Meeting People

When it comes to meeting people, I lead a charmed life. Whether it's because of shared schedules, lifestyles or just bumping into some pretty cool people in public... it's always seemed to happen to me. What fun.

Years ago, while Debi and I were still dating, she took me to the Greek Theater for a famous Ballet Troupe- think it was the Bolshoi with Rudolf Nuryev (sp?)-couldn't begin to imagine why anyone would take me to the ballet, but it was cool and we were together.

We had great seats and sitting right in front of us were Cary Grant and his daughter. One of those times when you're so close to someone so famous but you hate to stare or break in on their evening. I openly admit to becoming bored at some point in the performance and not returning from intermission as quickly as I should have. Suddenly, I found myself standing in line for a coke next to the man himself. Now just inches apart and outside the confines of seats, etc... I introduced myself- thinking it was a one time shot, what did I have to lose?

Mr. Grant greeted me warmly, began to talk about the performance and then incredibly asked about ME! I was stunned. We spent a few minutes shooting the breeze in the plaza area. He was so much bigger than I imagined. Handsome as all get out, wearing a tux... maybe the one in the picture above... but older then in the picture... and friendly... or maybe he wasn't so hot on ballet either. In my memory it seems we spent the next ten or fifteen minutes talking, but it may have only been five. When we returned to our seats he aknowledged us behind him. It felt great.

Thirty years and so many other introductions later, I still remember, and still occasionally get that "star struck" feeling. But Mr. Grant taught me an important lesson: people are just people- period. He was a normal guy, interested in normal stuff and more than happy to shoot the breeze with a kid in his twenties out on a date. It's a great lesson in life and it's helped remind me to always treat everyone; famous or not, wealthy or not, the same- just normal people.

Meeting people- we do it every day -next time you do, take the time to ask about them, spend some unexpected moments in conversation. You could build a memory that'll last a lifetime.

blessings,

Eric

One Voice

It was a much needed, unifying highlight of the '60's - America landing men safely on the moon. It's tough to find someone old enough to remember who couldn't tell you exactly where they were as they watched those men bravely step out onto the surface of a new world. I was 15 years old and working as a bus boy at Phillips Chicken Pie Shop on Pine Ave. in downtown Long Beach. A crowd gathered behind the lunch counter and stared in disbelief, some prayed, we all cheered: just to see them safe... just to see them... we felt a little like the jetson's might really be our neighbors some day. It was an incredible moment.

The moment began with one man- our president -who challenged a nation to lift her eyes to a new horizon, beyond ourselves. Sadly, President Kennedy didn't live to share the world's celebration as some of our own sent home their incredible video journal. But it was his voice, his steadfastness, his inspiration that got the project going, set a deadline from the start and motivated us to believe that anything was possible.

Just one voice changed the way we looked at the world.

I once ate lunch with Jim Irwin, one of the other 12 men who eventually walked on the moon. I asked him all the same questions he'd probably been asked a million times before. I keep his photo, on the moon, autographed to me, just above my desk. He was a humble man who was kind to a young preacher. Jackets for Jesus, our work with the homeless in Los Angeles had just begun. He gave me one of his personal flight jackets to give to a homeless man - Col. Jim Irwin, beautifully stitched in - I handed it out one brutally cold night to a man who cared more about the warmth than the story behind it. I'll never forget watching that jacket walk away- keeping a man, earthbound by poverty, warm, from the back of a man who'd looked down on the earth from the surface of the moon. Jim said the entire earth; billions of people, each with their own stories, hid neatly behind his raised thumb... it amazes me still.

One voice united a generation, one act of kindness kept a man warm, one life- well lived -leaves an imprint on eternity. It's our voice, it's our choice, it's our legacy... so many are waiting for direction. We can change the world, one day at a time.

blessings,

Eric

Beloved Wilson

I'm an alumnus of Long Beach Wilson H.S., class of 1972. The school was big back then, over 3,000 students... today they have over 4,500 students. It could be a university. I looked everywhere online for an old photo of the campus but all I came up with was this signature photo that seems to be used in all their material- Wilson Bruins -those big buildings weren't there back then.

High School was good to me: plenty of friends, more then enough good times and I have fantastic memories of some really great teachers that worked hard to teach me a thing or two... and they did. I suspect most, if not all of them are dead. God bless them everyone.

My major grief in high school had to do with dress codes- THE MAN ruled -and there was no way I was dressing the way THE MAN dictated! Sounds silly now- I'd get sent to the office for having sandals without socks, hair past my shirt collar and a collection of other seemingly meaningless infractions that kept the boat rocking back in the day.

Looking in on the old school- now Wilson Classical High School -everyone in uniforms and totally prep, I was impressed to find the dress code still rides the rules front and center... some things never change. Check it out.

Boys Khaki (tan) pants or shorts (solid color only)

Pants must be hemmed and fitted at the waist and crotch. No sagging pants allowed.
Shorts may not be shorter than mid-thigh.
Long pants cannot drag on the ground.

Girls Khaki (tan) pants, shorts, jumpers, overall, or skirts (solid color only)
Pants must be hemmed and fitted at the waist and crotch. No sagging pants allowed.
Shorts may not be shorter than mid-thigh.
Long pants cannot drag on the ground.
Girls and BoysWhite or cardinal (burgundy) shirts (solid color only).
Shirts must have collars or be a turtleneck.

Non Wilson Logo'd shirts must have a logo no larger than the size of a quarter.
Only white short-sleeved undershirts may be worn.
Undershirts must be tucked in.
All sweaters, sweatshirts, sweat jackets, fleece pullovers, and fleece jackets must be white, cardinal or gold.
No logos are permitted except Wilson Classical, ASB Chartered club, or Wilson athletic logos.
Coats and jackets (except fleece and sweat jackets) may be any color.
Coats may not be worn in the classroom. Only cover-ups in school colors may be worn in the classroom.
No Raiders, Stealers, or Kings attire may be worn.
Hoods must be worn down except when outside in winter weather.

Wilson's now in the top 5% of H.S.'s nation wide- #575 in 2007. Bet they have a chant. I can just see them in the quad- thousands out for a pep rally- "We're #575!" Over and over again, each time louder and louder.

Wilson was a good time. Hope the kids there today are enjoying the moment. Couldn't find it on their site, but back in '72 we had the best theme song- started with "Hail to Wilson..." and ended with a great "bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah..............!" But it was in between that gotcha- we all pledged are hearts to the school. Don't remember in Long Beach State had a theme song. Pretty sure Anderson School of Theology didn't, but "beloved Wilson," did. Life needs a theme song- look how the schools growing: 4,500 students- #575 nation wide... Go Wilson!

Eric

that's John

My son John and I have been doing "outdoor" stuff together since he was a kid. Most we couldn't afford. I always said spending the money on good times when he was a kid was cheaper than on a lawyer as a teen.

Sitting on the beach at Trestles- with John- an awesome adult -waiting for a surf contest to start. We enjoy still getting away together. God's good!

lost post

waiting

Getting blood drawn... A painful wait. Over $1,200- a month for insurance to wait... That's $40- a day- not even a smile

Can't Wait to Try It!

I use a Blackberry cell phone, like the one in the picture,- mostly just as a phone -but I enjoy many of it's other features as well... it's a cool phone... after about a year, definitely give it my best phone ever vote. That said, yesterday it received a software upgrade from T-Mobile. Phone company said it was to take care of a bunch of small issues- to the real geeks it was worth downloading just for the A2DP. Check out the definition from Wikipedia:

Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)
This profile defines how high quality audio (stereo or mono) can be streamed from one device to another over a Bluetooth connection[1] - for example, music streamed from a mobile phone to a wireless headset.

A2DP was initially used in conjunction with an intermediate Bluetooth transceiver that connects to a standard output audio jack, encodes the incoming audio to a Bluetooth-friendly format, and sends the signal wirelessly to Bluetooth headphones that decode and play the audio. However, many Bluetooth 1.1, 1.2, and 2.0 mobile phones and portable media players do not natively support A2DP, while some newer Bluetooth 2.0 headphones do support it.

Bluetooth headphones, especially the more advanced models, often come with a microphone and support for the Audio/Video Remote Control (AVRCP), Headset (HSP) and Hands-Free (HFP) profiles.

A2DP[2] is designed to transfer a 2-channel stereo audio stream, like music from an MP3 player, to a headset or car radio. This profile relies on AVDTP and GAVDP. It includes mandatory support for low complexity Sub Band Codec (SBC) and supports optionally: MPEG-1,2 Audio, MPEG-2,4 AAC and ATRAC, and is extensible to support manufacturer-defined codecs. Most bluetooth stacks implement the SCMS-T DRM (digital rights management) scheme. In these cases it is not possible to connect the A2DP headphones for high quality audio. E.g. the Motorola HT820 can be used for high quality audio only with certain versions of the Toshiba bluetooth stack.

I was almost embarassed to carry it in my pocket... until yesterday... I sleep much easier at night knowing I have full A2DP compliance. Can't wait to try it out!

Touching Base

The video clip's of the top 10 homeruns of the past week... it leaves out A-Rod's two early in the week and Bond's big one that barely cleared the wall... but it's all good. Hey, it's the internet, maybe MLB posted the wrong week. Either way, the point still fits, can't win the game, score the run, make the highlight clip until we touch base... every base.

It's a lesson most of my generation- probably not reading, or having a clue what a blog is -learned on the playground with our classmates and a kickball. Today's kids and today's leaders learned it at t-ball. I'll go with the old painted base on asphalt lessons of the school yard. Rarely a tougher bunch of critics then an opposing team of second graders. So many of the first rules of life began with making sure we touched base.

Those early lessons generalize out through the rest of our social economy: to make and keep friends, family, business contacts- touching base is still king. Confession: understanding, and believing this simple principle- I still fail, sometimes in fantastic fashion, while heading towards home... and I really want to touch every base and win at the end of the day. I've decided to change- and change now.

One of the things I love about blogging is the feeling I get that I'm at least making an effort to touch base- but it's not the same as picking up the phone and making a call to one person I care about, or someone I'd like to know better, as opposed to posting my ramblings whenever I feel like it. When I work my way through a list of people I'd like to reach out to with a call, a note card or an email- just because I care -I feel like those guys in the highlight video at the end of a walk off home run. There's no opposing pitcher, no army of disciplines to keep myself fit and ready to step up to the plate, just a willingness to break the barrier that keeps us from experiencing richer, deeper relationships... the kind that help us win day in and day out at the business of living.

hey, after you read this, email me, give me a call- we'll chat, touch base and take one step closer to making it home... together.

blessings,

Eric

I Can

That's a satellite photo of last Saturday's bike ride. It looks tiny from space. Close up, from the seat of my bike, after not riding for too long- it felt like a ride around the world.

Look very closely and you can see our starting point, in front of Starbucks at Newport Coast- where I had a couple of vente hot chocolates -one to get me going and one to revive me on safe return. What's difficult to see is the long climb up hill on each end of the ride. Newport's Back Bay is visible- it's a wonderful area to ride, I highly recommend it: flat as a pancake. Sweet as it was, the part of the ride that stands out most in reflection is the couple hundred yards I walked up hill on the way back in... ouch... what a wimp!

Riding Newport Coast is like cycling through a little slice of Heaven. The ocean on one end, bay on the other, coastal hills in between dotted- no jammed- with more high priced houses then most states hold. Again, from space, it’s just one more coastal shot, from my memory it’s a 200 yard walk when it felt like my legs didn’t have one more push left in them. A friend got off his bike to walk with me. A walker on the side of the road spoke words of encouragement. I felt like a failure.

Doesn’t make much sense- walking, just getting outdoors, enjoying the day, is a major success. I’m never going to ride the Tour De France, or any other major ride for that matter. If my legs hurt, if my psyche’s overwhelmed, if I’m nervous that I’ll slow too much and tip over on the uphill- cleats firmly locked into my pedals and skin my knee, why not walk? A great argument from the comfort of my living room: on the climb, watching my companions pull away, feeling my own lack of fitness drag me down, those 200 yards were longer then the over twenty miles we’d ridden.

I want to be better- to continue to improve- I want to complete every climb, in the saddle, at the head of the pack, feeling good about me, for me. That little satellite shot’s a reminder- I can – I didn’t last Saturday… but I can- and if that means I have to walk a few more hills, so be it. Every walk’s just a reminder that as long as I’m outside, taking a stride forward, that even if I didn’t today, that doesn’t mean that I can’t… I can. You can too.

Blessings,

Eric

the end of the world as we know it

I don't give a lot of thought to the end of the world... I captured this beautiful sunset photo on the beach in Laguna last Friday evening while walking off a big dinner with friends. It was easy, pulled out my phone, pushed a couple of buttons and took a picture. As the skies grew more beautiful, more people pulled their phones out of pockets and purses to do the same thing... we're like sheep... then it hit me- some knucklehead, maybe me and three thousand others, will take a shot of the end of the world as we know it, hoping to post it on their blog... sadly, too late.

Think about it... but not too long. Today's a great start, or a fantastic finish, both will happen right in our community, for someone. The end of the world? It's in Bigger Hands than ours. We've been given the opportunity to make the most of today. Go. Do. Be.

Eric