A Time Tested Tale of Holiday De-Stress

Einstein was right. Time gets faster or slower, depending on your observation post. If your observation post is at the shopping mall, then December is passing by at warp speed.

 

If Christmas seems like a heap of work followed by disappointment and a pile of January credit card bills, you might get a fresh perspective from a book that’s been around since the 1980’s.

 

It’s called UNPLUG THE CHRISTMAST MACHINE. The authors encourage us to examine our attitudes and traditions around the Christmas-New Year holidays. Find the things that mean the most to you, given your current life situation. Put the other traditions (and guilt-inducing habits) on the back burner.

 

Here’s how to find the book, which is modestly priced.  Start at our web site, WFAE.ORG.   Paste in this link:

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/103-2638211-8329421?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Unplug+the+Christmas+Machine&x=11&y=20

 If you choose to get the book shipped “urgent, overnight”….well, maybe you’d better order two copies.

Second Thoughts on the Glam Life

Well, we got ready for company, and did our friends and neighbors ever show up!

Garrision Keillor and “Prairie Home Companion” came to Charlotte’s Ovens Auditorium October 20th, and blew the shoes off all in attendance.

Keillor’s staff–with typical Midwestern efficiency–has the tour down to a science. There was a contract in place that spelled out in minute detail what the Prairie crew provides, and what the host station needs to do.

The tour staffers, especially Albert, the liason with WFAE, were great to work with and got props from our Renee Rallos and Paul Stribling.

Garrison displayed his awesome creativity; beyond that he was as cordial as he could be to special station guests, as well as to concertgoers who asked for autographs after the show.

It’s common to take a jab at “stars” whose whims are catered to in great detail. But put yourself in Garrison’s (red tennis) shoes. Everybody expects you to be a creative genius every moment of your visit. You’ve got 48 hours to write a two-hour show that goes out on 600 radio stations. Hundreds of thousands–millions–of dollars are at stake. And during tour season you are not even able to sleep weekends in your own home.

You can understand why touring groups expect catered meals and a bit of protection from crowds and well-wishers. Any of us need a bit of “down” time and privacy now and then. Can you imagine leading a life almost entirely in the public eye?

I would love to hear your comments if you have spent considerable time as a public figure, or if you have known someone who experiences the good/bad of public life. 

Irony Check–Crime Worries and Unlocked Cars

It’s not surprising that many Charlotteans are concerned about crime and safety. In fact, those issues showed up high on the list of citizen concerns when we did our first “WFAE Civic Poll” last year. Remember that it’s not enough to be concerned; it’s important to get these issues in the proper perspective and to take some incredibly simple personal steps.

Did you know that a dangerous crime such as a robbery is 100 times LESS likely to happen than a property crime?

Did you know that our neighbors and colleagues may make some silly mistakes that greatly boost the chance of a property left, especially from a car?

Listen to this report from our Simone Orendain, who is a co-contributor to our “IPO Charlotte” series:

 http://durablelogic.com/wfaeipo/?cat=10

Your Family Reunion May be Worldwide

One of the most troubling social issues is the dividing line between races and nationalities. What does it mean if we–at the most fundamental level–are really all brothers and sisters?

That is one of the riveting implications of Spencer Wells’ work. Wells is Director of the Genographic Project at the National Geographic Society.

As Wells explains in his book, Deep Ancestry, researchers are now using the human genome to track human migration over the past 60,000 years.

If you are trying to learn about the genetic revolution, or if you are a student of geneology, you might want to participate in Wells’ presentation and accompanying panel discussion here in Charlotte on Thursday, October 16th. Wells’ visit is being sponsored by our friends at UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics.  Here’s a link to find out more:

http://wfae.org/wfae/nav1024.cfm?cat=17&subcat=66&subsub=94&action=detail&id=1203

As long as we’ve waited for rain….

Let’s hope for the sake of our Hickory friends that the rain holds off a few days longer…..though we all surely need it soon. This weekend is a huge event–the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn Golf and Spa.

The tourney will attract tens of thousands of visitors. To give you an idea of the scale, some 1,400 volunteers turn out to help produce the weeks’ worth of events.

I had the pleasure of talking to many of the 1,000 volunteers who turned out Sunday night for the Classic’s volunteer appreciation dinner. Many volunteers were interested in our news and public affairs programming. I had several people tell me they listen all the time. And we brought along our favorite break-the-ice gimmick, the “WFAE Prize Wheel”, which gives us an excuse to hand out hundreds of “fabulous gifts”…..WFAE beverage huggies, de-stress squeeze balls, logo keychains, and other such treasures.  Many thanks to WFAE’ers  Lynette Riddle and Jim Diedrich for turning out to great the volunteers. 

How neat it is that 1,400 people will donate time to prepare player hospitality packs, drive golf carts, set up displays and do whatever it takes to make a community event happen. 

By the way, the Greater Hickory Classic gets heavy coverage on “The Golf Channel”, if you can’t get to the venue in person.