Life is good

Tool concert last night, dodgeball tonight. I'm living it up in Toledo! (and making new friends in the process).

For a good time check out TSSC:

http://www.toledosportandsocialclub.com/

Goodbye Dr Bob

Whenever I've spent time with Robert Brundage over the past 10 years or so, I came away feeling a little bit inspired. The man had so much knowledge and wisdom. So many stories to share or good ideas to promote. I never found myself disagreeing with him when it came to ways to improve the community. Issues like balanced conservation of natural areas along side urban areas or green forms of transportation. I agreed with him on ideas for urban beautification such as burying power lines instead of turning out street side trees into giant strange looking topiaries. He had such a great knowledge of trees. I was always impressed by this man who was once so versed in technology and living an urban east coast lifestyle who came back to Toledo and made it a better place. He chose a path that was in some ways simple but also very complex and busy. He lived with such a small footprint on the planet, but a great impact on people. I'll always remember him.

Sweeney Todd

Megan and I went out with Jeff and Steph to Levis Commons. We ate at Biaggi's and caught Sweeney Todd on opening night (in US). I loved the music and the overall story, gave it a 9 on IMDB. That is one star down from being one of my favorites, as I only rate 10 movies with 10 stars.

We had a nice night out.

Intro to Geocaching

This week a colleague of mine from the Toledo office was visiting for a week of training in St Helens. On Saturday we took him around to see a bit of Chester and then on to Wales. He is an avid geocacher so we decided to look for a couple of caches near Conwy. It was really exciting to find this little plastic container that others had hidden in the old rock wall. We read through the long list of people who found it before and left their little trinkets in the collection. How cool, thanks Richard!

Sunday we went into Manchester and walked around the Christmas markets. Later on we faced the daunting traffic leaving the city and decided instead to go back to the Printworks and watch a movie (Golden Compass - really good).

What has been on Aaron's mind?

I've been concious of the fact that my blog has sort of turned in to a travel journal over the past year. It doesn't really bother me because the goal is to keep track of both what I'm doing and what I'm thinking. I need to post a bit more on the thinking.

Some friends of mine in Atlanta recently had a new baby girl who had some spinal trouble. She has just come home with them after a couple weeks in the hospital. That really makes me feel good, and stirs memories of my little sister's experience. She spent the first several months at MCO in Toledo including spinal and heart surgeries. I was about 10 at the time and a lot of that has become a blur, but she was a miracle baby and a testament to the field of medical science.

In other news, a good friend and colleague of mine here in the UK has quit his job (for the second time) and plans a solitary bike trip from the south of Argentina up through Chili and Peru. This, while not exactly tempting for me, does make me think. You see these extreme examples of super human people who go on incredble trips, run ultra marathons, overcome great adversity (mental and physical I always think of Lance Armstrong). Jason Lewis just came back to UK from a 13 year person powered trip around the world...in which he was run over by a car in Colorado, arrested as a spy in Egypt, and attacked by a croc down under. What motivates people? Probably millions of things, combinations of those things, and they can change over a life span. Philosophers categorize, pontificate, and generalize the reasons. They dream up fiction or capture biographies or poeticize about it. One of my favorite thought experiments in this area is objectivism.

I think much of motivation is due to world view or spiritual views. I think for many people religion is a moral rudder but not a true motivation in and of itself. In the staggering numbers of people in poverty, survival is key motivation. But what about well-to-do productive people who veer off course and do something dangerous/exhilerating? These extreme challenges I think are persons pushing themselves to the boundaries of human social and physical limits, for their own sake. They believe their one physical life is sacred and should be explored as completely as possible. They would rather take an interesting avenue of life, thereby choosing quality over the possiblity quantity, since even the quantity of longevity is never garaunteed.

My suggestion to anyone reading this, is think about your life. Pretend you have 10 minutes to live, and you really aren't certain what the afterlife will hold (even if you are certain). What scenes of quality living flash through your mind? When are your happiest moments? When were your most harrowing? What achievements are you proud of? Any regrets? When you've done this, do you feel content having what you have experienced? If not, get out there and LIVE people! And if you want any further advice, do it in a compassionate, respectful way towards your worldwide brothers and sisters, both future and past. Oversimplified? Maybe...especially for those struggling for survival. But not due to financial means or being tied to a region. Living intentionally and experiencing more doesn't require a bycicle trip across a foriegn contentent. The goals are up to you.

Steve on my mind

I've been thinking a lot lately about a colleague Steve Ruane and his bicycle accident in Sylvania. Such a tradgedy. He is a very intelligent man who lives life on his own terms. He and his family have a long road of recovery ahead.

http://z13.invisionfree.com/BikeWorks/index.php?showtopic=230

Live every day to its fullest.