The white noise of life has infiltrated my mind. I know things I want to sit and focus on...things I want to do...but clearing away the "noise" of life is the challenge.
How do you do it? Really? There are thousands of books written on the subject. I've read 83.4% of them (I got interrupted during the last one).
How do you do it? Prioritization? Life interruptus happens - someone has to do the laundry!
Do you let things go? I repeat...someone has to do the laundry!
Do you try to do it all? Well...I am writing my blog while doing laundry....
What is urgent in life? What is critical? What matters?
2/26/2009
What I want to do...what I'm called to do...what I do
Discerning among these can rattle the mind. I don't yet believe I've aligned all three. For instance, right now I want to write. I feel full of stories and not enough time to get them out.
What I'm called to do....hmmmm...I think it has less to do with one's occupation and more to do with how one lives their life.
And what I do? Interestingly enough, I find myself focusing less on the outcomes and more on how I do my job.
What I'm called to do....hmmmm...I think it has less to do with one's occupation and more to do with how one lives their life.
And what I do? Interestingly enough, I find myself focusing less on the outcomes and more on how I do my job.
2/16/2009
The Highs and Lows of Being a Racing Fan
High: The starts and restarts of a NASCAR race. There is absolutely nothing like it: the sound is amazing. You can actually feel the sounds: the fly-bys before the race were amazing because the airport is right there, so the F-18s come down real low over the stadium!; the car engines revving up as they approach the start/finish line and as they throttle down when they approach pit row. The smell of engines and rubber. It all just makes your heart race!
Low: Ironically enough, the smoking. Because it's an outdoor event, folks can smoke where ever. For non-smokers like me, I wake up the next morning with a smokers cough!
High: Being a #18 M&M car fan
Low: Being about the only #18 M&M car fan in a crowd of 120,000 who constantly "Boo" your driver. Actually, it's kinda scary.
High: Frozen strawberry margarita's at the race!
Low: Sixty degree weather, rain, and nothing but a t-shirt on you while you drink your margarita! Brr-rrrr-rrrrr!
High: The women's room at Daytona. A few more 'stalls' but overall, an excellent 'pit stop'. I 'teamed' up with the woman standing behind me. We entered our stalls at the same time, exited together, washed and dried in unison and merged back into the grandstand, with me 'bump drafting' her all the way! (all racing references and puns intended)
Low: The woman taking up an entire stall in the women's room to have a cat fight with her mother over her cell phone! Who the heck cars if it's "Bootsy's fault if y'all ain't talkin'!" Three women yelled at her: "We don't all need to know yer business lady!"; "We need the stall - take it somewhere else!";"This is the 500 for &^#(@ sake!"
High: The #18 M&M car leading 88 of 123 laps.
Low: "Jr" clipping another car who spins up the track and slams #18 into the wall and ends the night 41st:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/pgStory?contentId=9224358#sport=NASCAR&photo=9224126
High: People are mighty friendly at the race - even the sober ones!
Low: The six people who broke through the cattle gates they were using to herd us on the buses to Lot #7 last night. I teamed up with my new buddy from New York who was standing in line with us and we threw 'subway' elbows to keep them in check!
High: Waiting patiently in line to get out of parking and taking turns letting folks merge in
Low: The guys in the Mitsubishi who tried to muscle in and didn't let others merge in.
High: A weekend with your brother once a year to laugh, listen to rock 'n roll (loud!), have a few beers, too much to eat, grab some extra sleep in the morning, talk about family, talk about work, talk about woulda-shoulda-coulda's, tell inappropriate jokes, discuss religion, and be able to communicate with hand signals during a NASCAR race.
Low: none that I can think of!
Low: Ironically enough, the smoking. Because it's an outdoor event, folks can smoke where ever. For non-smokers like me, I wake up the next morning with a smokers cough!
High: Being a #18 M&M car fan
Low: Being about the only #18 M&M car fan in a crowd of 120,000 who constantly "Boo" your driver. Actually, it's kinda scary.
High: Frozen strawberry margarita's at the race!
Low: Sixty degree weather, rain, and nothing but a t-shirt on you while you drink your margarita! Brr-rrrr-rrrrr!
High: The women's room at Daytona. A few more 'stalls' but overall, an excellent 'pit stop'. I 'teamed' up with the woman standing behind me. We entered our stalls at the same time, exited together, washed and dried in unison and merged back into the grandstand, with me 'bump drafting' her all the way! (all racing references and puns intended)
Low: The woman taking up an entire stall in the women's room to have a cat fight with her mother over her cell phone! Who the heck cars if it's "Bootsy's fault if y'all ain't talkin'!" Three women yelled at her: "We don't all need to know yer business lady!"; "We need the stall - take it somewhere else!";"This is the 500 for &^#(@ sake!"
High: The #18 M&M car leading 88 of 123 laps.
Low: "Jr" clipping another car who spins up the track and slams #18 into the wall and ends the night 41st:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/pgStory?contentId=9224358#sport=NASCAR&photo=9224126
High: People are mighty friendly at the race - even the sober ones!
Low: The six people who broke through the cattle gates they were using to herd us on the buses to Lot #7 last night. I teamed up with my new buddy from New York who was standing in line with us and we threw 'subway' elbows to keep them in check!
High: Waiting patiently in line to get out of parking and taking turns letting folks merge in
Low: The guys in the Mitsubishi who tried to muscle in and didn't let others merge in.
High: A weekend with your brother once a year to laugh, listen to rock 'n roll (loud!), have a few beers, too much to eat, grab some extra sleep in the morning, talk about family, talk about work, talk about woulda-shoulda-coulda's, tell inappropriate jokes, discuss religion, and be able to communicate with hand signals during a NASCAR race.
Low: none that I can think of!
2/15/2009
Smokin!
What a race and awesome warm-up to the 500! My guy Kyle ran in the top 3 almost the entire race and drove Tony Stewart's bumper right into the last turn. Somehow he thought he could do what he failed to do Friday night in the Truck Series: bump draft up to the line, pull out and around and swing across the finish line in first place.
Yeah. It didn't work Friday and it didn't work Saturday. The restrictor plates just don't give you enough to make it work. The result? Kyle swung out high and two other calls drove underneath him and left him in 4th place as he crossed the line! Eiyeeeee!
He ran such a great race! But Tony "Smoke" Stewart was just that much more. With about ten laps to go a caution came up and Tony took a pit stop. Only five other cars did the same. As Tony pulled into his pit, he could be heard to say 'sorry guys. I made a mistake. I'll get them back." When he left pit row he was in 22nd place!
With about ten laps to go he gained it back and won the race! All props to "Smoke" for a hard ran race! But now my guy, Kyle, is steamed and ready to race! Unfortunately, sometimes he races his emotions so I'm hoping he listens to his Crew Chief, thinks with his head, and races with his heart.
Rain is expected at race time (3:40pm) and through most of the race. They'll be racing on different tires under conditions they haven't practiced in. Of course, the track is so big (2.5 miles) that it could be raining on one side of the track and not the other!
Yeah. It didn't work Friday and it didn't work Saturday. The restrictor plates just don't give you enough to make it work. The result? Kyle swung out high and two other calls drove underneath him and left him in 4th place as he crossed the line! Eiyeeeee!
He ran such a great race! But Tony "Smoke" Stewart was just that much more. With about ten laps to go a caution came up and Tony took a pit stop. Only five other cars did the same. As Tony pulled into his pit, he could be heard to say 'sorry guys. I made a mistake. I'll get them back." When he left pit row he was in 22nd place!
With about ten laps to go he gained it back and won the race! All props to "Smoke" for a hard ran race! But now my guy, Kyle, is steamed and ready to race! Unfortunately, sometimes he races his emotions so I'm hoping he listens to his Crew Chief, thinks with his head, and races with his heart.
Rain is expected at race time (3:40pm) and through most of the race. They'll be racing on different tires under conditions they haven't practiced in. Of course, the track is so big (2.5 miles) that it could be raining on one side of the track and not the other!
2/14/2009
What is it with NASCAR?
I don't think my racing infatuation began with NASCAR. It really began with guys like A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti and Formula 1 racing. I think when I was younger (junior high, high school) it was just the thought of going somewhere fast. And I really loved the sounds and the colors. Those were the days when Jackie Stewart called the races for ABC and his Scottish accent won me over as much as anything.
Then I started watching stock car racing: Dale Earnhart, Rusty Wallace, Richard Petty. I think I was transitioning my life from the midwest (IL, MN) to Dallas TX at the time. By the time I moved to New York City, I was watching races on TV pretty religiously. I was also starting to really get into the Pro Golf at the time, so sometimes Sunday meant some tough TV viewing choices!
By the late 90's I was watching more NASCAR than golf and then, around the year 2000, my brother Allen and I learned that we were both watching NASCAR...only we weren't talking about it! So we started sharing interest in the sport and in 2005, ventured off to our first official NASCAR race: Texas Motor Speedway!
The mother of tracks - over 200,000 fans! What an inauguration into the sport! In 2006 we ventured to Darlington and then in 2007 we headed to Talladega (yes, that is Alabama!). This year Daytona tickets landed in our laps, thanks to some season ticket holders who couldn't make it this year.
Allen and I will be heading off to the track in about ten minutes, sun screen smeared (our English skin needs help in the Florida sun!) and ready to tackle the parking, the midway, and a few hours on steel seats in the hot sun! YEEEE-HAW!
The man to cheer for is Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M car! He came in 2nd last night in the Truck Series (2nd year in a row!)
Today's race is a just 200 miles (the track is 2.5 miles around) and the average speed is about 189 mph.
We'll let you know tonight how it went!
Then I started watching stock car racing: Dale Earnhart, Rusty Wallace, Richard Petty. I think I was transitioning my life from the midwest (IL, MN) to Dallas TX at the time. By the time I moved to New York City, I was watching races on TV pretty religiously. I was also starting to really get into the Pro Golf at the time, so sometimes Sunday meant some tough TV viewing choices!
By the late 90's I was watching more NASCAR than golf and then, around the year 2000, my brother Allen and I learned that we were both watching NASCAR...only we weren't talking about it! So we started sharing interest in the sport and in 2005, ventured off to our first official NASCAR race: Texas Motor Speedway!
The mother of tracks - over 200,000 fans! What an inauguration into the sport! In 2006 we ventured to Darlington and then in 2007 we headed to Talladega (yes, that is Alabama!). This year Daytona tickets landed in our laps, thanks to some season ticket holders who couldn't make it this year.
Allen and I will be heading off to the track in about ten minutes, sun screen smeared (our English skin needs help in the Florida sun!) and ready to tackle the parking, the midway, and a few hours on steel seats in the hot sun! YEEEE-HAW!
The man to cheer for is Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M car! He came in 2nd last night in the Truck Series (2nd year in a row!)
Today's race is a just 200 miles (the track is 2.5 miles around) and the average speed is about 189 mph.
We'll let you know tonight how it went!
2/06/2009
When Your Hamster Dies
My nephew had a rough week this week. Little boys his age (six) feel things so intensely and passionately... and that includes death.
Real young children deal with death with all the purity and innocence of their youth. They accept it for what it is. They don't over think it or over feel it. That comes with age...and school...and life.
Last weekend, my niece's hamster died. Lucky for her (I guess), it was her birthday this week, so getting a replacement was an easy win for my brother and his wife. My nephew dealt with the loss very pragmatically: he worked on the problem of how you dispose of a hamster in February in Chicago when the ground is frozen. We won't digress and get into the details of his proposed burial solutions. I think they involved trap doors, hidden rooms and the Temple of Doom!
No, this tale focuses on the arrival of a new pet. A replacement rodent was purchased by my niece and lived nicely with the family for about a day. Then they thought the pet was ill, took it to the vet, learned that the pet was fine but - OMG! - it was a boy!
Now here's the tipping point for my nephew. They returned the boy pet and replaced it with a girl! AYE! Ever hear of castration anxiety? Well...it exists...and my poor nephew suffered it. A boy returned and exchanged for a girl! Bless his heart. A little boys worst fear realized!
Thank goodness he has such an awesome dad who makes him feel safe and loved. And to heck with all those girls!
Real young children deal with death with all the purity and innocence of their youth. They accept it for what it is. They don't over think it or over feel it. That comes with age...and school...and life.
Last weekend, my niece's hamster died. Lucky for her (I guess), it was her birthday this week, so getting a replacement was an easy win for my brother and his wife. My nephew dealt with the loss very pragmatically: he worked on the problem of how you dispose of a hamster in February in Chicago when the ground is frozen. We won't digress and get into the details of his proposed burial solutions. I think they involved trap doors, hidden rooms and the Temple of Doom!
No, this tale focuses on the arrival of a new pet. A replacement rodent was purchased by my niece and lived nicely with the family for about a day. Then they thought the pet was ill, took it to the vet, learned that the pet was fine but - OMG! - it was a boy!
Now here's the tipping point for my nephew. They returned the boy pet and replaced it with a girl! AYE! Ever hear of castration anxiety? Well...it exists...and my poor nephew suffered it. A boy returned and exchanged for a girl! Bless his heart. A little boys worst fear realized!
Thank goodness he has such an awesome dad who makes him feel safe and loved. And to heck with all those girls!
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