factions in to a harmonious and true human race.
Chuck Norris Fact For The Day
Chuck Norris can unpop a balloon.
This tells you a lot about Dena and my shared sense of humor... when she read that I went from stoically writing a report at my computer chair to gut-busting head-throwback laughter. I just love illogical humor like that. I mean I LOVE that type of humor.
It elicited one of Dena's rare episodes of what I call "four-tier laughter" that I love about her. Round 1 is a series of low-level chuckles that resonates from somewhere low in her diaphragm. Then after 10 second pause round two begins, with higher pitch and more force. By round four she's nearly helplessly limp with laughter (which by that time has me guffawing too) and tears starting to trickle. If we were in a reality TV show I'd find a way to incorporate that laugh into my screen saver or something.
This tells you a lot about Dena and my shared sense of humor... when she read that I went from stoically writing a report at my computer chair to gut-busting head-throwback laughter. I just love illogical humor like that. I mean I LOVE that type of humor.
It elicited one of Dena's rare episodes of what I call "four-tier laughter" that I love about her. Round 1 is a series of low-level chuckles that resonates from somewhere low in her diaphragm. Then after 10 second pause round two begins, with higher pitch and more force. By round four she's nearly helplessly limp with laughter (which by that time has me guffawing too) and tears starting to trickle. If we were in a reality TV show I'd find a way to incorporate that laugh into my screen saver or something.
Sometimes Faking Is Good
Integrity is usually good, but sometimes faking is just more productive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wePGIGNJCic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wePGIGNJCic
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Today's Obituaries
Wanted to share thoughts and prayers for my friend Brandi Peterson's family...
Mary Lynn Alderman
BLOOMINGTON - Mary Lynn Alderman, 54, Bloomington, died Monday (Feb. 2, 2009).
Private family inurnment will be at a later date. The family will receive friends from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at the Calvert & Metzler Memorial Home, Bloomington. Memorials may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.
She was born Nov. 14, 1954, in Bloomington, daughter of Donald Lee and Joyce Joan Radley Riddle.
Survivors include two daughters, Brandi (Brad) Peterson, Hudson, and Cortney (Rob Hil ) Alderman, Bloomington; one sister, Debbie Julian, Bloomington; two brothers, Mark (Valerie) Riddle and Harry Brian (Volita) Riddle, both of Bloomington; and three grandchildren, Sydney Alderman-Thomas, Bloomington, and Sage and Jaslynn Peterson, Hudson.
She owned and operated Final Touch Cleaning Service of Bloomington. She dedicated her life to helping people and giving to others. She was a loving mother and grandmother. She will be missed by her family, friends and neighbors.
Mary Lynn Alderman
BLOOMINGTON - Mary Lynn Alderman, 54, Bloomington, died Monday (Feb. 2, 2009).
Private family inurnment will be at a later date. The family will receive friends from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at the Calvert & Metzler Memorial Home, Bloomington. Memorials may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.
She was born Nov. 14, 1954, in Bloomington, daughter of Donald Lee and Joyce Joan Radley Riddle.
Survivors include two daughters, Brandi (Brad) Peterson, Hudson, and Cortney (Rob Hil ) Alderman, Bloomington; one sister, Debbie Julian, Bloomington; two brothers, Mark (Valerie) Riddle and Harry Brian (Volita) Riddle, both of Bloomington; and three grandchildren, Sydney Alderman-Thomas, Bloomington, and Sage and Jaslynn Peterson, Hudson.
She owned and operated Final Touch Cleaning Service of Bloomington. She dedicated her life to helping people and giving to others. She was a loving mother and grandmother. She will be missed by her family, friends and neighbors.
Freezing's Pretty Cool
The seemingly near-record cold snap is distracting while walking to and from the car, but while trucking home from Monical's Pizza last night Dena and I got to enjoying the fact that a freeze like this ought to have us feeling thankful. It'll kill off insects and pests and please us to no end when the warm months arrive!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Grandma Returns Home From Hospital
From Mom:
"Well, she's finally back at Beacon Hill. Spent 5 hours with her today and she seemed to be at ease, restful and cooperative. Went to lunch with her and though she didn't eat much, she still had room for cake. :-) Slept a good part of the time, but seemed to realize her surroundings. That's the way it is today, heaven only knows what tomorrow will bring.
Say a prayer and hope for the best. Luv yas"
"Well, she's finally back at Beacon Hill. Spent 5 hours with her today and she seemed to be at ease, restful and cooperative. Went to lunch with her and though she didn't eat much, she still had room for cake. :-) Slept a good part of the time, but seemed to realize her surroundings. That's the way it is today, heaven only knows what tomorrow will bring.
Say a prayer and hope for the best. Luv yas"
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