Summer

The days are longer in the summer. We put off so much during the year, I like to think of this time of year as an opportunity to catch up. Maybe it is something out of tradition. From those summer breaks between school as a child or from the months away from the bustle of University. We are patterned to think of this time of year of one of recharging, relaxing and regrouping.

15 minutes

You know you are pretty busy when you break your life into 15 minute increments. I have approx 5 minutes to write something now, as I need to get back to more pressing appointments. So to provide a glimpse, things I am thinking about: studying, fitting in another jog, friends, people I need to call back, my to do list and some other things in between.

4 minutes left. What new adventures remain this week? Boat cruise with the lawyers, possible though the conversation will be filled with legal references. Breakfast club with the finalists, possible though they will be stressed. The 3 books I am reading for fun on top of my work, most likely.

1 minutes left. It is good to have something left over. Until next time . . .

Yet another great morning

So, I tend to wake up around 6, spend 20 minutes reading the headlines and sending out emails, then proceed to a run. This morning I went jogging with a friend who is a bit more of distance runner than I am (which doesn't take much to qualify in this category). Alas for me, the combination of rugby on Sunday, basketball on Monday and a 6 mile run today has left me feeling, in a word, sore.

You only tend to think about these things after your exercise routine is over, as the lactic acid build up and general soreness tends to take up thoughts as you sit and reflect. I think it is a bit much to complain over and over again about these things (though I have been doing so over the past few days), so I would like to write a little bit of how beautiful it is here.

Because it rains so much in England, it is a very lush and green country. There are so many amazing parks and gardens here. Today I took a detour from my usual routine as I met up with my new running friend and we ran around some very beautiful park grounds that I had not previously seen. The best part was a stretch where a short pond follows the running path to the left; this morning a family of ducks was swimming up the pond in perfect unison, a mother, father and 5 to 6 ducklings.

Election Night 2010

Ok . . . that was quite an education in British Politics. Stayed up all night with friends watching the returns, passed out around 3AM and woke every hour after asking, "Is it over yet"? Well, it seems the British people have spoken, but the political system still has to do the final writing to present what is next.

Time

Walking back for an appointment, I bumped into someone reading a book about time. The nature and philosophy of time. Now that is a bit too abstract for me to really get into, but the general topic of time is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. How much time to complete one project, how much time to dedicate to another, how much time has happened since X, how much time till Y event occurs, etc, etc.

I say often to others, seize the day, make it happen, don't wait, go, go, go . . . my favourite movie as a child was 'Dead Poets Society' and the message of the film has long been with me. However, there are many times when I don't live up to this, but circumstance has a way of robbing our messages at times. That aside, I try to learn quickly and make adjustments, another of my favourite themes. Do you?

2nd week

Is after the 1st. US news is quite busy and the British General Election will close in a few days. This weekend was extremely eventful; capping a week filled with travel, food, cocktails and conversation. Several writing projects are beginning to take form, work is very busy but organized and further studies are well, developing.

Thinking about how to maximize time, where to put emphasis and writing letters. Just write!

Beautiful morning

Still writing left over work, but have taken note at how such beautiful it is this morning. I am rushing myself to a self-imposed deadline that I will surely break, as I am writing here instead of where I need to be, but my mind is drifting to other beautiful mornings gone past. I look more forward much more than I look back, but in doing so it is so critical to not take for granted things we have had, which I think we can all do if we are not careful.

England

Since childhood, England has been a second home. In fact, I have spent more time in England than I have my native United States . . . I landed at Heathrow this afternoon and started thinking about this. It's funny, in so many ways I am the quintessential American, heavily influenced by my military upbringing and conservative parents, but I believe it inevitable that I have been influenced significantly by this country though very separate from me, has been such a big part of my life.

I have essays to write this evening and though I would rather be exploring a new bar in London or having a talk with friends while walking along the Thames and overlooking Parliament, I am content as I am back in this country I have great affection for and look forward to what adventures remain.

Luis Fernando Verissimo

Tuesday night headed to Verissimo's . . . food was good, jazz was better, learning more about the owner of the Bar, even more interesting. 70 years old, playing sax in his own place . . . this guy is officially my hero.

Via Olimpia

This is a great part of Sao Paolo. Monday night was out with 2 colleagues, we had a never ending meal and cocktails; the local favourite is the capriana. Now, I made the mistake of not respecting this drink -- as an avid martini drinker, I question most. Well, 3 later and I was throughly making a fool of myself, not that it takes much.

After dinner we headed to a little cafe where some live music was playing. After making an appearance the music shifted from Portuguese to English for the rest of the night! I requested Billy Joel over and over again, but was greeted with some of my other favourites: Journey, Aerosmith, Chicago and the like. I managed to avoid dancing, to the entertainment of others, but singing along in tone deaf sounds was of course required.

Sunday mornings

So the weekend in England has been beautiful; Sunday morning has returned us to a more typical English day - overcast and seasonal temperatures. I had a glorious Saturday where I did absolutely no work. The morning was spent outside talking with friends, the afternoon was eating outside with friends, the early evening involved random debates/lounging with friends and the evening was dinner and various adventures into the early morning.

I managed to get up sometime around 730, changed my alarm to buzz me at 845 and then organized my room into a state of organized chaos. Brunch will be in about an hour and I beginning to think about everything I need to do to get the week started properly. I like thinking about Sundays as the beginning of the week -- a reset and new beginning.

Change

I spend a lot of time thinking about things I would like to make different. The reason is, when you do this, I believe most of the time, you can be quite successful. The nature of challenges is that they are just that, obstacles to overcome. Determination is a gift that is granted through resilience and success is dedicated to hard work and commitment to alternate perspectives.

Things become more complicated when our aims prove unsuccessful. And then there is the slow march to acceptance that perhaps the change we seek is not possible. To this latter point I struggle and I believe all who are truly committed to seeing the best of intentions implemented should reject this acceptance, despite circumstance.

Cherwell - C2 - Making it Work

Cherwell - C2 - Making it Work

Routines

My parents raised me to be a routine driven person. My father was a military man and as such was very disciplined. My brother and I woke up very early and went to bed at the same time every day. We always did our schoolwork after school, played outside during set times and followed the same schedule each week. This pattern has remained with me throughout my life and the moments when I am preforming best are when my routines are maximized.

Beautiful morning in England; now time to routine my way to a run.

The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

--A. Lincoln

from Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to his brother

One cannot always tell what it is that keeps us shut in, confines us, seems to bury us, but still one feels certain barriers, certain gates, certain walls. Is all this imagination, fantasy? I do not think so. And then one asks: My God! It is for long, is it forever, is it for eternity? Do you know what frees one from this captivity? It is very serious affection. Being friends, being brothers, love, that is what opens the prison by supreme power, by some magic force.

Pitching

Thinking about pitching this morning as last night I found myself in an unexpected situation where I ended up soliciting some work. I was having a conversation with someone who happened to be in a field where I had some signficant domain knowledge and ended up being offered a job, indirectly. Well, that was unexpected, but suddenly business school had some relevance or did it? Most good deals are an element of personality, timing and good jokes -- at least I usually bat over .300

Competitions

I love competitions. As Roosevelt would say, I love being in the arena. I did not grow up in an overly competitive home, but competitions were a regular part of the activities I was involved with as a child by default. Though I did not win often, I relished the opportunity to give it my all. In fact, losing more often than winning taught me a lot and to this perspective, extends my desire to get out there and roll up my sleeves.

Internship

So I have this 4 week part-time internship this summer at a sports agency. Although somewhere in my mind I have visions of being Jerry McGuire, the ultimate reality is that this work will be a combination of skills application in analysis of contracts and organizational management. I have been playing in my mind about various career paths outside of consultancy for a long time, though I am pretty sure that dabbling in this industry will not net a new path, but be a tack along the course that will ultimately achieve my primary ambitions.

I think part of writing great commentary or even great non-fiction is having many different experiences. One of the criticisms I have of my professional work experience over the last 10 years is that it has been pretty exclusively working in the web . . . am slowly mixing things up.

Writing

Following adult confirmation in the Catholic Church during Easter of 2008, I became highly interested in the academic study of Theology. As part of confirmation one participates in detailed analysis of the doctrine of the Catholic faith; I loved all the debates, discussions and investigation of the source of the faith. I also always have had interests in the various religions of the world, but have had limited exposure to their tenets. So during that summer I made the decision to apply for a course in Theology, because it would achieve two goals. It would satisfy my developing interest in the study of religions and would also enhance my dream to become a writer.

Up until this point in my life, my previous academic training had been either completely in computer science or in business. Although this training has been key in my profession as a management consultant (advising companies on the implementation and design of web systems), it has not done much for my interests in social or political commentary or the expression of these ideas to paper.

Fast forward to April 2010; up to this point, I have written sixteen 2000-4000 word essays on various topics of theology . . . I am slowly making progress in expressing myself. I can see myself growing as a writer and beginning to find my voice; it is my hope that by the end of this course I will have developed a clear style of argumentation and can persuasively present my thoughts and ideas, whether on my favourite topics or ones much more abstract. This of course says nothing of the merits of studying theology, it is a real gift and opportunity – better understanding of our relationship with God makes us better people. I am afraid I cannot live to all the expectations of this knowledge, but I try my best.

Goals

I am a big planner and I would offer that planning is key to all our lives, whether we are ambitious or not. In thinking about my goals, something that I do often is make changes to where I want to go and how I want to get there. This nimbleness has afforded me a degree of flexibility in my life, but has also caused problems when navigating the subtle changes that are sometimes necessary. When we think about change, it is easy to forget the challenge of extreme movements. But agility often is an asset in life.

My favorite poem reminds us to not make dreams our master. Now I must get back to work.

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Fired up and ready to go

It is a tough day to be a democrat. Scott Brown has won Teddy's seat and the 60 vote democratic block in the Senate is gone. On one hand, I feel like this is a good thing, because it will force the democratic leadership to look for more centrist proposals in legislation. On the other hand, I do not believe the republican party is interested in getting much work done -- they are amazing at running in opposition and because the economy is not going well for most Americans, it is easy to paint the President and the Congress as the reason for this, although it was over 6 years of republican leadership that contributed to the situation we currently face.

What's next? We get fired up and ready to go. The house should pass the Senate version of Health Care Reform with the caveat that the unpalatable provisions will be fixed through budget reconciliation. We must get something done now and the President and the congress must sell it to the people. We cannot allow the republicans to continue to dominate the dialogue on this bill -- it is a great thing for this country. We need serious reform to the financial management of healthcare and this bill does just that; the problem is no one really understands the key features and benefits of the bill.

The Congress must also act quickly on deficit reduction, jobs creation and turning around the economy. The Congress must convince the american people, through action, that it is well equipped to deal with these issues.

2010

So a new decade . . . a lost happened in the last 10, but even more changes are planned for this one we are now beginning. The challenge is keeping the momentum going. Have made a resolution to use this a bit more than I have . . .

With facebook, twitter, wave and all sorts of forms of communication, will just need to keep up.