Relaxation

Relaxation is an often neglected, but highly integral part of a productive lifestyle. These are some of my favorite quotes on the subject.


"Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise to noon, rapt in revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, while the birds sang or flitted noiseless through the house until by sun falling in at my west window, or the noise of some traveller' s wagon on the distant highway, I was reminded of the lapse of time. I grew in those seasons like corn in the night, and they were far better than any of the work of the hands would have been. They were not time subtracted from my life, but so much over and above my usual allowance. I realized what the Orientals mean by contemplation and the forsaking of works."

- Henry David Thoreau
Walden

Deny children -- or anyone else -- the chance to do "nothing," and we may be denying them the chance to do "something" -- to find and do any work that is truly important to themselves or to someone else.

- John Holt

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it."

-Sydney J. Harris

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop."

Ovid

And he [the Lord] said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind and earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

-- I Kings 19: 11-12 (KJV)

In America, we hurry--which is well; but when the day's work is done, we go on thinking of losses and gains, we plan for the morrow, we even carry our business cares to bed with us, and toss and worry over them when we ought to be restoring our racked bodies and brains with sleep. We burn up our energies with these excitements, and either die early or drop into a lean and mean old age at a time of life which they call a man's prime in Europe. When an acre of ground has produced long and well, we let it lie fallow and rest for a season; we take no man clear across the continent in the same coach he started in--the coach is stabled somewhere on the plains and its heated machinery allowed to cool for a few days; when a razor has seen long service and refuses to hold an edge, the barber lays it away for a few weeks, and the edge comes back of its own accord. We bestow thoughtful care upon inanimate objects, but none upon ourselves. What a robust people, what a nation of thinkers we might be, if we would only lay ourselves on the shelf occasionally and renew our edges!

-Mark Twain
The Innocents Abroad

Refreshing and Thought Provoking

This movie seems to be a much needed piece of the Hollywood Entertainment puzzle. Movies are so often guilty of glamorizing adultery, fornication, and "living for yourself in the moment". It is of immeasurable value to have a movie that advocates working on your marriage rather than walking away from it. I can't wait to see it and will try to remember to post my thoughts and review commentary afterwards.

Voulez Vou....

To break out of the ordinary and try something new? Be spontaneous. Here is a list of ideas for Tallahassee....

To go Bowling, mini golf, play pool, darts, air hockey?

Go fishing and have a picnic?

Play paddleball at the beach if its sunny!

Invite people over and have a game night! Think catch phrase, balderdash, cranium, (maybe drunk twister?) Chips and salsa! Mmmm…. Everybody brings a different snack!

Make a gourmet dinner of foods we've never heard of?

Bake an apple pie !

Ultimate Frisbee, tennis, kayaking, raketball, something active?

Visit a local (or not so local) winery/vineyard?

Movies at the dollar theatre? (or the $1.25 theater I should say)

Maybe try the new comedy club?

Find a new restaurant? Something family owned with lots of cultural flair!

Such Creativity!

I love everything about this specialty cake vendor...


Charm City Cakes - Baltimore

What I do for a living

I am regularly asked what exactly it is I do for a living… and there is a big difference between the corporate side of meeting planning, and the hotel side of meeting planning. On the hotel side, this letter is a hilarious and not too far fetched representation of my job...

Dear Meeting Planner:

I am a convention services manager. I have unlimited resources at my disposal. I always keep at least ten meeting rooms under my desk and it is a policy here to automatically make reservations and tee times for your Board of Directors when you sign a contract.

I can make any of my meeting rooms larger or smaller, depending on your needs. I will naturally remove any supporting pillars from your meeting space and will install windows in every room as needed.

The "ocean view" is not scheduled to arrive until the second day of your program and for this I sincerely apologize. We will, however, move the hotel two feet to the left to accommodate your request by the end of your general session today. I can only throw myself at your mercy and grovel at your feet.

I completely agree that it is inconceivable that we should have any other groups booked into the hotel during the program.

The additional breakout rooms that you added this morning should be built no later than Wednesday. Naturally, it will be no problem to turn your session for 800 persons into a hollow square for 150 with rear projection, simultaneous Japanese translation, and satellite hook-up during your fifteen-minute coffee break.

Unfortunately, due to space constraints and the fact that your final program bears no resemblance whatsoever to your contracted space, we will have to suspend your lunch buffet from the ceiling above your session and suck the gravity out of the ballroom.

We have located the boxes that you sent last month under your mother's maiden name at the hotel down the street, and again our apologies for not having found them sooner.

In answer to all your questions, it is, of course, understood that I am aware of all or your speaker's requirements and will set up an overhead, LCD projector, dual slide projectors, two slide projectors, two screens, a laser printer, podium and mic, two table mics, six aisle mics, a head table and red and blue M and M's in each room at no charge, just in case you need them. We will automatically adjust the temperature in the room every fifteen minutes.

It goes without saying that an AV tech, engineer, baby sitter, and myself will be underneath your head table during the duration of your event just in case you need anything else. It has been great working with you and I can't wait to see you again......really!

Forever yours,

Your CSM

Goals of Blogging

I have decided to start blogging. I'm aiming for a collection of thoughts, theories and ideas I find interesting. Who knows where that will take me. I would like to avoid the common notion of blogging as a way to record my mundane day to day activities and emotions in a public forum style "diary". That's what facebook is for. (Joking)

In all seriousness, I'm glad to have an online scrapbook of sorts to collect the things that interest me. Hopefully you will enjoy it too.

And already, I have adopted a style of writing that implies the world will read this on a regular basis...How blogger-esque of me.