One day of silence

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All I need now is a theme song

This was an unusual week. On Tuesday, I was in Carver Arena with Joe Montana and on Friday, I was in O’Brien Field with Ryne Sandberg. Not exactly the typical work week. I’m not a big fan of the 49ers and since I’m a Cardinals girl, I can’t stand the Cubs…but hey, you have to appreciate talent no matter what uniform it wears.

Tuesday was an all-day motivational seminar that my team attended. (Does anybody else get flashbacks of Chris Farley’s Matt Foley character when they hear ‘motivational seminar’? …

“and LIVING in a VAN down by the RIVER!”

…Oh, just me? Huh.)

Anyway, Joe was there to talk about teamwork and had some great football stories to share. He’s not a real polished public speaker, but he did a good job (and he did look good). We also heard from Phil Town, Bill Bartman, Krish Dhanam, Tom Hopkins, George “The Apprentice” Ross, and Zig Ziglar. I really enjoyed learning about investing from Phil Town and hearing George talk about “The Donald” and they were all entertaining, but overall, it started to sound like an unending infomercial…especially about Hour 5. And by Hour 9, we felt like freed prisoners when we were finally told we could go.

The overarching theme of the day was “Do what you love, with quality and integrity, with people you respect and admire, and you’ll be successful.” Again with this? It’s like Life is a broken record.

Friday, our team went to the Peoria Chiefs game. Not the best ballgame I’ve seen and it was “School Day” so we were surrounded by pre-pubescent squealers but the weather was great and we weren’t at work, so who cares about baseball? One of the groups I used to work with was there for the day too so I got to see a bunch of old friends. But, Jake the Diamond Dog was the best part, I must say — not the mascot, the actual canine. He is trained to retrieve the bats (Bat Dog? Sounds like a super-hero…or a really bad experiment in cross-breeding), run water out to the umps and after the game, he stands by the gate so he can greet everybody as they leave. He, alone, was worth the price of admission.

Thursday night was probably what I’ll remember most about this week though. After training, one of the two men in our class (the one who’s actually my age, not the one young enough to be my…little brother…ahem) waited for me and wanted to talk about what we had talked about in class. We ended up spending about 30 minutes, talking about where we’ve been in life, what draws us to this kind of service, and what we get from it. I listened to him tell me about his mother, his ex-wife, and his co-worker — all who had been victims of sexual or physical abuse in the past and how that impacted him as a man and how it shifted his focus from what he once thought was important to what he now believes is the most important thing. He made a comment that struck home with me when he said, “I think it’s time for me to stop thinking about this and start doing something. If this is the type of work I should be doing, then I have to find a way to make it work.” It was nice to hear those words coming out of someone else’s mouth for a change, I must say.

Like I said, Life…broken record.

On the bookshelf, #14

The Feast of Love, by Charles Baxter
Note: This is Book #3 for me in the Spring Reading Thing Challenge 2007

I know, it’s been a very long time since I’ve finished a book. I guess between excessive work hours, training 2 nights a week, my other volunteer work and, you know, life… reading has slipped down a bit on my list of priorities. But I vow to do better. I need it. My brain needs it. It needs to think about nothing of consequence for a while every day.

I am happy to report that I really enjoyed this book by Charles Baxter. If you recall my last review (On the bookshelf, #13), I spoke of how disappointed I had been in First Light, the first of his books I read. The Feast of Love, however, was what I expect a book to be — entertaining, captivating.

The manner in which the book is written is altogether intriguing. The prelude captures Charlie Baxter (yes, the same name that is on the book cover) waking from a bad dream and deciding to go for a late-night walk. As he walks around the neighborhood, he happens across an old friend, Bradley, sitting on a park bench. The two begin to talk. And so Chapter 1 begins.

Bradley asks Charlie how his new book is coming. Charlie says fine and Bradley asks what the first line of the book is. Charlie at first protests but Bradley persists so Charlie tells him. And then you realize that the first line of Charlie’s book is the exact same first line of the prelude you just read. You’re caught in this great space between reading a book that’s been written and reading one that is being written as you read it. If that doesn’t make sense, you just have to read it to see what I mean.

Bradley starts to tell Charlie how fiction isn’t all that great — Charlie should write about real people. Real people have real stories, he says. Like he, Bradley, has a story, for instance. And he starts to tell Charlie about his first wife, Kathryn, and their one really great day. And so Chapter 2 begins.

And so it goes. Charlie gets Bradley’s story, then Kathryn’s story, and those stories lead to the stories of Bradley’s neighbors, his employees, his second wife, Diana, and so on. We, as readers, get to observe the making of these stories into a work of literature with each turning of the page.

As the title suggests, each story is a story of love. The unrelenting pursuit of a partner by Bradley; the unending love of parents for their child who has left them, both physically and emotionally; the secretive forbidden trysts of a woman with her married lover; the passionate, burned-out-too-soon love of a couple of young kids who for all their attempts to be noncomforists are really the most traditional of them all…each coming to the same table, as it were, in this book, The Feast of Love. A really good read.

The interview

My friend, John B., was recently interviewed by one of his blog friends in the “Five Questions” meme that is making its way around the blogosphere. I must admit, it’s a great way to learn somewhat insightful, and often obscure, tidbits about some of the people you’ve been reading for a while. John then offered to interview any of his readers who might be interested…so, curious as to what questions might be asked, I volunteered. John’s questions and my responses are below.

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1) Match 3 favorite places of yours with 3 favorite writers of yours, and explain a bit why those strike you as appropriate (or at least “interesting”) matches.

Michael Connelly — Big Sur, CA.
Although Michael lives in Florida (if book jackets and Google searches are to be believed), his stories are primarily set in the less than desirable areas of LA and Las Vegas. His authoring mind is fixated on darkness, crime, lies, and the seedier side of life so a good long visit to the beauty that is Big Sur would be a refreshing change, I believe. Big Sur is so unlike anything else I’ve ever seen with its miles of coast jutting in and out of view, narrow roads squeezed tightly against towering sheets of mountain cliffs, boulders that appear on the shore as casually as someone tossing around pillows…it is completely majestic. When you’re lucky enough to find a small area to pull over and take it all in, you are mesmerized. Even now, over a decade since I’ve been there, I can recapture those sights, sounds, and feelings if I just close my eyes.

Chris Bohjalian — Upper Peninsula, MI
Chris has written 10 novels and though I’ve only read one (The Double Bind) completely, I’m hooked and have bought the other 9 to read as soon as humanly possible. Most, if not all, of his books are set in New England, primarily Vermont, and I always thought I wanted to live there. That is, until I began making my treks to the northern regions of Michigan and Wisconsin. Standing on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior with a squat red-boarded lighthouse to your left and acres of tall, lean pines to your right — it just doesn’t get much better. I want him to visit, become inspired by the beauty that exists outside Vermont, and dedicate his next novel to me!

Dan Brown — River Walk, San Antonio, TX
Okay, Dan has written some entertaining books (Angels and Demons is my favorite of his) but I didn’t really consider him a “favorite” writer. However, the River Walk in San Antonio is my third favorite place and I remember thinking of him while there — so there you have it. On one of the river cruises I was on (I was on the river every day I was there, so I don’t remember which one), the guide was talking about the one time of year when they drain the man-made waterway and clean out all the debris and do regular maintenance. For some reason, I had this flash of another world living under that canal, with people who could only enter or leave during that one time of the year when the water was drained, and there was some sort of evilness to it. I didn’t come up with all the details (probably got distracted by a mariachi band or something), but I do remember thinking “great concept for a novel”. And who else could bring something so obscure to life and give it just enough realism to make you say “hmm”? Dan Brown, of course.

2) Lenny or Squiggy?

If I must choose (and tell me why I should?), I choose Lenny. When Lenny thought Laverne might be pregnant, and he offered to marry her, and promised to “hardly ever hit her or nothin’”, I mean what girl wouldn’t swoon?

3) Name the 3 best pieces of advice you’ve ever received and by whom they were given.

Well, I’m going to bypass all the usual malarkey we’ve all heard…Wait an hour after eating before swimming; Come in out of the rain; Wear clean underwear in case you’re in an accident; Don’t make me stop this car!…and give you the three pieces of advice that actually mean something to me.

My dad gave me my first piece of advice when I was about 8 years old when he told me, “When you’re stocking shelves, always face the product”. Now for those of you who don’t speak “retail”, that means display your wares with the best side facing the customer. That’s why when you go down the cereal aisle, your kids start hyperventilating and insisting that life will not go on without the brightly colored cartoon-faced boxes of sugar that are beckoning to them…because it looks good. As I grew up, I realized this is pretty sound advice in all areas of life — you are your own product, so give the people you meet your best.

Another piece of advice I can remember receiving was on a telephone call with my Grandmother. She and I were talking about my boyfriend at the time and how things just weren’t going well. I said something like, “Why doesn’t he understand what I want by now?” And Grandma said, “If you don’t ask for what you want, how is he supposed to know?” She told me the story of how when I was a baby, I never cried. I would stay in my crib long after waking, not uttering a sound, because I figured that at some point someone would come and get me. Sometimes my parents would forget to feed me for hours on end because I just wouldn’t cry and tell them I was hungry. Grandma said, “It’s okay to ask for what you want. You still might not get it but at least you know you tried.”

The last piece of advice that stands out was from my nephew. He came home from school, grumpy and tired and out of sorts. He sulked and slammed and plopped around until even he was getting irritated with himself — and then he walked out to the kitchen where the rest of the family was and asked for a group hug. Everyone grabbed hold of everyone else and huddled in the middle of the kitchen, caught in a bear-tight squeeze. He came out of that with a smile and a new attitude. When asked about it, he said, “Sometime you just gotta feel the love.”

How true.

4) If you have artwork (originals or prints) in your house, what are 3 of them, and what appeals to you about them? If you have fewer than 3, either say what you would like to have in your house, or why you choose not to.

My favorite thing in my house right now is a photo by David, which was given to me by David, Andrea, and Josh for my last birthday. This is the one. It sits on the hall table between my entry way and the living room. I look at it every day and it calms me. I love it and I love the people who gave it to me.

I also have three prints of Monet’s in my house — one in the entry way, one in the dining room, and one in my bedroom. My boyfriend took me to The Art Institute of Chicago when the Monet exhibit was there several years ago, and we loved it. I later found three prints and decided to mat and frame them alike and hang them throughout my home. They have always reminded me of that special weekend. However, although I am happy with them, I don’t feel the need to add more of his works. I think that was a phase.

And although this isn’t anything really special or unique, I have a wall hanging that I found just after moving here that is now on my living room wall. It is a large abstract circular piece, made of paper, wood, and a little bit of woven rope looped on it — and it is completely white. It probably sounds odd but it really is pretty and has received many compliments. I love it because I was shopping with my Mom when we saw it on the wall of the store and she said, “It’s lovely. It looks like you.” So there you have it.

Now, I am completely smitten with photography (landscapes and architecture, specifically) and sculpture. I would love to someday own more photography by David, photography by Alissa (who I have been lucky enough to witness grow into an even more amazing photographer over the past year), and photography by Ansel Adams. And my grandest of dreams is to commission a sculpture by Preston Jackson. I have no idea what I would want (although it would probably have a strong female presence in it), or if he even does such a thing on a small scale, but that would send me over the moon.

5) Will this play in Peoria?? (You may define “this” as you see fit.)

My wish is that “Saving and Preserving our Planet” plays in Peoria. I haven’t seen much evidence of anyone making any grand gestures in that regard but I’m hoping “An Inconvenient Truth”, “Planet Earth” and some of the shows that Oprah has done on the subject are resounding somewhere in our community. I want to see people carrying in their eco-friendly bags (mine are on backorder) to the grocery store or better yet, to our local farmers’ markets; buying alternative-fuel vehicles or at least ones with better MPG; turning their thermostats up a few degrees in the summer and down a few in the winter; and replacing regular light bulbs with CFLs.

Let’s pray it plays here.

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Thank you, John! You were right — that was a lot of fun! If any of my readers would like to be interviewed by me, let me know in the comments and I will email you 5 questions, which you will then be asked to share on your own blog. I promise not to get too personal!

Attention deficit

You’ve probably heard this story, but it bears repeating. (Pardon my paraphrasing; I don’t quite remember all the details.)

There once was a man who heard on the radio that a big flood was coming. He refused to leave his home when all his neighbors did, because he was sure God would take care of him. When the big flood came, he was found standing on the roof of his home. A member of a rescue team offered to take him to safety in his boat but the man refused, saying that he wasn’t worried, God would take care of him.

The water continued to rise. A while later, a helicopter hovered overhead and a rope ladder was lowered so the man could board and be flown to safety. He politely refused to leave his roof, saying God would take care of him. And the water continued to rise.

The man died in the flood and when he arrived in Heaven, he asked God why He didn’t take care of him. God answered, I tried to care of you. I sent you a message on the radio, a man with a boat, and a helicopter. Why weren’t you paying attention?

I’ve been thinking of that little parable a lot lately. It seems like every time I turn around I hear another message about the secret of life being following your passion, doing what brings you joy, and how the greatest happiness (for people with my personality DNA) comes from helping others.

What is it going to take to get my attention?