Cache of the Day - A Girl's Weekend

Happy Birthday, Dawn! Today is Dawn's actual birthday, but we celebrated all weekend in Chicago this past weekend. Of course, Dawn LOVED it when I would ask the waiter to PLEASE have everyone come over and SING to Dawn! You should have seen her face! She was SO happy!

Somehow - whenever I'm with Dawn - my sarcasm skyrockets. I can't say why. It just does.

We did have a great time, dining in wonderful restaurants (I especially enjoyed our dinner at Lawry's Prime Rib), and we also had our share of imbibing.

Check this out: we even discovered a wine/cheese/chocolate bar, with flights of each available for astronomical prices. It was all worth it, however, just to have the opportunity to sing - once again - to Dawn.

We also caught a show at the Second City. Very fun and very well done. Improv is SUCH an art! Such talent!

The weekend was great fun and I can say this with all sincerity - Happy Birthday, Dawn!

Cache of the Day - Changing Perceptions

I love love LOVE my job, especially when I have the rare opportunity to actually work with a group to facilitate learning. Today, I facilitated a group of leaders from various organizations throughout the Bloomington area. This was session 5 in a series of nine sessions designed to increase the skills of leaders so that they can more effectively create RESULTS for their companies.

Oftentimes, leaders will think they are on the right track but - if they are open to new ideas - a "shift" in their perception can take them to a more impactful place. A shift that will provide a clearer identification of what needs to be different. A shift that creates a path to a different future. I love the way that training can shift the thought process in an individual so that they can more clearly see where they need to go.

Our class today focused on COMMUNICATION (ALWAYS a great topic) and the necessity for leaders to adapt their styles to create a more effective relationship at work. We did some "skill practice" exercises (we NEVER do role-playing, by the way. NO one likes to do ROLE-PLAYING!), and we had some discussions on challenges and limitations that we have in our current relationships.

Everyone had a chance to adapt their own style to meet the needs of others. Not easy, but changing perceptions isn't an easy thing to do.

Our participants had a great time, learned a lot, and changed their perceptions on how to more effectively communicate with others.

Cache of the Day - Facing Fears

I'm assuming that most of us fear something - heights, snakes, death, or neck-biting deers (my nephew Eric's greatest fear!). Oftentimes we try to avoid them, but one of the best ways to overcome fears is by actually facing them. I have read that, if you are afraid of spiders, for example, that you should imagine the worst scenario that can happen, such as having spiders crawling all over you. This is supposed to calm you. I find this very hard to believe, but then again, I don't have a PhD in Psychology, so I will assume that this theory is a result of a study that was conducted that revealed these results.

I have typical fears - related to heights, mostly. I experienced vertigo on the top of the World Trade Center and the Empire State Building. I am a "freaky flyer" in an airliner and I can feel my heart rate skyrocketing, particularly on takeoff and landing. For some reason, I have a crazy fear of bridges, known as gephyrophobia. I experienced this quite a bit when I lived in Los Angeles, particularly driving over freeway overpasses. I realized how intense it was the first time I drove over the Oakland Bay Bridge in San Francisco.

Speaking of San Francisco, I had the unique opportunity of experiencing the triumvirate - my fear of heights, flying, and bridges - during a trip to San Francisco when the tour helicopter we were flying in actually went UNDER the Golden Gate Bridge. Here's the shot.

My most recent fear has nothing to do with heights. Taylor has started driving. I don't think I need to say anything else. You can bet I am not imagining the worst that can happen to face this fear. Fortunately, she seems to be a very cautious and aware driver so, while I will always have a fear for my child, I know that she will be careful and will drive safe. Right, Taylor?

Cache of the Day - A Daughter Who Gives

BEFORE








My daughter Taylor has been growing her hair out for over a year so that she could donate her locks to "Locks for Love". This past Saturday was her day to get her tresses chopped off. Check out these pics to see the progression.
THE FIRST SLICE

HALF AND HALF

Taylor loves her new look and I am proud to have a daughter who gives.



A HUG FOR DAD










AFTER

Cache of the Day - Dance Recital

It's hard to believe that we work an entire year (we started last August) to perform for less than 10 minutes on stage, but it's true! Of course, the real fun is practicing every week, learning new dance steps, selecting our dance music and costumes, and other such preparatory events.

Okay, those of you who know me know that the REAL fun is the performance. The ideal situation would be to instantly know the dance and be able to PERFORM every week instead of PRACTICE. Unfortunately, you can't have a great performance without the practice, as I've found out. And given my decided lack of talent when it comes to dancing, I really need to practice more than those who are naturally gifted.


Taylor is just the opposite and would rather practice and NEVER perform. She has proclaimed herself to have Social Anxiety Disorder and thus doesn't like to even SPEAK to people much less PERFORM for them. Despite this, she had a FABULOUS performance, and felt that she did her personal best on each of her dances.

It was a long year and a long evening, but we had a great time.

Cache of the Day - In Search of Artsy Stuff

I don't think I'm all that snobbish or cultured, but I do like to pretend like I am! Thus, attending an opening reception for a photo exhibition and then viewing a film (which is VERY different from "seeing a movie") was quite an event this weekend.

This past Friday night my friend Deb and I attended the reception for this photo exhibition. Deb, an aspiring and very talented photographer (check her out at 8 Hours and a Lunch) knew some of the entries into this event, so we checked it out. While I don't know that much about photography, I was touched and amazed by the interpretation that the photographers - many of them classified as amateur - exhibited at the SOFA gallery on the Indiana University campus. What talent and creativity!

I especially liked the peanut butter blossoms, one of my favorite cookies, which they served, along with many cheeses, pita bread, and humus, and of course, fine wines. Very snobbish indeed!

Afterwards we attended - in the same building - a film ("In Search of Mozart")that I had wanted to see for some time. I discovered that it was playing throughout the U.S. while on a trip to Chicago and, upon further research, found out that this film - along the genre of a documentary - was developed as part of a celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 250th birthday. Deb and I "viewed" the film in this - shall I say "rustic" - auditorium. And yes, the film was LONG (Deb and I kept asking, hoping, praying for the "Requiem" to be featured, as we knew this film was staged in chronological order and the Requiem was Mozart's last work). But the INSIGHTS into Mozart's compositions were so compelling. Many experts - composers, conductors, historians, performers - provided interpretations on Mozart's works that I had never understood, or thought about, or explored. And these interpretations made the film incredibly worthwhile. Not to mention that it only cost $4 a person.

So we had a great night and had fun acting like cultural snobs. And we learned a bit too ("brain food" as a friend of mine describes it).

Cache of the Day - Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Although the celebration of Cinco de Mayo was HUGE when I lived in Southern California and Phoenix, and not so much here in Indiana ("What is this holiday again?", "What's it about?"), I've always appreciated the color of the celebration, with great music and wonderful food. And what a great excuse to get people together!

I must commend the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra for its focus on the celebration, which culminated in a concert of Latin and Latin-inspired music. Our featured soloist was Emilio Colon, who played, certainly with technical skill, but more importantly with a passion that only Latin lovers can display! I loved to watch him and often became entranced during his performance. Even more impressive was the fact that he wrote the music, a reflection of his escapades and memories of his youth.



I had a little celebration at the condo on Saturday night, complete with a full array of Mexican food and drink. Here is my friend Jackie with a margarita and me with a sangria. You should have seen our rendition of the Macarena after a few of these!