Author: DJB

Time Off

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Taking extended time away from work is a luxury for many Americans – not to mention for many citizens of the world. As the oligarchs have taken over large parts of our economy, the 90% are pressured to work ungodly hours and take time off at their peril. One of the most telling – and incredibly sad – segments of Michael Moore’s “act of guerrilla humanity” called Where to Invade Next is his reporting about how other countries provide their workers so much more time off than U.S. companies AND realize more productivity.  Imagine that. All of this is to say that I feel very fortunate to work for an organization that has a sabbatical policy to encourage creative, restful, and restorative time off.  Several of my colleagues have taken a sabbatical in recent years – some to travel, others to work for preservation groups in other countries, and still others to work on projects for their faith communities.  In each case they came back with refreshed perspectives and energy for their work. My last …

We Believe You

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These past two weeks have been emotional ones for our family. It began when Andrew called us while on his way home from a singing gig about 10 days ago.  He had been asked to be on stage at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles with Lady Gaga as she sang her Oscar-nominated song “‘Till It Happens to You” from the film The Hunting Ground.  A survivor of a sexual assault while a freshman in college, Andrew’s story was included in the film and in media such as the Huffington Post. Andrew has bravely stepped forward over the past few years to talk about his experience and to help others with similar experiences.  And now, he had a chance to stand with other survivors on the national stage.  Fast forward to late last week.  Andrew had flown to LA and spent the first night with a family friend before connecting with his sister Claire (who was back in her apartment after a multi-day retreat).  We spoke with him on Friday evening and could tell by …

Connections

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This past week has been full of conversations, study and work around successful networks. An African proverb cited in the book Connecting to Change the World: Harnessing the Power of Networks for Social Impact may best describe the impact of connecting to networks: If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. A good reminder.  Let’s go far, together. More to come… DJB

Chris Stapleton - Traveller

Real country

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There was one upside of being stuck in traffic – and then stuck in the car wash line – on a February day with 60+ degree weather. The Bluegrass Junction station on Sirius XM radio was featuring a live concert of The Steeldrivers – a band I highlighted in my Favorite Roots Music Albums of 2015 post last December.  (Oh yeah, it was also the winner of the “Best Bluegrass Album” in that other little year-end list – The Grammy’s.) After playing “If it Hadn’t Been for Love” from their first project (the black album), fiddler Tammy Rogers mentioned that “some singer you might have heard of — named Adele” — had covered that song earlier this decade and featured it in her Live at the Royal Albert Hall DVD.  I knew Andrew would love this. So I returned home and told Andrew the story.  I mentioned that Chris Stapleton – who wrote and sang on the original SteelDrivers version – just won Country Album of the Year for both the CMA and Grammy’s, which …

My Own Personal Spring Training

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As I post this, the clock on Spring Training Countdown (motto:  Winter Bad. Baseball Good.) reads:  4 days, 7 hours, 37 minutes, 7 seconds.  It is clear I don’t have much time to get in shape for the season! My own personal spring training generally consists of reading a new baseball book and re-watching Bull Durham (best baseball movie ever).  However, our tape/CD player is broken (I know, we’re old school), and so I had to improvise and instead read two baseball books.  It is tough duty, but sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get into shape. I began with 2015’s Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-year Losing Streak by Pittsburgh writer Travis Sawchik. This is a terrific book about how the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates, stumbling along in a 20-year losing streak (remember Sid Bream and Barry Bonds and Skip Carey’s classic 1992 “They may have to hospitalize Sid Bream” call) turned around their fortune as a baseball club.  The Pirates did it using big-data …

Andrew in 2005

Still singing

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(Editor’s Note:  Candice posted the following on her Facebook page earlier today.  I’m putting it here on More to Come… as she wrote it.) In 2001 at the age of 8, Andrew began singing at the Washington National Cathedral as a novice boy chorister. In 5th grade, he joined the boy choristers and went on to become head chorister in 2007. Pictured here is Andrew in 2005 with Leonard Slatkin of the National Symphony Orchestra when Andrew was the treble soloist for the Chichester Psalms. Those were exciting years. Today, Andrew sang for the first time as one of the men of the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. The second picture shows Andrew this morning as the choir was ready to process into the service. It’s been a great ride, Andrew, and we are excited to see where life, your talent, and your dedication takes you next. More to come… DJB Image: Andrew with Leonard Slatkin in November 2005 after singing the treble solo in the Chichester Psalms

Observations from the Road: The “There are Worse Places to Spend a Blizzard (Day 2)” Edition

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After 27 inches of snow fell in Central Park over Friday evening and Saturday, Sunday dawned bright, clear…and cold!  So after being fortified by breakfast, I decided to wander out to see how New York City was faring as a follow-up to yesterday’s There are Worse Places to Spend a Blizzard.  First, a check of 5th Avenue at 54th Street.  When I was at that intersection last evening, it looked like this: While the hustle and bustle in the roadways hasn’t picked up, there are many more people out walking through this part of the city by mid-day on Sunday. It was great to be out with the “crowds” (using that term loosely).  I saw dog walkers…and (small) dogs wearing booties.  I saw people gawking at the Trump Tower.  I saw men (mostly) doing the hard work of shoveling snow (with the main culprit in bad sidewalk maintenance being the luxury store Bergdorf Goodman.) I stopped by and saw the handiwork of old friends George Taylor and John Boody – Opus 27 – built by …

Observations from the Road: The “There are Worse Places to Spend a Blizzard” Edition

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I came to New York City this weekend knowing full well that some of the meetings I had scheduled could be changed or cancelled due to the snow.  But the predictions were off significantly, and the blizzard that blanketed Washington came right up the eastern seaboard to New York. However, our team made the best of it, and we were fortunate to have two of our members here from New Orleans.  So they just did what they always do in the face of natural disasters, and we ended up having a great “hurricane party” in their apartment about a block from our hotel. What a wonderful way to spend a blizzard in New York City. More to come… DJB