Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Institutional DNA

One of the things a person occasionally sees is the rise of what I call institutional DNA. This is where an individual is so deeply intertwined with an organization that the organization's success goes hand-in-hand with the individual. The most obvious example of this is Apple Computer and Steve Jobs. The company was founded on Jobs' vision and the company rises and falls on its ability to adhere to it. Those who ran the company between Jobs' two stints didn't understand the vision so the company floundered. When Jobs return the company was refocused on that vision and seemed to really find its feet. The question with the company is whether or not that "DNA" can be transferred to another leader or if the DNA can be modified or mutated by another leader whose vision is close enough to the original that the company will still thrive.

For me, the saga at the University of Florida fits this. Is Spurrier the only guy who can take the program to true success? Alabama has had real problems replacing Bear Bryant for just this reason with (until this year maybe) only Gene Stallings, a former palyer and coach under Stallings having success. If Florida decides to go with someone besides the Ol' Ballcoach it risks messing with the DNA...

I wonder how often we do this with things in our life. Is my ministry infused with the "DNA" of the lovely wife and I? Probably. Tot he point where no one could run it? I'm pretty sure that right now it is. The goal is to find people who can lead that share our vision fully enough that if we are no longer able to continue to run the ministry, they can pick it up and be successful in modifying it int he right ways that will fit their leadership style and yet holds to the original vision.

Something to think about.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Monday, October 25, 2004

Refreshment

So worship the last several weeks hasn't been such a great thing. I've been to several services and haven't felt at all connected and have only rarely worshipped. In part I feel like I've returned to the desert though only in this one aspect. The Bible study and Coffeehouse for GCF have been really uplifting. Went to a church yesterday that was so not me and I was pretty disappointed when I got home.

Then GCF got together for our evening worship time and it was exactly what I needed. The entire time was praise around some themes in Rev. 4 and 5. Master Weiss led with some guitar and harmonia and I got to play a Djembe for the first time. For those who don't know, a Djembe is a big African drum that allows for tonal variation depending on where the drum head is hit by your hand. I wasn't very good but I actually felt like I got to create in the praise time. I got to interact with a community of worshippers to create a unique expression of my and our devotion to God. We got to offer our praise to God and I felt deeply connected to the other worshippers and to the Lord. It was a really refreshing and connecting experience. Even with the rhythm deficencies I showed at times I just enjoyed what we got to lift to Him.

If you read this and are or have been a part of GCF you should join us on Sunday nights for worship. It's so much better than somuch of what I've "experienced" lately. Instead of sitting in a seat and having worship thrown at me or done for me I get to be part of the entire creation of worship in a very deep way. I haven't felt this good in worship since the trip to Cheaha Mountain many years ago when I sat with abobut 50 other college studnets and worshipped God on the side of the mountain with just the beauty of our voices and the devotion of our hearts. When the cloud descended around us we all felt liek we have recevied the blessing of God through a sort of baptism. Last night was like that. I so much hope that we can do it again.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Friday, October 22, 2004

Mark Knopfler

Here we are back on this again but since buying Shangri-La I've been listening to a lot of Knopfler's music. So much so, in fact, that I had to go out and buy Saling to Philadelpia. Just a few comments about what I think after listening to music from these two albums and the music from Knopler's solo debut, Golden Heart.

Like many people my age the first I heard of Knopler was with Dire Straits and Sultans of Swing. I remember the first time I heard the album and though what a cool tune it was. I mean it just captured what it must have been like to play in small English pubs and clubs as a sort of eclectic, folky band. The guitar work was great but the thing that really drove the tune was this laid back rhythm that made the song sound so totally effortless. So of like Steeley Dan but British and quirky.

The next thing I heard was "Money for Nothing" which was, of course, an MTV rock anthem back when they actually played music. I remember the uproar the lyriccs caused with the homosexual community and I remember Sting's killer background vocals. I listened to the whole album and I remember thinking that the best track was the haunting "Brothers in Arms".

Fast forward to the 90's and grad school. The band sort of broke up so the label released the greatest hit disc which I decided that I needed to have. It was OK but I wasn't too impressed with a lot of the stuff other than Twisting by the Pool. Then the On Every Street album came out and I was floored. What a cool album it was. From Calling Elvis to How Long every tune had a story to tell and a point to make. Ticket to Heaven was especially good but the best was the seven minute Planet of New Orleans with its simering blueish thing going on.

After that I didn't hear anything until I was managing the radio station in Kansas and we got Knopler's first solo disc, Golden Heart, sent to us and I gave it a listen. We were a contemporary hits radio format station and I pretty quickly figured out that this album wouldn't ever get played because it was just too darn good to appeal to 18 year old rural college kids. I'd play tunes from it on my evening radio show and the students would call asking me what this **** was and why didn't I play the pop flavor of the day that they'd already heard about 10 times that day. I'd suggest that if they liked the song so much they might want to consider buying the album and they could think of my show as something to broaden their horizons. Their response usually involved either questioning my parentage or suggesting various aerobic activites I might consider engaging in. I usually thanked them for their kindness and ended our conversation with a hearty cheerio...but I digress.

Anyway, Golden Heart was just about the best album I'd heard in years with Celtic and Acadian and folk and blues flavored mixed into what I kind of thought of as a musical gumbo. Great stuff with history thrown in and great characters with great stories. Gone was the rock hero side of Knopler. What replaced it was this sort of restrained virtuosity that was just effortless and threaten to break out and overflow but instead added just the right spice to the stew. The title track and "Darling Pretty" sounded like they'd been inspired when Knopfler wrote the Princess Bride soundtrack and several other tunes had to have been written on a tour through the bayous of lower Louisianna.

Then I lost him again. Golden Heart was one of the first albums on my iPod and was a piece that I'd return to like a sort of musical touchstone; especially when I became curmudgeonly about the state of music in America. Then out at the iTunes music store they had Shangri-La on the first day of its release. I looked at it for a few minutes and decided to buy it unheard and I found Knopler's other solo albums. Big risk for me as I'm still a poor kid at heart and I can't just go buy a bunch of music without at least hearing a song or two. I'm so completely pleased I did. I've listened to the album a couple of dozen times now and it just keeps getting better. I have to make myself choose other music so that I don't wear out the sound, if you know what I mean. Songs about Ray Kroc and McDonalds, Bush the Elder talking to Bush the Younger, a blues tune for Sonny Liston, a Trawlerman's Tale, Elvis and Clambake and so much more. What a great musical landscape it is. So back out to the iTunes music store and Sailing to Philadelphia is purchased. The title track is tune of almost heartbraking beauty, a duet with James Taylor about Jeremiah Dixon and Charlie Mason and their line. The rest of the album is more of the same, great laid back, low key storytelling populated with eccentric characters in amusing situations. As the lovely wife says, Knopfler has the most amazing way of spinning lyrics that you wouldn't think would work that really do. To compare him to another musician might not be quite right but lyrically he has that same ability to create gold from seeming disparate pieces like Paul Simon did on Rhythm of the Saints.

So, after all this, I hope you'll give mark Knopler a listen. Great music if you like it intelligent, low key and really, really smooth.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Second Class Citizens?

Not so long ago there was a lot of noise about how those in the religious right were denigrating women who made the choice to join the workforce while they had children at home. Many felt that the domestic conservatives were impuning the moral fiber of those women who wished to continue to make contributions to society through their careers as well as through what they did at home. I believe that those concerns were justified and I'm glad the discussion was brought to the fore. While each woman would have to make a choice based on their experience and conscience; no fat, white male had the right to condemn a woman for seeking to do what men had done for centuries.

Lately, though, the tables have turned as evidenced by the recent comments of the wife of the democratic presedential candidate. In an interview she implied that she would be a better first lady because she had workforce experience while her counterpart did not. Leaving aside the striking inaccuracy of her summation of the First Lady's work experience (Ms. Bush was a excellent public school teacher for 9 years...which may actually qualify her for sainthood in some districts), the assumption that having entered the work force makes Ms. Heinz-Kerry better qualified bothers me. Their are more issues here that I can shake a stick at but I'd like to look at two.

First, are we to the point now where certain segments of society are saying that those women who stay at home are inferior in some way? Apologize though she might, Ms. Heinz-Kerry certainly said that in her interview. You can see her world view very clearly through what she said in a moment when a politcal advisor wasn't camped next to her. I thought we'd settled this. No one gets to judge a woman's choice on whether to remain in the workforce or stay at home with and for her family. Or, if one side gets to judge, then so does the other. I like the first one better but I'm deeply distrurbed by the fact that a woman of Ms. Heinz-Kerry's standing would think such a thing.

Secondly, who are we electing here, Senator Kerry or Senator Kerry and his wife? If the latter's the case, do we need to have a First Ladies debate? I always assumed that I was voting for the Pres/VP combination but from her comments she thinks she's better qualified to be married to the Pres by reason for the skills she acquired by being a billionaire heiress. This makes me very uncomfortable and has likely solidified my voting choice. I won't vote for someone who thinks they'd be a better First Lady than a stay-at-home mom and who can't seem to get the facts straight before she says something ignorant. Ms. Heinz-Kerry implies that we, as voters, need to look at the whole package. For me, she's too big a drag on the Kerry, Heinz-Kerry, Edwards ticket.

That just my opinion, I could be wrong.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Uhhggghh! Blech! Arrrghh!

Wow, what a sucky ride this last weekend. Actually, it wasn't the ride but the rider that was sucky. The ride was actually pretty nice except for the rollers just after the Florida border. The thing was that the orginally forecast tailwind turned into an actual headwind on Saturday morning. Now, on a normal century you're riding a loop so headwind early in the ride turns into tailwind later. This means if you push early, you'll be OK later. In this case, the headwind just got worse as the day went on so when I pushed early, I paid later. My legs "blew to the world" as Paul Sherwin might say at about mile 80 and I ended up limping the rest of the way in but I still made it. I haven't ridden that poorly in a long time. So, I'm taking this week off. Obviously my body needs some recovery time so I'll just chill this week and see if I can find a way to ramp up for Dauset and Gainesvill in a couple of weeks. What may end up happening is that I take the rest of October off and then start training for next year in November. We'll just have to see. Right now though, I'm toast.

The rest of the weekend was interesting. Most of it was sort of a mish-mash of misplanning and forgetting trivial things like all my clothes back in Enterprise. It made for a very odd weekend at the beach where I got to sort of not really worry about anything since there was really nothing I could do about it. No clothes, no car, no personal items, really sore legs so no riding...so I just chilled a bit. It probably good that there wasn't any tequilla laying around or I might have ended up with a tatoo with no recollection of how I got it. Panama City isn't Key West but there are definitely similarities. Still, it was good to spend time with the lovely wife's sisters and their families.

Job #1 now is to get caught back up on my sleep and let my body rest and rejuvinate. With the amount of work work I have to do, this is a good time for some extra time.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Friday, October 15, 2004

Short Week/Long Week

Due to fall break, we've only had a three day week here at the College. Yet, the week has seemed pretty long right up until today. I guess my brain thinks it's still Wednesday and with all the stuff I've had to get caught up on I've been really rushed.

The project did come together though I'm hoping a lesson was learned about trying to remove paint from wooden objects in a 116 year old house. If they painted it the first time, they might have had a good reason. Even if they didn't, old paint is really, really persistent stuff. If we had had several months to "restore" the old baseboard to their "original" condition (that is assuming they weren't painted from the get go) the process would likely have been a great success but a four day weekend wasn't enough time.

It looks like some of the outside on the house work was successful. We had a windy, rainy evening and none of the leaks reappeared so we may have dealt with those issues. Of course, in doing so we found other issues we'll have to deal with so I guess the neverending battle against age and deterioration continues.

This weekend I'll be doing some riding down in south Alabama and the Florida panhandle. The original plan was to take part in an organized century ride but the ride didn't get any riders so it looks like I'll be sort of doing my own thing and meeting folks at a beach house in Destin. It'll be interesting to see how the trip goes as that area was pretty beat up by Ivan and I'm not sure how well it has recovered. I'm a bit surprised that there was a place in Destin to go hang out in but I'm not complaining about a trip to the beach, even if I have to ride a hundred miles to get it.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Long Weekend Project

For me this weekend has been one of multitasking, project planning and breathing paint fumes. Over the course of the last year or so, the lovely wife and I began to realize that we were underutilizing part of our home. We live in an old Victorian sytle house with the separated room floor plan commoningly found in such structures. If you're familiar with Voctorians you already know the layout but if not I'll explain. In our house you don't come in the front door into a room but rather the entry hallway. You have dorways on your left and right, stairs leading to the second floor and, if you go straight you head back towards the dining room, the guest room and the kitchen. The roonm on the left we use for our Bible study and hangout room, the room on the right is the traditional "sitting room" complete with fireplace and the back bedroom has been turned into a library and bike room.

We realized that we never used the living room for a variety of reasons. Additionally, the library was trying to do too many things and, because of this is always cluttered. The living room had kind of become a place to dump everything abd looked like a disaster. So we decided to repurpose the room. Why not turn the sitting room that we never sit in into the library and return the back bedroom to that function along with a dual focus towards it being the bike room. So this weekend's project has been to do this. Why this weekend? Mainly because for once during this year we both have the same days off. It is fall break fo both of us and we have four days in which to work. Normally I would have wanted to go somewhere to get away, but we really felt like this had to get done.

I struggle with projects liek these because there are both serious time constraints and clutter problems. In every project, there is a point for me where things get just a bit too messy and a bit to complicated and I have to struggle with giving up. I was determined to avoid that this time. So, leading up to the project, I decided to do some extra cleaning to make some clutter free space available to retreat to when I needed a breather. It seems to have worked though no quite as well as I have hoped. Last night when the bookcases in the living room had to be emptied and moved so the wall behind them could be painted I was struggling. The other hard thing is that while all of this is going on we have to eat and get our laundry done and all the rest since we don't have a lot of catch up time this week and next weekend to do that.

Hence, I've been multitasking: edge something here, fold a load of laundry there, run to the store to get some forgotten tool, make a decision on some problem we hadn't anticipated, etc. I'm pretty sure we'll pull it all together today, though there's a lot to be done still. We'll be moving a lot of books around which is always tiring as well as trying to get the new room's arraingement set. This usually isn't a big deal since you can generally moving things around as needed to get it the way you'd like, even a few months after the fact. Unfortunately, you can't do that with eight foot tall loaded bookcases, so we've got to get close with those. We've got two possible set-ups; so we'll see which on we go with.

Thanks fo reading and wish us luck.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Saturday, October 09, 2004

More advice for aspiring politicians

Since the Kerry campaign seems to have read my earlier post on how to save its bid for the Presidency (or ran out and hired Clinton's campaign team...whatever) here's some more unsolicited but deeply authenic political advice for those running for office.

Security isn't the real, big deal. Not really. Sure the media likes us to think that and all because stress sells papers but what it comes down to is the kids. If you want to get elected you've got to show people their kids will be better off down the road after you've had time to do your thing in the city commission, the state house, the Oval Office or wherever you might find yourself. Americans will pays taxes through the nose, go without luxuries like iPods and even drive fuel efficient cars if they can be convinced that their little ones will definitely be better off.

There are two basic places this is most important. Most immediately; schools. Then, long term job growth. Since the second one requires long term thinking, subtle, multiple point plans and studies by groups with acronyms you're not going to get too far with that in an election year. So you've got to look at education. Now everyone has a plan for education but what most of them don't understand is that their plan is pretty much stupid. Why? Well, most of them have never been teachers and have never worked in a school run by an administrator beholden to board of citizens elected on their popularity more than their credentials. So here's primer for the budding politician:

1) Teacher accountability is good, but only when accompanied by parent accountability. If Johnny's falling behind maybe we should look just as hard at Johnny's home life as we do at the teacher's lesson plans. I wonder what would happen if, when a child misbehaves in class, the parent had to serve detention along with the student?

2) Taking tenure away from teachers doesn't improve accountability. In states where that is done the kids figure out pretty quickly that the teacher has no protection and Mom and Dad will believe them over the total stranger in the building they drop their kid off in. Teachers have to pay their bills too and most are pretty good at the mental calculus. Pass all your kids and you keep your job. Everyone's happy, at least until Johnny gets to college or has to compete in the world marketplace. Protect your teachers and make the kids responsible for their bad behavior. See point 1 above. When a teacher is unprofessional, convene a hearing board and censure the educator just like the American Bar Association does with lawyers (see point 4 below).

3) Local tax support of schools is inequitable, plain and simple. Poor districts turn out poor students more often than rich districts. The idea is "no taxation without representation" not "all of our dollars stay here". The higher ed system in the US works because everyone in the state bears the cost of educating the students. In two-year college systems, those that run the best (California, New York, Georgia, Florida) are state supported, not local control. It's time that every kid got the same education.

4) Make teaching a profession rather than a sideline or a hobby. Require licensure and review of teachers. Put educators on twelve month contracts with year-round duties. Require advance degrees. Pay teachers like professionals. Look at the professions like law, medicine and engineereing and move education in the same direction. Starting pay should be $75,000 for a person with a Master's degree on a year-round gig. Ten months in the classroom, two months doing serious professional growth and development activities such as taking a college course, workign in a related job field or working on a strong curriculum development team. A lot can be paid for by discontinuing the external feeds into the schools via TV programming and paid consultants. Colleges do a lot with their professionally trained staff, so can your schools.

5) Create programs where kids give back to their communities either through existing civic organizations such as Boy Scouts or 4-H or those school based programs. Teach the kids to be good citizens.

6) Return physical education to all schools. We are teaching kids to live lives that are unbalanced; stop it.

7) All administrators have to have been teachers at the level they administer for at least five years. No more ed. admin. majors who spent one semester in a Kindergarten class running the local high school.

8) Give up the "No Child Left Behind" mantra. Kids are going to drop out for reasons beyond the school system's control. Instead of dumbing down the curriculum for everyone else just to keep some kids in school, let the students and their families who think they know better leave the system. Just be sure to provide an avenue for them to return when they find out that those who stayed in got the better jobs.

I hope this provides some insight into how to win your election. Should you get elected by using this advice I expect a cushy staffer position with afternoons off for long bike rides, I mean, brainstorming sessions.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Midterm

This the a gut check time of the year around the campus scene; fall semester mid-term.

For the freshman class, which hasn't had to consider failure since tenure was taken away from their high school teachers, this is a very disturbing time. For many, the idea of failure is much like telling them that they've got cancer or HIV. It just hits 'em like a ton of bricks and then they go through the somewhat predictable stages of denial (I can bring my grade up even without going to class...), anger ( the professor is the worst professor at the College...), begging and pleading (Please, please, please, don't fail me...I promise I'll come to class, I promise I'll make time to study, I promise I'll do my homework...) and, finally, acceptance (can you sign my drop sheet?). For those who are only taking 12 hours and are staying in the dorms this means that they are now on dorm probation for too few hours and any little thing that they do wrong can get them kicked out. Many of them are absolutely terrifuied to go home to their parents for our short fall break and dealing with having to break this disturbing news to them.

For the sophomores there are two things going on. For some, this is a confirmation that they really don't have a clue what it means in college. Those that did poorly last year promised themselves they'd bring up their grades and this may be the first really tangible proof that they haven't done that. It's a bitter pill to swallow to learn that for all your good intentions, you're still the same person you were last year with all of the same bad habits. The bigger group are the students who didn't have too much trouble with their freshman basic classes like english comp and algebra but now are struggling with their first really college level classes. These are the students I'm working with. They were good students in high school and got above a 3.0 their freshman year but now they're in physics, calculus, organic chemistry, statistics or equally challenging courses. They find that they really don't know it all and the years of cheating the system using last minute/half-assed study techniques may cost them their free ride.

So the stress/angst level is a little high right now. I've seen losts of tears and long faces the lat week or two as the realization that the tooth fairy isn't magically going to rescue their grade has begun to sink in. For me, I've had half of my two algebra-based physics classes drop the course and for the most part that was at my urging. Teh remaining students are looking around with a sort of spooked demeanor wondering if maybe they should have dropped too. Most of the remaining students will be fine but there are one or two that haven't gotten past the denial stage and will be very frustrated and disappointed come December.

On the positive side, I've got more than half of my students that are doing fine. I've got good studnets who study regularly and get their work done dependably. What I don't understand is why can't the other students use them as role models? It's an interesting question I may have to ponder.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Shangri-La

Just a short post today (hey, at least you get one...this is, like, three this week). If you are a person who finds most of what Top-40 radio is playing to be about as exciting as the green stuff that comes out of a babies butt (only not as appetizing) then may I recommend the new album by former Dire Straits frontman and Chet Atkins collaborator Mark Knopfler (if you think Chet Atkins is the guy responsible for the Atkins diet, you must report for detoxification to your nearest "Center for the Cultural Revolution"). Shangri-La is a great mix of tunes and almost reminds one of the best work of the Dire Straits years (which is not Money for Nothing though other songs from that album are quite good). I especially liked "Song for Sonny Liston" with its very bluesy feel. An added bonus this weekend was the Mr. Knopfler was the featured guest on A Prairie Home Companion so I got to hear several of the songs performed live. Quite tasy in an aural sort of way. If you know what's good for you, give it a listen.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

The falseness of low expectations...or losing still sucks!

One of the philosophical ideas one studies when looking at the Greeks is the idea of stoicism. The idea here was that the key to happiness is to lower one's expectations and by doing so frustration with the unachieved can be avoided. While this may sound like a great idea for the hip post-modern reader let me weigh in with my $0.02. This whole philosophical idea is a load of fetid dingo's kidneys (as Douglas Adams might have put it). Once you've experienced something good, lowering your expectations doesn't keep a person from getting that lovely bitter taste in one's mouth. You can tell yourself all day long that you don't expect much but if you've ever received more than you're getting then you'll feel cheated.

I am reminded of this as I look at my race goals for the year. If you, my valued reader, look back on my posts from the beginning of the year you'll find me saying things such as I expect to get schooled and the like. For the most part, my goals reflected that understanding. Yet, as I reflect back on the dirt side of the season, I find myself striving for more than the goals I set. This is because I'm not happy with my best finish being 7th place. Oh sure, I didn't expect to do any better than that this year but last year's successes are making these lowered expectations into a joke. Losing sucks...it just does. Especially if you're used to winning. Last year I stood on the top step three times and on the next lower step twice. Coming across the line in ninth just doesn't measure up, even when you know the competition is a lot better.

This has been pretty discouraging for many of the guys I ride with. They've evaporated from the race scene as their low finishes have taken a toll on their morale. I've struggled too. Why pay $28 to go and finish out of the top ten? Sure, I can think I'm doing it to get better but why do I have to taste so much humble pie? For me, I'm trying to use it as motivation. The guys who are beating me aren't that much better physically than I am, they just have more experience riding on the dirt. Experience I can get; skills can be improved. The important thing to focus on, I think, is the fact that they were once where I am now and they improved. If they improved then so can I and so I keep on striving.

What's the lesson here? I guess it would be that happiness lies not in lowering your expectations of the world or yourself but in realizing the potential you have and working to realize it.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Sunday, October 03, 2004

Redemption

This weekend was the Carter's Lake MTB race. Last year in this race I crashed six times in one lap and finished sixth in beginner class. This year I was looking to finish and stay on the bike for the sport class race over two laps. I knew that the race was going to be one of attrition and that I wasn't going to be able to hang with the leaders so I adopted a strong and steady strategy. The idea was to ride this thing just like a time trial where I kept my heart rate lower to start so I had somethign in the tank at the end. The other idea was to take the descents, which are long and technical, more slowly so as to stay on the bike and avoid a crash that took a lot out of me like at Macon.

The strategy worked great as I finished ninth in the race and stayed on my bike. It's my second best finish of the year and means I may actually move up inot the top fifteen in the standings. It also means I made my goal of three top tens in Master's Sport this year. The next race is at Dauset which is my home course so I'll have home field advantage and motivation at that race. I've got four weeks to ramp up and peak for that race and a rescheduled Gainesville race to see if I can make it up to the top ten in the overall standings which would be a huge victory for me. I was hoping to ride reasonably well this year and after a tough stretch through the summer I may be recovering a bit.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |