Just saw the news that Buck Owens died today. He was 76. One of my early musical influences - having co-hosted Hee Haw. That show was a Sunday evening staple in my house growing up in the '70s.
We lose yet another great.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
What you think when you're standing in a place where life and death happens in Technicolor
Yesterday, I got a tour of a local hospital's catheterization lab where they save people's lives by performing heart procedures such as balloons in an artery, insertion of a stent, installing pacemakers and defibrillators. They call it a cath lab. It was especially difficult for me because my dad died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 50. He didn't make it to the hospital.
I've written about it before and will certainly write about it again. It affected my way-of-thinking more than almost anything in my life to date. The only others that compare are the births of my children and my marriage, though each of those tend to have more affect as time passes. With my dad's death, the affect was sudden and remains constant where the others continue to grow.
I do rue upon it more than I probably should. But it does give me some perspective. My world changed that day. There's plenty written and said about not becoming a prisoner of your past and similar notions. All of that is true. I can sit around and mope anytime. But that don't get me anywhere.
But I do try to gain energy from it ... OK, not the death itself, but from the spirit of my father. I find that comforting in many ways. When my son acknowledges his existance, having never known him, it's comforting. When I do something I know he would be proud of, it's rewarding. When I do something and despair for help, I think about what my father might have done in a similar situation.
I feel perverse in some ways for feeling lucky that my dad died at 50. I'll always remember my father as he was at 50 -- strong, wise, stoic, and funny. I'll not be tortured by nursing homes, ICU visits, and progressive loss of his memory and senses.
But I rationalize it with the fact that I traded that pain for a different one -- the pain from not having more time, not seeing my son with his grampa, not hearing more stories about his youth, not having him tell me he is proud of what I've accomplished with my life, not having his opinion of my next career move.
It truly is a tradeoff. So when I start to feel bad about feeling lucky he was gone so suddenly, I let it go. I get my share of sad at other times -- when people celebrate life milestones past 50, when my kids do something I'm proud of, when I need someone's ear to hear my woes, and especially, when I visit hospital cath labs.
I've written about it before and will certainly write about it again. It affected my way-of-thinking more than almost anything in my life to date. The only others that compare are the births of my children and my marriage, though each of those tend to have more affect as time passes. With my dad's death, the affect was sudden and remains constant where the others continue to grow.
I do rue upon it more than I probably should. But it does give me some perspective. My world changed that day. There's plenty written and said about not becoming a prisoner of your past and similar notions. All of that is true. I can sit around and mope anytime. But that don't get me anywhere.
But I do try to gain energy from it ... OK, not the death itself, but from the spirit of my father. I find that comforting in many ways. When my son acknowledges his existance, having never known him, it's comforting. When I do something I know he would be proud of, it's rewarding. When I do something and despair for help, I think about what my father might have done in a similar situation.
I feel perverse in some ways for feeling lucky that my dad died at 50. I'll always remember my father as he was at 50 -- strong, wise, stoic, and funny. I'll not be tortured by nursing homes, ICU visits, and progressive loss of his memory and senses.
But I rationalize it with the fact that I traded that pain for a different one -- the pain from not having more time, not seeing my son with his grampa, not hearing more stories about his youth, not having him tell me he is proud of what I've accomplished with my life, not having his opinion of my next career move.
It truly is a tradeoff. So when I start to feel bad about feeling lucky he was gone so suddenly, I let it go. I get my share of sad at other times -- when people celebrate life milestones past 50, when my kids do something I'm proud of, when I need someone's ear to hear my woes, and especially, when I visit hospital cath labs.
What this world needs is....
more:
- Time for families
- Neighbors who know each other well enough to help one another
- Companies that invest in their people
- Kids who can read well
- Companies that actually underpromise and overdeliver
- Shoes that fit just right
- People compelled to give something to their community beyond taxes
- Tolerance for diverse opinion
- Chimpanzees (the funniest of the monkey species)
- Affordable technology
- Justice
- Simpsons episodes
and fewer:
- Hypocrites
- Capitalists
- Selfish bastards
- Suffering innocents
- Excuses
- Religionists
- Unsolicited emails
- Sham TV stations that are fronts for some ministry
- New flavors of Coca Cola
- School fundraisers where the school gets pennies on the dollar
- Fire ants
- Scams.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Memory test
OK. More riches from the Next Blog> button.... Honest attribution goes to a guy named Lenin who runs the blog where I found this (http://new-perception.blogspot.com/). This reads like it was a chain-like email that gets forwarded all over. Maybe it is. The message still resonates.
The people who make a difference in your life
You don't actually have to take the quiz. Just read this straight through and you'll get the point. It is trying to make a nice point.
Here's the quiz:
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for bestactor/actresses.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The facts are, none of us remember the headliners ofyesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best intheir fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements areforgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.
Easier? The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care, that love and that affect you intheir own subtle way.
The people who make a difference in your life
You don't actually have to take the quiz. Just read this straight through and you'll get the point. It is trying to make a nice point.
Here's the quiz:
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for bestactor/actresses.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The facts are, none of us remember the headliners ofyesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best intheir fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements areforgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.
Easier? The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care, that love and that affect you intheir own subtle way.
Defining poignant
I ask my son what he wants to be when he grows up. He casually tells me he wants to be a "movie maker." A discussion ensues as to why. It's a nice discussion. Then, without asking, he tells me about a question his after-school 'teacher' asked the class that day.
She asked, "If you could wish for anything to happen, what would it be?"
"And what did you say?" I asked him.
"For my grampa to still be alive."
My dad died at the age of 50, three years before my son was born. He's only heard stories and seen pictures of him. So to hear -- with me nowhere around and absolutely no prompting -- that his one wish would be to meet his grampa, it tore me up inside. But through that sorrow, a tinge of happiness struck that I had been successful - I've kept his memory alive.
That's something I need on days, and in months, like these. Thank God for children.
She asked, "If you could wish for anything to happen, what would it be?"
"And what did you say?" I asked him.
"For my grampa to still be alive."
My dad died at the age of 50, three years before my son was born. He's only heard stories and seen pictures of him. So to hear -- with me nowhere around and absolutely no prompting -- that his one wish would be to meet his grampa, it tore me up inside. But through that sorrow, a tinge of happiness struck that I had been successful - I've kept his memory alive.
That's something I need on days, and in months, like these. Thank God for children.
Monday, March 06, 2006
The World's About to Change
OK, I bought an Apple. Well, just an iPod. But it's Apple.
I actually started my career an Apple man. There's a weird dichotomy of people who use modern computers: PC people and Apple people, and seldome the twain dothey meet. When I originally started using computers in college, and eventually in the workplace, the machines available to me were Apples, er, Macs, though technically Mac was really only a product but that's a whole other blog.
It was when I went to buy my first personal computer (OK, second, though the Commodore 64 didn't function too well by the mid-'90s) that I switched parties. I went with a PC.
It went against all I had been taught up to that point. The simpleness of the one-button mouse. The intuitive nature of the Mac operating system (which Gates and company emulated in a little product called Windows to eventually take over the world). I was a heretic among my Mac addict co-workers.
But I, for once in my life, was not on the path less traveled. That path, while always a nice way to express your disdain for establishment, peer pressure, the Joneses or whatever pushes you to choose something 'different,' always tends to be a pain in the ass. Say you buy the unique, non-standard car. You end up paying more for parts and labor because few people carry that brand or model. Same with so many products in life. I was at a point where I didn't want my choices for software and compatibility on the Internet (it was burgeoning in American households at the time) to be limited to what I might find in the back of some Mac fan magazine. The local electronics and software stores sold all things PC and usually only reserved one shelf for Mac products... not unlike the shelf of guessing-game prize toys Steve Martin gave away during his stint in the carnival in the movie "The Jerk."
So I bought a PC and never looked back. My jobs eventually migrated to using PCs and the transition was smooth, especially as Windows contineud to steal (I mean imitate) more and more features from Mac OS. Hell, the Two-button mouse really has some cool uses.
But I finally went back over to the good side and bought me an iPod. Big, black 60GB, video-capable beast. I'm expecting the world to change. My wife thinks it a waste of money for a 'radio' as she puts it, when most of my spare time is already spent on the computer and I can play music on it. I keep throwing up those examples of doctors appointments and anywhere else I have to wait around as reasons I needed this made-in-China hole in the head.
No, I didn't really need it. I *wanted* it.
It was supposed to be a Father's Day present last year. But we didn't have the money. So when the taxman came this year, I asked if I could plus-up my gift from last year and the wife agreed. Now she's having second thoughts - after I unwrapped it and started downloading my music onto it. Too late, though, because they won't take engraved iPods back. Ha.
Now all I have to do is convince her how cool it is and make her want one. Then... maybe she'll lay off. If not, I'll just put the ear buds in and nod politely. He he.
I actually started my career an Apple man. There's a weird dichotomy of people who use modern computers: PC people and Apple people, and seldome the twain dothey meet. When I originally started using computers in college, and eventually in the workplace, the machines available to me were Apples, er, Macs, though technically Mac was really only a product but that's a whole other blog.
It was when I went to buy my first personal computer (OK, second, though the Commodore 64 didn't function too well by the mid-'90s) that I switched parties. I went with a PC.
It went against all I had been taught up to that point. The simpleness of the one-button mouse. The intuitive nature of the Mac operating system (which Gates and company emulated in a little product called Windows to eventually take over the world). I was a heretic among my Mac addict co-workers.
But I, for once in my life, was not on the path less traveled. That path, while always a nice way to express your disdain for establishment, peer pressure, the Joneses or whatever pushes you to choose something 'different,' always tends to be a pain in the ass. Say you buy the unique, non-standard car. You end up paying more for parts and labor because few people carry that brand or model. Same with so many products in life. I was at a point where I didn't want my choices for software and compatibility on the Internet (it was burgeoning in American households at the time) to be limited to what I might find in the back of some Mac fan magazine. The local electronics and software stores sold all things PC and usually only reserved one shelf for Mac products... not unlike the shelf of guessing-game prize toys Steve Martin gave away during his stint in the carnival in the movie "The Jerk."
So I bought a PC and never looked back. My jobs eventually migrated to using PCs and the transition was smooth, especially as Windows contineud to steal (I mean imitate) more and more features from Mac OS. Hell, the Two-button mouse really has some cool uses.
But I finally went back over to the good side and bought me an iPod. Big, black 60GB, video-capable beast. I'm expecting the world to change. My wife thinks it a waste of money for a 'radio' as she puts it, when most of my spare time is already spent on the computer and I can play music on it. I keep throwing up those examples of doctors appointments and anywhere else I have to wait around as reasons I needed this made-in-China hole in the head.
No, I didn't really need it. I *wanted* it.
It was supposed to be a Father's Day present last year. But we didn't have the money. So when the taxman came this year, I asked if I could plus-up my gift from last year and the wife agreed. Now she's having second thoughts - after I unwrapped it and started downloading my music onto it. Too late, though, because they won't take engraved iPods back. Ha.
Now all I have to do is convince her how cool it is and make her want one. Then... maybe she'll lay off. If not, I'll just put the ear buds in and nod politely. He he.
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