Chapel in the Sky

I met the author of the book Chapel in the Sky last evening. This book looks very interesting, here is an abridged description from the book cover,

"Knox College's Old Main - a national landmark and the only extant building that was a site of the Lincoln-Douglas debates - is a campus treasure with a secret. Built in 1857, Old Main was designed by Charles Ulricson, a Swedish-born immigrant who was trained by the Freemasons. In Chapel in the Sky, Knox faculty member Lance Factor decodes the symbols of this beloved building and explores how an ardently Anti-Mason administration came to hire Ulricson. The mysterious Masonic architect left his legacy on both Knox's Old Main and the Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois."

In my conversation with Mr. Factor, he told of how he just started noticing little details in the building and making mental notes about their oddities, then one day he started measuring windows and angles, counting tiles and steps and everything started coming into place as he began his research. He also shared stories about how even though there was a temperance movement in the college community, they would brew homemade wines on campus.

My conversation only reinforced in my mind that we all need to keep our eyes open. Mr. Factor worked in the Old Main building 40 years and through his observations of "ordinary settings" he discovered an amazing secret. We need to stop droning our way through life and we need to start looking at the wonders out there, even if they are the wonders we see everyday. When I finish reading this book, I will post my thoughts. Thank you Mr. Factor for seeing the world and stopping to tell the story of this very interesting building.

Lost in 2.0land

Blabborize, Audacity, Glogster, Wordle, Shelfari, Blogger, Wiki-everything, Pandora, Googledocs, iGoogle, Ning, Facebook, DimDim, Flickr, Wallwisher, Delicious, Zoteri, Jogtheweb, Screencast, Evernote, Diigo, Jing, Slideshare, Penzu, Surveymonkey...just to name a few. The 2.0 world has changed the way I do things, create, and communicate, but when does it stop? I find that I never get to really learn all the things these applications can do, before something else "betters" it or creates a new way of doing "it." Progress is one thing, inundating us is another. How about this little piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXFEBbPIEOI

Still Waiting

It has been a while since I have filled the bird feeder outside our front window, but I saw a few finches checking it out last week. So, Kaleigh and I filled it Saturday evening. We are still waiting for the finches and chickadees to return.

Scratch Beginnings

I read Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the search for the American Dream this past week. I was drawn to the book because of Adam Shepard's statement on the back. He says:






"Mine is the story of rags-to-fancier-rags. I'm not an extraordinary person performing
extraordinary feats. I don't have some special talent that I can use to 'wow' prospective
employers. I'm average. My story is very basic, simple. My story is about the attitude of
success. My goal is to better my lot and to provide a stepping-stone over the next 365 days for
everything else I want to accomplish in my life. I aim to find out if the American Dream is still
alive, or if it has, in fact, been drowned out by the greed of the upper class coupled with apathy
of the lower class."

I enjoyed the book, even though it had some stories that carried on with no seeming point until the end of the chapter, but my favorite part is when he writes a letter to the morning bus driver. He reports that this bus driver was always positive, had a smile and something nice to say. Shepard writes the bus driver a letter that essentially says that even people who have seemingly insignificant jobs (bus driver, plumber, mover, drive through attendant) can be significant. The bus driver's attitude always put Shepard in a good mood. And he makes the realization that even insignificant, ordinary people can make a difference in the world. We don't all have to be the doctor, astronaut, race car driver, Donald Trump, to make a difference. He tells the bus driver, "there are people like you, who wake up with the purpose of making a difference in somebody's day."

Do we do that? Do we wake up and decide that we are going to make a difference? I don't know that I think that daily, but it is what I try to do every day, make a difference. Maybe we should wake up each day and decide, "what kind of difference will I make today?" And then we look for those opportunities. Smile at that stranger or co-worker (maybe the same person). Open the door for someone who has his or her hands full. I don't think it is the answer for the American Dream, but it certainly is a part of it. Shepard's point is that anyone CAN achieve the American Dream.

Baseball

Cubbies are engaged in a spring training game in sunny Mesa today. One week and two days they will be opening the season on the road, but opening day will be here nevertheless. I don't have high hopes for either of my teams, the Cubs or the Tigers, but I long for the afternoons and evenings listening to the static on the AM radio with Pat and Ron calling the game. It never has to be just the Cubs. I enjoy listening to the Cardinals play-by-play here in central Illinois too. I don't have to enjoy it when the Cards win though.
As I look forward to the season a few things come to mind. First, have the Cubs assembled a winning team? I don't know. I just hope that they make the games competitive, fun to watch and they play until the 27th out. Same hope for the Tigers. I do look forward to watching the young talent on the White Sox. Alexi Ramirez, Gordon Beckam, and Carlos Quentin. With a healthy Jake Peavy and the pick-up of Juan Pierre, I don't think I should make my annual bet with my brother. But pride will make me make the bet, that the Cubs will still have more wins.

Another team I look forward to watching is the Cincinnati Reds. Again, a young team with seemingly great talent. I will give Jay Bruce a year or two to prove his immense power. I also really like Joey Votto (except when he plays the Cubs). Brandon Phillips is fun to watch at second base.

My fifth team to watch is the incredible Los Angeles Dodgers. They have an unbelievable outfield offensively and an very solid center and right fields defensively. Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are terrific to watch in the field and at bat. Manny Ramierez is fun to watch at bat, but also comically enjoyable to watch in the outfield. The Dodgers also have a strong pitching staff that will keep them in the games even if the batters are able to hit it to left field.

Finally, check out the final tour of Ken Griffey Jr. in Seattle. Even though he hasn't been the amazing player he was in his youth, he still deserves the respect he will get playing back at home in Seattle. I remember when he came to the majors in the late 80's and how much fun it was to watch him play with his dad in the outfield in Seattle's old ballfield. I hope to get to a Seattle Sox game sometime this summer.

Summer is almost here.

iPad

I watched a video about the iPad tonight...I want one. If I get one, I may never need to leave the house ever again except to simply unplug. Sorry, I have to figure out how to drop video from the net to my blog, so instead you will have to click on the link. The iPad will probably just do it if I thought about it.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/ipad-video/

The New "Broadcasting"

I took my Advanced Communication students on a field trip to local television and radio stations today. It was a great trip topped off by lunch at Old Chicago.

Two interesting and related concepts introduced today were brought to our attention at the public television station, WTVP, and the Regent Broadcasting corporation radio group. First, the tech director at WTVP was discussing the future of television. He sees a future where the viewer decides which shows, or he preferred to call them stories, to watch and when to watch them. True, we have the capability with DVR and even back to the VCR to do this. But he is talking about technology where programs are just offered, like in a Netflix library or something like that, and we simply put shows into a collection and we view when and where we choose. In other words, the concept of "turn on the tv and flip through channels" will be over. In the same vein, the radio station discussed with us that they are purchasing LDR software for the Peoria market. LDR stands for Listener Driven Radio where the listener using a digital radio (ever see those for sale?) can collect songs and listen, using the station's radio frequency, to their favorite songs. Kind of like a Pandora radio concept, but with local advertisements, local news and weather, and emergency reports. Neat concept, but they better start marketing it along with digital radios. That's called parlaying your advertising.

This really is becoming a "me" society. While I find these offerings and ideas appealing, because I live and am immersed in this society, I struggle with this because part of the fun of media and "broadcast" is that we share shows or stories with other human beings. Today, I run into this disconnect with others when they say, "Did you see that new YouTube video..." No, I didn't. End of conversation...awkward smiling...then "see ya!" When we individualize our media entertainment from five to ten options to thousands of "popular" options, the concept of broadcasting disappears and we lose connections with others. I don't know. Any thoughts???