three good speeches

3 of my favorite speeches/letters. warning - none is short

martin luther king's letter from birmingham jail. read it first in a favorite college class, intensive writing - a powerful message with great clarity. then heard it again recently reading king's autobiography. i was also pleased to learn that bill george, a new personal hero, uses the letter in his leadership classes at hbs.

bill gates' 2007 harvard commencement remarks on solving the world's biggest problems, "whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement." reading about his preparation for the speech made it all the more impressive to me.

hank paulson's restoring investor confidence, now secretary of treasury, but CEO of goldman at the time, "I [believe] passionately in the strength of our free market system -- a system that generates growth, creates jobs, rewards initiative and fosters innovation like no other in history...this [is] an opportunity to...rebuild the trust that is so fundamental to our markets and their vitality."

do you have a favorite speech?

jacob and aaron

great picture of jacob with cousin aaron at grandma's house (thanks Jer for the pic). we had to keep watching b/c he kept wanting to get too close!

the admirable john doerr

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/vftt_doerr07.shtml
an interesting presentation at Stanford GSB by John Doerr, a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins, which Al Gore and Colin Powell have recently joined, on global warming, pollution, and alternative energy (reminds me of World is Flat). i like where he is going with alternative energy research and the other work he is involved in. he also gives some good advice on work/life balance and books to read. 54min video or text summary.

nice pics

some cool pictures, good for wallpaper
http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?sort=ratings&w=1920&h=1200

the three best

Joshua is now 4 1/2, in pre-school, soccer and t-ball player, learned to ride without training wheels this summer and always up for trying new stuff, including singing solo last week in church..he nailed it.
Soccer this summer. Definitely Joshua's favorite. He scored his first goal a few weeks ago, and he's telling everyone.

Jacob, 1 1/2 years, just picked up walking two months ago, and he's grown up a lot since. He's trying to say so much, including "Nino" for Dinosaur and "Babeeball" for basketball.

Janell and Jacob. A favorite picture of mine.

mike

sticking with chicago theme, i thought i would post one of my favorite photos all time

chicago visit

Last week Janell and I toured Chicago - she has been there multiple times, but for me it was a first. What a great city. Driving in on I-94, well, very cool. It brought back memories of every big, exciting large city I've ever been to. So much action. So much going on. I took an immediate liking to Lake Shore Drive, still in the city, but feels like you're out. Janell said she could see herself running up and down the lakeside along the impressive skyline if we lived there (I could too). If we did, we would be in close proximity to good friends and family: Mike & Mandie, Vicki & Frank, and Heide & Steve, and Garrett (we definitely could see you as a Chicago guy). In late evening we walked admiringly along the Magnificent Mile, enjoying the sights, sounds, lights, stores of a superbly clean city. First visit to Chicago: A+

child labor

Last night, sitting down to fold the laundry kindly left by my beautiful, busy wife, I turned on UEN and watched a chilling story on child labor, called Stolen Childhoods. 220 million children worldwide are unable to attend school because of 12+ hours a day of hard labor: digging through landfills, stranded on isolated fishing docks, working at rock quarries, coffee plantations, sweat shops... It was eye-opening.

An estimated $8 billion a year could help them back to school. If that seems like a lot, the $40 billion a year we spend of golf puts it in perspective! I wonder if Bill G. has looked at this?

Someday I want to get heavily involved with a non-profit that helps improve health, educational, and economic opportunities. Helping children, especially, seems like a way to make a difference.

starting...

Thank you Janell (my love), Todd&Katie and others who helped me start this: connecting with others and sharing ideas through a blog.