6 Days - NFL Draft Day

Today is Earth Day. It is also NFL Draft Day.

In celebration of both holidays, I'm wearing my official Kansas City Chiefs polo. I had never worn a Chiefs Polo until last summer, and let me tell you, I love it. It's different from wearing a t-shirt or a jersey. I feel very official, like when I put on this polo I know things about football that I otherwise do not. And the people who see me wearing my Chiefs polo know that, too. "That guy has a Chiefs polo. He's a serious fan." I like to think that if I tucked my polo into pair of pleated khakis and put on a pair of white sneakers, I could easily make my way into a coaches' meeting or even onto the field.

I found the polo in a pile of old clothes that someone was giving away. One man's trash...

There is actually a term for this in the NFL Draft. The very last player chosen in each draft is labeled "Mr. Irrelevant". The idea is that the last player chosen in the draft is kind of a novelty. He will make no impact as a professional football player. He's almost unwanted.

Last year the Chiefs had the final selection in the NFL Draft. "With the 256th pick in the NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select...Ryan Succop, kicker, University of South Carolina."

Mr. Irrelevant is celebrated with a trophy and an entire week-long event in Newport Beach California. It's a charity event, and it's also a way of celebrating a guy that probably won't make it much longer as a football player. (Side note: In 1967, Jimmy Walker was Mr. Irrelevant. Just weeks later, he was the number one overall pick in the NBA.)

But every now and then one of those last picks in the draft makes an impact.

As it turned out, Ryan Succop was one of those rookies. Succop became KC's starting kicker, and by the time the season was over, he had kicked a lot of field goals. In fact, he kicked more field goals than any rookie in Chiefs history. He also tied the NFL record for field goal percentage for a rookie. The Chiefs won only 4 games in 2009, but Succop had a huge hand in those wins. In week 6, he accumulated all of KC's offensive points by himself, and in week 11 he kicked the game winning field goal in overtime. Succop was Kansas City's rookie of the year.

Mr. Irrelevant was very relevant.

What does all this mean? First, It means that sometimes the draft is a crapshoot. Yes, there are reasons that the players that are taken at the beginning of the draft are taken at the beginning of the draft. People believe that they will be exceptional football players at the pro level, and to some degree they have proven that. But sometimes people, and things, just fly under the radar. They were good all along, and no one noticed.

And sometimes you just get surprised. All of a sudden, someone who is relatively unknown steps into the spotlight. Many of the characters we find lovable in movies, books, and TV shows have at least a hint of this to their stories.

Junk. Late draft picks. Ryan Succop. Mr. Irrelevant. My Chiefs polo.

7 Days - DaVinci Day

In 2006, I spent over five months living in Milan, Italy. Milan is the home of the Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church which houses Leonardo DaVinci's The Last Supper. The Last Supper, along with along with Michelangelo's Creation of Adam and Leo's own Mona Lisa, might be the most famous painting in the world.

Like I said, I spent five months living in the same city that housed one of history's greatest masterpieces. In fact, I went to school about two blocks away from the church, just a short walk.

I never went to see it. I had tons of excuses: I'm saving money for travel. I'm not really "into" art. I've already seen the Mona Lisa. I'll do it later; after all, it's just down the street. Eventually, when my brother and a friend came to town and we did try to see it, the church was booked solid through the summer.

But don't write me off as shallow just yet. I did read The DaVinci Code while I was over there. And I did tour the Vatican. Two out of three ain't bad, right?

Today, though, I pay Leonardo his due. Wikipedia, here I come. Again.

Wikipedia has a huge article on DaVinci. There are even tons of "sub-pages" specifically about his personal life, his scientific studies, and his art-work. This guy's a big deal. I dive right in. Basically, Leonardo was famous for being the go-to-guy for just about everything. He is, literally, the definition of "Renaissance man".

By about 3pm, I'm thinking that maybe I bit off more than I could chew with this one. Don't get me wrong - this guy is super-interesting. But there is just too much info here. It's absolutely fascinating and absolutely overwhelming. I think I'll give you some fun facts and call it a day.

1. Leonardo compiled volumes of scientific observations that included studies of animals, astrology, geometry, human anatomy, and prototypes for things like flying machines, submarines, tanks, missiles, underwater breathing devices, and large bridges - this is the 1400's, folks! Bill Gates bought one of these books for over 30 million dollars. It is the most expensive book in the world.
2. The books, as well as most anything DaVinci wrote, were written in mirror image. Right to left and backwards. There are many theories on this, but the most practical view is that he learned to write backwards because he was left-handed and didn't want to smudge the ink.
3. Despite designing war-machines, DaVinci hated war. He thought it was madness. And he was a vegetarian. Has anyone ever been an Italian and a vegetarian?
4. In addition to being uber-smart and uber-artistic, Leo was an amazing socialite. He was good looking, could carry a conversation about anything, was humble, and was always generous. He was also super-strong. According to a contemporary of his, Vasari, DaVinci "with his right hand could bend the ring of an iron door knocker or a horseshoe as if they were lead." Again, he was left-handed.
5. For any of the lady-readers who might be swooning over this ultimate-man, hold that thought. Many believe Leonardo was a homosexual, or at least celibate. He had no children.
6. There is a Ninja Turtle named after him.

Vasari, again says:

"In the normal course of events many men and women are born with various remarkable qualities and talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind....Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty who displayed infinite grace in everything he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied were solved with ease. He possessed great strength and dexterity; he was a man of regal spirit and tremendous breadth of mind..."

Here's to you, Leonardo!

8 Days - 100 Email Day

88. That's the closest we ever came.

For almost two years now, my good friend Wilkes and I have been emailing back and forth every day. Then, one day, we decided that it would be fun to see if we could hit 100 emails back and forth over the course of one work day. Gotta dream big, you know? With time running out, yesterday became 100 email day.

Like any good story of triumph over the odds, there are obstacles. For starters, we are in different time zones. Wilkes is one hour ahead of me, which means that when my day starts at 9:30am, it's already 10:30 for him. When he goes to lunch, that's another hour gone. And he's a banker, which means he leaves pretty early.

There is also an unspoken rule that each email has to have at least a little bit of substance. So, no one word answers like "yeah" and "hey". This is a conversation.

Oh. And we have jobs, so you never know when that might come into play.

Here are the details:

With 8 days left, my morning starts with this:

GOOOOOOOD MORNING. Welcome to the day of 100

#1

WB

Game on.

Things start out pretty steady, but by 11:15am, I'm getting a little nervous. We are at 16 emails, and I think Wilkes is at lunch. I've sent the last two emails in a row, so I don't feel like I can force the issue here.

Noon rolls around (1pm Eastern), and Wilkes comes out of the gate with two back to back responses to a couple questions that I asked earlier. Before I know it, we are at 20. Then 25. Picking up speed.

At 1:32pm, Wilkes sends the 50th email of the day. This was also about the time that I realized that I had not received any other emails that day.

By 3:30, we are at 64 emails. Starting to feel the crunch. Believe it or not, this is not that easy. I'm beginning to have my doubts that we can do this, and I'm fatigued. Wilkes is about to go home. I've got to head to another office for the rest of the day.

At 4:15, we are at 76 emails. It's 5:15 on the East Coast. One more good conversation topic ought to get us over the hump, but something that I was afraid would happen, happens. I've got to do some work. Moving candy, to be precise. I spend the next 15 minutes moving cases of candy across the building, and by the time I sit down to turn the computer on, its 4:40. I fire off one more email and wait. Bad news, Wilkes is nowhere to be found. Did he go home? Panic sets in. I decide to wait. At 5:30, I send a text.

"Is it over?"

"Yeah. Had to go into a meeting."

We didn't do it. Sending 100 emails back and forth might sound easy, but it is really not. It takes determination and a little bit of luck.

Sometimes you just have to settle for 77.

The Final Countdown

10 Days. Well, 9 days, because my last day will be "Zero Day".

The plan: I'm going to have a theme for each of my final ten days of work. For the sake of fun and boredom, I'll write a short blog post about each day.

Deal? Deal.

9 Days - Health Insurance Day

It's safe to say I know just about nothing about health insurance. Or should I say, I knew just about nothing about health insurance. That was before Health Insurance Day.

First, let me say that I have some problems with insurance. I just don't like the idea that I'm paying for protection against something that might never happen. It just bothers me.

However, I'm a good American citizen, and I understand that part of being a good American citizen is being insured. And I've had some cavities filled that I know I wouldn't have wanted to pay for in full, so, I get it. In just a little while, I'll need to purchase my own health insurance plan, and that means I need to be informed.

My first order of business was to email my friend Clay. Clay sells insurance, and I trust him. That seems like a good place to start. I tell Clay that I'm looking for two things - decent coverage and low cost. Clay puts together a little plan for me, and that's when I realize just how uneducated I am when it comes to health insurance. What's co-insurance? What's a deductible?

Next stop: Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is the ultimate source for basic information on just about anything, and it delivers the goods on health insurance. Before I know it, I've got some of the lingo down, and I know what I'm looking for. I check out some quotes online, make some comparisons, and compose another email to Clay with some questions about things like co-pay and premiums. And we're off.

I didn't buy an insurance plan yesterday, and I've still got some things to consider. But it was a good start.

Mission accomplished.

Halfway There

"For his dream of the future was real and never to be destroyed, and he had said, 'I will go,' and that made a real thing too. To determine to go and to say it was to be halfway there."

John Steinbeck - The Pearl

I recently made a big decision. It was one of those decisions on either side of which you define your life as "pre-" and "post-". And it was a long process -- an eight-months-long process, and probably longer if you think about everything that led me to this point.

An interesting thing happened about a week or two before I "sealed the deal". I started having these conversations with friends and acquaintances that went something like this: "Hey, have you made a decision yet?" "As soon as I can admit to myself that this is what I want, I'll make the decision." My mind was made up, but I was afraid to speak it.

I think that's how most of my decisions go. I know what I want long before I say it or commit to it. Because saying it gives it life. Once something is spoken, it is alive. It is real, and it has life. And you can't control it anymore. You can only respond to it.

Like Steinbeck says, our thoughts and dreams are real. But speaking them into the world is the hard part.

Because now I'm halfway there.

Set This Hope In Me

If you tear me a part, will you put me back together?

If I'm overcome with grief, sweat spilling down my brow, will you comfort me?

If my heart, tormented with the sorrow of not knowing, longs to be put together again, will you find all that's lost?

If I begin to believe I'm alone, unlovable, unwanted, will you whisper to me?

If destruction is the path set in front of me, will you walk it with me?

If I'm scared, and I can't say it, can't express it, can't understand it, will you set light in my eye?

If my back has broken from this burden of shame that I have strung around my neck, will you carry it?

Will you release me?

Will you heal me?

Will you set me free?

Come. For I know you have, and you are, and you will.

For I rise with you. And I will let you hold me up. This destruction...this destruction is beauty.

For today we rise.

benjamin

This Day in History

Hands down, the telephone has to be one of the most influential inventions of all time.

Think about it. One day, you're writing a letter that will take days to get to your friend. The next day you punch a few numbers into a receiver, and you can talk with someone miles away as if she's sitting right next to you.

All of a sudden, communication becomes easier. Business happens faster. Plans can be made only minutes in advance. Breaking up with boyfriends or girlfriends becomes less awkward.

Lately, you hear a lot about the "connected" or the "plugged in" world. In our society, if you don't have a cell phone you are in the minority. In fact, I haven't even used a land line in my home since living in the dorms in college. I email. I text. I call. I blog.

Anyone can get a hold of me at any minute. Not only can they get a hold of me, it's expected that I will be available at any minute. If someone doesn't answer the phone when you call, send a text. If the the text isn't answered, send an email.

I don't think things are too different today than they were at any other time in history. The telephone, just like the letter and the text and the carrier pigeon and the dashes and dots, means this: We need each other. We need to be connected to others. We want to be connected to others. We want to relate and interact with one another. We like the feeling of being loved when we hear the voice of a friend. When the phone rings, it means someone is thinking about you. Even if it is a telemarketer.

But still, there is something about presence that can't be replaced. Something is lost in translation over the telephone. It's not the same as having someone physically right there with you. There is no body language. There is no eye contact. Things become even fuzzier with text-messaging. You can't pick up on sarcasm or accents. A phone call, or email, or text, just isn't enough.

Which is why on this very day in 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell placed the world's first phone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson, he said this:

"Mr. Watson, come here! I want to see you!"

-Dave