Ending the Year with April 1st

On the last day of 2009, here’s a recap of what’s been happening in the April 1^st Project over the past few weeks:

I’ve come across a lot of book lists and recommendations.

The Bolter by Frances Osborne

Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich

On November 30^th, the WSJ headline indicated “Obama Sets Plan for Afghanistan.”

On December 10^th, Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oprah’s list of 10 books to watch for 2010:

Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America

Unfinished Desires

The Happiness Project

Day Out of Days

Talking About Detective Fiction

Nanny Returns

U is for Undertow

Stones Into Schools

Footnotes in Gaza

Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession

Oprah and I don’t always share the same taste for books, but she’s got some good ones here. I have added The Happiness Project to my library list and also believe that I’ll venture into the last three on the list.

The Guardian in the UK created a list of ‘the decade’s best unread novels,’ which I found interesting and repeat here:

The Spare Room by Helen Garner

The Secrets of the Chess Machine

Don Quixote – Translated by John Rutherford

Mutiny by Lindsey Collen

Barefoot Soldier

War Reporting for Cowards

Born Yesterday by Gordon Burn

Black Juice by Margo Lanagan

Journal by Helene Berr

Boy A by Jonathan Trigell

The Three of Us

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

I discovered www.filmsite.org as a great resource for film quotes and other movie-abilia.

“The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than its value.” – Charles Dudley Warner

Had a delicious feast with friends on Christmas. Our menu was:

Porcini Mushroom Soup

Beet Salad with Dijon-Honey Dressing

Baked Snapper with Potatoes, Oregano, and White Wine

Roasted Carrots

Brussels Sprouts Sauteed in Butter

Braised Fennel with Lemon

Berry Clafouti

“In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it. They must not do too much of it. And they must have a sense of success in it.” – John Ruskin

Discovered www.vook.com and www.myebook.com.  And some great stationery sites: Kate’s Paperie, Jenni Bick Bookbinding, and Vickerey.

I was disturbed this morning by an article in the WSJ about Iran titled “Regime Wages a Quiet War on ‘Star Students’ of Iran” – An excerpt: “In most places, being a star means ranking top of the class, but in Iran it means your name appears on a list of students considered a threat by the intelligence ministry. It also means a partial or complete ban from education.”

I find all the news out of Iran disturbing, but the continued clashes, arrests and violence against people seeking truth, freedom, and democracy is outrageous. They are brave in a way that most of us will never have to be.

On a lighter note, Dan Pink – of whom I’m a fan – has a new book titled “Drive.” In it, he sets out to outline what it is that motivates us. According to Pink (from an interview in the WSJ), he says there are three things that motivate us:
autonomy, the desire to direct our own lives
mastery, the desire to continually improve at something that matters
purpose, the desire to do things in service of something larger than ourselves

Whatever motivates you, I hope you find an abundance of it in 2010. I hope that your dreams come true, your goals are realized, and that you remain in good health. Happy New Year.

Reflect and Renew

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to reflect and to renew.

I find that the best way to look back is to do so with gratitude, being mindful of and thankful for all of the goodness that I have enjoyed. I am blessed with an abundance of deep and lasting friendships, and it is through those that many of my joys have been experienced. I am blessed that my professional life has yielded success in many ways, but the most valuable have been the relationships and bonds that have transformed a business connection into a personal friendship. I give thanks for all the love and support that I receive, for the heart that has been connected to mine for so many years, and for the ability to give and share joy, a warm smile, and a good laugh.

Simple things are great when viewed through the lense of gladness. The turtles laying their eggs earlier in the year, the eagles over the pond, the frog symphony outside the back of the house. The fun cooking class with neighbors, time perusing Food & Wine, Gourmet, and Bon Appetit, and dirtying my hands, the kitchen, and a lot of plates. I’m thankful for time to read (presently am enjoying the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith), time to write, good music (love that iPod), and moments of silence. This year, I particularly enjoyed the Houston Grand Opera’s Cavalleria Rusticana and  Rigoletto, the Alley’s Eurydice and Gruesome Playground Injuries, the Menil’s exihibit of Joaquin Torres-Garcia (not too late to see this great work, ends January 3), and countless other visual arts and performances. I have enjoyed my involvement with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, enjoy my friendship with Alecia, and continue to be absolutely thrilled when I see them perform. I enjoyed my weeks of Looking at Art with a girlfriend as it gave us time to have a bite and catch up each week for a period – a true gift in the midst of busy lives and coordinated schedules. And there is so much more; these are but a sampling of my blessings.

In November, we kept a basket shaped as a cornucopia on the kitchen counter, a Post-It pad and a pen alongside. From the first until Thanksgiving, we became more attentive to those things for which we were/are grateful, and we wrote them down as they came to us, folded our notes, and deposited them into the basket. On Thanksgiving Day, we unfolded and read each one. From the big ideas to the small things, our gratitude overflowed.

I watched a podcast some months back that featured Oprah interviewing Sarah Ban Breathnach, the author of Simple Abundance, a book that I have not read or picked up – yet. I enjoyed the dialogue between these two women, and the focus was on gratitude. Sarah urged the keeping of a gratitude journal and the practice of writing in it daily. I did not adopt the journal then, but I have now. And I begin 2010 with a lovely journal that will spill over with kindness, goodwill, modest pleasures, and some extravagances. Life is so rich. My life is so very rich. For that I am tremendously grateful.

And it is because of this that I also take time now to renew – renew the commitments that I’ve made to myself, renew my aspirations, renew the strategy that I have for my life and my work. I make renewed commitments instead of resolutions because the word “resolution” seems to have finality to it. A beginning and an end, a resolved issue, a goal attained. Life is an ongoing process, a journey that will take you down a number of paths, each contributing to who you are and how you see the world. I renew, make adjustments as I feel are needed, and continue into the new year with boldness and an open and glad heart.

Wishing you daily moments of joy and the time to reflect. And I hope that 2010 renews your spirit and fills your heart. Happy New Year!