Home for a Lazy Sunday

Today is about as lazy as it can be. The wife and I returned from Rockford more exhausted then we thought. This is mostly because our daughter is in a cranky phase and was a screaming meanie at Red Robin last night. The Hockey game was fun, but sadly the Ice Hogs could not beat the Peoria Rivermen. This will no doubt be met by a great deal of ribbing from my family in Peoria.

Right now I am sitting here enjoying the Bears game and watching my daughter chase our cat underneath the Christmas tree.

I found a great writing program called OmmWriter which is a no frills writing program that allows you to type away without the distractions of spellcheck and formatting. I like it because currently my background is a snow covered landscape and I am typing over it.

It is available for free download here.

otherwise, the wife has flown the coop for a spa afternoon and the daughter and I are working on singing "Bear Down".

Adios

I am off to Rockford today with the family to enjoy some good food and a Rockford Ice Hog game.

There is definitely something exciting about minor league hockey over NHL. To me, I think the minors is a place where everyone is so hungry to achieve that it drives the game.

I wanted to share a great website with you all. It is called FiveBooks.

FiveBooks is a website that compiles the five best books on a particular subject offered by scholars in the field of the subject. It is essentially a great site to use if you are looking to learn about a particular field, from Einstein to Music. It is very intriguing and has prompted me to reach out to a couple of friends about starting a History Club, which is really a fancy way of saying a Book Club. In my mind we would pick a topic and read books about the topic and then gather for cigars and whisky in some dingy backroom bar and discuss the topic and how it made us feel.

If you are local maybe you will want to join.

Random

Happy belated Thanksgiving.

A few random thoughts for my readers (all 5 of you)

-Pick up the new Kanye West album in stores now. It is easily my favorite album so far this year and may be the best so far this decade. It is not necessarily kid friendly, but a great record for the car or on the computer when little ones are asleep.

- I also have been listening to the new Cee Lo Album. Great if you like a fusion of 60's pop and R&B. Not as strong as his work with Danger Mouse.

-Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect is by far the funnest gaming experience I have ever had. It runs about $149 but you will be having a great time sweating out to Dance Party or the white water rapid game that comes with the system.

What I Am Reading This Holiday Season

A couple weekends ago I joined my wife's family for a college football game in Ann Arbor. I love college football games because of the energy and the excitement. This game was by far the best one we had been too, mostly because the Fighting Illini and Michigan went into overtime and battled back and forth, until, sadly Illinois fell short.

It was also a nice weekend because neither my wife or I had to drive. This gave me the opportunity to pick up a magazine at a truck stop to read on the way home. The truck stop we stopped at had a very dismal inventory of magazines, so instead of my preferred Sports Illustrated, I ended up picking up a Rolling Stone.

After reading a couple great articles about Conan O'Brien and Taylor Swift, I read a great book review about Keith Richards. Keith just wrote his autobiography with James Fox called "Life". Now because the review was so good, I thought I would pick up a copy from Amazon. Boy was I not disappointed. I am currently a hundred pages into it, and simply reading about Keith Richards upbringing has been a joy. I cannot even imagine what a ride I will be in for once we get into the Rolling Stones years.

My second book on the agenda is Decision Points by President George W. Bush. Now this book at first would seem political, but skimming in it seems very insightful and thoughtful to the Bush presidency, and how he came to make the decisions that would, for better or worse, shape his presidency. Far be it to me to wax poetic about a presidency, however I am one of the few out there in the world who think that as history evolves, the eight year term term of G.W will be looked at differently, with fresh, respectful eyes.

I imagine these two books will last me, but if there are any suggestions I would appreciate it.

Why I Disappeared

So as my five followers have noticed I was on a great blogging rampage leading into labor day and then completely disappeared. I will not lie that some of this was laziness but for the most part the business of life sort of caught me by surprise. While I was blogging about leaderships lessons and great websites, I was also on the sly, looking for a new job. It had come to the point at my last job that I had become way to comfortable, with the work and the people and the business. Life in the office was one repetitive task after another, and I was slowly just evolving into the type of worker who spends his days surfing the internet and not caring about th output. In mid-August, after a good month of refining my resume, I found a hit. I had two very good interviews, and by October 15th, I was in a new company where my hard work and ideas would be appreciated.

During that time I was also taking three classes at Depaul that for lack of better phrase, were kicking my ass. The worst of the three was a statistics class that was taught online and totally utilized Microsot Excel to formulate problems. Now this may seem like an easy class, but trying to create formulas in Excel and copy and paste data from one tab to another was time consuming. Not to mention this class had one huge project each week.


So I abandoned the blog for a while. But I am back over the holiday break and hope to really dive in to the blogosphere.

sorry for the interuption.

Today's Reading List

Some nuggets for you :)

If you want to hang with the executive set. You need to know what they are reading and how.

What a Player Executive Reads

Training people at work? Work Awesome will show you the way.

11 Tips for Training People at Work

An invaluable idea.

No One Nos: Learning to Say No to Bad Ideas

Today's Reading List

Here are some of the things I have been reading today.

About.com has a great article on what you should do on your first day as a manager.

A First Day Manual for Managers

Lifehacker offers a little etiqutte lesson on remebering and dealing with people's names.

On remembering and dealing with people's names

Finally, 10 easy ways to improve your cooking.

Bucktown Art Fest 2010

Bucktown Art Fest 2010

 

This past weekend, the wife and I (and daughter too) attended the 25^th Annual Bucktown Art Fest.  Despite the horrendous heat, we loaded into our mini-SUV and made the 45 minute ride into the city.  Back in the day, my wife and I attended this particular fest, and loved it.  We even walked away with a few pieces of art which at the time, we both felt was the best artists that the festival had.  This year was beyond our expectations.

 

The wife and I literally saw dozens of pieces (sculpture, art, and photography) that we wanted or could use in our home.  I could have easily dropped 10K on art this weekend if the economy and my wallet were not in the way.  In the end my wife and only purchased one piece of art. 

 

 

This piece was created by Maria Ciaccio, and as you can tell is an abstract painted onto an old window.  The wife and I were totally besotted by the art that was on display in Maria's tent.  Unfortunatley I did not catch the name of the other young lady who was also in the space, but both were very grateful at our purchase. 

 

For the wife and I, there is nothing better than to buy and admire works by local artists from Chicago.  In this instance, we will we thoroughly enjoy this piece for a long time. 

 

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The Dentist

Why is it that if you show up a minute late, the receptionist wants to tear your head off, but if you happen to arrive ten minutes early they act like you are throwing off their flow.

It amazes me that someone in the medical profession hasn't come up with a more efficient way to clear people through a daily schedule. I understand that a doctor has to wear many hats but there has got to be some room for delegation along the process.

Any thoughts?

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Today's Reading List

Here are the articles I am reading today. Hopefully my 5 followers will enjoy them.

The Life Work of a Thought Leader

Great Q&A with the late Coimbatore Krishnarao (C.K.) Prahalad - former professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross Business School. Courtesy of Strategy+Business.

The Complicated Lives of Today's Leaders: Why Being at the Top is Harder Than Ever

An insightful Q&A on ethics, values, and competencies required of today's global leaders with four fellows from The World Economic Forum's Global leadership Fellows Program.

How CEOs Will Use Social Media in the Future

Another interesting article courtesy of Gist. I have no idea how CEOs will pull this off in the short-term but the long-term expectation is that tomorrow's corporate leaders will be twittering up a storm.

The End

Right now I am sitting in the back of a Chevy Traverse riding down Highway 131 heading towards Vail. I may not survive the car ride because my mother in law insists on driving 90 miles an hour on the curviest roads I have ever been on. So if this is the last blog post I might as well update everyone on the trip to Colorado.

Let me start by repeating that I am on a trip with my wife, sister-in-law, and the aforementioned mother-in-law. The three of them together is like watching three chimps try to put together a jigsaw puzzle. These woman refuse to communicate in anything other than grunts and mumbles and hold any information they may have like cold war spies. It is a cluster to say the least and a tremendous source of agitation for me. Add an 8 month old who I have to keep tabs on, and this is as much of a vacation as a dime stint in Folsom Prison.

On Saturday we arrived and drove up to Steamboat Springs from Denver. The ride was ok but being stuck in the back seat makes me sick to my stomach. I must mention that my sister-in-law refuses to ride in the car while I am driving because I get impatient with not having the right directions. That's right, as a 30 year old man I am to take orders from my sister-in-law. It sucks but it seems to be how my wife wants to conduct the marriage. So I take orders, get berated, and crapped on by all woman in the family. Oh well.

So once we reached Steamboat Springs we went to the Rodeo where we enjoyed great BBQ and the show.

On Sunday we awoke to go have brunch. This is another of my in-laws must haves. If there is a brunch or a cheap breakfast deal it is imperative to make the time to go. In this case we needed to take a gondola all the way up the mountain to have brunch, take the gondola all the way down to go back to the condo, then back up so we could hike down. The hike was great and we were starving when we came back down. We grilled kebobs.

On Monday we went white water rafting and had blast. The rapid had one class 3 rapid and several class 2. On the last class 2 the raft guide let us dive from the raft and ride the rapid on our backs. This was amazing.

On Tuesday I hiked the mountain alone and was able to get some great shots. The wife and I went on a little date into town and went to a little make your own steak place. The only bad part was they did not depoop the shrimp, leaving my wife to envy my Ribeye.

This morning we awoke early to hike to a waterfall and then quickly went back to pack, shower, and get on the road. By late afternoon we should be in Denver. Then home in Chicago back where there is work, and chores, and no In Laws.

So we have arrived in Denver after a substantial delay in stormy Chicago. I am ready for a beer but it is way too early for it. By the way I love it when we fly into Colorado and the land is so flat around the airport. Makes me think " That John Denver was full of shit". Weather is beautiful and god bless Jack in the Box for an amazing steak sour dough melt.

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Uggh

First things first, I have no idea why I allow my wife to book early flights. It is now 5:13 and we are on the southside of Chicago heading to Midway Airport. I an tired, the baby is loud, and my mother in law is ever so speedy in the car making my stomach churn. I need a coffee and another piece of nicotine gum.

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Hummingbird

I am happy to announce that we saw our first hummingbird on our feeder tonight. I hope to get pictures with the good camera soon and post them on the blog.

And as a final update to the crazy train. The Lockport people talked about the healthy benefits of urine and an 80's cover band that will be playing at a Joliet bar next week. I was forced to listen to my iPod.

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They Exist

Imagine that a group of Carnies escaped from a roving caravan only to breed children with little intelligence and exceptional foreheads. This is the population of Lockport.

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The Shit for Brains on my Train

I originally was going to post this as a haiku and spent a few minutes on this ride coming up with the right words. The truth is that the guy sitting right in front of me warrants more than a few sentences of carefully crafted verse.

The guy sitting in front of me is roughly 5 ft 4 and weighs close to 160 lbs. He has salt and pepper hair, glasses, and a blackberry that was in style roughly three years ago. He is also the most annoying man I have ever had to deal with in the general proximity. He is loud, obnoxious and from the idle conversation he shares with a few riders I think he is a lawyer. Oh and he is also an extreme creature of habit thus creating the issue between us.

Every night I get on the train while it is relatively empty, I take a seat and draw out the demons of the workday by listening to my IPOD or reading or writing. When obnoxious gets on the train he makes it a point to announce that I am not Richard. Apparently the seat I am in is reserved for this mysterious Richard. He yells this every single day.

Oh wait I am stopping this rant to say his annoying compadres just showed up to spend their time being loud and obnoxious. I guess, taking into account that obnoxious man rolls with a pack, that he is guilty by association or by culture. It is evident that they are just the coterie of idiots that make up the population of Lockport. So it goes.

You Know They Got A Hell of a Band

Let me make this quick and painless. If you have not listened to the new Black Keys album Brothers you are missing out on what might be the greatest listening experience I have had this year.

For me it is rare to hear an album that I would categorize as top tier. Artist release albums to fulfill a need by the label to have a hit single. Because we have moved into a new digital realm, that is all the label needs to make a profit. So with that in mind, artist put on a hit single on an album then load it with another 11 tracks of crap.

This is why I have been amazed by Brothers and the Broken Bells. Here are two albums that are absolutely pure and a throw back to the time when artists actually recorded an albums worth of material. The songs sync together to create an experience which is all this music fan asks for.

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Test

I am testing my phone blogging capability.

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1960's

So right off the bat I will give you what I think the Best Album of the 60's, The Most Influential Album of the 60's, and Best Song of the 60's is, and from there you can choose to continue reading. Please note, I am just a dude who likes music and have no idea if the music I have chosen is reflected on any list (but I bet they are).

Best Album: The Beatles- Rubber Soul.

Most Influential Album: The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds.

Best Song: The Beach Boys - God Only Knows.


Best Album: The Beatles- Rubber Soul.

There are two camps when it comes to best albums + The Beatles. Those who think Revolver is the best, or those who think Sgt. Peppers is the best. Now, both of these albums are the amazing, do not get me wrong. If I was on a desert island with my top 100 albums, they would both be in my treasure chest. However, if I was on a desert island with only five albums, Rubber Soul would be one of the five.

In this world, there is nothing better than listening to this album, frontwards to back, and taking it in. This was The Beatles at the beginning of their musical journey. Yes, there are at least a hundred recordings previous to this record, but it was here that they began to shine. Take away a few garbage songs on the album, the rest is solid gold. For me, The song In My Life is the number 1 song Lennon/McCartney ever wrote. It is an important album- Harrison starts to shine as a lyricist and instrumental innovator, Lennon starts to seem more comfortable with his singing, and McCartney truly begins to put substance into his lyrics (most of the songs are written for his impending break-up with then girlfriend Jane Asher). Hell, even Ringo gets creative by flicking a matchbook as percussion during the song I'm Looking Through You. This is the best Beatles album, and no matter how many revisions to the list, or new expanded remastered albums they put out, Rubber Soul will always be their best.


Most Influential Album: The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds.

It is almost fitting that the most influential album of the 1960's was born from the best album. When Brian Wilson heard the album Rubber Soul by The Beatles, he realized that musically The Beach Boys needed to go places. Wilson began writing songs with lyricist Tony Asher, and the result, in my opinion, is the most influential album of the 1960's. This album, besides giving the world amazing songs, was what would usher in the world of studio experimentation. One could say, well George Harrison (The Beatles) was playing the Sitar and George Martin(The Beatles producer) was messing around with the studio space, but Brian Wilson took experimentation and made it into a cohesive, grand experience. Any band, from May 1966 onwards who ever flipped a knob and found brilliance, owes that inspiration to this album.


Best Song: The Beach Boys - God Only Knows.

What can someone say about this song that has not already been said. This is one of the best songs of all time. Now saying that might lead you to believe that I am saying it is great amongst rock and roll or the music post Elvis shaking his hips. No, I am saying it is one of the best of ALL time. Throw in a couple songs by Mozart and Beethoven and you are on your way. When people in the future are carbon dating our bones and picking up bits of our culture and they happen upon this song, they will think we were a beautiful species. I am going on record with this blog that no one has written a more beautiful song since and I am guessing no one will. I danced to this song with my wife at our wedding. case closed.

My Best, Influential Albums and Best Songs

So I have been in a heated debate with my old buddy Chris about what was the best song of the 1990's. Chris and I have of course agreed to disagree( for now) but in the interim, the discussion has prompted me to take a look at the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's and pick my favorite album, the most influential album, and the best song of the decade. I decided I would blog about it and see everyones reaction. By no means am I the definitive answer to great music, but I thought it would be interesting to see what others reactions would be. Chris may get a little pissed at me but am going out on a limb