Monday, March 28, 2011

Hopeless Romantics

Ok, I don't care what anyone thinks I love this definition, this thought and the idea that they exist.  "you might role your eyes at this, I'm just glad that you exist (The Weakerthan's)"

Idealists, sentimental dreamers, rose-coloured glasses - why would you want to be anything but?


Hopeless romantics believe in love and fairy tales. They dream of roses and candlelight, walking on the beach at sunset, and dancing in the rain. They know that somewhere out there is a knight in shining armour ready to carry them off, or a beautiful princess waiting to be carried off into the sunset. Hopeless romantics believe in true love, and the eternal bliss that comes from being united with one's soulmate is what they crave most.

Hopeless romantics recognize in themselves the ability to love infinitely deeply, and they ache to be loved with the same fervor in return. When a hopeless romantic has someone to lavish their affection on, lavish they do. Hopeless romantics sometimes write love letters full of poetic phrases and send flowers, but mostly they try to find a thousand thoughtful little ways to show their love. They make romance into an art form.

Hopeless romantics wear rose-colored glasses. In their eagerness to find "the one," a hopeless romantic may either be extraordinarily picky or not discerning enough. Hopeless non-romantics think that hopeless romantics are delusional and too intense. Other than the seeming futility in the search for a soulmate, nothing frustrates a hopeless romantic more than a significant other who does not understand the hopeless romantic temperament.

Sometimes, in this cynical world, it seems like the population of hopeless romantics is declining. One has only to look at the number of movies and songs about love that are currently popular to prove otherwise. It may also seem that there are many more hopelessly romantic women than romantic men. This isn't surprising in a culture where a man might get snapped at for opening the door for a woman. Men and women often have different ways of expressing their emotions, and the number of hopelessly romantic men is probably much higher than anyone could tell simply by observation.

Hopeless romantics are the idealists, the sentimental dreamers, the imaginative, and the fanciful. They give the world its once-upon-a-times and happily-ever-afters. Hopeless romantics may have their feet on the ground, but their souls fly somewhere over the rainbow.

Source(s):

http://www.mtannoyances.com/?p=173

So my toast and thank you to hopeless romantics, love songs and beautiful lyrics.

curtis

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Green Teams in Government

Ok, so instead of making a poster for my Masters Thesis Poster Session, I decided to make a video.  What did I learn?  Huge thanks to my friend Shane for all his work editing (first off).  People like videos!  I am pretty sure maybe 1 to 3 people read my original thesis proposal, transfer that to video style and voila hundreds of views (204 at last check) maybe more on route... So I recommend the tool of video, it requires so much less of your audience and has the power to convey so much more message, body language, tone, facial expression etc!  I once heard that only 8% of what we are saying is in the words, the rest is in the eyes, the body, the tone, etc etc.  I think video is a great way to get more meaning into and out of our work!

And if you haven't yet seen it:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdTknpjbNW4

enjoy

curtis

MORE

I watched two great movies recently:

South 180 - gets your mojo going for adventure.  "The greatest journeys answer questions you never even thought to ask in the beginning..."  Oh Patagonia how I long for your wide open spaces... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C52vyEKnDeM oh and the soundtrack so good!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN9lm7XOX_8&playnext=1&list=PL4C0E310D063AE66C

I Heart Huckabee's - a movie exploring existentialism, very deep, lots of good dialogue, probably you could pause the movie every 60 seconds or so and think about it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k-N6ri95Xs

ok and now the reason I am writing this blog, what do I want more of:



So next up, if I know where I want to go, I need to determine what am I doing to get there and is it working...
stay tuned.

cd

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Take aways from another beautiful semester at RRU

In no particular order, I am going to remember, reflect and discus some of the lessons I recall from RRU 2011.

Its all about the people.

Some highlights: Mount Washington, forming strong ties (based on an article by Malcolm Gladwell on the importance of strong ties vs. the social networking ties that are typically weaker).  Would you put your neck on the line for a facebook friend that you barely know or a friend who you have made strong bonds and community with...

Longboard - a must around campus!

Sustainable governance - similar to governance with some differences: Each team summarized what it meant to them, some key characteristics included: transparency, triple bottom line accounting, leadership, empathy, genuine "you can't fake these things", resilient, passion, common vision.

Reflect Reflect Reflect!! - the key take away of the course, I need to do more of this, real learning and insight comes from critical thought and reflection about our learning and our actions.  I am going to use this blog to rant, remember and reflect more!  For myself!  If it gets too personal for you, sorry...

Everything educates - our classroom, our clothing, our friends, etc

Speed kills we need to slow down and enjoy the ride - this is oh so hard for me to understand knowing that we only live once...

The Holy Grail to Sustainability in an organisation is to change the mindset/paradigms, the way we see the world.  Our stories need to change.  This will be challenging in government but definitely worth pursuing!

The Systems Zoo - very important to think apply systems thinking to problems, when you think you have a solution, think about how it will effect the birds and the bees and all the other stakeholders that maybe involved...  Energy --> Food --> Water  all connected, and our policy's need to take this into consideration.

Health - is a way to get at sustainability and environmental movement, possibly one of the most effective ways!

We need to be transparent with our information, sharing of information leading to informed decisions and accountability and a better use of wealth and resources.

Where my bees at: definitely a highlight!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5vt07W2n4

Climbing trees, Charlies trail, backcountry adventures... the love is strong, thanks to everyone for making it a wonderful residency!

stay tuned...

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Walmart saving the world?

http://adage.com/article/news/move-government-walmart-s-regulator-town/149251/

I don't know how I feel about Walmart leading this charge?  Community development? In the High Cost of Low Prices documentary they talk about what a $hat hole the founders of Walmarts home town is and how they don't give back a penny.  Also I have heard numerous economic studies explaining that Walmart's low prices and driving out family business actually ends up costing everyone in the community more in the long run to live... very ironic.  


Like I said I am not sure how I feel about it, can Walmart really gain credibility as leading the environmental charge in the Western World?  I wonder about credibility...  


I do love that nutrition is mentioned and Michelle Obama - yeah!  Maybe Walmart really is turning a corner here...