The IJS Retreat Approaches

My wife and I are looking forward very much to the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS) retreat this weekend. We did it last year and it was a very deep experience for both of us.

One of the highlights for me is meditation led by Jordan Bendat-Appell. The energy present at the retreat is incredible, especially when brought into powerful focus by such an adept leader.

Also the vegetarian food is fantastic.

Reading Poetry in Public

I tried a new tactic at the Cantab Lounge last night. Usually if I read at open mic I'm nervous, so I have a couple of beers. However, I have noticed that this does not really enhance my performance so I decided to try mindful breathing instead. Mindful breathing worked great. As the crew of the Boston Poetry Slam set up the stage, I breathed and became totally calm. When the first eight or nine poets read, I was open and receptive and ready to thoroughly enjoy - which I did. When I went up to read I was happy and eager. It was a kind of funny, cute poem I wrote about waiting for Donna outside a store. I'll post it someplace and let you know.

At the break I contacted Simone Beaubien, the driving force behind the Boston Poetry Slam and Host City Director for the National Poetry Slam coming up in August. She agreed to an interview. If you'd like to read it, please click here.

Touching Base

I've been busy. I wrote a poem, an article about some new hardware and I published one of our regular contributors to Eye On Life Magazine: Donal Mahoney.

Like I say, I've been busy. :)

Live, Sort of...

I have started putting vocal recordings of some of my work on SoundCloud. It's a good thing... but I don't want it to take the place of open mike at the Cantab in Cambridge as my spoken word outlet. Nevertheless it is nice to be heard, and one cannot be heard if one is silent. In this way I can be heard even when I am silent.

Sick of Hardware

Oh, not actually. It's just a head cold. But hopefully, since I am taking a day off from being a Hardware Genius, I will get a chance to write a little something in between being horizontal and hopefully unconscious. I've been reading Ben Mazur's "Poems". I could read that. That's certainly enjoyable, and I want to eventually write a review. Or I could write a poem or a hardware article. Or I owe the HP Community an article on the topic of perception.

Then again, I might just watch a Disney Animated Feature.

So much to do. So little time.

Low Voltage Detective

Like many locksmiths, I find myself challenged today by the increasing complexity of electric locking systems. Now that I am in distribution it is my job to know something about these systems so I do my best to educate myself and take advantage of whatever training opportunities present themselves. Customers depend on me to advise them about what hardware they need, how it should work, and what they should do when it doesn't work as it should.

I recently had a technical support adventure on this topic, so I wrote an article about it that you can read here.

It Used To Be More Fun

The most fun I had in the door hardware industry was when I was a neighborhood locksmith. I had found my niche in the market and established myself in my service area. It was like the theme song of the old TV show, "Cheers": everybody knew my name. Certainly a great way to become an integral part of a community is to provide an essential service. I was a help in time of trouble, an emergency responder and sometimes a confidante.

As a salesperson in hardware distribution, I deal with many more people in a day, but I rarely see any of them. There is still a sense of community, but it is much more sporadic and far flung. I still get to be a hero sometimes, but it is not the same.

Yet as I often say, life is change. To embrace life, one must embrace change. And so I have. And so I will.