Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Top 25 albums of 2008

*****
1)Sigur Ros—med sut ieyrum…
2)Cloud Cult—Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes
3)Elbow—The Seldom Seen Kid
4)Kanye West--808's and Heartbreak

**** ½
5)She & Him—Volume One
6)Amy MacDonald—This is the Life
7)Santogold—self-titled
8)TV on the Radio—Dear Science
9)The Helio Sequence—Keep Your Eyes Ahead

****
10)Keane—Perfect Symmetry
Coldplay—Viva la Vida
My Morning Jacket—Evil Urges
Ryan Adams--Cardinology
The Raconteurs—Consolers of the Lonely
The Hold Steady—Stay Positive
The Killers—Day and Age
Patrick Park—Everyone's in Everyone (2007)
Gnarls Barkley—The Odd Couple

*** ½
Death Cab for Cutie—Narrow Stairs
The Weepies—hideaway
Liam Finn—I'll Be Lightning
Joshua Radin—Simple Times
Yoav—Charmed & Strange
Ben Sollee—Learning to Bend
Flight of the Conchords—self-titled

honorable mention: Greg Laswell—Three Flights From Alto Nido

Best books I read in 2008

*****
THE RESTLESS HEART by Ronald Rolheiser (spirituality)
FORGOTTEN AMONG THE LILIES by Ronald Rolheiser (spirituality)
EVERYTHING BELONGS by Richard Rohr (spirituality)

**** ½
PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL by Dan Ariely (human behavior/condition)
SWAY by Ori and Rom Brafman (human behavior/condition)
OUTLIERS by Malcolm Gladwell (human behavior/condition)

****
THE PRODIGAL GOD by Timothy Keller (spirituality)
THE THING ABOUT LIFE IS THAT ONE DAY YOU'LL BE DEAD by David Shields (human condition)
CLICK by Bill Tancer (human behavior/condition)
THE DRUNKARD'S WALK by Leonard Mlodinow (human behavior/condition)

*** ½
SAVING THE WORLD AT WORK by Tim Sanders (leadership)
THE SHACK by William H. Young (fiction)
A SENSE OF URGENCY by John P. Kotter (leadership)
WIDE AWAKE by Erwin McManus (spirituality)
THE 3 BIG QUESTIONS FOR A FRANTIC FAMILY by Patrick Lencioni (leadership)

let's switch directions here...

since I have to google my name in order to find my own blog, I must officially consider myself "blog challenged." So, instead I will use this space as simply a resource/recommendation center as a way to share with you what I am listening to, watching, and reading in addition to getting recommendations from you. So...no deep thoughts allowed here...too much thinking involved. Let's just point each other in the right direction to find the best and potentially deepest thoughts out there!!

by the way, happy 28th birthday to my sister Page!!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

getting over myself......part one

I have learned the importance of seeing and loving other people, however I am much better at practicing self-indulgence. Everything I choose to do and to have for myself will one day die with me. Only what I choose to do for other people will be what truly lives on after me. I believe one of the biggest difference makers in all of our relationships is the level of empathy we carry with us from person to person. Empathy is the ability to feel what others feel.

Too often I live according to my own feelings and in blatant disregard to the feelings of those in front of me. To be empathetic is to choose to feel. To feel is to be open. This is hard...unless you are into vulnerability.

Practicing empathy makes me approachable and allows my presence in other people's lives to be worthwhile. It is the moment in a conversation when I truly feel what another feels that I realize once again life is not about me. All of my preceding self-indulgent efforts collide with what really matters......other people.

How empathetic are you? Find out:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/table/0,,937442,00.html

(assessment discovered in Daniel Pink's outstanding book "A Whole New Mind")

Monday, March 10, 2008

the madness

well, it is that time of year again. In fact, it is the greatest time of year: MARCH MADNESS

On Monday, March 17, everyone will have a printed bracket in hand ready to write in exactly how they believe the tourney will unfold. What makes this time of year great is the variety of people who get swept up in the madness. In the office where I work, I make everyone fill out a bracket even though many of them do not have a clue about any of the teams. Many of the ladies pick according to the team's colors or even the mascots!

After 7 years of having over 25 staff members fill out a bracket, only 2 times has a "basketball fan" had the most correct picks and won the bracket contest! It is indeed maddening. The fact that the winner receives a basketball bobblehead trophy I guess is motivation enough!!

Each year I invite over 100 people to be in an online bracket pool, which proves to be filled with relentless banter for 3 weeks. What takes place during this time is the most edifying trash talk of the year. People are ruthless with one another, yet everyone keeps coming back for more...well, almost everyone...

This is the greatest time of year, not because it is all about basketball, but because of what surrounds the experience. Honestly, the 3 weeks of March Madness is the best camaraderie we have in the office all year long! Likewise, online we find ourselves exchanging pointed remarks with people we don't interact much with the rest of the year. I have people over to my house for madness parties where we have the opportunity to yell at the tv, yell at each other, and cheer for teams we don't even like just because we picked them in our bracket!

All in all, it keeps me humble. I mean, honestly, who can participate in a sports bracket pool, lose to their mom and continue on in life with the same kind of posture!

Don't miss out. Join in this year.....that is, unless you are intimidated by your mom...

Thursday, February 7, 2008

best books I read in 07

1) The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser
2) Organic Community by Joseph Myers
3) Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
4) Sex God by Rob Bell
5) The Go Point by Michael Useem
6) The Shattered Lantern by Ronald Rolheiser
7) The Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni
8) This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
9) I Am America(and so can you) by Stephen Colbert
10) Confessions of a Pastor by Craig Groeschel
11) Justice in the Burbs by Will and Lisa Samson
12) Everything Must Change by Brian McLaren