Pre-Ramble: According to our favorite meteorologist, the planets Venus and Jupiter will be brightly visible in the southwest skies at twilight over the next week or so. Astronomy is so amazing. There is something eerily comforting about the moon and stars and the enduring vastness of space. When my kids were little, we would take our sleeping bags out onto the driveway in the middle of the night and scan the canopy of darkness for the magical streaks of shooting stars.

Interestingly, moving along in the stardust as well, are thousands of orbiting ”space objects.” According to the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, there are more than 12,000 objects, including 600 operational satellites and what is known as “orbital debris” circling in the skies above the Earth, many of which can be seen with the naked eye. Iridium Communications Satelites, for example, are approximately the size of a Volkswagen Beetle and have highly polished antennas which reflect a bright flash of light when their orbit comes into alignment with the sun.

Featured moment: This week, and for the next several centuries, it is likely that you and the kids will also be able to spot a small, greasy, backpack-sized bag full of tools moving across the evening sky. In a recent and highly unfortunate mishap, astronaut and Minnesota native, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper watched as her untethered tool bag, valued at $100,000, floated slowly out of reach during the first of four spacewalks scheduled to repair a jammed Solar Alpha Rotary joint. Apparently, a grease gun had exploded in the bag (hate it when that happens) during the “extravehicular activity,” whereupon the miffed astronaut was recorded as saying, “Oh, great.”

Seriously, that is what she said. I think something else would be rolling off my tongue if a grease gun had just exploded in my bag in the middle of a seven hour spacewalk. When interviewed later, the mortified Stefanyshyn-Piper blamed herself, noting that, “…[it was difficult] knowing that [I] made a mistake and living through that… it was the hardest coming back in and having to face everybody else.”

Hold on a second there, Heidemarie… If I’m not mistaken, while you, the only gal on the mission, were out there working your space gloves to the bone, your male crew mates were essentially inside just hanging around. (Please don’t tell me you still had to shop and rehydrate dinner when you finished up with that spacewalk.) And let’s not forget history here – in 1971, revered Apollo 14 Commander, Alan Shepard, lost three golf balls in some sophomoric high jinx on the moon. It’s hard enough to find a lost golf ball here on Earth and you don’t see him all sheepish and apologetic. He’s the one who should be embarrassed – did you hear the play-by-play on those iron shots?? He topped the first one, sliced the second, and then totally exaggerated the distance on the third. Let’s not blow the gravity of your situation out of proportion, for heaven’s sake; who among us hasn’t made a mistake on the job?

The Take-Away: Four things to take away here: 1) Grace under pressure - you have set a stellar example of how to handle challenging circumstances for the millions of young men and women who look up to you; 2) Teaching moment – you will probably learn and grow more from this experience than from all the perfect missions put together; 3) Notoriety – as “that astronaut who dropped the tool bag,” you will have something to talk about on Ellen for the rest of your career (you may even be able to do a double dipper on this if the bag ends up hitting someone in the back of the head at some point); and finally, 4) Take heart - you will be able to look back at this a couple light years from now and laugh.

Post Note: According to satellite trackers at SpaceWeather.com, the errant bag was spotted in the sky after sunset on Saturday, November 23rd by Edward Light using 10 X 50 binoculars while scanning the sky in his backyard in Lakewood, N.J.  On the same night, Keven Fetter of Brockville, Ontario, video-recorded the bag as it passed through the constellation Pisces. The satellite tracker predicts that the bag will be visible through binoculars from Eurpoe and western North America this week, and by late next week, should appear in the eveining skies over most of North America.

Pre-Ramble: Mom is in the other room chopping celery, so I, the resident canine, Daisy, have been appointed as your esteemed guest blogger for today. My topic for the ramp-up to Thanksgiving Day will be the Top Ten things I am thankful for this holiday season. Between you and me, we should all be thankful that Mom is not cooking anything for the big Thanksgiving dinner beyond a couple platters of crudites and her signature/fool-proof apple cake. My plan is to busy her with setting the table and filling water goblets while the girls prepare the pumpkin pies (complete with hand-rolled crust embellished with maple leaf cut-outs and freshly whipped sweet cream). 

Turkey Talk: Before I share my list, I just have to comment on Audubon’s rendition of the “wild turkey” (shown right). I don’t know what he was looking at, but I’ve chased plenty of wild turkeys out of my yard and I can tell you that they are not good looking birds. There is clearly some photoshop going on here, both in the coloration and arrangement of plumage, and in the fowl’s implied demeanor. Far from the picture of soft, brown, calm, coyness depicted by Audubon, in addition to being ugly, this plucky breed is skittish, ornery, and mostly grey. Benjamin Franklin however was evidently a fan, indicating in a 1784 letter to his daughter, that he preferred the feisty and courageous Wild Turkey over the aloof slacker Bald Eagle as his choice for national bird. But, enough of this turkey talk; here is the run-down of the Top Ten things for which I am thankful this Thanksgiving. I am thankful that…

1. … my family loves me and takes good care of me
2. … two rabbits live under the back porch (we’ve had endless hours of fun)
3. … rescue dogs (like me) are going to represent in the new White House
4. … nobody feeds me canned dog food (the canine equivalent of Spam, which I also wouldn’t eat even if I was sitting in a sky box at a Saints game)
5. … I don’t have to go to The Nutcracker this year (that old guy in the cape gives me the creeps)
6. … my Pilgrim hat wouldn’t stay on (so Mom had to go with that lame Audubon print)
7. … nobody makes me fetch things (a couple laps around the dining room table and I’m good)
8. … I don’t fit into a standard size roasting pan
9. … no one in my family likes dark meat (score – more for me!)
10. … no one is tracking my Neiman Marcus tab

The Take-Away: Well, I can’t sit here blogging all day… I have stuffing to do.  I hope this Thanksgiving finds you happy and healthy, and that you are able to find a warm, sunny spot on the carpet to sit and reflect upon all of the wonderful things in your life. I will leave you with this final thought on thankfulness from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

For each new morning with its light; For rest and shelter of the night; For health and food, for love and friends; For everything Thy goodness sends.

“Woof!”

Pre-Ramble: Turns out that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow might have more relevance than we thought. According to best-selling author, Malcolm Gladwell in his new book “Outliers,”  success is as much a function of circumstance, effort, and luck as it is about innate ability.  Gladwell, science buff and staff writer for The New Yorker, examines a  collection of modern-day success stories including that of Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates; nuclear physicist,” Robert Oppenheimer; and legendary musical group, the Beatles. In each of these cases, he concludes that far beyond any singular factor, exceptional levels of achievement were made possible by a synchronous combination of factors including  intelligence, determination, effort (practicing a skill for at least 10,000 hours…!), advantageous upbringing, optimal educational opportunities, adequate socio-economic resources, being in the right place at the right time, and just plain luck. Personal circumstances are a necessary condition, he notes, but “a lot of things need to break just right” in order to launch an individual into the realm of extraordinary success. ”People don’t rise from nothing… they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” (Note: Gladwell has written two other very well received books,”Tipping Point” (2000) and “Blink” (2005), which indicates that extraordinary success is also a function of snappy, engaging book titles.)

The principle of synchronicity was demonstrated to me up close and personal one sunny day last summer while I was brushing my teeth and watching the sprinklers in our front yard (… ok, summer days are supposed to be slow…).  Three of the pivoting spigots were launching fitful arcs of water above the grass, when suddenly, like a well-orchestrated dance, the sprays intersected with each other and the sunlight to create a tiny, brilliant segment of a rainbow. It was a magical little moment, made even more so when I realized that, had I been standing in another place, or if it had been another time of day where the sun was in a different position in the sky, this bright array of colors would not have been visible to me.

The Point: Like hidden rainbows, Wall Street Journal book reviewer, David Shaywitz (11/15/08, p. W10) suggests that the real message in Gladwell’s “Outliers” is its focus on the profound reality of lost potential and the costs of such a loss to individuals and to society. How much potential out there is being overlooked or ignored? How much raw talent remains uncultivated and is ultimately lost? Do we cling to outmoded ideas of what success looks like and what is truly required to achieve it? Shaywitz notes that Gladwell’s perspective ”passionately emphasizes the need to recognize and cultivate great minds that might be limited by their circumstances or environment.”  

The Take-Away: Potentially great minds are as close as your own backyard. In fact, there is an infinite number of ”potential rainbows” all around you all the time, just waiting for the right set of circumstances to reveal themselves. Short of watching sprinklers all day, you can encourage the spectrum of unrealized potential in yourself and others and increase your opportunities to access the success you seek.  By intentionally increasing your range of experiences and keeping your eyes open, you can increase your potential solution set and the value that is waiting there. If you aren’t seeing your opportunities, chances are you’re just standing in the wrong spot (see Descarte’s diagram of a rainbow above). Move over a little and look again.

Pre-Ramble: On the eve of the final session of Level 1 Improv, I thought it would be sporting to share one of the most useful things I’ve learned. “Move the energy forward” is a fundamental and very versatile principle of improvisational theater, and I have found that it has a role to play in pretty much any circumstance. According to John Sweeney, improv extrordinaire and author of Innovation at the Speed of Laughter, ”moving the energy forward” simply means that the improvisational actor accepts whatever is going on in a scene with an unequivocal, “Yes, and” attitude… i.e., “Yes,” I support what my scene partner just said or did, and, “and,” I am adding something to it to keep the storyline moving.

The poster child for this concept, of course, is President-elect Barack Obama whose highly successful campaign included the themes, “The Change We Need” and “Yes We Can!”  The American electorate, and the entire world it would appear, are energized both by the prospect of change and hope for the future, as well as by the strong positive affirmation around our capacity to make change. In moving the energy forward, change is not an interruption of what is reliable and consistent, but an exciting exploration toward what is next.

And, let’s not overlook the value of action in the “move the energy” equation. In the spirit of Nike’s classic game changing slogan, Just Do It, the operative dynamic here is spontaneous, sweeping and bold. Who better than vigorous golf champion, Tiger Woods (shown above) to represent for the “move the energy” concept? Next to Rafael Nadal, Tiger has one of the best reaction shots in the business (and some sweet biceps… but I digress). 

Noteworthy on the far end of the “pace of play” continuum, is Christopher Smith, the world’s fastest speed-golfer. WSJ journalist, John Paul Newport (11/8/08, Golf Journal, p. W4), played a round with Mr. Smith, who, carrying only six clubs and sprinting between shots, recently recorded a six-under-par score of 65 in just over 44 minutes at a tournament in Chicago. (As a point of comparison, your above average country club geezer shoots in the mid-eighties in around four hours.) Talk about moving the energy forward… in speed-golf, you don’t have time to think; you just size up the situation and hit the shot… “grip it, and rip it” (as per rehab powerhouse, John Daly). Here’s the instructive part – since taking up the sport ten years ago, Smith realized that he often scores better in speed-golf than he does playing regular golf. !  Holy smoldering divot! This could totally revolutionize my game! I guess it makes sense, if you stop to think about it…

The Science: When you’re spending 5-10 seconds on each shot, there’s no time to worry about whether your head is down or if your damn belt-buckle is pointing toward the target. Shot after shot, the round begins to “flow,” your attention totally absorbed in the moment. You’re just accepting the conditions of the situation and… moving the energy forward. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist, author of the bestseller, Flow, (and hereafter refered to as C-Dog), suggests that human brain chemistry responds to the “challenge of discovery” as novel experiences stretch the capacity and involvement of the individual. The “flow” experience, described as an almost automatic, effortless, yet highly focused state of consciousness, happens when “action and awareness are merged.” That rings true for me - my golf game could be characterized as “automatic” and when my “action and awareness merge,” I get an adjusted handicap index of 33… (which for the non-golfers in the crowd, might be considered suboptimally high).

The Take-Away: If there was ever a rule to live by, “move the energy forward” is it! As in life, an improv scene that is not changing is “stagnant, repetitive, and predictable.” From this perspective, change can be seen, not as a necessary evil, but rather as a valuable “vehicle of opportunity” that allows us to discover, heighten, and link to whatever comes next. 

Try it!  The next time you find yourself hanging back in an uninspired cesspool of lethargy, pick yourself up, step forward and ask yourself, “Self…, what would I do next here?“  It can be anything.  It doesn’t have to be perfect; it doesn’t even have to be productive.  Just do it. Take a ride on that vehicle of opportunity – you’ll be astounded by how far a positive attitude and some energy can take you! And if you don’t know what to do next – just improvise!

There’s going to be a new puppy in the White House! 

The Pre-Ramble: Yup – President Elect Obama told those darling daughters, Sasha and Malia, that they could have a new puppy when they got to the White House. He said it out loud in front of a couple million people, so there’s really no turning back.

The tradition of pets in the White House began with George Washington who apparently received a dog named “Vulcan” as a gift from Revolutionary War hero, Marguis de Lafayette. Most recently, of course, George W’s “Barney” graced the White House lawn … preceeded by the Clinton’s “Buddy” … and before that, Barbara Bush’s best-selling author, “Millie.” Other lessor known first canines include Herbert Hoover’s “King Tut,” Richard Nixon’s “Checkers,” Jimmy Carter’s “Grits” and James Garfield’s ”Veto.” Margaret Truman had an Irish Setter named “Mike.”

The Possibilities: This begs the question, what kind of dog will be appointed to the 44th Presidential Household? Have potential candidates been campaigning for the position? Patriotic Pet Tricks, perhaps? Do we bring in 10 or 20 dogs and vote one off every week? Somehow, I’m not seeing Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and despite the charming literary characterization of “Karl the Dog,” a big ol’ rottweiler doesn’t feel right either. A Rhodesian ridgeback would cut a fine figure around the White House, and bred to tree lions out on safari, they could work foreign affairs when needed (think Medvedev out on a limb in the Rose Garden). The smart and agile border collie could run back and forth across the aisle, herding all manner of stray creatures. A fiesty, cute-as-a-button beagle would bring a lot of energy to the party, but the howling and barking every time the doorbell rings may grow tiresome. A couple of labs and a tennis ball would have a field day on the National Mall and could shred documents in their down time. The downside here is, while labs are rambunctiously wonderful, they have a knack for getting into the trash. The last thing we need is coffee grounds and bacon grease all over the oval office.

Clearly, there are a number of appealing options. According to a report by the BBC, Michelle Obama is advocating for a rescue animal and a recent survey by the American Kennel Club selected a “pedigree poodle” for the First Family. Tamar Geller, a California-based celebrity dog life-coach, “is confident that the Obamas will choose a rescue dog.” (For my tax dollars, a “celebrity dog life-coach” makes Sarah Palin’s Neiman Marcus tab look pretty tame.) Early polling shows that the Obama’s dog may, in fact, be a rescue “goldendoodle” – a non-shedding part golden retriever, part poodle, meaning less likelihood of allergens for sensitive humans and less fur flying in Air Force One. 

The Take-Away: There’s no real take-away from this little romp; the good news is there’s probably already a doggie-door in the White House and enough room in the federal budget for a bonus bag of rawhide bones. Whatever the top choice, we’ll want to vet the options thoroughly to make sure there are no scandals buried out back. I’d also strongly recommend beefing up security with an Invisible Fence. Daisy received a zapper collar for Christmas last year (see above) and has not roamed out of the yard since. (I’m thinking that this may have been useful during the Clinton administration, although a rolled up newspaper to the snout may have been just as effective… on Bill, not Buddy - you should never hit a dog with a newspaper.)

The Pre-Ramble: Just one more day until it’s officially time to vote. Phew!  It would be an understatement to say that this election season has been a unique and wild ride. Campaigns have been playing the ultimate game of political dodgeball as new personalities, technologies, and formats force candidates to engage with John and Jane Q. Public in new and unconventional ways.

Ever since 1992, when Slick Willy played “Heartbreak Hotel” on his golden ax on The Arsenio Hall Show, the self-important traditional media has increasingly found themselves standing on the sidelines as Comedy Central and Late Night serve up the candidates’ latest spin. Spit-polished political hopefuls squirm in their chairs alongside the night’s Top Ten and hot young actress du jour, trying to engage the viewing electorate with clever self-effacing banter. Forget Charlie Gibson - candidates are chewing their nails in the green room waiting to test their metal in a verbal cage match with the gals on The View. (I’ve never actually seen The View, but from what I’ve heard, it sounds like a pretty scary scenario.) And,“Live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”  … These words, spoken at the end of the coveted SNL opening skit, are now the solid gold standard for political street cred. This season everyone from Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin has appeared on the show. Frankly, some of the candidates play better than others in the hip, “watch-me-make-an-ass-out-of-myself” venue. One of the candidates, who shall remain nameless (and likely un-inaugurated), came across significantly older and less presidential than he might have imagined.  

The Point: In addition to the entertainment factor, what I like most about this political season, that seems different from years past, is that somewhere along the line someone gave us all permission to drop the ton of political apathy that was hanging around our collective psyche and let us be genuinely excitied about the political process. Commentator/comedian D.L. Hughley and his guest, the Reverend Al Sharpton, sat on CNN the other night talking about how historic and giddy the whole thing really is. This year there is a palpable sense of energy and unity, a kind of pride in our country and the possibility for real change that hasn’t been out there in a long time (if ever). 

An article on the front page of Sunday’s New York Times (11/2/08) describes the new brand of engagement with the political process, “… Across the country, black men and women who have long been disaffected, apolitical, discouraged or just plain bored with politics say they have snapped to attention this year.” Sure, there’s the black/white thing, but it feels like way more than that.  Among the folks interviewed in the article, Brooklyn bartender, Timothy Hairston, 47, who has never voted before put it this way,

“I wanted to be a part of a historical moment…to say that I was an active participant as opposed to someone on the sidelines rooting for change but not involved in the process of making change. I think it’s a testament to [Barack's] campaign that he can inspire. At the end of the day, no matter what party you vote for, I think every once in a while there are inspirational moments that call for people to wake up from their deep sleep and become involved.” 

No matter your political stripes, this election is about something fundamental to our heritage as Americans. The tone of this election invites every American to reengage with their civic privilege and responsibility. It invites us to step up, individually and collectively, to be engaged, to do what we can given our gifts, to make our community, our country, and our world a better place. Most of all, it inspires individuals to take themselves, their lives, and the potential they have, the inherent right that they have to a point of view, seriously. This election invites every American to take action, to lift up their voice and reach for the hopes and dreams they have for themselves and for their children. This election represents a new patriotism for a new time.

The Take-Away: It is an honor and a privilege (and unbelievably awesome) to be able to stand among our fellow Americans at this decisive moment in history and have a role to play in the outcome.

Nuff said (I’m getting a little bit of vertigo up here on the soapbox…) – LET’S GO VOTE!