enduring friendship

I was in Durango, Colorado for a VIP Leaders Retreat last week. Why Durango?  I have history.

In 1974, Frank (then boyfriend) and I moved from Telluride to Durango. Telluride had less than one thousand registered voters at that time so Durango seemed like a booming metropolis with abundant opportunities. Frank got a job at the Ore House - a popular-to-this-day restaurant - as a dishwasher. We were off and running...sort of.

I went back to college at Fort Lewis up on the mesa and studied music. Frank became Ore House bar manager. I began a singing waitress career at the Strater Hotel. We got married. Frank got hired as a manager at the ski area.  We bought a house.  I bought a restaurant. We had a baby. I opened another restaurant. We had another baby. Life was delicious. And then it wasn't.

The oil economy went south with the savings and loan banks. The tourist stream from Texas and Oklahoma dried up.  We sold out and moved on with two kids, a cat, and a packed Subaru.

We left our friends - a decade's worth of friends. Friends that worked with us and for us. Friends that were at our wedding and restaurant openings. Friends that skied - fast - and celebrated holidays with us.  We left them, but as I found out last week, they didn't leave us.

Last week, there were champagne and laughter-filled dinners and lunches and more dinner and lunches. We had cups of coffee sweetened with "Do you remember..." and news of passages, too young, and divorces, so sad. With it all, I enjoyed a sense of wonder that friendships can't be extinguished. They continue to glow as they started. They are fueled by shared curiosity, possibility, sadness, and love. They are never ending.

Spring...bring it on

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I don't want to be someone that complains about winter. Snow has been my friend. My passion for skiing is dependent on it. In the 70's and 80's in Colorado my income depended snow. More snow equalled more money. Unless there was too much. Then the buses from Oklahoma and Texas filled with tired skiers never made it. Croissants got stale, daily specials turned to day old employee meals and waitresses were bored. Too much of a good thing became a bad thing.

This winter was "the year of too much" for many snow burdened cities and regions. Amazing really. Brooklyn paralyzed? Snowplows stuck in the middle of intersections? Millions - probably billions - were lost due to "snow days." Unable to get to work (or wherever you needed to go) was the topic in the news for weeks this year. There is a good chance snow delays are over. I said "chance."

I attended a luncheon and workshop with Michael Tchong yesterday. He is the guy responsible for MacWeek (precursor to PC Week) in the 80's when few had home computers and fewer had Apple computers. He is a trend watcher with a message: Innovate or Perish.

Think about this list: Robots. Tracking devices in socks for seniors. Pill bottles with sensors to remind you when to take them. Laptops that look like purses. Robots. Walking lanes for window watchers in malls and on our streets so others can hurry. (Ever been run over in an airport for going too slow?). Augmented reality browsing. (Think Yelp.) Hybrid travel. (Work with vacation tagged on.) Time compression. (Never would have had a polaroid or a microwave without it.) And - Did I mention? - robots.

Back to the weather. Right now, it can't be controlled (unless there is some secret scientific manipulation that our enemies have directed at us this year) but we learned to tolerate, even adjust, to it. We get creative on snow days. Conference calls are held at home. Skype keeps us in each others' faces. Our laptops keep us connected to our desktops in the office. Working on the go...good or bad...that's a trend that has been and will continue to be perpetuated by innovation.

What about the other thing we need to keep going besides our technology? Food. (There's love and shelter, of course but I don't want to go Maslow on you here..) The guy that figures out how to get food where it needs to go on a snow day will be worth a lot of money. Remember the replicator on Star Trek? Now THAT is innovation! And I bet someone is working on it right now.

In the seventies I drank Perrier mixed with orange juice. Imagine if I saw that as part of the trend toward a healthy lifestyle. Yikes. Move over SoBe! I also used to put ice cream in my coffee before work to give me a jumpstart. That idea would have been a "move over Frappucino" idea.

Let's look around. What are people really doing? What are they saying? What do we need? I am going to find a new idea this spring by looking at trends. Do you have an idea? Great. Bring it on.

green & gold

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It's here. It's Super Sunday. Let's hear it for the PACK! Could it be that I live in the same state as a contender? Yes!

The only color that anyone has worn all week is green. The produce department displays peppers alternating green and gold at attentions. Pizzas have green pepper G's topping the cheese. I would bet that more deli trays are sold per capita in Wisconsin than any other place in the country. Every where you go people ask "Where are you watching the game?" No one would dare ask "Are you watching the game?"

So everyone...enjoy the game...oh...and please pass the cheese.

The morning after

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God bless America. God bless pundits. Here we are, the morning after, and it appears the takeaway from last night is that there were awkward responses from congress because they threw out the seating chart. Imagine that. A call to become a teacher, improve healthcare, and create clean energy jobs and all we want to talk about is the lack of rowdy applause.

Now, call me silly, but I listen - with interest and without judgment - when someone speaks with conviction and sincerity. But I don't boo or cheer a lot while he is talking. That may be tradition in congress but is it what we want? Really?

If so, we should take lessons from parliament in Great Britain. They yell. They pound. They even boo with thumbs down. It's a great show but I don't want a show. I want courtesy.

I can make up my own mind and have my own opinion without having someone screaming at me. I don't want to have to yell or throw punches to be heard either. If I did, then I probably wouldn't say anything at all. Would you?

The Inbox

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Warning. The beginning of this blog entry is the reason that people hate blogs, facebook, and twitter, but, here goes: I cleaned out my inbox yesterday and I want to tell you what I found.

I found a myriad of "things to file", photos, and receipts. There were paperclips and important things, too - like my expired rv registration waiting for a visit to the DMV and our last will and testament waiting to be notarized. Ho-hum. Just more things on the to-do list.

There was something important, however, and I am proud of myself for saving it. It is an article from January 17, 2010 written by Steven Covey titled "Seven Ways to Come Together." I quote from the introduction:

"A year ago this week, the nation watched, spellbound, as about a million revelers carpeted the Washington Mall to celebrate the inauguration of a new president.

What a difference a year makes - or not. The euphoria has worn off. In its place? Well, you know: anger, division , frustration, polarization. "

That was written last year. Sadly, it could have been written this year opening with "Two years ago..."

Please, Mr. President, inspire us tomorrow night so that we can move on. I am tired of hearing about the vitriol of government; tired of hearing phrases like "across the aisle", "partisan rhetoric", and "repeal the legislation."

Come on: Yes, we can (do better than this...)

Lessons from a kitten

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Today, my cat told me to:

1. Pay attention when I speak.
2. Feed me often - or make it look like you are.
3. Let me sleep on your desk.
4. Don't rub my belly...massage my ears, please.
5. Get back to work; You are spending too much time trying to understand me and you have better things to do like:

1. Prepare a program so people will pay attention to you.
2. Eat often - but not too many cookies.
3. Take a nap when you need to.
4. Get a massage when your neck starts to hurt.
5. Work hard and be glad that you can.

Thanks, Ted. Now, go back to sleep and let me work...

Good friends.

Image by Frank Kehren via Flickr

I had the time and brains to make a phone call to a friend in San Francisco. She is a writer and spiritual director. She is excited about the changes in her life. She is doing what she loves. Her daily exercise is learning new things and experiencing the divine.

God, I love her. She really can dance to a different drum in the vast unknown.

Dancing in the unknown is the best place to dance, me thinks. You make up your song, and you make up your steps, and when you trip, you laugh out loud. The unknown has no rules and unlimited possibilities. The best part: You don't care who's watching because you are DANCING!

Turn the music up, please...I need to learn how to dance.

The sun was shining.

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Lake Michigan was its gorgeous self and people were out and about. Milwaukee was shining on Saturday. Even though the city hid behind clouds and a wild thunderstorm on Sunday and Monday,it was still a wonderful three days.

When I hear people complain of rain, I thank the chief rainmaker for not bashing the northeast with hurricane winds. I send good thoughts to the recovering city of New Orleans. I pray for the people of Pakistan and I know that we are blessed. Even when our barbeques get rained out.

Enjoy the day and celebrate September's arrival. Buy some mums, plant them and watch the rain and autumn sun make them flourish.

It's a social media disease.

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Okay. I will admit it. I am overwhelmed. There are so many resources for posting out there that I am on the verge of dying from redundancy.

Did you notice my blog yesterday? Between Twitter and Facebook it was posted SIX TIMES! Now, I think I am pretty progressive but how on earth was I to know that all my tools - blogspot, twitter, facebook,tumblr and hootsuite - would do the posting (and then reposting...ugh) for me?

So here's the way it works. I write the blog post. I post it on the VIP Leadership facebook page. It posts to the Kathy Larson profile. Tumblr picks it up and reposts it. Next, Hootsuite publishes it on twitter. And then...facebook posts to Twitter!

It seems in our quest to become "social" we have created a reposting matrix that acts like a virus. I like to write but even I don't want to read my stuff that many times...

So if you see multiple posts from that look like spamming, I am sorry. I have a social media disease. Don't worry it's not contagious.

We're jammin'

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Bob Marley lives. Who can help moving to his most famous tune? It is the best way to get a start to any day.

Some people would say he is too mellow but not me. "Mellow" is the magic word to get through a full day. Hyper means mistakes and missteps. Ever try to find your keys when you are rushed? Yeah...you know what I mean.

Rushed work doesn't mean great work. So here's a tip: Fill your day with LESS. If you were to keep track, I bet you can't accomplish more than Six Things in a day, anyway. So why not start there? Do Six Things really well so you can be jammin' instead of screamin.'

I have a worksheet for you that I will send you if you will let me know how it goes after you used it for a week. I bet you be smilin.'

From my mouth to the page

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Well, I'm working with Dragon dictation today - a brand new app (for me) on my iPhone. My back hurts which is pretty much going to eliminate being able to sit at my computer for very long.

Dragon let's me dictate into my iPhone and let's me "write." I can even post from here. Check it out. Now, if I only had something to say. This post is just an experiment. An experiment I could learn to love. (I hope...)

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Peanut Butter Memories

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My sons are flying in from Portland and Brooklyn. We are headed to our cottage for a family week after we play tourist in my hometown, Milwaukee.

I rushed around all morning "getting ready" then hunted for something to eat, before sitting down to write, and found the peanut butter. I took three pieces of toast and coated them with the crunchy spread then devoured them all. I am full with peanuts and memories, now.

There were many PB & J's packed in school lunches in the eighties. In the 90's there was little time and little interest in bagged lunches but somehow a jar of peanut butter disappeared each week. In the 00's we kept up the pace and now, as I said, I am holding my own by devouring hefty portions of the stuff in one sitting.

If you are getting ready to spend time with your family, no matter how old they are, please stop rushing and try a peanut butter sandwich. I think it will make you smile, but, I know it will slow you down. That must be the real reason peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth.

Breaking up is hard to do

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Dear Blackberry,

It's time for you to go. You were a good friend when we travelled around the country and even Canada. But your injury - you know, that rollerball thing - put you out of the running so that you couldn't be replaced by a kindred BB.

I am now an Apple girl with a brand new iPhone and I can't wait to get an iPad...

You may not be happy, but, my kids will be proud.

I lost my arm today.

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Oh, what to do? My Blackberry broke. The damn rollerball won't spin which has sent me into a tailspin. My phone is just a phone now.

Remember the not-so-good old days of voicemail?

Remember when you had to wait a day (or more!) for someone to get back to you because they were in a meeting?

No one could bring a phone into a meeting. They would bring a briefcase.

Wait a minute. The Blackberry is the new briefcase. No wonder I am lost without it. I miss you, BB but I think I will get an iPhone.

No rollerball...

Hurry! You have got to say something.

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My goal, dear reader, is to achieve pristine and interesting - not redundant - content for you each day on various social media sites and in my newsletters. It appears, however, that may not always be possible because it takes a lot of time to develop an important topic and important is pretty subjective, right? Which is why I can't and don't always do it. I just like talking about stuff.

So, if my musings are not your style, feel free to break up with me. I don't want to rush into a relationship anyway, and I really don't want to break up with my social media.

Ouch. See? I just read that and it sounds kind of obnoxious, doesn't it? My point exactly. Talk is cheap but writing is costly. Be careful what you say and for goodness sakes, please, don't hurry!

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Ride, baby, ride.

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Ahhh...how can you beat this weekend?

Friday night the Riverwest 24 Hour Bicycle Race began. The "Race" for most is really a fun community ride. Riders on $3K bikes saddled aside Dad's pulling baby trailers. There is even a spirit award for costumed riders on decorated bikes.

And of course, there were block parties. Kid's everywhere and you felt out of place without a beer in your hand. It must have been really hard to cheer and party for 24 hours. We didn't try.

We did take several course meanders on foot and Frank even hopped on his bike for several laps. We were there to watch the start and there for the end. There were more than 250 riders. Fun.

On Sunday, it was my speed. A trail ride from Brown Deer to Cedarburg. About 18 miles with a pastry in the middle. (Hey...I just needed to fuel up for endurance.) Two hours? 24 hours? There's a ride for everyone.

Mornin' in Milwaukee

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Milwaukee is misunderstood. Most of the people I know think of Milwaukee as:
1) a city in a flyover state
2) full of farmers
3) in the middle of steamy farmland.

Well folks, that isn't my experience. It's gorgeous here.

Bike rides along the lake are part of the perks of dealing with the urban life as are great museums, galleries,restaurants, theater and beaches. I really think you should come see us.

Stepping up my game

I am a Leadership Coach. 

I help men and women lead their organizations with passion and purpose.  I learn from people like Seth Godin and Tom Peters.  With their help, and books like Passion for Excellence and publications like Fast Company, I am inspired to share. So what is the point of today's post?  If you want to "find your people"  you must read.

People will say all kinds of things but there is no replacement for good writing.  Advice from experts is not a bad idea either and is better in print.

That's my opinion.

I want to be good writer and an expert.  I will go forth...and read.  Today:  The Pursuit of WOW! by Tom Peters, of course.

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I have been away for awhile...

I confess. I have been having a lot of fun exploring Milwaukee. This is a small city (about 275,000) with big heart and I have been loving it back. I have been enjoying my stay-cation moments very much, thank you.

I think we all need to take breaks. Lots of them. It may be that we can't take that three weeks away from our job or we have used up our time off at our sister's wedding or we are banking it for Christmas. And you may think that vacations are only good when we get away. I have an alternative: Stay.

Live with purpose and for pleasure. Give with joy and satisfaction. Breathe and be calm.

Now that's a good stay-cation.

I love Fast Company Magazine

Friday morning and a cloudy day turned into a sunny cup of coffee. Thank you Fast Company. This is a magazine filled with fascinating news, interviews and company profiles. It's actually exciting for me to read. Here are my highlights from the February edition:

1) How to Change When Change is Hard. This is from the guys that wrote "Switch" and I am sure I will refer to them often in the next few months. (I tend to latch on to a theme and beat the message to death - sorry.) The headline of the article grabbed me "Find a bright spot and clone it." ooooooooo...this is the kind of stuff that makes a leadership coach gasp for air and yell "Yes!"

2)Calatrava Goes Public. Imagine my glee when within this discussion about one of the greatest architects of our time (no kidding) there is a picture of our glorious Milwaukee Art Museum. The museum may be the number one reason to live here - besides Alterra coffee.

3)The History of Volkswagen. This one is for my kids. When they were in high school, we were in Marin in an adorable house with a carport. No garage. For the better part of two years there were dismantled VWs in my driveway, the carport and into the back yard. I had little appreciation for the art form that is the VW bug. I complained incessantly about greasy mufflers strewn about. Let this article serve as my apology, boys. You were right. They are gorgeous.

Now I haven't touched the cover of the big stories about science, sociology, technology and sports that fill it's pages. This is just what I read over coffee this morning.

I can't wait until lunch.