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quotes i like 11/5/10

“There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and the music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more.”

-Lord Byron

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october 1-17: happiness is...

10/1 … ordering artists books

10/2 … family gathering and all of carter’s grandparents there to see him play soccer

10/3 … an afternoon with my family

10/4 … traveling to school with my boys

10/5 … carter thinking of others and inspiring others to pick up trash

10/6 … an all day seminar that actually turned out to be great

10/7 … finalizing lots of loose ends for a conference

10/8 … a successful presentation and conference

10/9 … delicious breakfast and more good presentations

10/10 … a lazy afternoon

10/11 … spending the day with ann

10/12 … my birthday!

10/13 … my fun choir

10/14 … a beautiful day, an excuse to get out of the office, and sharing rare books with a class

10/15 … a surprise taking the rest of the day off, the end of a week and returning home to my lovely wife and two wonderful boys

10/16 … crisp morning, soccer game, looking at rocks

10/17 … two beautiful english choral settings

10/18 … my boys laughing in the car on the way to school and a note to my sweetie letting her know i’m thinking about her

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

10/13/10

reading choosing civility and
the music instinct

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9/20/10-9/30/10 - happiness is...

9/20…my beautiful wife and funny boys

9/21…an engaging colleague and his infectious enthusiasm, playing with carter and max and having dinner all together. ann and i got to go for a walk which was really nice. ran a mile on the treadmill and did weights.

9/22…a cancelled meeting, getting a lot done at work, a good choir rehearsal

9/23…highlight of my day was to come home and be with the boys and with ann. they completely brighten my life. we played in the backyard some until time for bed. after reading to max and putting him to bed, ann and I went for a walk. it was good to be out together as nightfall came, listening to crickets chirp and talking about our days.

9/24…a thought-provoking teleconference, and “friday”!

9/25… a completely lazy and schedule free saturday

9/26… carter went to a friend’s house and max took a nap, so ann and I had some great time to ourselves! among other things, enjoyed working on some art projects with ann, while sharing some coffee. we played outside, went to a playground for a little bit in the afternoon. the first glimpse of fall arrived with cooler weather. we ate dinner on the patio.

9/27… cooler weather and a really productive day

9/28… lunch with carter and an evening walk with ann

9/29… long day, but a good conversation with jay and then with ann after i got home

9/30… thai food, good conversation, soccer game, and some good books

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

Inspiration

my very most favorite part of the day was thanks to my seven year old, Carter. he’s in second grade and yesterday he told me that during recess, he decided to pick up trash at school and a girl in his class asked him if she could help. I told him I was really proud of him choosing on his own to be so helpful and even more so that his actions inspired other people to get on board. he talked about how too many people don’t take care of the earth and how in picking up trash, he’s helping the planet. today, they enlisted the help of others on this mission during recess and seemed enthusiastic at the results. he was excited too that they found a bag (litter) they could use to hold the trash they were picking up (instead of running to the trashcan each time) and how great it was in the end that when the bag filled up, they could dump it or when recess was over, they could just throw away the whole bag. when we got home from school, carter asked if after dinner and as a family, we could walk around our neighborhood picking up trash. I love how he got the whole family on board doing a good thing. he even got our two year old, Max, excited about helping. I’m truly inspired by his spirit of helping and community and the way he got so many other people excited about joining his effort. I know I’m a little biased, but I think he’s one fantastic kid. 

9/17 -9/20/10 happiness is . . .

9/17 … thinking about how great my kid Carter is
9/18 … working with a bunch of 1st and 2nd grade soccer players
9/19 … an afternoon at artsfest, Max’s excitement about painting and making a crazy hat, Carter’s interest in viewing an artist’s work, and an evening where Ann and I got to have a deep conversation with no little people interrupting and a nice evening out
9/20 …the smile on Max’s face when I woke him up this morning, the excitement on Carter’s face as he scored two goals in tonight’s soccer game.

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9/17/10 - happiness is...

carter’s smile

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

quotes i like (bugs)

Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar. ~ Bradley Millar

Cockroaches really put my ‘all creatures great and small’ creed to the test ~ Astrid Alauda

If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive
~ American Quaker Saying

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9/4-9/16/10 happiness is....

9/4 cute things my 2 year old says
9/5 beautiful music
9/6 a holiday, the zoo, and a deep conversation with ann
9/7 teaching students something that makes them say “cool!”
9/8 see tons of new artists books and watching the amazement on the faces of students in response to them
9/9 a fun choir to make music with
9/10 a clear schedule on a friday
9/11 working together with ann on a shrine we’re building
9/12 laughter at church, the boys playing together in the yard while ann and i work together on our southwestern garden
9/13 picking up the boys from school
9/14 classes that went well and finding a creative technology solution
9/15 handling library materials that stretch back to the 11th century
9/16 spending the day with carter

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

quotes i like ( )

“As in the concentration camp and the evening of 9/11, the artists are the ones who might be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives.” -Karl Paulnack, Director, Boston Conservatory

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quotes i like (Vanier)

“We are not called by God to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things with extraordinary love. ” – Jean Vanier

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9/3/10 happiness is....

well i opened 43things 2.5 hrs ago to write about an entry and am just now getting to it thanks to a handful of brush fires! uggh…i guess today happiness is having a job! :-) looking forward to everyone coming home from school/work this afternoon and just spending time together as a family and catching a breath! happiness today is also taking lunch to ann and getting to see her in the middle of the day!

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

pet peeve #18- people who don't care about technology

i know i should probably learn something from such folks, perhaps appreciate the simplicity, but it drives me crazy. not sure if it drives me more crazy people who just don’t get it and are afraid of it or people who just don’t see the point or care about it!

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8/30-9/2 happiness is

8/30 morning light coming in the window, picking up the boys after school

8/31 compliments on a big project, a well-received library instruction session, recovering from a scheduling screw up!

9/1 holding rare library materials (1706 handwritten journal from the court of Louis XIV and medieval music manuscripts dating back as early as the 11th century, and the return of choir from its summer break

9/2 a rare instance of listening to music in the morning and less chaotic day than earlier in the week, and a last minute save for an event this afternoon

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

8/29 spending time with my boys

it’s just a little thing really, but i love the time we spend together when i’m taking them to school each morning. it’s just a little window, but it’s the start of a new day and always filled with interesting moments! really enjoyed an outing that all of us went on yesterday evening wandering around campus, exploring, carter on his bike, max on his trike (sort of!)

See more progress on: spend time with my sons each day

8/26-8/29 happiness is...

8/26 skipping a meeting and finding out from others who attended it was a good call!
8/27 great visit and lunch with a friend
8/28 lazy morning, my little guy’s excitement and joyful spirit when he wakes up
8/29 wonderful music at church with a host of wonderful musicians, spending time with ann and the boys just having fun

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

quotes i like (helen keller)

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.” – Helen Keller

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stuff i'm reading 8/25/10

i’m still reading the several books listed earlier, but also read last night a book that i really enjoyed:

New directions in altered books, by Gabe Cyr

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8/20-8/25/10 happiness is...

8/20 that moment when the whole family is back together again at home after a day in different directions

8/21 carter’s excitement about an art project that he came up with and executed on his own, the feeling of pride and joy in his excitement, experimentation, and creativity; also excitement and wonder at an art project that ann and i are planning together; finding wonderful little treasures at a junk store

8/22 noticing little things in music, delightful phrases, unexpected harmonies

8/23 the excitement of the first day of school for everyone, working hard to accomplish a goal at work

8/24 lots of positive feedback on a project at work and feeling successful, lots of positive feedback on my weightloss, being in the same room with my love and just feeling her presence

8/25 beautiful music (Blackberry Winter, the world’s only work for mountain dulcimer and orchestra composed in 1996 by Conni Ellisor), a cloudy morning with a reluctant sun (especially since it’s been up to 106 this week), and a mysterious breeze that suggested Fall really will come one day.

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year