Pulling Myself Together
I love the access to information and resources that technology provides. But, I have to admit, that as I have branched out to extend my thoughts into cyberspace, it has been difficult for me to contextualize a place for myself. As our family business grows in expertise and experience, website development and social networking technologies become familiar household terminologies.
Here, thanks to my husband’s genius, I have combined more than a few years worth of blogs, including reports on conferences, internal reflections and personal perspectives. I invite you to comment and send any questions I might like to ponder.
What is it with books and movies ?!
Sometimes literature based movies inspire me to read books that otherwise would not make my repretoire. This happened recently when I viewed the movie on dvd, Twilight. Within a couple weeks, I was wrapping my mind around the actual book, getting lost in descriptive locations and character development. After I was well into the third book, I revisited the movie, wanting again to be reminded of the physical nature of characters I was growing to know intimately through fiction. However, rather than satisfying my thirst for visual representation, the characters in the film now seemed childish and immature compared to the intricate nature of Stephenie Meyer’s world of Twilight, at least in comparison to the way my imagination had taken me.
I found my disappointment agitating. And, it was not long before I felt a little betrayed. But, I shouldn’t be surprised. Isn’t it always this way? Indulging in a good novel is ecstasy. My mind invests fully in an alternate world, a world where, more often than not, I’d rather face mortal danger than deal with the everyday problems that normally bore my life. Then, some executive with lots of money and a whim to make even more money, twists and mashes my favorite stories so that they’ll fit into a widescreen and a two hour span of time, while making sure to cleanly resolve the story to fit the cultural expectations of a popular majority audience.
It sounds a little extreme, and I can usually make some space for understanding. I mean, you can’t very well fit the entire sequence of imagination and perception into a normal length film. In the twenty first century, though, given the amazing technology available, the bar should be set high. However, while technology hardly disappoints, I find that often it is the acting that needs a boost. I mean, so many new films market glamorous and beautiful people, and I’m left to conclude that literature must take a step aside to make way for fresh young and upcoming actors. My humble assessment is up for discussion. As for myself, I leave this quandary unresolved. May it never be proven that film will ever replace the need for a good book.
As always, I remain …
Where no man has gone before
About two years ago, my husband and I began watching Star Trek, The Next Generation. Within just a few episodes, I was hooked. My favorite episodes revolved around temporal displacement. My favorite observations about the Star Trek universe have to do with the way that the show portrays a future human existence, in which most present problems are done away. The need for money is eliminated, technology is advanced under directives of conscience, there is no problems of homelessness or even war, at least not on the home front. Enterprise is a peaceful explorer, seeking out new alliances and friendships that will benefit mutual existence.
Imagining a world that works together in efforts to build a peaceful, inter-galactic society is surprisingly easy. After all, I did grow up tuning into The Jetsons. So, I knew we were headed toward peaceful coexistence, well, maybe not that, but at least flying cars! The future is not so far away. We survived the millennium, and now what? I can’t help but wonder what might exist out there. Could there be something that would cause humans to band together in protection of our planet? One of my favorite propositions in the movie is when Captain Picard tries to explain why no one gets paid. Humans no longer seek the accumulation of wealth, instead they seek to better themselves. I believe there are many who live even now in this world who could say as much for themselves. What could a world be like if everyone sought to better themselves? Well, only questions tonight. Perhaps we will live to see some answers.
As always, I remain …
Kindergarten Homework
“My teacher says I don’t have to go to school anymore,” says my five year old son, “I think …” he quickly added as I looked at him with my head cocked to one side, eyes squinting humorously. Caleb wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. I explained to him that astronauts have to learn basic kindergarten skills. “umm … mommy?” he questioned pensively. “maybe I will just be a cowboy.” I couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Even cowboys need to read and write.”
I can hardly blame Caleb. I was a little intimidated to tackle his kindergarten homework with him this morning. What would I say or do to help him if he stubbornly refused to write his name? I thought quickly through my options and plunged in without answers. He traced capital H-es and lowercase h-es and explained to me about the writing guides. He easily picked out the letters that were not an ‘H’ and circled the words that began with an ‘H’, and traced review letters and numbers and counted wherever possible.
I have very few memories of my own kindergarten experience, but I suppose it was similar, learning shapes, letters and starting to read. I look forward to watching my son, sometimes frustrated with all the writing, grow in patience and understanding. I know he will love to read, and I look forward to introducing him to my own favorite authors. These are the hopes fulfilled, paying off the trying years of infant and toddler stages. I enjoy being a mom today.
As always, I remain …
Vacations
It doesn’t take long to settle back into a long lived routine, even after an extended vacation. I sit in my bedroom after being gone for the past 6 days and feel I haven’t even missed a beat. Typing at the computer, jazz plays softly in the background and the kids are quietly sleeping off the exhaustion of a recent trip. Yet, somehow, I found rest during my absence. And, even though I’m yawning, my emotions have experienced the peaceful subsidies that come along with grandma’s house.
It’s so important to take time for rest – something I remember vaguely. How often do we just push through and forget that there is an underlying responsibility that each of us has for ourself?
My recent vacation was a good reminder of what is important to me and how I need to take care of things. So, until next time, back to work.
As always, I remain …
Goodnight World
Somehow, just visiting a retirement community makes the day slow down. Even when internet is at my fingertips, facebook roaring and email sifting, the world around seems more relaxed than ever – nap time after lunch, afternoon dessert … bedtime at 9pm. After two full days, I surrender to the schedule. Goodnight world. I am off to bed.
As always, I remain …
a bad day for brand loyalty
After about three years of on and off discussion with my grandmother about switching out a very old desktop PC for a brand new Apple MacBook, I was thrilled to be moral support today as she made her final purchase. Returning back to the home, it took some time to open the thing, and within an hour, we were registering the computer and installing the drop in Snow Leopard upgraded system disk. Within the next hour, my husband and I embarrassedly reported that there is something wrong. The disk is stuck and the computer is not responding to a restart (or several attempts at restarts in various modes).
I am a brand loyalist. It takes me a long time to settle on a purchase decision, but once I jump in, I ride the waves, good times and bad. I guess you could say I am a Mac. I have used PC and Mac for various reasons since the birth of computers. But about 4 years ago, while I was a Executive Editor for a monthly publication, I bought a brand new MacBook Pro and never turned back. Not only is it very fulfilling to hold a tight, beautiful hardware package in my hands, but I found Macintosh software to be extremely intuitive. Two years ago, I weaned myself of Microsoft Office in favor of iWork. This year, I upgraded to a unibody and my husband and I are iPhone junkies.
My grandmother was not happy about the news, but we rushed right down to the nearest Apple store and requested immediate help. To their credit, busy as they were, they took care of us, and exchanged the ‘bad apple’ for a new computer and restored my faith.
As my husband says, it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you handle the things that happen to you that matters most. Thanks love!
As always, I remain …
Hello World
One of the great things about owning your own business is that wherever you go, there is your office. My office is not much more than a small laptop computer and a few books at a time. So, today, in between visiting with my grandparents and monitoring the kids playtime and mealtimes, I updated software, fixed some formatting issues on a client project and checked in on students and colleagues via email.
A daily blog is most recent on a long (and growing) list of self imposed job descriptions. I have made several attempts to write on categorical topics that have to do with interest and, dare is say, expertise. These attempts, however, have become little more than a moderate graveyard of one to two post blogspots on a site to be yet unnamed.
I am a writer, and long before blogging was a normal part of my vocabulary, I wistfully amused myself with verbal diatribes and blogish monologues that remained inside my over-active mind. For several years, I have written other people’s stories, professionally, for print publication and hesitantly watched from the sidelines to see what credibility lie on the world wide web. Now, I’m giving my inner voice an outlet. As wordpress so aptly names blog number one – Hello World! Here I am. Flight 723.
As always, I remain …
Health Care Reform 2009
Although the issue has been in the works for a while now, I’ve had my head buried in books and school and parenting and business and … and … and. So, tonight, for the first time, I listen to Obama tell about his plan. I have to admit, I had a difficult time understand exactly what he was proposing. I heard a number of statements repeated. One is that no one currently on a healthcare plan will be affected. Another was a comparison of requiring health insurance to requiring auto insurance. Finally, there were more than is ever necessary references to an ambiguous scary lie that opposes his plan.
So, here are some of my thoughts. I should first say that I am less interested in arguing about whether a political idea is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and more interested in observing happenings and their implications. I choose not to participate in categories of ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’, simply because I believe that these categorical words are subjective. Secondly, I should say that I am an entrepreneur, a small business owner who still believes that hope in the American Dream can lead to a better life.
On to my thoughts. I had a hard time assigning credibility to this speech because of the pervasive appeal to fear. As far as I heard, any critique of this healthcare plan was evaded by describing these rumors as wrong or as a lie. Furthermore, the opposition was not addressed by the President beyond a dismissal of scary, lurking rumors. Regarding the first claim I heard repeated, perhaps I missed a responsible answer regarding the affect this healthcare plan will have on the current healthcare system. I was distracted by the profound statement “this plan will not affect anyone under the current healthcare system”. This claim is simply wrong. Any new healthcare laws will affect in one way or another the current healthcare system, from cost to quality of medical care. This is clear to anyone who has a basic understanding of economic development, usually a high school education requirement. I am frustrated that no further explication was attempted. Actually, I am just plain offended. I am intelligent and would like to believe that the leader of our United States is intelligent and respectful of the intelligence of citizens in our country.
Alright, enough of the politicking. I know that it’s time to stop writing when I become bored with myself. I would love to hear comments from those who watched the speech. I’ll probably not write on the subject again until I see some comedic remake of this presentation. Because, honestly, I usually pick up the same amount of news information from the Daily Show or Saturday Night Live, and it’s a lot more entertaining.
As always, I remain …
State of the City Address on February 12
State of the City Address | Orange, CA
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Mayor Carolyn Cavecche
Mayor Carolyn Cavecche greeted a crowded conference room at the Doubletree Hotel on Thursday afternoon and congratulated California’s City of Orange on her 120th birthday. An antique photo displayed the Orange Plaza before paved roads, a horse drawn carriage parked near the water hole. The Mayor expertly navigated an informative and entertaining speech that covered topics topics of progress and projection.
The City of Orange seeks to preserve the history of the city by improving the infrastructure. Such policies as the Quiet Zone and regulating transportation serve this purpose. The Department of Public Works is improving efficiency in numerous ways, including the installation of waterless urinals in public parks, which save over two million gallons of water per day and using LED lighting to save on electricity. Utility companies went ‘live’ online, allowing consumers to pay and explore options via internet. And the city is proud to support the fourth fastest growing community college in the United States. According to Community College Week Magazine, Santiago Canyon College is the fourth fastest growing community college in the U.S.
Free programs and services are offered for residents, visitors and businesses in Orange. The Building Code Academy for one will continue to educate businesses about rights and restrictions. New city committees are forming to support these efforts, helping to make Orange “a place where businesses want to be.” Economic development has worked hard to ensure that vacancies in business become new opportunities.
Incentives are offered for residents and businesses to become “greener,” in hopes that a more environmentally friendly community will encourage people to shop and live locally.
The Mayor showed formidable tribute to the heritage of the City of Orange. She recognized the first stage of “Shades of Orange – El Modina Barrio,” which displayed a celebration honoring military vets in Orange Public Libraries, supported by donations through the Friends of the Library. She believes that preparing for the future is wrapped up in preserving the past.
Mayor Cavecche challenged City of Orange businesses to see the opportunities during this recession. Until there is evidence of the recession’s end, City of Orange will pull in the reigns, so to speak, and continue to build support while tightening the belt fiscally. A new entity will be forming, bringing together non profit organizations for support and service. In 2009, City of Orange will work toward becoming an attractive place for business, helping people and businesses flourish in our city.