Sandia High School Reunion

I received the first notification about this year's high school reunion about a year ago. I didn't pay it any attention at all because honestly I wasn't giving it a second thought about attending. You see I didn't much care for high school. It was painful for me in a lot of ways. I was one of those too eager to grow up and get on with my life to enjoy the high school ride as much as I should have. The byproduct of having much older siblings I suppose.

Couple my eagerness to get high school over with my being debilitatingly shy and introverted, my impression of those years were not something I admittedly wanted to reminisce about twenty years later.

But then something happened....actually two distinct things happend.

About a year ago I started receiving friend requests on Facebook from people that went to Sandia High School with me. I remember reluctantly accepting them because many of the friend requests were coming from people I didn't know all that well in high school. Although we may not have all been the best of buds back then, I started using what I teach and really began to get to know who some of these people where today as opposed to who I thought they may have been way back yonder. I discovered some really cool people along the way.

Yet I still wasn't considering coming back home to Albuquerque for the reunion.

The other thing that happened was mom passed away in late June. I was ill-prepared for the overwhelming amount of support, prayers and thoughtfulness I received from the people in my high school class. I received cards, Facebook wall posts and many emails letting me know that my family and I were being thought of. It was quite amazing!

It was at Mom's funeral that I decided that I wouldn't miss the reunion.

The outpouring of affection by people was truly humbling. Although I haven't seen many of these people in twenty years I realized pretty quickly they are all undoubtedly family. We are the Sandia Matadors Class of 1989 and no matter where we are in the world, we are forever linked with one another.

I for one look forward to reconnecting with old friends and making some new ones. I guess in the end for a guy who is all about connection, the thought of not going to something like this seems truly ironic. So glad that my high school friends reminded me of who I am and where I come from.

Ripple On!!!

Hard To Disconnect - Even On Vacation

As I sit here on the back porch of a majestic cabin in Estes Park, Colorado I feel totally relaxed and happy. My family is having a blast up here as we do a little hiking, a lot of fishing and a whole bunch of just chilling.

I've tried to leave the laptop alone as much as possible though with wireless access available right here in the cabin it's been hard. Very hard. I realized on this trip how addicted I am to being plugged in. That's not necessarily a good thing. In fact with new Apps on my iPhone which make it seamless to post new Tweets or updates to my Facebook page, I've felt like I haven't completely unplugged since I got here.

Perhaps it would have been easier to just leave my MacBook Pro at home but then I wouldn't have gotten any writing done. It might have been a good idea to leave the iPhone in my backpack but then I would have missed an important call about a speaking opportunity for a conference. I might have updated my Twitter and Facebook connections and said something like, "Hey folks don't expect to hear from me for a while...I'm on vacation" but I don't think either of us would believe it.

I've come to realize that I am truly a product of the technology generation. Getting unplugged is hard to do though admittedly checking my email or updating my Ripple Actions Of The Day on Twitter haven't been a huge priority. I've managed to take longer and longer breaks from being connected to anywhere but the here and now which has been a blessing in disguise. My family is more appreciative and the scenery and side adventures have recharged my batteries and stimulated my curiosity and creativity way more than expected. But alas, being disconnected completely hasn't been easy to do and although I get the occasional role of the eyes from the wife, it hasn't been too big of a problem. Of course she might disagree if we asked her so let's not!

Well I am off to spend a few hours in the cold Colorado river waters, wetting a line and waiting for a fish to fancy my fly. Don't worry I always put them back after I yank the living bejezus out of them.

I think I'll leave the laptop and the iPhone in the cabin.

In case your are interested in see just want is inspiring me while I am in Colorado here are some pictures from the trip so far. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90093&id=501949511&l=9d52f8a663

Ripple On!!!