I’ve been living with this for the last twenty years. It’s not so bad in these waters as long as you don’t stop swimming. Ever.
February 2, 2012
December 12, 2011
Wake Up And Smell The Espresso
Wake Up And Smell The Espresso (Education) in [Market-Ticker]: “This is why bankruptcy was written into the Constitution and why it’s so important. The threat of the borrower declaring bankruptcy and avoiding the debt taken on is the only market check and balance that works to restrain predatory and abusive behavior by lenders. With it no lender intentionally makes a foolish loan because while the borrower has their credit rating ruined the lender loses their actual investment.”
Dear 16 Year Old Me
My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 (bordering on stage 4) melanoma over a decade ago. After a long course of extensive chemo and radiation she beat it. A few years later the breast cancer hit. She beat that too. Thanks to her incredible doctors she conquered some astronomical odds and is healthy today.
This video talks about the risk factors for melanoma (early sunburns, family history, moles, etc). I have just about every risk factor except red hair (who knew?). I also go to the dermatologist once a year and have had at least a dozen moles removed since mom’s diagnosis. I share this because keeping up with this has become easy, routine, and something that we budget for in our annual medical expenses. $250/year isn’t much to pay to make sure I don’t die from melanoma. It’s not fun or painless, but it just may be the difference in the future.
This is for you, mom…
December 10, 2011
December 1, 2011
Do It Yourself
Do It Yourself | Excellence in Philanthropy | The Philanthropy Roundtable: “The skilled tradesman brings his intelligence and his discipline to his work. His job is to take ownership of a project. He creates something that wasn’t there before—something new, something better, something more valuable. And in that, the skilled tradesman is the kindred spirit of every entrepreneur.”
November 29, 2011
November 27, 2011
Where the Jobs Are
A very interesting (and short) post over at Insty about the current job market. It only reinforces my guess that the future belongs to those with “skills”. What used to be (and are still somewhat) looked-down-upon trade skills are actually in very high demand as an entire generation bought into the assumption that the “knowledge economy” wasn’t going to need tradesmen, plumbers, welders, or other hands-on workers. Read the whole thing (and the linked article).
What I found interesting was this:
“I would hire 5 more guys right now if I could. However, it is virtually impossible to find anyone with skills anymore. The number one skill we are missing as a society is a work ethic. I speak to employers all the time and we all are looking for the same potential employee–someone who is honest, hard working, and who has reasonable intelligence. In other words someone who willing and able to learn new things and admit it when they screw up. Notice education is not on the list.”
Education is good, though I’m still on the fence about whether or not everyone needs a full 4 years of college. I’m grateful for my 3 degrees, though I still maintain that I’ve learned more in the 20 years since graduation than I ever learned in school. After all, 8 years of undergrad and post-grad is a lot less than 20 years of post college. If you’re not constantly learning, what have you done with the time since school? Reminds me of several people I’ve talked to who consider it a badge of honor that the last full book they read was in formal schooling. It’s just my opinion, but that seems like a real waste to me. Surely there’s something to be passionate about after formal schooling?
Some of the greatest minds of human history have been attached to autodidactic brains (and yes, I meant to write it that way). I think the #1 thing we could teach isn’t math or science or even logic. It’s curiosity. Teach a generation to be curious about everything and then watch out.
November 24, 2011
November 22, 2011
FannyU
“I noticed about 1990 that some students in my classes at CSU were both clearly illiterate and yet beneficiaries of lots of federal cash, loans, and university support to ensure their graduation. And when one had to flunk them, an entire apparatus was in place at the university to see that they in fact did not flunk. Just as coaches steered jocks to the right courses, so too counselors did the same with those poorly prepared but on fat federal grants and loans. By the millennium, faculty were conscious that the university was a sort of farm and the students the paying crop that had to be cultivated if it were to make it all the way to harvest and sale — and thus pay for the farmers’ livelihood. How could a Ponzi scheme of such magnitude go on this long? . . . But what cannot go on will not go on — at least for most universities without the billion-dollar plus endowments. The present reckoning is brought on not by introspection, self-critique, or concern for our increasingly poorly educated students, but by money, or rather the lack of it. Higher education is desperately searching for students with cash, loaned or not. And it is, by needs, panicking and will ever so slowly start changing.”
November 18, 2011
November 14, 2011
Confessions of an Engineering Washout
Engineering professors are perfectly happy weeding out undesirables with absurd boot-camp courses that conceal the inability of said professors to communicate with words. Fewer students will pursue science and engineering majors, and the United States will grow ever more reliant upon foreign brainpower to design its scientific and manufacturing endeavors. I did my part to fight this problem, and for my trouble I got four months of humiliation and a semester’s worth of shabby grades that I had to explain to law schools and employers for years. Thousands of college students will have a similar experience this fall.
So engineering is suffering in this country? It deserves no better.
October 19, 2011
How to Be a Failure
Some of us get really successful at it.
“Less attention is devoted to failure, or even what failure is. There is financial failure — bankruptcy — professional failure — unemployment — and personal failure — divorce. But there are all kinds of failure — failing your parents, failing your faith, failing to live up to your own expectations of who you think you should be.
I fail all the time, so often that I am somewhat mystified when I get emails in which people perceive me as successful. Because most of the time, I think of myself as a failure. Which, I’ve come to think, is part of what makes me successful.”
via Forbes.
October 18, 2011
Occupy Education?
“In the West, we are hard at work establishing a culture that fetishizes education, and instills the belief that college — regardless of its content or application — will, and should, inexorably lead to a better job, or a better life, or even a better America. Worse, that one has a right to these things. In doing so, we have created a Potemkin aristocracy, one based upon the erroneous and tragic conceit that having letters after one’s name intrinsically confers excellence. We are happily encouraging our children to join its ranks, regardless of whether there is any evidence that to do so will be in their interest. This is supremely ironic, given that so many of America’s billionaires — i.e. those who pay for more educations and create more jobs than anyone else — are college dropouts. Indeed, both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates failed to finish college. Can we say with a straight face that this has adversely affected them, or America at large?”
It’s an interesting (and timely) question. We tend to not question the assumption that everyone needs to go to college. With so many counterexamples of successful people who never went, and with college debt becoming akin to lifetime indentured servitude, it may be time to start questioning those assumptions.
October 13, 2011
September 28, 2011
September 10, 2011
Life, the Universe, and My Birthday
With apologies to Douglas Adams, today I am 42.
Which means today this blog is eight.
Now that I’m 42, I’m supposed to know the Answer (you know the one). I guess since I’m writing this on the actual eve of my birthday (three hours from now, to be exact) then at midnight Texas time I will suddenly ascend into all knowledge and know the answers to Life, the Universe, and, well, Everything. Get back to me tomorrow and if I don’t answer it’s because I don’t have time for you puny mortals. Or I’m just eating cake. Hmmm… cake… maybe that’s the Answer.
One year ago I was the tender age of 41, trying to find my way in the world, but now that I’ve achieved the rarified heights of forty-two, things will doubtless come into focus. Until that happens, though, here’s an accounting of the notable events of the past twelvemonth.
Said goodbye to a high school friend: a very good high school friend of mine- Kim Masterson- died suddenly this past year. She had been struggling with cancer for a while and we thought she finally had it beat when it apparently staged a comeback and took her life, leaving her three great kids motherless and her friends shocked. I’ll miss Kim. We hadn’t seen each other since our Baylor days but I still feel like we could have struck up a conversation without missing a beat.
Completed my 20th Year of Sing: and wrote all 20 acts in the show. Years ago when I was first starting out I used to occasionally wonder what it would be like to write the whole show. I had that very privilege in my 20th year. It was a distinctly great feeling knowing that everything from the opening Sing Anthem to the final notes had passed through my brain and fingers at some point. All 5000 pages and 15,000+ measures. I feel like I’ve made enough mistakes over the two decades that I’ve finally achieved Malcolm Gladwell’s mystical 10,000 hours. I feel like I finally have some actual expertise to offer the folks who work with me. Not just the technical aspects of writing music, but the more subtle part of shepherding a creative idea from inception to performance. I may still not always know the words to explain the “X-factor” of what makes an audience say “ahh!” (we don’t have the words in any human language), but I feel like I can more reliably stumble my way into it. It’s a good feeling. It was appropriate that on my 20th anniversary performance in the pit I met Sara Sinclair- old pit band pianist from way, way back in the 70s. It’s good to be a part of such a tradition.
Thanks to friend and Sing Chair alum Lisa Sorenson for the cake!
Focussed on electronics: this year in my personal classroom my topic-du-annum was devoted to finally learning the basics of electricity and electronics. I’ve tried it several times before but I always managed to confuse myself with the basics and end up frustrated and stymied. This time, with the help of several really good books and the two accompanying Make:Electronics packs I was able to dig my way through Electronics 101. I may not be able to hotwire a car or build a taser gun, but I understand V=I/R and basic electronic components. I can put calculate and install LEDs as well as read simple block diagrams (and build a circuit from them!). The area is so big that I’ll probably make it a two year study (I’m only halfway through the Electronics packs anyway). Victory!
Wrote music for Word and Lifeway: I was able to arrange hymns for Lifeway Music’s new hymnal (where my name is now included!) as well as do music and continue mastering for Word Music. Even though I don’t live in Nashville it’s nice to feel plugged in with some of the bigger music companies up there.
Wrote even more music for a University: which I can’t give details on yet because it hasn’t been released, but trust me, this one is a monster. 30 totally original songs. The client just told me that it’ll probably be in limited national release. Exciting stuff!
Wrote even MORE more music for another University: I’m also currently working on a 17 minute fully orchestrated original piece for a different national college’s recruitment video. It’s been fun to be told “just write something cinematic and heroic sounding” and then be cut loose to do my best. It’s some of the best writing I’ve ever done and I’m really really proud of it. I’ll post a link when I can.
Built props: In conjunction with Sing this past year I was hired by several groups to again build props (with their inexperienced but willing assistance) in my shop. We built a giant boxcar, a 10′x 12′ train engine, a set of nesting boxes, various hand props, a full sized giraffe head, a tiki hut, popcorn maker, giant kitchen appliances, various office furniture, trees, signs, and all sorts of other craziness. It’s not just the chance to put in serious shop time that I love, but the opportunity that I get to grow closer to the Sing Chairs that I help. We always have a ton of fun getting sore and sawdusty while building things that thousands of people will see on the stage. And I love the befuddled looks from the drivers that pass by when they see a huge ferris wheel or giant toaster in my yard. Priceless.
Built MORE props: I’m currently working on a 19 foot long by three foot high permanent logo for a client. They have decided to replace their 30 year old former logo with this new redesign and wanted an actual 3d object to put on stage. Made out of almost $1000 in plywood, fiberglass, and paint, this thing is designed to last another three decades. I’m proud of the fact that my building skills have enabled me to tackle these bigger opportunities and I’m having a lot of fun seeing it slowly come together. The only downside is that it’s summer in Texas. 107 degrees is not a good time to be in the shop!
Saw a mentor pass away: A terribly sad though not altogether unexpected milestone was reached a few weeks ago when longtime musical mentor and friend (to many) Robert H. Young passed away. Dr. Young was my director when I was in Chamber Singers at Baylor and he was a sort of Collegiate surrogate father for Erin. We will miss him terribly but will always have his wonderful music and future Chamber Singers concerts to remember him by. Every Christmas we’ll listen to “Who is He in Yonder Stall” and remember this wonderful, kind, talented, and Godly man.
Replanted the yard. Due to a massive invasion of grubs as well as neighbors who feel like the definition of yard care is to mow their six foot tall weeds once per year (no, I’m not kidding), we finally bit the bullet and completely replanted our yard. I got ten cubic yards of dirt (that’s a very full dumptruck load) and spread it out on our front yard until it was 6-8″ deep (HUGE THANK YOU TO NEIGHBOR JAMES AND HIS SON RYAN FOR THE HELP!). After that I tilled it into the old soil and then laid down almost three pallets of zoysia pallisades grass. After several months of watering in the Texas heat (another thanks to James for taking care of it while we were gone) we have what I am sure is the most beautiful grass I will ever possess. It’s dark green, healthy, verdant, and even smells like it should. It’s thick and fun to walk on. I don’t know how it’ll do long term as the years go by but we’re just loving it now.
Shared in an Award: this year I got to see the movie that I did location and post production sound for, Paradise Recovered, win not one but two Grand Prize Awards at major film festivals. It’s been great to see all the hard work by this small and committed group pay off. We’re collecting all kinds of Laurel Leaves! Go Team Paradise!
Got tennis elbow: about eight months ago I started to notice a pain in my right elbow. It grew over the weeks until I could basically do nothing with my right arm that required any sort of bending of the elbow or flexing the muscles just anterior of my elbow bone. Trust me- when you type, play piano, and do woodworking for a living that’s a pretty severe handicap. It hurt to hold my car keys sometimes. Crazy! After several months of ibuprofen and ice packs it’s almost healed now, but I’ll never laugh at tennis elbow again. What a (literal) pain.
Read my own Eulogy: Not really, but close. Unfortunately most of us never say the things to people we care about while they’re still with us. Fortunately, my good friend Barry isn’t like most people. When I mentioned that it was my 20th Sing anniversary he penned a very public and very touching post about it. Upon reading it through suddenly misty eyes I realized that it about sums up everything for which I would like to be remembered. I consider it a rare blessing that I got to read it, Barry. Gratitude.
Traveled. A lot. Well, for us anyway. We started off the year with an early March trip to visit Erin’s cousin in Anchorage, Alaska. It’s been on our wish list for a few years to go to the 49th state and see the beauty of the mountains. Since we both enjoy the cold and snow, getting to go in March was a real bonus. Due to the fact that we were flying Buddy Passes we ended up staying an extra four days waiting for a flight out (and eventually had to buy one way tickets!), but even so, we had a wonderful two weeks and can’t wait to go back. The one thing we didn’t get to do while there? See the Northern Lights. Every night we’d go outside hoping for a glimpse of this elusive phenomenon, only to be disappointed. However, the delayed return wasn’t all for naught. On the flight out at 10pm the pilot got on the intercom and said to look out the left side of the plane. The Northern Lights! We were on the right side but fortunately the only two empty seats on the plane were just across the aisle. So Erin and I trucked it over there and got to witness twenty minutes of otherworldly midnight beauty. It was something to see. Alaska was cold, beautiful, far away, cold, snowy, and COLD. I love the cold.
Our next trip was unexpected (for Erin at least). Thanks to my good friend Sean’s brilliant thinking (well, fortuitous internet surfing), I surprised Uber-Harry-Potter-Fan Erin with a trip to Harry Potter World in Orlando for her 40th birthday. It was among my most favorite gifts that I’ve ever given anyone- especially since I had to keep it a secret for almost two months! Three days before her birthday I made Harry Potter’s favorite dessert (treacle tart) and surprised her with it, then gave her a card that was actually a portkey (and if you don’t know what a portkey is you haven’t read the books… shame on you!). The very next day we were off on a plane to Florida for three days at Universal Orlando. What a blast to do as a trip, and what a fun thing to surprise someone with!
A few months later we got to spend time with friends Matt and Jenna in D.C. (after a failed Buddy Pass attempt to get to Ireland) and spent a week traveling around Philadelphia, Amish country, and Gettysburg. Then we came home and, two weeks later, got to spend a whole month house-sitting for friends in Colorado Springs. *Whew!* Neither one of us has ever travelled for fun quite so much in one year. We just had a confluence of opportunities and events that made it possible this year and we feel grateful. We’re jet-setters!
So there are some highlights from Year Forty One, spent living in gratitude one of the most wonderful lives ever. I wonder what the next year will bring?
August 22, 2011
That’s Why I Chose Yale
Well, not really (I went to Baylor), but this student-produced and alumni-written recruitment video is terribly clever and fun. Fun cameo halfway through.
July 8, 2011
Tar, Feather, Rail
The Atlanta cheating scandal is getting out of control. I hadn’t heard much about it until today, but reading this article has made my educator-blood absolutely boil. The worst part?
Phyllis Brown, a southwest Atlanta parent with two children in the district, said the latest revelations are “horrible.” It is the children, she said, who face embarrassment if they are promoted to a higher grade only to find they aren’t ready for the more challenging work.
Still, she doesn’t believe teachers should be punished.
“It’s the people over them, that threatened them, that should be punished,” she said. “The ones from the building downtown, they should lose their jobs, they should lose their pensions. They are the ones who started this…
…At Venetian Hills, a group of teachers and administrators who dubbed themselves “the chosen ones” convened to change answers in the afternoons or during makeup testing days, investigators found. Principal Clarietta Davis, a testing coordinator told investigators, wore gloves while erasing to avoid leaving fingerprints on answer sheets….At Gideons Elementary, teachers sneaked tests off campus and held a weekend “changing party” at a teacher’s home in Douglas County to fix answers.
Cheating was “an open secret” at the school, the report said. The testing coordinator handed out answer-key transparencies to place over answer sheets so the job would go faster.”
Every single teacher and administrator who knowingly took part in this debacle needs to lose their job, with the leaders losing pensions and spending some time in jail. You do not exonerate teachers who erased test answers, changed testing cards, or had knowledge that their peers were doing such because you want to send a very strong message that, in the future, you need to report this kind of behavior, not hide behind the hope that you’ll be held innocent if it ever comes out. Where’s the backbone? How do you expect to teach your students honor and discipline (as well as hard work) if you aren’t willing to exemplify it? Every one of the teachers who took part in this scandal needs to be perp-walked to court and every teacher that attempted to blow the whistle on them (and got threatened or shut down) needs to be elevated to positions of leadership. That’s the message that a fair and just society sends to the next generation.