News alert from the Oz household -- We are getting a puppy!! After talking, thinking, debating, talking, researching, considering and more talking, Mr. Oz and I feel we are ready to expand our family to include another furry friend. Big step. Not sure if we are prepared. But, sometimes you just have to close your eyes and jump, right? We are both dog lovers and are already looking forward to playtime, long walks and adorable doggy cuteness. Not terribly thrilled with housebreaking, chewed up shoes and naughty doggy hi-jinks. Sigh.
After much back and forth we decided on a Boston Terrier. A little online dabbling pointed us in the direction of a breeder in Wisconsin. They are a nice family operation -- not too big, not a puppy mill. Very friendly woman named Heidi runs the show and answered all my questions, gave me contact information to reach out to past purchasers. All good stuff. We just put down a deposit and when a new litter arrives, we'll get notified. It will probably be sometime in April. They keep the puppies for 6 weeks before they let the new owners come and pick them up. Here are some Boston Terrier pics. Enjoy the adorable cuteness people. 
Some of you (and you know who you are) know my friend Mrs. Squirrel over at HollowSquirrel.com. 
A few of you have even met Mrs. Squirrel in person and are aware of her many talents, humor and the huge quantities of joy she spreads amongst the general masses. For those of you who don't know Mrs. Squirrel, allow me to introduce her to you. For those of you who have had the pleasure of her acquaintance, let me add to her list of accomplishments by declaring her a master douche bag detector. That's right. She can spot a-holes a few miles away and she calls 'em like she sees 'em. YouknowwhatI'msayin? So, check out her latest blog posting and feel free to submit your own situations for douche bag detection. She will not disappoint. Mrs. Squirrel is truly one of my BESTS! Rock on with your nutty bad self.
This Time online article is EXACTLY how I feel about Facebook. Don't get me wrong. I still love it. But, the fact that I love it, as do so many of my old fogie friends, makes me wonder when Twitter is going to be taken over by the 30+ crowd and, thereby, become uncool.
Sushi is #42 on the list of 'Stuff White People Like.' I must concur. While I certainly have not hit the highest level of sushi snobbery, I might plant myself somewhere between the lowest rung in the appreciation ladder -- California Roll eater -- and the middling level tuna and salmon nigiri dabbler. Admittedly, I love the various rolls with their tidy white rice wrapped in seaweed and filled with delicious concoctions ranging from avocado, cucumber, crab, shrimp tempura, etc. There is something really 'clean' about Japanese food. It's simple, pure and healthy. A great piece of sushi grade tuna should melt in your mouth . . . buttery rich and velvety smooth. Plus, it's fun to work the chopsticks. :)Mr. Oz and I probably go out for sushi once every couple of months as a special treat. While Mr. Oz is very daring with his sushi choices, I am not. He will typically pick the 'chef's platter' and rolls the dice (get it? "rolls" the dice!! HA) with whatever happens to be in-stock and fresh that day. He'll chase it all down with some hot sake and smack his lips the whole time he's eating. Mr. Oz likes him some sushi. I'm not down with the random selection, let the chef pick my food, kinda deal. I guess I just have control issues and need to know EXACTLY what I'm getting. When it comes to raw seafood, I don't like any surprises.Last weekend, right before the big cold and sinus debacle of 2009 hit me, we called up a dear pal, hit one of our old haunts and strapped on the sushi feedbag. A feast of edemame, mango martini, miso soup, spicy tuna maki were on the docket. Trying something a little different, I ordered up the special No. 9 roll. Oh my. This bad boy was tasty. If you are ever in the greater Twin Cities region, get thine self to Origami and try the #9. Ask for some extra spicy mayo on the side for dipping. You won't be disappointed. I also have to give a shout out to Yumi's in Excelsior. Just a hop, skip and a jump from the western shores of Lake Minnetonka, Yumi's is a tiny place that packs a powerfully delicious punch. They make a mean No. 9 roll as well.
And for those of you who either have not tried sushi OR did and had a bad experience, give it a try. Hey, call me and Mr. Oz. We'll join you. Start off slow and work your way up. It just might become one of your bests too. And, apparently if you are white, you have to like it. It is a prerequisite or something.
I have a cold. My sinuses are stuffed and my nose is plugged. This has caused me to breath through my mouth. I hate mouth breathing. Tonight, as I drew air into my mouth, all slack jawed and rumbly, my teeth felt really dry. Then, suddenly, I felt my enamel vibrate in a peculiar way on only one tooth. I believe it is my upper, right bicuspid (or maybe incisor) . . . I'm not quite sure. I'm not a dentist, so my occupation does not depend upon me knowing the scientific term for all of my teeth (thank goodness)! Anyhoooo. My dry tooth, parched by the assault of forced air heat in winter, feels like a tuning fork that someone has smacked with a hammer. Is is so strange. OK, I'm not paranoid or anything, but . . . What if the government has planted a secret recording device inside my bicuspid (or incisor)? What if this vibration I'm feeling just happens to be this device sending out a small signal to its intended receiver? What if its some sort of disk, containing launch codes or super sleuthy spy stuff and agents of mayhem are, at this very moment, tracking the signal to get their hands on the intell? They could be at my doorstep right now. Looking inside. Waiting for me to go to bed so they can swoop in and pull out my bicuspid (or incisor) with their sharp tooth pulling implements. AAAAAAHHHHHHHH. Clearly, I'm watching too much Chuck, Fringe and 24 (i.e. Jack Bauer Power Hour). Crap.
The Society for Organizational Learning (SoL) conducted research with an end goal of bringing back the lost art of dialogue, of conversation, to the workplace. An outcome of this project was the identification of four dynamics within any group -- "movers, opposers, followers and bystanders." In his book Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together, William Issacs notes most workplace conversations are characterized by rigid roles: "by all movers, pushing past one another to champion their views; by disabled bystanders, paralyzed at not being able to bring their voice; or by cowed followers, fearful of offering anything but the meekest agreement to the voices of authority." (xix) As I ponder this, I find it rings pretty true in not only the world of work, but also in the realm of everyday life. I know I've probably played each one of these roles at different points in my life and in different situations. Everyone has some kind of agenda and talking to people has surplanted talking with people. Issacs writes, "Dialogue is about a shared inquiry, a way of thinking and reflecting together. It is not something you do to another person. It is something you do with people." (9) When did we lose the art of dialogue? Where did it go? Theories, of course, run the gambit from a decrease in leisure time, more stressful jobs, higher demands on our time and a rapid fire onslaught of ubber-caffienated media. I'm sure my buddy Bill Issacs will give me some of his own ideas once I get further into his book. I'm only on page 45 for crying out loud! Until then, I have a few theories of my own. I think dialogue is going by the way of the dinosaur due to our collective shorter attention spans, soundbite culture, instant message mindset. These are the easy answers though. The more difficult notion here is we have morphed into a very "I" centric society. We used to care about eachother much more than we do today. Once, we knew our neighbors, built communities, shared our resources and joined together in good times and bad. We opened our homes to others, invited them in, made a pot of coffee and "visited." I think this is less and less common. Today it is about checking our "to do's" off the list, hitting the drive-thru, scheduled play dates and closed networks. We have insulated ourselves and limited our connections to a small number of immediate family and close friends. What about MySpace and Facebook, you ask? Aren't we even MORE connected today than ever before? Well, yes . . . our online networks may have expanded. We have LinkedIn and Twittered and Flickered it all for the world to see. But, I challenge, that this is not really about dialogue. This is about quick messages, 20 second check-ins and downloads en masse. If it's one thing I'm learning from my buddy Issacs it is this: dialogue takes time, intent, effort and true interaction. This is not to say that we can't achieve a solid conversation via the Internet. I think there are ways to do this. What I'm saying is its just not the same and the medium doesn't necessarily lend itself to doing so. We have to work harder at it and be better just to overcome the inherent barriers in the technology. This blog, for instance, does not encourage a real dialogue. I'm sending my thoughts out into the ether and a few of you may respond, but is that dialogue? Nope. As of late, I've been considering how to be a better listener. Listening, really listening, is one half of the equation needed to improve dialogue. Someone told me the first step to being a better listener is to first seek to understand and then seek to be understood. This is good advice which I need to put into more intentional use. While I work on that, I'll keep reading my dialogue book. I'm also going to put some thought into what it means to be Remarkable (yes, with a capital "R"). Everyone wants to be Remarkable, live a Remarkable life, meet Remarkable people who push us to be even more Remarkable. Right? Is this even possible? Are we reaching too high, shooting too far? What happens if your life is just so-so? Have you failed? Are you lost? By recognizing and celebrating the beauty of all that is unremarkable, are we actually touching the divinely Remarkable around us? I know . . . lots of questions. Some are kinda boring and, others, possibly obtuse. But, I'm throwing it out there for your consideration and feedback. Dialogue, people! I want me some dialogue!!If you are looking for some Remarkable fodder, check out www.thinkremarkable.com. Good stuff!What's got you feeling Remarkable today? Or, to contrast that, what is absolutely NOT Remarkable in your world right now? Here's wishing for some deeper, more meaningful, mind expanding, soul enhancing, remarkable dialogue for all of us.
