Category: General (page 35 of 121)

Last weekend, we had a whole bunch of police…’scuse me, that should be POH-lice… action in our neighborhood. I found the live feed of the Cherokee County sheriff and fire departments’ radio communications on the Web. Now, I’m hooked! Lots of stuff happening out there.

We’ve got a great bunch of folks who watch out for us around here. I, for one, appreciate all they do.

If only scanners came with video…

It was a toss-up tonight between Ravi Shankar’s oldest girl and Christmas music. Norah won out…and the main reason is her cover of Hank Williams’s Cold, Cold Heart.

Throw in collaborations with Dolly Parton and Lyle Lovett, and you just won’t find any better Sunday Night Unwind stuff. Oh…don’t forget the standard The Nearness of You.

Astros take Game 6, head to Chicago for the World Series…

This just in from the NBA…players will be required to abide by a dress code this season. Says the story over at Breitbart.com…

Players will be required to wear business-casual attire when involved in team or league business. They can’t wear visible chains, pendants or medallions over their clothes.

Of course, this policy is racist and racially motivated, according to those expert social scientists who make up the NBA players’ association. Check some of their responses to the league’s policy.

Indiana Pacers’ guard Stephen Jackson – who, by the way, was suspended for 30 games following that attack on the Detroit Pistons’ fans last fall –

…said the league is afraid of becoming “too hip-hop.” In protest, he wore four chains to the Pacers’ exhibition game against San Antonio on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia’s own paragon of virtue and resident model of class and restraint, Allen Iverson (if Iverson is “The Answer”, it must be a really stupid question) chimed in with this gem…

I don’t think that’s still going to help the image of the league at all.

Golden State guard Jason Richardson summed up his thoughts…

Just because you dress a certain way doesn’t mean you’re that way.

Hey, a guy could come in with baggy jeans, a do-rag and have a Ph.D., and a person who comes in with a suit could be a three-time felon. So, it’s not what you wear, it’s how you present yourself.

Well said, Mr. Richardson. It is all about how you present yourself.

UPDATE, 10.19.05: According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Leo says “thanks, but no thanks” to Steinbrenner. But it seems like a good fit – and a distinct possibility in Baltimore.

Seems The Boss wants to add some more high-priced talent to his lineup. This time he’s trying to pry Leo Mazzone’s talents away from Bobby Cox’s side in the Braves’ dugout.

Leo’s agent says Leo is loyal to Bobby Cox, “like a father.” I don’t know, though.

Maybe a better solution would be for Bobby Cox to retire or head back upstairs. And entice Joe Torre to return to Atlanta. Then Leo can stay and work with Torre. Just a thought…

Earlier today, I posted a picture of an almost-blank Moleskine page, just waiting to be filled up with thoughts, ideas, and stuff (technical term!).

You Moleskine fans know about and appreciate the cool secret pocket in the back cover of the cool little notebooks. My buddy Brian Bowen observed that the secret pocket in the back cover of my notebook appeared to be full. He wondered what might be in that secret/sacred space. Good question, Brian.

So I unpacked it and found some things I knew were in there and a couple of surprises as well. Check the picture of the unpacked stuff (in the same desk space as the earlier shot).

The little white list on the top of the pile is a copy of the Daily Prayer Plan from Peter Lord’s older, but excellent resource The 2959 Plan. I don’t use the 2959 notebook and the whole thing as regularly now as I used to, but I still find great value in being “reminded” to focus my prayer times.

The pink Post-It notes are notes I took while reading Marcus Buckingham’s Now, Discover Your Strengths. The notes list my top 5 strengths I discovered after using the online assessment tool in the book…

• Adaptability
• Communication
• Input
• Intellection
• Includer

…and some thoughts I thought about action steps to put those strengths into practice…

• Invest the time necessary to be excellent in communicating
• Think ahead – but live fully in the moment
• Develop and utilize an effective system of storing and retrieving information
• Read, listen, and observe strategically
• Seek ways and opportunities to include others in my life and ministry

The picture of the baby is the front of a business card from Dean Bowers, pastor at Genesis, a United Methodist church in Birmingham, Alabama. Dean is in the Atlanta Church Growth Coaching Network with us.

There’s a note with some dimensions for a digital picture, but I don’t have any idea what the picture was – or is. It must have been something kind of important at one time, though, because it was 300 dpi. Hmmm…I’ll have to figure that one out!

The orange sheet is my Amazon Music Wish List. It’s attached to three sheets of aqua paper, which contain my Amazon Books Wish List. I carry these with me because, well…you just never know when you’re going to be dragged kicking and screaming into your local Barnes & Noble or Borders or wherever – one must be prepared, you know?

And that, in case you were wondering, is why my secret pocket looks stuffed!

Yep, that’s my Moleskine. And that’s a Mirado Black Warrior – that’s ready to retire. And that blue thing, top center? My Staedtler oval pencil sharpener. Upper right? Dave Brubeck’s Time Out and Miles Davis’s Poetics of Sound, 1954-1959.

Oh, the quote scribbled in the upper left of the Moleskine…

Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.
-Horace Mann

You knew 14 straight division titles with only 1 World Series championship was bad. You knew getting put out in the first round of the playoffs 4 out of the last 5 years – by inferior teams – was bad. You knew your own fans’ moaning and and whining was bad. But you never thought it would come to an article with this headline...

How the Yanks Can Avoid Becoming the Braves

Ouch! No…OUCH!!!

Some random and miscellaneous stuff I found en route to somewhere or something else…

• Handwriting tips, to make your Moleskine time – and those handwritten notes – much better
• Where, oh, where did our manners go?
• Building a smarter to-do list, via 43 Folders. Part 1 & Part 2

Don’t you just hate it when someone – someone you respect and care for – lies to you? Right to your face? I mean, stands and looks you in the eye and lies? All the while, you know better. Even while they’re acting like everything is just as they say, you know the truth – because you have the unfortunate evidence in your possession?

I hate that…and it makes me very angry. And very sad.