Data Visualization in a Wordle

Been reading about very slick new data visualization technologies-some highly useful, others very gimmicky like Wordle.

On the useful side, I find this local company @RecordedFuture very cool. Recorded Future recently decided to use data visualization to analyze and identify the strength of geopolitical relationships among countries. They used a unique set of data extracted using their News Analytics API — 7,000 trips to foreign countries by 1,000 prominent politicians, generals and business people. To visualize and analyze the data, they turned to Tibco Spotfire.

The strongest connection of all is between Washington, D.C. and Beijing.

Our Weekend

We took the boys to Bradford on Saturday and had a family ski day for the first time ever. I'm so proud of Ben for skiing down hills on his own that even make my heart skip a beat. I'm happy Colin has the confidence and enthusiasm to ski lightening fast without knowing how to really stop (not a safety hazard for the most part). He falls and gets right back up. I told Tom both boys will be skiing better than me two years from now. It's nice to have normal family outings like this. There was a time when I thought they'd never happen. Will try to include photos or videos of the boys skiing in a future post.

Happy that I went back for more yoga/cardio torture-oops, meant to say exercise. Hoping it gives me great "balance" for the weeks to come.

Two of my favorite people in the world.

Parentzilla

A casual friend on Facebook is threatening to defriend all "parentzillas" because of too many updates complaining about their kids. I quickly glanced back at the past several months of my profile updates to see if I was an offender. I was not, although I was a bit surprised. I admit I do complain about my kids-maybe I save it for my dearest mommy friends or keep those thoughts to myself. And, well, sometimes I think my husband bears the brunt of the complaining.

But more than any posting on Facebook, what I don't want to do is complain with the kids, or yell at them, or get frustrated, or break down and cry with them, but I do- sometimes. So, I vow to yell less, listen more; smile more, frown less; laugh more, cry less. It's been a hard two years with personal, financial and work stress. I don't want these baby years, okay toddler years, to slip by too fast. So, I want to thank my Facebook friend for the wake up call. Of course, being childless, he can very easily say "children are a blessing." He doesn't know the worry, frustration, exhaustion of raising kids, let alone one child with special needs, but he's 100 percent right. My children are the great blessing in my life and I'll say it on Facebook, in blogs and over coffee. If that makes me a different sort of Parentzilla-the kind who brags about her kids-so be it.

Kindergarten coming to an end

Can't believe my oldest will be wrapping up kindergarten in about seven weeks.

My quest to live in the moment means I'm trying to cherish spring to its fullest. April vacation week was good. I took much needed time off from work, played with the boys, went to many parks, and tended to the garden. The boys caught up on their naps even. There were moments of sheer fighting and some yelling. I threatened to "turn the TV on" if the kids didn't stop fighting while I tried to make their dinner. What mom does that?

We've made a decision for Ben for 1st grade. Turns out to be the school I least expected him to go to--St. John's. No fancy prep school, but it seems warm, welcoming, nurturing, structured and calm. Now where to send Colin? Seems Ben always gets the lion share of my worries and energy, but Colin makes his opinions and presence known, believe me.

Tour de New England Private Schools

My quest to find a great school for Ben has lead to me touring the open houses for several of the local private K-8 schools. A couple of disclaimers: I'm the product of public school for K-12th grade. A few friends attended the local Catholic school, but I never met a prep school kid until I went to Northwestern. As an awkward 8th grader, I did beg my mom to send me to Catholic high school. Despite being taught by nuns for K-college (all girls, by the way), my mom brushed me off knowing that I was a moody, very awkward pre-teen. So, my impressions of prep school were based solely on The Dead Poet's Society, which I saw when I was a junior in high school. I had a few friends who attended prep school at NU, but never gave it much thought. My husband, who went to private school for K-8, provided my next glimpse into the world of New England's elite educational institutions. The more I heard from him, the more it seemed too out-of-reach, out-of-touch, too country club, too materialistic, etc. And this wasn't just because of huge tuition bills, although that's part of it. So after touring two New England private schools, each which claim to be very different, I can't really say I can identify true differentiators. They were both beautiful, seemingly warm and nurturing, incredibly impressive academically, thorough with their presentations, communication and openness. But perhaps I say this because they most likely are out of reach for us and I'm not sure either would even accept Ben.

But I do believe home life and family experiences shape a child too. Ben is excited to do mommy homework with me, circuit boards with his dad and go to the ATM (thank you nana and papa conway). He's learning all the time. A friend's husband said the most important year is the one your son is in right now. How very true for school and life. Live and learn to the highest today--right now. So, I will continue my search (because sometimes knowing what you don't want helps you find what you do), but I'm also going to balance that with a live-in-the-moment attitude that lets our family enjoy Ben's great kindergarten experience.

It is Do-able

As part of my quest for inspiration, I've been attending a new church over the past year that has beautiful music, thoughtful, provocative sermons, a non-political call to action about volunteerism and a friendly atmosphere. Oh, and I must mention (how could I forget) the childcare and children's worship, which give me about 45 minutes of peace from my children every Sunday.

After a year of church-going with the Protestants, I'm still not comfortable with evangelical, conversion-oriented religion despite being in the business of persuasion. Perhaps it's my Catholic heritage, or just my unease with organized religion and pure faith-based thinking, but it makes me cringe, which is why I was pleasantly surprised to hear This American Life's show this week "Bait and Switch." One of the interviewees was a preacher who Ira Glass said is all bait and no switch. This preacher promotes what he calls do-able evangelicalism, which entails observing others, praying for them quietly and listening to them (not a hard-line conversion approach to faith, which he says is the equivalent of the crash diet--people can only keep it up for a few days and then go back to their old habits). A good friend of mine uses the term role-modeling to describe her approach to her faith and religion, which I also like.

As for the do-able approach, it's not about the number of converts, or even about the end result, but rather it's about just getting to the start line and exploring what might happen next. What often does happen next is a level of openness, frankness and trust is established that can then pave the way for more thoughtful discussions around whatever the topic at hand may be, which might be what car to buy or what church you attend. And while there might not be a conversion taking place ever, at least there is a discussion. It struck me that the principles for do-able evangelicalism could and should apply to so many other areas in my life--relationships, friendships, my PR and social media work, even my parenting.

How often does someone ask "How are you?" and then actually wait and listen for the response. How often does one sit back and observe and truly listen to their kids? How often do you ask your partner about their day’s challenge(s), where they need your support most? Well, as far as I can tell, all of these things are do-able, and I should do them more often.