My thoughts on productivity.

• When the kids are home 3-1/2 days of a 5 day week, something has to give.
• Working until 11:00 pm is not the answer.
• How did all this laundry get dirty?
• I guess today is the day to take a shower.
• I’ll just get up early again tomorrow. I can finally try to catch up.
• Oh, wait. i have a meeting at 6;30 (Cyrus),  8:45 (Spelling Bee), 11:30 (Colleague), 12;30 (Client).

Maybe there is no such thing as catching up. This is it. This is life. it’s just busy. Roll with it. Let some stuff go. Enjoy the important things.

It’s okay if everything isn’t perfect.

Easy to say. Hard to do.

Metronome

The beat, the click of the metronome is lulling me to sleep. The music teacher’s voice is melodically talking through what’s next accompanied by my son’s trombone. They’ve improved over the months – the way they teach and learn together.

The metronome. I wonder if I’d be more productive, stay on task if I had a beat in the background as I go through my day.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the backdrop of my life – the sounds and scents. Some I barely notice. Until I do. And then it’s stuck there.

I don’t know what to make of it. It’s just something I’ve been thinking.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

I’ve always loved music. And as I mentioned the other day, I can’t sing a note. Well, not a note you’d want to hear.

I used to listen to my transistor radio under the covers when I was a kid – when I still shared a room with my sister. I wanted to fall asleep to the music. I’d listen to WKTK. Now this was the early 1970′s. The Brady Bunch was hot and age appropriate for me. WKTK, on the other hand, was meant for older kids. High. School. Kids.

If my parents knew, they either didn’t mind or just didn’t say.

Sometime in junior high school, I got my own bedroom. It was farther from everyone else, so I could play my music louder. I had Cindy’s record player and some of her records. Cindy was my cousin. She died a tragic death at an early age. 20? 21? I was young, making it harder to place in time. Really I don’t know a lot of the details. Maybe no one ever told me.

But I digress.

The only record I remember that was hers was Bridge Over Troubled Water. I loved that album. I played it over and over and over. I would set the player to repeat.

Remember doing that?

I sang every song out loud. My favorite was Cecilia. And not just because it was my grandmother’s name. Mostly because I loved the tempo. I bet that I know every word to every song on that album to this day.

I don’t remember how I saved the money. Maybe babysitting. But I remember buying a “real” stereo for my room. And I remember the first record that was given to me. Dream Weaver by Gary Wright. I got a good headset (big and soft) and would lie on the floor and listen intently. I was obsessed with it. Until someone bought me Firefall. And then… And then…

And then I had a friend who swam in blue jeans and knew music that I didn’t know existed. He played Maynard Ferguson and Bob Marley and the Grateful Dead for me. He played Johnny Winter and Styx and Zeppelin. To him, I am grateful.

I started going to concerts and listening to new kinds of music. And when I went to college, I learned to love country music and Springsteen and Iggy Pop.

And still, music is the backdrop of my life. It makes me dream and makes me remember and makes me feel.

So it thrills me that my guys are expanding their musical tastes all the time. That their iPods are full of many styles of music and that they enjoy it so much. And best of all, I love that it’s something we all can share.

Rock on.

My road-trip mix tape

Seven things you may not know about me.

Aaron Moore of Orange Element tagged me to do this. Normally I’d delete. But he’s a nice guy.

So, evidently I’m to share 7 things that I feel you should know of me, and then I’ll choose 7 people to go and do the same. Here goes:

1. I love pickled beets. So much so that I often receive Beet Balls as a gift.

2. When I was little, I used to climb up the weeping willow tree with a book and stay for hours. I really loved it there. I could see the stream and hear all the kids playing.

3. I went to see Styx (in the round) at Painters Mill Music Fair in the mid 1970′s. I sat in the front row with Mitchell. One of the guitar players came and sat in my chair with me and played. It was a little embarrassing.

4. I never watch TV news.

5. I can’t carry a tune. But I love to sing. I sing really LOUDLY & PROUDLY in the car when I’m alone.

6. When I was in my 20′s, I was asked out on a date by a really handsome doctor. He suggested Indian food for dinner and I was so nervous I said, “great.” Truth was, I couldn’t stand the smell of it. But I ate it and smiled. (Since then, I’ve more than acquired a taste for it – I love it. Maybe I have that guy to thank?)

7. I didn’t know that “over top” (as in, I live over top a bar) was a Baltimore colloquial term. I just learned it a few months ago. I always though it was ‘normal’.

And the 7 people from which I would enjoy learning more:
1. Kristin
2. Amy
3. Zandria
4. Tom
5. Melissa
6. Janet
7. Ezer K.

Coffee

Did you know that even upscale hotels have stopped serving free coffee in the morning? Sigh.

But there was a Starbucks in the upper lobby, so I went on up. Not that I wanted to spend $3 on a cup, but no big deal.

Except it was $3 and serve yourself.

And it wasn’t all that good.

Business travel

It sounds so luxurious to travel alone to another city, stay in a fancy hotel…alone.

Sure, I have a fabulous room (with great pillows and linens) and sure I had dinner with a wonderful friend and her husband. But the truth is…

It’s lonely.

Maybe it’s because I love kissing my boys goodnight. Maybe it’s because I love the hour or so that I get alone with Andrew after the kids are asleep before I fall asleep on the chaise. And maybe it’s because I love being home.

The traveling itself went perfectly. When I checked in, I got a little work done and went to the bar for a Knob Creek bourbon. It feels so odd being in a hotel bar with groups of businesspeople who are laughing and sharing stories. I sat there checking my email. And twitter.

And now, back in my room, I have everything I could need. Internet access. An inviting bed. Control of the television. And yet…

I used to love this. What happened? I am excited for my meetings tomorrow. But I wish I was…

home.

This is not even nice.

Right. Just what I want for Valentines’ Day. To be reminded that I’m getting old. Thanks a heap.

War will not rend interfaith project

Note: I have permission to post this from the copyright holder, Temple Israel of Omaha Nebraska.

BY RABBI ARYEH AZRIEL, WENDY GOLDBERG, NASER Z. ALSHARIF AND THE REV. CANON TIM ANDERSON
The writers, all of Omaha, are board members of the Tri-Faith Initiative. Azriel and Goldberg are senior rabbi and program director, respectively, of Temple Israel. Alsharif is secretary of the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture. Anderson is canon for development of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska.

Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

In 2006, a group of Omaha leaders made a bold decision to form a partnership with the goal of co-locating to an interfaith campus. Temple Israel, the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska and the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture signed a mutual agreement of understanding to create the Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha. We remain committed to this goal. Our dialogue actually began nine years ago. From its inception, we knew the day would arrive that would require us to gather at a table in the midst of war in the Middle East. How would we continue building our friendships of mutual understanding?

It took place at a meeting involving the emotional sharing of personal narratives of three leaders of the Tri-Faith Initiative — an Israeli-born Reform Jewish American rabbi; an American Muslim professor born in Palestine; and a native Nebraskan Episcopal priest. The tearful conversation was the kind of honest exchange that is necessary to reach peace.

The initiative, one said, “gives us all strength to have each other and to each respect our individual relationships with God. To understand and to know each other will move us forward.”

Another added: “The pain is so great. What is really at stake in our Holy Land? We are suffering. Who is scoring political points? Is this about geopolit ical struggle? What is the value of every human life? All people are victims. The violence must stop. The violence will not bring safety.

“This ongoing war has decimated my entire family. I no longer have a family. Just tears. There is no monopoly on pain. We all have people being killed. Will we strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being? Our response is, ‘We will, with God’s help.’ ” Our stories are woven together with threads of pain and love for our people and the land. We shared stories of loss of friends and family. We acknowledged our mutual regard for human life, especially those who have died as a result of the ongoing struggle.

We heard each other’s memories of war — pain and fear, dreams for the Holy Land. We cried. We hugged. Our years of conversation and education had clear rewards as we witnessed and felt the pain of the others.

The participants said, “We stand together in condemnation of the violence, pain and suffering. We hope for peace and coexistence in the Holy Land. We understand that politics alone will not end this conflict.”

The Holy Land is more than borders and settlements. The tragedies reach beyond Gaza; our message must be a global one. In Omaha, we are privileged by our influence and freedoms. Yet we feel guilty; our selfishness and greed have desensitized us. Are we assuming our responsibilities?

Today we, the leadership of the Tri-Faith Initiative, call upon ourselves to honestly reawaken our consciences, including progressive change to build relationships, to honor a nd respect the other. We raise our voices to work toward peace.

Recognizing the challenges ahead requires hope, faith and a commitment to work hard, together, to solve the many problems of our generation. TriFaith gives us hope — hope for the future in the midst of despair.

Despite the strong feelings roused around our table by the crisis in Gaza, the initiative continues to move forward and remains committed to its first public event, “Dinner in Abraham’s Tent: Conversations on Peace,” featuring the national leaders of each of our movements: Rabbi Peter Knobel, Dr. Ingrid Mattson and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the U.S. Episcopal Church.

The event, set for Friday, March 27, at the Qwest Center, will feature a worship service followed by a dinner and a conversation among the faith leaders on the theme of “Shalom, Salaam, Peace.” In the words of Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, “May our courage match our convictions and our integrity match our hope.”

How can we still attempt the Tri-Faith Initiative when there is a war going on in the Middle East?

How can we not?

Time for a career change?

An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls “the best job in the world” — earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.

The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the winner’s home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland’s state government announced on Tuesday.

Seriously. Read the whole article here.

I promise to write and call.