More Music

I'm still going through a phase of 'singer / songwriter' music. Is it embarrassing that I actually listen to an XM station called the Coffee Shop when I commute?

Here are a couple new favorites:

• New Slang - The Shins
• By & By - Brett Dennen
• 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's
• I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You - Tom Waits
• Why Try To Change Me Now - Fiona Apple
• Perfectly Lonely - John Mayer
  

Thanks for the iTunes Dave and Lori! :)

Food For Thought

I received the following excerpt in an email from a friend, and I thought it was something worth mulling over... I've always been a big believer in developing yourself and being conscious of doing things you love, and this just reminds me how that attitude can influence so much about how your life plays out.


(Jim Rohn)

One day my mentor Mr. Shoaff said, “Jim, if you want to be wealthy and happy, learn this lesson well: Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.”

Since that time I’ve been working on my own personal development. And I must admit that this has been the most challenging assignment of all. This business of personal development lasts a lifetime.

You see, what you become is far more important than what you get. The important question to ask on the job is not, “What am I getting?” Instead, you should ask, “What am I becoming?” Getting and becoming are like Siamese twins: What you become directly influences what you get. Think of it this way: Most of what you have today you have attracted by becoming the person you are today.

I’ve also found that income rarely exceeds personal development. Sometimes income takes a lucky jump, but unless you learn to handle the responsibilities that come with it, it will usually shrink back to the amount you can handle.

If someone hands you a million dollars, you’d better hurry up and become a millionaire. A very rich man once said, “If you took all the money in the world and divided it equally among everybody, it would soon be back in the same pockets it was before.”

It is hard to keep that which has not been obtained through personal development.

So here’s the great axiom of life:
To have more than you’ve got, become more than you are.

This is where you should focus most of your attention. Otherwise, you just might have to contend with the axiom of not changing, which is:
Unless you change how you are, you’ll always have what you’ve got.

The Soiled Dove

Last night I got dragged by a couple girlfriends to The Soiled Dove, a small local venue for live music. I haven't seen much since the John Mayer debacle at Red Rocks, so this was far outside my usual weekend routine. And it turned out GREAT! There were four acts and all of them were great; one guitar duo ryanhood so impressed me I bought their cd.

This was actually my second fieldtrip for live music yesterday, I went to the theater screening of Carmen at the Met. It was staggeringly good, perhaps the best opera I've ever seen, and Elina Garanca as the lead just gave me goosebumps she was so perfect. If you have any interest in this program at all, the encore screening is February 3, I couldn't recommend it more highly.

eReaders

After more than a year, my Kindle is still my favorite gadget. I get stopped and asked about it at least once a week, and always sing its praises. A friend forwarded me this web page, a write up of new developments with this technology at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. If you read -- really, you should get one.

Incidentally, no one has asked me what book I'm reading since fall of 2008.

Drumline Nostalgia

I went surfing around for info on a show called Blast! that someone recently recommended to me, and ended up surfing on YouTube for a glimpse of my old high school hobby, drumline. Anything that includes 'marching band' in the description suffers by association. And it's worth clarifying that this is drum corp. But look how badass this is, seriously.

Geography Quiz

Where the heck is THIS??? I haven't seen a picture that's captured my imagination like this in a long time... Click on it to enlarge.

The Good Stuff

You're catching me in a happy mood, so I'll report all my good stuff... these are the things keeping me from wallowing in a nasty winter cold. I almost suffocated today trying to eat a sandwich.

1. Say Hey - Michael Franti. I heard this song for the first time over the summer, and it still makes me wiggle and dance when I'm at the computer. I would probably be asleep right now if this song hadn't pepped me up!
   
2. Just saw An Education, a very good movie with a theme that resonates with me, and Peter Sarsgaard never disappoints.
3. The first book of 2010 exceeds everything I read in 2009, Super Freakonomics. I am looking forward to lunches and bedtime so much now.
4. Kiddos kiddos kiddos. Today they are repeating words and sounds significantly better than... just yesterday. Check out this super short video.

Another Good Resolution

Click on this image to enlarge. I think it's a great article on winter car safety, and since I got stuck last winter, I'm especially taking the list for a safety kit to heart! So far I have kitty litter. I may have a flashlight somewhere. I urge you, friends and loved ones, to read and be safe.

The Best Part Of Christmas

It's really become the most meaningful part of Christmas for me to do something nice for others. I love picking gifts for my family, but donations have been growing on me too. This was my second year to donate Christmas stockings to the families at the St. Joe's NICU, and it's a humbling ritual that I look forward to continuing and improving upon.

Leslie gave me a great Christmas gift this year, a gift card for a website called Network For Good, which lets you choose which charity to contribute to! I got a flier for a charity called The Smile Train recently that I thought was a superb concept, so I was excited to forward my gift to them. The Smile Train funds surgeries for cleft lip and palate for kids in impoverished areas. It seems like such a simple concept that has such a direct impact on one person's life.

A few months ago I encountered a similar site called Donors Choose, which specializes in funding school projects. I contributed a donation to an art class, and was shocked to receive several hand written thank you notes from students that got a few digital cameras for their class thanks to this website!

If you're ever hard up for a gift, for someone who has everything already, take a note... It's good stuff.