Thinking back on the past 3 weeks, it seems 2011 was already a month ago. The holidays have come and gone, and the dreaded long haul from MLK Day to Memorial is quickly approaching for us in the U.S.

res·o·lu·tion/?rez??lo?oSH?n/

In thinking about how to approach the year we have jumped into, the cliche of “New Years Resolution” resonated with me. The definition of Resolution is ‘A firm decision” – key word firm. I thought to myself, what could I do that would be a change in my life that I could focus on in 2012 but would last greater then one year. While gym membership / activity sky rockets in Quarter 1, with the “I’m going to lose weight” group, I thought I would try a new approach in my personal goal.
 

I thought of the approach of the phrase coined by the book – “How Do You Eat An Elephant? One Bite at a Time. by Bill Hogan” . Smokers don’t quite overnight nor can a person expect to see immediate change in their life starting on January 1. Deni noted on facebook not too long ago, “People worry so much about what they eat Christmas to New Years, they should think about what they eat from New Years to Christmas”.

What is my firm decision, as my 2012 Resolution? A few things actually! During the holiday season, I spent time with family and began to develop a strategy to improve in the new year. I thought what do I need to do to get to my goal – Remove the Noise from my life. This is a variety of things, but the key is what do I need to do, to get their, versus what is my goal.

1. Mental Health – Quit sweating the small stuff. Somethings we acknowledge are out of control. When I travel, if something happens to me, I know it’s beyond my control. Let more roll of your back, and not lose sleep over the small things. (As I type this at 5am).
2. Financial Health – I have balanced my checkbook in Microsoft Money since 1998, and have since 2000. MS quit supporting it last year, and the direct connection to banks has gone manual. Is having a budget noise, you may think, but I wanted to focus on curving my spending habits.
3. Physical Health – To have good mental health, I needed to get this back on my list. Minus the ankle that still makes a unique clicking sound when I walk, I hope to be up to full speed to return to more activities after the visit to the specialist later this month.
4. Work Life Balance – In looking back in 2011, the amount of “me” time was a bit less then I had hoped. With losing a bit of vacation during the annual rollover, I anticipate making a comeback in 2012. My goal remains, 5 Repeat Countries and 5 New Countries which I have achieved or exceeded every year but 2011 (Only 5 Repeat Countries and 1 New). Planning the vacation for the spring now. With the right money saved, this supports Mental and Physical Health. (I have an awesome team at work, that helped me realize its okay to take a break)
5. Private Pilots License – Yes…. Everyone knew this would eventually make the list, and I hope to complete this in Quarter 1 of this year. I have flown about 165 hours in small general aviation planes, with 23 hours of lessons, and 6.5 of that in the first week of 2012.
6. Continue to Appreciate what I am fortunate to have in life, and give back when possible.

That is how I am going to Remove the Noise in my Life in 2012 – I will provide updates on each one as the year progresses. Do you have a resolution? Send me a note, or comment below, we can look back in 2013 on what we planned to tackle.

Happy New Year!

Hopefully 366 for 2012

With the old site gone and some photos out there to share of some cool adventures on the horizon, astriker.com will be enhanced over the upcoming weeks. A Bio and Photo Albums tab will be added to make it easier to understand who I am, and visually see some of the albums I’ve created to share to the world.

I hope you enjoy the changes, I’m pretty excited to share with you my plans for 2012.

Sitting outside on this warm summer evening, I remember my first trip to Atlanta to interview. It was Memorial Day Weekend, 2006. After my relocation from Chicago to Atlanta started, I commuted to Atlanta on a weekly basis in 2008, I can remember the heat along the highway to the airport as I sat in traffic. Passing under buildings on 400 and seeing large fans on to circulate out the exhaust from the automobiles crawling beneath.

Fast forward 5 years later with my current company, and I look back and wonder where the time has gone. When my father would tell me that time flies or it goes by so quick as you get older, I thought the man was crazy. How could the 5 minutes before school got out at 2:30 pm ever go by quick? How could falling asleep on Christmas Eve ever make morning come any sooner? The moments in my life where time seems to slow are when I am at the airport waiting to get through security, most likely because the person in front of me has not heard about the ban on jugs of vegetable oil as carry on, and also for the phone to ring when you hope to hear back from someone you have interest in.

While it goes by quick, at times I feel it may even be passing me by. I began work while in High School and recollect many times I forewent vacations and personal breaks to work. While the end result drastically improved my career, the fun along the way was few and far between. What I did learn to do is make fun out of any situation I am in, whether it be the night I had someone with a gun standing in front of me at the hotel (3 days before the big 21), or being on Newport Beach to be told that I was a great person, and oddly, the passion I evoked in them made them long for that passion in their ex….  Needless to say, if I have serious interest in you, I will never take you to that beach.

Thinking back to my childhood, in 1995 the movie 9 Months debuted which has an amazing song about the Time of your Life. Unfortunately, the soundtrack featured a different version, but it serves as a reminder about living life in the moment. How the moments we wish would go slow, pass us by, like an amazing first date, or saying goodbye to a loved one briefly, or for eternity. I love you mom, had our moments of happiness only lasted longer.

Below is the song by Little Stevens – “The Time Of Your Life”

A particular part that makes me remind myself of living in the moment - Carpe Diem

Don’t think about the future, don’t think about the past
There’s just this moment, better make it last
You better get it right ’cause
This is the time of your life

Of course, who could not think about time of your life, and Green Day  Good Riddance (Time of your Life)? When I hear that song I remember being at an old high school friends home, with a pool, with that playing so loud. When it gained more popularity being on friends.

The picture shown above is my mother and I, outside the theatre inside Knott’s Berry Farm waiting to see KIDS Incorporated… I would guess sometime around 1985 to 1986. One of the pictures of her that I can almost hear her laughter. In case you can remember part of the jingle for KIDS Incorporated, here is a refresher! Jennifer Love Hewitt was also in the cast.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnsHpPNltBw

While preparing dinner last night, Slacker popped up the album 31 Minutes to Take Off by Mike Posner. The song of the cover is only 53 seconds but what grabbed me was the album cover. Sitting on a plane at sunset, no one next to you, seat in front of you, and bound for wherever the jet is going to touch down.

Whenever it is close to take off, I still get the feeling of excitement. The plane pushing back from the gate, being cleared to taxi, and finally rolling down the runway. Looking out the small oval window at the wing flexing as we lift off, hearing the engines rev up more, and finally the sinking feeling as we gain altitude. Looking back and seeing the runway behind us, the world passing by so quickly. Sitting down yet going so fast, how life often passes you by if you rest, while the world we live in just keeps moving faster and feeling smaller. Sitting alone on the flight, feeling the solitude knowing that an adventure can start with a plane ride and also draw to a close.

More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination.  ~Wilbur Wright

Many times I’ve gone flying and people mention they forget that the cloud layer is only so high, and above it, sun is shining. Passing through those clouds, a bump or two, and soaring above them, the shadow of the plane on the clouds growing smaller as we ascend. Closing your eyes, and you can wake up half way around the world 15 hours later. Granted, I could never sleep for 15 solid hours on a plane.

How strange is this combination of proximity and separation.  That ground – seconds away – thousands of miles away.  ~Charles A. Lindbergh

The quiet time on a flight allows my mind to wander, I think of friends, the path of my future, challenges in life, and oddly, I associate flying with evoking emotion. Whether it is the excitement to get to the place, or the sadness of the conclusion or a farewell, or the stress knowing the heavy tasks at hand upon arrival.

More time of reflection this Tuesday evening. Cleaning out a few more drawers left behind after the move out. Two things made me think about the past all too much, I found a DVD in the camera I was giving away, which had videos from Disney Paris and touring Paris in 2008. The other was some clothes I had purchased for the first cold Chicago in 2006. The ending of the video clips is my return to ORD for the last time, when I had to connect down to Atlanta for a work meeting. The camera recorded until I could not be seen anymore passing into security, on Mama United. That was the last time I flew in and out of Chicago as a residence of the state of Illinois. Seeing the video, laughter at Disney Paris, walking the streets of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, a flood of more memories. Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes the sting still comes back. A few of the shirts will remain in the dresser for now.

Many video clips are out there for Adele’s “Someone Like You” but this particular one has her singing at home and explaining her frame of mind when she wrote the song. The song was the last written for her latest CD. While most reference her other songs on 21 because popularity but this one is beautiful. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

One of the most powerful stanza in the song I identified to is below. No worries no cares, bittersweet in the end and wish you best.

Nothing compares
No worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes
They are memories made.
Who would have known
How bittersweet this would taste?

“Someone Like You”

I heard
That you’re settled down
That you Found a girl
And you’re
Married now

I heard
That your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things
I didn’t give to you

Old friend
Why are you so shy?
Ain’t like you to hold back
Or hide from the light

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn’t stay away, I couldn’t fight it.
I had hoped you’d see my face and that you’d be reminded
That for me it isn’t over

Never mind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
“Don’t forget me,” I begged
“I’ll remember,” you said
“Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead.”
Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead,
Yeah.

You know how the time flies
Only yesterday
It was the time of our lives
We were born and raised
In a summer haze
Bound by the surprise
Of our glory days

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn’t stay away, I couldn’t fight it.
I had hoped you’d see my face and that you’d be reminded
That for me it isn’t over.

Never mind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
“Don’t forget me,” I begged
“I’ll remember,” you said
“Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead.”

Nothing compares
No worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes
They are memories made.
Who would have known
How bittersweet this would taste?

Never mind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
“Don’t forget me,” I begged
“I’ll remember,” you said
“Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead”

Never mind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
“Don’t forget me,” I begged
“I’ll remember,” you said
“Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead”

Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead

A friend I met only a few times in person recently lost someone that was the prince in his fairy tale. Since mid- June, many of his friends shared videos that they felt were beautiful and may provide some solace. I have had each video open in Firefox, awaiting to review and think about.

The video below has no lyrics, but marvelous piano chords throughout. How does one view rain? Rain can be viewed as sadness, tears, a cleansing of the Earth and many times tears ease tenderness of our softest spots in our heart.

Remember as a child, standing out in the rain and looking up, to see the drops falling all around you. Puddles being formed, ripples from each drop that collide with others, similar to people and their paths of lives intertwining briefly.

Rain can bring new life, allows things to grow, a fresh start to what inevitably will be sun behind the cloud. I hope you enjoy the beauty of the art accompanied by moving musical notes.

“Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.” – Langston Hughes

Unfortunately the video that was amazing was removed due to EMI – Here is another but nearly as amazing – The pictures of the rain drops in the previous video, cleansing the body were amazing, sad to see it gone.

I can remember living in Hawaii when Victor learned how to dance to this song with Owana. He could explain the song in action and English. This has to be one of the best love songs ever to be written. I am feeling nostalgic at the moment and thought I would share a song that stirs emotion within me.

Thanks to the translation found at – http://www.flickr.com/photos/pa-i_ki-i/5115228551/

~E Ho’i I Ka Pili~A Love Story…

It has been sometime since I have written in my blog, I believe almost a good three months. Recently I’ve been pondering things provoked by a friend, but thought I would share a story where I made a difference in someone’s life.

Yesterday I returned back from Shanghai, with my final destination being Columbus GA. Long story on why Columbus, it was over $3k cheaper and offered the routing I wanted through Atlanta (ATL).

I had a sinking feeling that my one checked luggage would not arrive due to the delayed arrival into ATL (yes, I connected in ATL), and short connection. For those that have not been to Columbus GA airport, it has two airlines, American Eagle and Delta. The primary travel out is military.

After the realization that my bag was in transit, I searched for a Delta employee. The only employee told me to wait for an employee at the counter. I noticed a young, 20 year old Army Ranger in training pleading with the TSA person checking luggage. He was trying to make the flight that the lone employee was boarding, but no one was at the counter to help. The TSA looked for the Delta person but came back and said that the person was busy loading the plane (one he was hoping to be on, and still 25 minutes before departure) and that he was screwed. He began to lecture him on why did he show up 35 minutes before and he should have at least 90 minutes. He had no checked luggage, a laptop bag and a military backpack. Again, visit Columbus GA and you will understand why a person can arrive before departure, it’s the kind of airport where TSA opens up the gate area for a specific flight. It was the last flight out for the day, around 5pm.

Randy arrived up in Columbus to fly me back to Dekalb Peachtree Airport (PDK). After some conversation, we offered to fly him back with us to North Atlanta and drive him down to the airport to make a 10pm flight to Houston. We made it back to PDK in fairly good time and learned that he was flying home for the holiday weekend to do the final touches on planning his wedding with his fiance. His name is Manny, twenty years old, from Texas and engaged.

From PDK we zipped down to ATL, stopped and bought him a bite at Quizno’s and delivered him to Delta. With my younger brother serving for years in the military, helping out a person serving our country is the least we could do, a flight, a car ride and a meal.

Had anyone at Columbus airport, whether it be TSA or a Delta person shown compassion for this person, a lot of headache would have been avoided for this guy. Delta charged him a fee to drop the first flight and only pick up the Houston portion. On my flight to CSG, the flight attendant asked everyone to give a clap to each service member that deplaned before the rest of the passengers. The inverse, a kid trying to get home to see his family, attend a bon fire in his honor and plan his wedding over a short 4 days home. We thanked him for his service to our country and wished him luck.

I was a bit disheartened how everyone brushed him off, but I look back, a person who all I know as Manny, made it home to Houston.  I looked back on my 24 hours awake yesterday, the exhaustion bouncing around Atlanta, but it really is about going above and beyond each day.

My goal in life – “Each day when I awake I know I have one more day to make a difference in someone’s life.”
James Mann (born 1946);

Today I succeeded!

I walked into my office today to find Randy awaiting my return with an amazing vintage carry on luggage. The luggage is brown with Eiffel Tower’s in the fabric and leather stitching. Inside was 7 rows of flowers and one of plants. Within the rows, 3 were Intuition Roses (24 roses)  Yellow and Blood Red, one combination I have never seen before. Atop the flowers is a Delta 757 with winglets and a Delta L1011.

Mixed above the planes and the lid of the luggage are 10 Delta postcards highlighting the various equipment type and color schemes. Last was a 757 pin, this is the start of my Delta collection of planes,
my UA fleet complete. Next to the arrangement were two boxes of airplane (3 planes and the Eiffel Tower) shaped chocolate, along with a one month membership to The Ravinia Club. What an amazing surprise, Thank you Randy!!!

[View with PicLens]

Thank you Linda for sharing!