Saturday, February 28, 2009

Labels

I am not a liberal in the political sense and certainly not in the moral sense. Nor am I liberal spiritually speaking as it pertains to faith. (I hope it never becomes a crime for standing up for what you believe). I am however liberal in other ways that might not be popular with some. I have always felt more comfortable being myself than belonging to any one group... and I admire those who are true to themselves though they are outcast (There was this man... about 2000 or so years ago...) Anyway...that's what I hate about labels.

I could not be labeled very easily for a particular market... nor could a growing number of people in the world. So many ad people simply don't get it. The world is changing as are the people in it. Many are saying these words silently but who is listening?

I am not a market - I am a brand.
I am not a demogragraphic - I am an individual.
I am not a consumer - I am a producer.
I am not a statistic - I am a person.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Living

A whisper is better than a Twitter.
Face to face is better than Facebook.
Beachcombing is better than Googling.
Galleries are better than Flickr.
Flea markets are better than eBay.
Surfing the waves is better than surfing the internet.
Talking is better than texting.
Pens are better than keyboards.
Laughing out loud is better than LOL'ing.
Emotions are better than emoticons.
Dinner with friends is better than social networking.
Living in the real world is better than living on a computer.
Being alive is better than being wired.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The 7 'L's

Live
Laugh
Love
Learn
Labor
Listen
Light the way for someone.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Friday, February 20, 2009

Yummy

Maybe not good for the body, but good for the soul.

The Real Life


I wonder if he knew how prophetic this book really was.

Time passages


If I could, I'd stop time so Josh and Em and I could spend more time together. They will grow up, as they should, and marry and have kids and migrate and prosper and get older and I will get older and we will only have memories. I just want to make some more memories before all that happens.

The Zen of Single Malts


I like sitting on the back porch, listening to jazz and drinking really old scotch with friends. I have three out of four.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Home


I miss home. I miss...

Mom and Dad
The kids
Old friends
A Dick's Deluxe, fry and shake at midnight.
Drizzle that lasts for weeks.
Moss, ferns, mushrooms and other things that require rain.
A ridiculous amount of amazing coffee shops.
Chukanut Drive
Bow, Fairhaven, Glacier, Concrete, Index, Sultan, La Conner, Friday Harbor, Coupeville, Port Townsend.... just name a few
Mount Baker, Mount Pilchuck, Mt. Rainier, Mount Index.... just to name a few
A ridiculous amount of amazing Asian food.
Picking Chentrelles and Bolites a few miles from town
The sun setting over the Olympics
Dozens of places to buy vintage records
The San Juans
Water.... lots and lots and lots of water.
Walking around Greenlake really late with friends
Trader Joes, Metropolitan Market, PCC, Central Market, Larry's, Whole Foods, etc., etc.
Uwajimaya
Art walks in Occidental Park
Tacoma (yeah! Finally hip... can you believe it?)
The Seahawks (They'll be back)
The Mariners (I hope they'll be back)
The Sonics (They're gone)
The Storm (ha ha... just kidding)
Gardening with lots of rain and sun and good dirt
A few hundred deli's, coffee shops, bistros, restaurants, cafe's, etc. that are amazing
Culture... lots of it
Sailing
Rain... lots of it
walking on beaches
crabbing
the Skagit Valley
Wallingford, Alki, Ravenna, Ballard, Fremont, Queen Anne, Pioneer Square, Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Lake Union, Green Lake, Fisherman's Terminal, Sodo, etc. etc.
Fresh fish and shellfish
Pike Place Market
Sea Kayaking
Hiking
and a lot of other things I can't find in Idaho.

Things I'll miss when I'm gone:
Nice people
Warm summer nights
Open spaces
polite (albeit clueless) drivers
Flying M coffeeshop
The breakfast sandwiches at Kuna Public Market
The VPS guys and gals
the Mojitos at the Reef
Broncos (football team AND fans)

Sorry Idaho... There's a lot to love here but I just never fit in. I'm going back home as soon as I can.

Honesty

I trust the person who is honest about who they are, not so much the person who is honest about all they do... but that's just me.

The truth is, I'm not sure that not being honest is the same as being dishonest. Being fully honest is something we do with people we completely trust. Since very few people ever find someone they completely trust, it's a good bet that few of us ever feel safe being completely honest. Therefore, we create acceptable and believable facades that are constructed from our youth to become something real enough to believe ourselves and believed by others - even those we are closest to. I submit then that complete honesty isn't a reasonable expectation. It's something we hope we can share with someone one day and something we hope we can get.

You know who you are when I say that I am sorry our lives were so full of lies. I'm sorry to say that I never trusted you and no matter how hard I tried, I could never get even close to trusting you with who I was. I really am sorry and yet now it seems that where we ended was inevitable.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Doing my part

I've never been a man of few words, but in these tough times, I've decided to be economical today.

Faith

For the record, I believe in God.

Or to put it more clearly...
Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae,
et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum,
qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine,
passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus,
descendit ad ínferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,
ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Patris omnipotentis,
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos.
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,
sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem,
remissionem peccatorum,
carnis resurrectionem,
vitam aeternam.
Amen.
P.S. I don't have all the answers in defending what I believe... neither do you.

Monday, February 16, 2009

A random postscript

Jazz, nature, kids and traveling without an itinerary. All things I love... and no wonder. They are all beautifully and shamelessly random.

My first entry

Random Cori. It's what a friend called me when we were young twenty something guys. It sounded close enough to 'Randall Cori' and was fairly accurate. Thirty years later the only thing that's changed is that being called random doesn't bother me. I never liked being random or being called random... but eventually I shrugged and accepted it the way you accept a stray dog. It's not pedigreed, it's not the pick of the litter and it's not even the kind of dog that would be your second or one hundred and second choice... but it hangs around, keeps you company and at some point you realize you're stuck with it it with you.
I learned that randomness without order is chaos and lostness. I also learned that randomness with order (but not too much order mind you) can bring peace and happiness as well as more money and success.
My one regret is that I believe that my tendency towards shying from order was and still sometimes is, the cause of some chaos in my life (and the life of those I've loved and cared for).
To those who might read this (as well as my other entries) either while I live or after I'm gone, please know that my intent was and is to allow enough order (by the grace of God) to glorify Him as well as make life a little easier and better for those in my life now or later.