Thoughts From The Duck

Greetings Dear Reader! So, Baltimore has not been what I expected it to be (is it ever?).  What has surprised me is what I have learned through this whole experience. 1. I can actually cook, if it involves a crock pot.  I need to perfect chicken and dumplings (not Tara's recipe, even though THAT recipe is delicious).  This week, I've made chicken and dumplings, mac & cheese, and chili.   2. I really want to run a 5K.  As in really, really.  So, who's with me?  3. Jack misses dog parks.  There is one "legal" dog park in Baltimore County.  The "not legal" parks aren't fenced.  Blind Dog + No Fence = Bad Idea. 4. Postcard Day may in fact be the greatest day I've ever invented...and yes I have invented other days (cf. Kermie day).  5. I really am smart and talented and gifted.  I just may not believe that all the time.  6. FACT:  I have the greatest friends.  Period.  My friends may not be geog...

Yesterday, one of my heroes passed away. Mary Travers died at the age of 72, due to complications of chemotherapy when she had Leukemia. I grew up having the privilege of seeing Peter, Paul and Mary ever summer in concert at Wolf Trap, since I was 10 years old. The only summers we did not see them were summers they canceled, one summer I was at camp, and one summer my mom forgot to get tickets, and they were sold out by the time my mom tried to get them. This past summer, less than a month ago, I got to see Peter, Paul sans Mary. The concert was billed as “A Tribute to Mary Travers.” I was sitting in the second row. Peter and Paul waved and smiled at me. Both of them were crying through most of the concert, knowing that their friend was much sicker than they were letting on. Before the concert that night, there was the largest rainbow that I have ever seen. I kid you not, the rainbow went over the Filene center….The WHOLE thing. I still hold that the rainbow was Mary’s rainbow (and m...

Discussions of professionalism always happen when youth workers gather. It's an inevitability. As I was reading my blogs this morning, I came across a blog from Ian, a British youth minister. In a forum he was reading, someone posted the definition of profession. So good, I'm re-posting here. Looking at the 'roots' of such things ... from the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary, we find: Main Entry: pro·fes·sion Pronunciation: \prə-ˈfe-shən\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English professioun, from Anglo-French profession, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin profession-, professio, from Latin, public declaration, from profitēri Date: 13th century 1: the act of taking the vows of a religious community 2: an act of openly declaring or publicly claiming a belief, faith, or opinion : protestation 3: an avowed religious faith 4 a: a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation b: a principal calling, vocation, or employm...

For the second year in a row, I spent the day before the Oscars watching all five best picture nominees. Last year, I blogged about it, and I figured, I should blog about it again! Last year, the commonality between the five films was the fact that each movie didn't end in a perfect way. There was no real story book ending. This year, the commonality was much more concrete. All five were told in flashback form. I was surprised! I was expecting to have to think about the commonality. In the middle of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I realized that the prior 2 had used the same storytelling technique. Then, when Slumdog Millionaire started, I noticed the same thing. I expected Frost/Nixon to not use that technique...I was wrong. I was hoping/wishing for something more profound, but I really think that's it. Milk was the story of Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist, and first openly gay politician. The Reader was the story of a relationship, post WWII. (As a friend...