The pace of 1999 was absolutely spectacular and completely insane, both at the same time. I began the year working at the BellSouth Client in Birmingham, AL and ended the year working at the AT&T Wireless Client in Paramus, NJ. Between these bookends, much has happened. With this context and without further adieu, here is my Annual Top 10, a chronological listing of highlights for 1999 – a year I could not have predicted!
1.) The Way We Were. In February, I sent a copy of the 1995 publication The Middle Horn Leader 14 (a publication featuring my 1984 journal from a summer of drum corps) to Canadian artist Don Daber. I had never met Don, but I read his column in Drum Corps World for years. Don liked the journal so much that he asked to use various anecdotes as material for his DCW column, The Way We Were. Through volumes of letters, phone calls, and faxes, we collaborated heavily for over six months. Our collective work was published each week from June through September in Drum Corps World. Our friendship and collaborative efforts continue into 2000 as we plan to jointly produce and publish a 2nd edition of the MHL 14 which incorporates Don's artwork. (A copy of my favorite panel is enclosed.)
2.) It's All About Communication. Listening to some wise advice, I attended a weekend seminar in March that focused on relationships and communication between men and women. Giving attention to these important (yet often neglected) areas has forced an examination of my priorities, which still continues. This may well have been the best investment I made all year.
3.) Magic Metal. After being on a wait list for nearly one year, a world-famous Lawson french horn was custom-made for me. Lawson Brass Instruments is located in a small workshop off a rural road in Boonsboro, MD. From this unassuming setting comes absolutely superior craftsmanship, yielding some of the most beautiful french horns anywhere. After playing on my Holton-Farkas student model for 19 years, I got one hell of an upgrade. As much as I enjoy the finished product, the process was the biggest joy of all. What incredible fun to work with this family of artists and to learn about their craft. The quality and integrity of their work simply cannot be mass-produced.
4.) M-O-R-T-G-A-G-E-! At the beginning of the year, I was planning to build a home. But opportunity knocked in May and I bought my Mom's townhouse when it went up for sale. I spent June in a mad scramble to convert the top two floors into a separate rental unit. At the same time, I took a crash course in how to be a good landlord. I was very lucky to have dedicated vacation time (as well as the world-class carpentry skills of David Larson), because this transition demanded over a month of 18+ hour days. There was that much to do. I have never spent so much money in my life, nor have I ever entered so aggressively into an area of unknown. However, by the end of the year, I could see that this was the smartest move I could have made. Which leads to the next highlight of 1999...
5.) Great Tenants! As mentioned, the top two floors of my townhouse were converted into a completely separate living space. With a separate entrance, washer/dryer, security system, electrical resets, etc., my walkout basement apartment effectively became a condominium. I love living there, even if only on weekends (because of work-related travel). After showing my house dozens of times, I narrowed my tenant choices to a few – and that's when Pam Vosburgh saw my newspaper ad. The first thing Pam asked was, "I see that you don't take pets, but how about a box turtle?" Well, how could I say no to that? Pam and her son, Alex, have been absolutely wonderful friends to me and could not be more kind. Heck – they even brought a huge Thanksgiving meal to my door, complete with a side of cranberry sauce and pecan pie!
6.) Wrong Trip. By early July, I had completed most of my major housing projects and had just begun a new assignment at AT&T Wireless (after 16 months in Birmingham, AL at BellSouth). It was a perfect time to restore energy, and I did so in a spectacular trip with the Millers. Actually, this was a "guys-only" trip. 5 Uncles, 7 Cousins, and 1 Grandfather – three generations, all gathered for a week of fishing in Canada. We met in Winnipeg, flew over miles of wilderness, and eventually landed on Wrong Lake, Manitoba (an ironic name). Although in the middle of nowhere, we didn't exactly have to rough-it. We shared several cabins, there was a main lodge with wonderfully prepared meals, and native guides took us to all the "sweet spots" for fishing. Each day, we would have a shore lunch and eat fish that were wigglin' just a few minutes before. I have never been a fisherman, but I can now understand the passion that fuels avid anglers. It is about spending quality time with people you love and it is about enjoying the natural beauty of the outdoors. It's also about beer and stupid jokes, at times, but there was room for it all. What a trip!
7.) Giant Audience. In August, I attended a drum & bugle corps show at Giant Stadium to see my old corps, now called The Cadets of Bergen County. After the show, I went to the food truck – the natural gathering place. There, I was introduced to several marching members, many of whom read my journal published in The Middle Horn Leader 14. Our drum corps experiences were separated by a dozen years, but the journal helped bridge this gap and spark conversation. By the end of 30 minutes, I was surrounded by a couple dozen marching members and we were having a pretty big time of it all. One thing that particularly struck me was when a number of members took time to share personal reactions to my journal. Comments varied, but regardless, it was amazing to receive so much from work completed five years ago. I'm still not sure what to do with the feelings I had this evening, though I realize that few things in life pay such dividends. This unexpected experience had an almost eternal quality that I want very much to grasp.
8.) Not Bored. In the late summer and fall I had the honor of serving on two different boards for my alma mater, Virginia Tech (you know, that school with the good football team). National Partnerships for Diversity Management was organized by the Vice President for Multicultural Affairs, Dr. Benjamin Dixon, to establish synergies between Corporate America and Academia in the area of diversity. The board meeting for the Industrial & Systems Engineering Department produced a corporate perspective on Virginia Tech's extended campus and distance learning program. These events seem noteworthy because they mark a new type of relationship with my alma mater. I entered college in 1984 when I was 18 years old, and I have been involved with Virginia Tech every year since. Once again, it is nothing I would have predicted, but I'm having an interesting time.
9.) Amen. Dig in. In the spring, I learned that one of my best friends had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Actually, the diagnosis was made a few years prior, but events unfolded in such a way that by the fall, an operation to remove the tumor could be postponed no longer. I'm very glad to report that the surgery went much better than generally anticipated and that my friend is doing extremely well. Although this event had nothing to do with me, it had everything to do with me. And it has everything to do with you, too! After all, why should my friend be the only person scared into living life differently because of this experience?
10.) Amen. Giggin' Eleven years later, the Quintessential Brass Repertoire (QBR) is stronger than ever. We began as a student group at Virginia Tech (you know, that school with the good football team) and now play gigs in and around the DC area. It's my opinion that we are playing our best music right now. Plus, rehearsals are a scream – I laugh so hard sometimes that I cry (...don't ask). That's how much fun we have, and I think it shows up in our musicianship, too. But from a purely personal point of view, the most gratifying aspect is performing for friends. For example, QBR performed at a number of weddings for friends this year. That is why I buzz on my mouthpiece to music on the radio while driving. That is why I wash crud out of my horn in the bathtub. That is why I argue with flight attendants about fitting my horn beneath airplane seats. All these relative indignities feel worthwhile following special moments of performance, and such moments go a very long way, as I was reminded several times this year.
As I look at my address book and compare it to last year, I feel blessed to see many new names mixed in with family members and old friends. (Plus, I see my new office address...card enclosed.) I have new friendships that enrich my life more than I can adequately express, and that may well be the biggest victory of the year.
"There is something mind-bogglingly wonderful and something mind-bogglingly satisfying about making something out of nothing. To take a blank piece of paper and make it come alive with graphics, with symbols, and with concepts is an experience far beyond any words I know. There is nothing in the world like it. That's the eternal frontier, that blank piece of paper. When you experience it, you have to keep going back. You don't have any choice. It's that good." – J.J. Johnson, trombonist, bandleader, and composer
"This experience has given me a perspective on my own life and what I, as a person, can do to live in a manner consistent with the idea that we all live on a planet with finite resources." – Kristen Kelly, friend and volunteer at the orphanage Nuestras Pequenos Hermanos in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
"It is the loss of possibility that murders us." – Kelly Cherry, from "Lines written on the eve of a birthday"
"One life per customer; that's all we have." – Carol Brokke-Jordan, in a letter written to Drum Corps World
"Although there was much chemistry between us, there was no suggestion of biology." – Dennis Norton (of the British Talk Show, My Word), talking cleverly about a particular relationship with a woman
"It's great to be underestimated." – Rachel England, cousin, the youngest (and smallest) member of her water polo team
"The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed." – Baron de Montesquieu
"We don't have Kings and Queens in this country (U.S.A.) – we make our own." – Richard Dreyfus, actor, on the late John F. Kennedy, Jr.
"Bernstein was not a deeply original thinker, but he loved ideas and saw connections everywhere." – Anthony Tommasini, NY Times
"You can never get enough of what you don't need – because it is never satisfying." – Debra Brown, friend
"Curators like to curate with dead people because they hardly ever complain." – Kathleen Burch, San Francisco Center for the Book
"'This is me.' That's what we are all searching to express." – Aaron Copland, composer
"Technology changes every 3-9 months. People adopt change in 3-5 years." – from Andersen Consulting's Voice and Data Networks Class
"Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure." – William Saroyan
"Without discipline, you either give up or give in." – paraphrased thoughts of a priest interviewed on NBC news
"In realizing and acknowledging limitations, we open the door to opportunities and personal freedoms." – David Welch
"If you had an hour to live and could make only one call, who would you call? What would you say? Why are you waiting?" – Stephen Levine
"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." – Robert Frost
"Smoking is the slowest form of suicide." – David Welch
"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." – Oprah Winfrey, talk show host
"If you're not friendly, you might miss something." – Anonymous friend of mine
"I believe that any person who asks for forgiveness has to be prepared to give it." – President Bill Clinton, after admitting an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky
"Being yourself is good enough." – Deborah Miller, on approaching new relationships
"Only the disciplined are free." – J.C. Penney
"If you have no excesses in the full bloom of youth, what will there be to pave away on the long road to maturity?" – Sir John Barbirolli, about cellist Jacqueline du Pre
"Remain open to new experiences. Don't commit yourselves in too much of a hurry. You may discover that the middle-class life for which you're now newly qualified is less, much less, than you thought it was." – Graduation advice from the University of British Columbia, given by columnist Peter C. Newman
"Live your truth." – Paraphrased comments of educator Charles Muir
"Those who are great are those who have left something behind." – Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, upon the death of King Hussein of Jordan
"...words put together carefully can do a world of good." – Dr. M. Craig Barnes, Pastor, the National Presbyterian Church
"It's usually very stylish to be pessimistic." – Daniel Shore, Senior News Commentator, National Public Radio
"Mozart had endless capacity for original thought." – Observation of friend and artist Nancy Thomas
"There are no bad days; there are only good days and great days." – Lance Armstrong, cyclist and cancer survivor, winner of the 1999 Tour de France
"Success is doing what you want." – Paula Rutherford, friend
"Another flaw in the human character is that everyone wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance." – Kurt Vonnegut, author
"We are all the sum total of myriad daily decisions, and if we approach these daily decisions with diminished energy, then our choices are proportionally diminished. Fuel up or be disadvantaged." – David Welch
"Grace is not up to us." – Charles Muir, educator
"Resistance is a drag – that's what my physics teacher told me." – Charles Muir, educator
"Does the extinguished candle care about the darkness?" – lyrics from a Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello song
"...the fantastic unexpectedness of life." – Gustav Holst
"Tough times don't last – tough people do." – Mike Shannahan, coach of the NFL Denver Broncos
"Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius." – Charles Buxton
"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." – Nelson Mandela
"Being understood is a great feeling – or is the converse more of a truth?" – David Welch
"To hell with it – let's get drunk – a ball." – Leonard Bernstein's musings on Movement III of Mahler's Symphony #5
"Jim-Bob-Dandy-Peachy-Keen!" – Bill Gray, professional tuba player
"You can't earn power without being fundamentally honest with yourself. It follows that inherited power carries the risk of the converse." – David Welch
"We cannot live better than in seeking to become better." – Socrates
"Religion is for people who don't want to go to hell. Spirituality is for those who have been there." – Anonymous
Birmingham v East Lake v Five Points v Greenwood v Hoover v Northport v Pelham v Tuscaloosa
California
Aptos v Capitola v San Bruno v San Francisco v Santa Cruz
CANADA (Manitoba)
Eardley Lake v Selkirk v Winnipeg v Wrong Lake
Florida
Boca Raton v Coconut Grove v Miami v South Beach v West Palm Beach
Georgia
Austell v Decatur v Kansas
Illinois
Chicago v St. Charles
Indiana
Bloomington v Indianapolis
Maryland
Baltimore v Bethesda v Boonsboro v Catonsville v Frederick v Kensington v Rockville
Massachusetts
Lanesboro v Lee v Lenox v Pittsfield
New Jersey
Bedminster v Bridgewater v East Rutherford v Hackensack v Hasbrouck Heights v Lodi v Neshanic Station v Newark v Paramus v Ridgewood v River Edge v Rochelle Park v Saddle River v South Hackensack v Teterboro
New York
Albany v Astoria v East Greenbush v Jackson Heights v New York v Queens
North Carolina
Charlotte
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
South Carolina
Greenville v Greer
Virginia
Alexandria v Annandale v Arlington v Bailey's Crossroads v Bertrand v Blacksburg v Burke v Centreville v Champlain v Chantilly v Christiansburg v Crystal City v Dulles v Dunn Loring v Fairfax v Fairview Park v Falls Church v Ft. Meyer v Gainsville v Hayfield v Herndon v McLean v Merrifield v Midlothian v Mount Vernon v Mountain Lake v Oakton v Occoquan v Old Town Alexandria v Pentagon City v Potomac Yards v Reston v Richmond v Roanoke v Rossilyn v Salem v Seven Corners v Shirlington v Springfield v Tappahannock v Tyson's Corner
Wisconsin
Delafield v Johnson Creek v Lake Mills v Madison v Marshall v Milwaukee
Washington, D.C. v Georgetown
