9/28/2004
Nice To See The Big Cheeses Are Rock Stupid Too...
Here I sit at 7:00 PM with no chance of leaving yet. Not thanks to upper management deciding their should be a meeting of the Management Council (read, big cheeses) tomorrow morning. Nice timing there, really gives me plenty of time to prepare what I need (I'm facilitating).
My first question was, what's the agenda for the meeting? The answer was, "Uhhhhhhh"
Why do people arrange meetings when there is no clear objective? That is the perfect way to ensure that you'll all be sitting in a room looking at each other going "Uhhhhhh." As the thankless facilitator I get the special joy of being the scapegoat if the meeting goes poorly. That's like sending someone into a boxing ring with one glove, no mouthpiece, little warning and then being surprised when the fight doesn't go well. Yeesh.
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Here I sit at 7:00 PM with no chance of leaving yet. Not thanks to upper management deciding their should be a meeting of the Management Council (read, big cheeses) tomorrow morning. Nice timing there, really gives me plenty of time to prepare what I need (I'm facilitating).
My first question was, what's the agenda for the meeting? The answer was, "Uhhhhhhh"
Why do people arrange meetings when there is no clear objective? That is the perfect way to ensure that you'll all be sitting in a room looking at each other going "Uhhhhhh." As the thankless facilitator I get the special joy of being the scapegoat if the meeting goes poorly. That's like sending someone into a boxing ring with one glove, no mouthpiece, little warning and then being surprised when the fight doesn't go well. Yeesh.
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9/27/2004
The Times They Are A-Great...
To be a Dylan fan(atic) that is. He's on the cover of Newsweek with a rare interview on the inside. The first volume of his autobiography comes out in October (Chronicles) and if you need something to tie you over, you have Dylan's Visions of Sin by Christopher Ricks (Oxford's Professor of Poetry).
The book's chapters are based on the 7 Deadly Sins, 4Cardinal Virtues and 3 Heavenly Graces. It may seem an odd choice for lyrics by the supposed counterculture prophet, but it makes a lot of sense when you know how crammed full of biblical references his songs are (both obvious and not).
Back to Chronicles- to get hundreds of pages of memoirs from the man who's spent 40+ years hiding from everyone is just a little exciting for the faithful. It's a life that was once called "Stranger than Elvis'"
Excerpt from the excerpt...
"...a folksinger friend had given me a couple of Colt repeater pistols... I also had a clip fed Winchester blasting rifle. But it was awful to think about what could be done with those things."
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To be a Dylan fan(atic) that is. He's on the cover of Newsweek with a rare interview on the inside. The first volume of his autobiography comes out in October (Chronicles) and if you need something to tie you over, you have Dylan's Visions of Sin by Christopher Ricks (Oxford's Professor of Poetry).
The book's chapters are based on the 7 Deadly Sins, 4Cardinal Virtues and 3 Heavenly Graces. It may seem an odd choice for lyrics by the supposed counterculture prophet, but it makes a lot of sense when you know how crammed full of biblical references his songs are (both obvious and not).
Back to Chronicles- to get hundreds of pages of memoirs from the man who's spent 40+ years hiding from everyone is just a little exciting for the faithful. It's a life that was once called "Stranger than Elvis'"
Excerpt from the excerpt...
"...a folksinger friend had given me a couple of Colt repeater pistols... I also had a clip fed Winchester blasting rifle. But it was awful to think about what could be done with those things."
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9/23/2004
Rock Stupid Greed and Rock Stupid Procrastination Do NOT Mix Well...
Bonus program rolls out here at work to encourage us lazy workers to help with a financial analysis project. Bottom line is get paid X dollars a week for 4 items completed (7 weeks total).
Well, as a coworker/amateur rapper said at a previous job, "If the money's callin', then I'm crawlin."
So here I crawl, and that is a very apt verb since it's taking me an eternity to finish one freaking item. This mind numbing task has so many dinky little twists and turns that it takes forever (being brand new to this kind of work). Worse still, I've put it off as much as possible (like posting right now!) so tonight I'm officially screwed. I have to finish two of these God forsaken things to get that dirty, dirty money. I was here until 8:00 last night getting as far along as I am (which isn't very far).
Hey, it's 5:00, let the drudgery commence!
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Bonus program rolls out here at work to encourage us lazy workers to help with a financial analysis project. Bottom line is get paid X dollars a week for 4 items completed (7 weeks total).
Well, as a coworker/amateur rapper said at a previous job, "If the money's callin', then I'm crawlin."
So here I crawl, and that is a very apt verb since it's taking me an eternity to finish one freaking item. This mind numbing task has so many dinky little twists and turns that it takes forever (being brand new to this kind of work). Worse still, I've put it off as much as possible (like posting right now!) so tonight I'm officially screwed. I have to finish two of these God forsaken things to get that dirty, dirty money. I was here until 8:00 last night getting as far along as I am (which isn't very far).
Hey, it's 5:00, let the drudgery commence!
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9/20/2004
4 Years Can Go By Quickly...
We hit the mark last week. What can I say? Meeting Laura is still the best and most important thing that has ever or will ever happen to me. We celebrated on the actual day (Thursday) in true Lauki style.
We headed out the door with no idea of where we were going (I usually do reservations btw) but a few parameters... Old World feel and not a place we've been to before (or else the Old Warsaw would have done the trick).
It took hours but, as they usually do, things worked despite our best efforts. We toured Highland Park as the hunger got worse. Passed by a house that looked like a castle. Probably the coolest home we've ever seen in person. It reminded us of the pictures of knights, ladies, faries and such (Pre-Raphaelites especially) that have always played into our gift giving history.
From there, we ended up in Lower Greenville and walked into an exteriorly non-descript looking French restaurant built into a strip mall. Turns out to be St. Martin's, a place that's been around for 27 years and has been voted the most romantic spot in Dallas. Inside it's a tiny, dark, plush little oasis that fit the occasion and our initial notion perfectly. On the wall, of course, hung many of the exact images I spoke of above.
Seems it's often the little things, not the big ones, that can make you believe in Fate.
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We hit the mark last week. What can I say? Meeting Laura is still the best and most important thing that has ever or will ever happen to me. We celebrated on the actual day (Thursday) in true Lauki style.
We headed out the door with no idea of where we were going (I usually do reservations btw) but a few parameters... Old World feel and not a place we've been to before (or else the Old Warsaw would have done the trick).
It took hours but, as they usually do, things worked despite our best efforts. We toured Highland Park as the hunger got worse. Passed by a house that looked like a castle. Probably the coolest home we've ever seen in person. It reminded us of the pictures of knights, ladies, faries and such (Pre-Raphaelites especially) that have always played into our gift giving history.
From there, we ended up in Lower Greenville and walked into an exteriorly non-descript looking French restaurant built into a strip mall. Turns out to be St. Martin's, a place that's been around for 27 years and has been voted the most romantic spot in Dallas. Inside it's a tiny, dark, plush little oasis that fit the occasion and our initial notion perfectly. On the wall, of course, hung many of the exact images I spoke of above.
Seems it's often the little things, not the big ones, that can make you believe in Fate.
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9/13/2004
Another Weekend, Another Trip...
Back to San Antonio. Only this time, Laura stayed for the week and I flew back last night. This resulted from the other half of Lauki having more vacation than me since I just started at WAMU.
I have set a personal record for plane rides this year, that's for sure. God willing I'm done (for now).
We'll see how non-rock-stupid I can be while she's gone. I'm always horribly bored without Laura and seem to cope by being as lazy and unproductive as possible. Wisely, she committed me to complete certain things while she's gone. These things are, of course, gathering dust while I surf the net and type this post. It's almost the time sane people go to bed though, so maybe I'll get started now...
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Back to San Antonio. Only this time, Laura stayed for the week and I flew back last night. This resulted from the other half of Lauki having more vacation than me since I just started at WAMU.
I have set a personal record for plane rides this year, that's for sure. God willing I'm done (for now).
We'll see how non-rock-stupid I can be while she's gone. I'm always horribly bored without Laura and seem to cope by being as lazy and unproductive as possible. Wisely, she committed me to complete certain things while she's gone. These things are, of course, gathering dust while I surf the net and type this post. It's almost the time sane people go to bed though, so maybe I'll get started now...
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9/07/2004
Who Knew You Could Have A Good Time In Oklahoma City?
Granted, it certainly wasn't a dream destination, but Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson were there. It was their closest stop on the tour that is being described as the surprise of the summer and one of the few bright spots in an otherwise blah concert season.
The tour... A unique, Americana kinda feel as two American music icons (great songwriters with wonderfully unconventional voices, both known as rebels in their musical worlds), tour for the first time together. Cool (thankfully) summer night, old fashioned ballpark and great music. It was really neat standing on the infield, watching the clouds light up with the last of the sunlight as we waited for Dylan to take the stage.
Willie, meanwhile, was great. You didn't have to be a country fan to enjoy his laid back, clap along, show. Dylan went louder and faster so the order (Bob always closes) works out well. Plus it helped us arrive on time since we had to work and race across the border.
My favorite moment was the only duet they played (Heartland). Months of watching another joke of an election campaign, of seeing people focus on clever one liners instead of real issues. Usually I can handle the useless, self-perpetuating nature of our system. At such a critical time though, it's different.
Made it seem just so right as two old men sang...
"This American Dream, fell apart at the seams
You tell me what it means, you tell me what it means"
The next day we saw everything OKC has to offer. It didn't take long.
The OKC bombing site, though, was impressive. Pretty weird seeing it and ground zero (NYC) in person. They're strangely similar.
Overall, a fun and sometimes touching excursion into the physical, mental and musical Heartland.
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Granted, it certainly wasn't a dream destination, but Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson were there. It was their closest stop on the tour that is being described as the surprise of the summer and one of the few bright spots in an otherwise blah concert season.
The tour... A unique, Americana kinda feel as two American music icons (great songwriters with wonderfully unconventional voices, both known as rebels in their musical worlds), tour for the first time together. Cool (thankfully) summer night, old fashioned ballpark and great music. It was really neat standing on the infield, watching the clouds light up with the last of the sunlight as we waited for Dylan to take the stage.
Willie, meanwhile, was great. You didn't have to be a country fan to enjoy his laid back, clap along, show. Dylan went louder and faster so the order (Bob always closes) works out well. Plus it helped us arrive on time since we had to work and race across the border.
My favorite moment was the only duet they played (Heartland). Months of watching another joke of an election campaign, of seeing people focus on clever one liners instead of real issues. Usually I can handle the useless, self-perpetuating nature of our system. At such a critical time though, it's different.
Made it seem just so right as two old men sang...
"This American Dream, fell apart at the seams
You tell me what it means, you tell me what it means"
The next day we saw everything OKC has to offer. It didn't take long.
The OKC bombing site, though, was impressive. Pretty weird seeing it and ground zero (NYC) in person. They're strangely similar.
Overall, a fun and sometimes touching excursion into the physical, mental and musical Heartland.
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9/02/2004
Hurricane Frances, You Can Just Keep Heading North...
My mom and sister have steel shutters up on the house and bought appropriate supplies. The storm seems to be creeping further and further northward. That is good in my little world since Miami is slowly getting out of the line of fire (or the direct line, at least).
The biggest concern at this point is the damn thing making a sudden change of direction. That's not likely but it certainly can happen (just ask the West coast about Charley).
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My mom and sister have steel shutters up on the house and bought appropriate supplies. The storm seems to be creeping further and further northward. That is good in my little world since Miami is slowly getting out of the line of fire (or the direct line, at least).
The biggest concern at this point is the damn thing making a sudden change of direction. That's not likely but it certainly can happen (just ask the West coast about Charley).
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