After work today, I went to Walgreens to pick up a card and a few other tokens of affection. While waiting to make my purchase, I left my place in line and picked out one of the foil balloons. It was a round one, not very large. Being a graphic design geek, I went for the one with the nice font and elements in a good proportion to each other. My loot in hand, I went back to the registers. I noticed one item had a price printed directly on the same tag that one would use to fill out a "to" and "from" card, making it impossible to not broadcast exactly how much you spent on the token gift. I smiled a bit and wondered if anyone thought about that before buying thousands of them to distribute to the company's stores nationwide.

After I paid, I walked out the door and pulled lightly on the balloon to get it through the door facing. I reached for my keys in the same motion, and ...

Snap.

I was holding a smiley face balloon weight in my left hand. It was the only thing that was smiling. My balloon rose quickly in the February afternoon breeze. I stood there for a moment watching it sail across the street, climbing higher and higher over the Jack-in-the-Box I occasionally visit. For a moment, I was 23 years younger and on the verge of a meltdown because my most favorite thing in the whole wide world had just been taken from me. I recovered. The other patrons walking in and out of the store paused too, nobody saying anything. It was if I could hear their thoughts in unison: "Aw man, that sucks."

I sighed, and took the rest of the stuff to the car. I walked back in the store to get another balloon, but decided against it. The matching balloon was partially deflated, and there was no guarantee that the sticky piece that held it tethered would not snap just like the other one. I got back in the car and drove home. I have already given Samantha the smiley face balloon weight, along with this story. (She laughed.)

I am sure there is some deep metaphor floating somewhere in the breeze around northern Davidson County, but for now I am simply going to go get ready for our 5K run/walk in the morning.

Thanks to ticket deals, a 5K race and an inordinate number of games at home in February, we will be attending three of the ten Nashville Predators games this month. We went to our first of the set tonight, with the good guys knocking off the Anaheim Ducks 4-2. The win breathes new life into what had been a fairly dim chance of getting back into playoff contention. We will be on hand for the Bruins game Feb. 14 (my wife is awesome and/or a saint) and the Coyotes game on Feb. 26.

1. I am a colorblind graphic designer. Contrary to what you might think, it is not just the Americans with Disabilities Act that keeps me employed.
2. I was once certified as an open-water scuba diver. That ended up being an expensive hobby that I had little interest in pursuing.
3. My aversion to cold temperatures can likewise be traced to a bit of a mishap where I started showing symptoms of hypothermia while diving.
4. I have won awards in small-town youth beauty pageants. More accurately, they had more awards than participants, so I usually got one.
5. I was the first person to serve three years as Executive Editor for my college newspaper. I did not realize this until the third year.
6. I can do a lame break dancing move where I lean backwards to one arm and pop back up. My wife is astonished, and I am yet to injure myself.
7. I have not been part of a volunteer or membership organization for which I have not worked on its Web site. I never intend to at the start.
8. I held a summer job where more than half the staff (including the boss) walked off the job one day. I was among those that stayed.
9. I never owned a BlackBerry, but I have grown rather fond of my iPhone. I now understand why smart phone users are addicted to them.
10. A vice chancellor threatened to kick me out of school for not surrendering evidence for a newspaper story. I won. It is still on file.
11. I once spent a very cold early morning on a quixotic mission to place campaign signs along 45 miles of highway. Our side still lost.
12. The first organization I ever lead was an economics class project. We went bankrupt selling boxer shorts during prom week. Not my idea.
13. I spent two summers as a ropes course instructor. This has allowed me to turn a fear of heights into a somewhat healthy respect.
14. I have filed income taxes every year since 1998. I held jobs as a teenager more to get out of the house than it was for the money.
15. I attended the second inauguration of Tennessee's governor and have shaken hands with he and both US Senators. Only one was an honor.
16. I have talked to a 911 operator once after a co-worker was injured in a 202 fall. He fractured his hip, but recovered fully.
17. Purchasing a tub of cheesecake filling for a meal will either be for the happiest moment or lowest point in my life.
18. At 6223, I would still be shorter than most males in my direct lineage. None of us are or were basketball standouts. I can barely dribble.
19. I am yet to be passed up for a job if I get an in-person interview. I am not that charming, so I suppose I have just been lucky.
20. I have unusually high flexibility in my hip joints because of how the top of my femur is angled. I failed a sports physical because of it.
21. My cell phone plan has the fewest number of minutes allowed. I have never exceeded them, and rarely use more than 60 minutes a month.
22. I have had two speeding tickets, both 25 or more over the limit. Neither time was I offered the option of driving school.
23. I was named to the "Homeliest Court" my senior year of high school, but lost out on the top slot to a football player. Oh well.
24. I ran a campaign for a friend in his long-shot bid for senior class president. He finished third. Advice: never use "Adonis" in a slogan.
25. I was part of a group that marched on the state capitol to protest higher education cuts. The bake-sale raised more than the legislature.
26. My college newspaper adviser is the first boss I ever had to lose her temper with me. I readily admit that I earned every bit of it.
27. My worst injury was by far the time I crashed a bicycle and broke my collarbone. The 10 minute ride down a bumpy country road was awful.
28. I walked around for a few days following that injury with an overlooked fractured shoulder. Pain medicine could not dull that.
29. I try my level best to avoid using contractions when writing anything other than a personal letter. It just strikes me as lazy.
30. I have never flown. This is not for a fear of flying because I would love to do so. The opportunity has not presented itself.

Samantha is Sick

• Day 1: Slight discomfort; Promptly opens a case file on the ailment. Internet searches track down each symptom.
• Day 2: Wake up feeling miserable. Schedules doctor appointment.
• Day 3: Attempt a remedy that worked for someone, find article describing vaguely similar much-worse-condition-itis.
• Day 4: Minor improvement, still trip to the doctor. Share research with doctor in an attempt to figure out what is wrong.
• Day 5: Low dose of prescription drugs work wonders, feeling much better and glad it is not that much-worse-condition-itis.
• Day 6: Much better and back to normal.

Cost: An afternoon of personal time, $20 co-pay and a less than $30 in medicine.

Stephen is Sick

• Day 1: Crud starts to creep in. Sleep it off.
• Day 2: No improvement, go to work. Co-workers suggest he go home. Finish work day and sleep it off.
• Day 3: No improvement, go to work. Co-workers implore he go home or to the doctor. No longer able to sleep at night.
• Day 4: No improvement, go to work. Co-workers demand he go to the doctor. Calls wife to have her schedule appointment.
• Day 4.5: Go to the doctor, find out it would have been easier to treat two or three days ago. Given really strong drugs.
• Day 5: Stay home, take medicine. Sleep for hours upon hours. Wake up feeling only slightly better.
• Day 6: Stay home, forget to take medicine. If he is lucky, he does not start the process all over again.

Cost: Two and a half days of vacation time, $20 co-pay and $70 or more in medicine.

There has always been the running joke that television weathermen and local grocers are in collusion to sell more milk and bread whenever the word "snow" or "freezing rain" makes it into the forecast. I have not been presented with proof one way or the other, but I have a general skepticism toward anything more specific than "mostly sunny" or "slight chance of rain." It is really hard to see a weather forecast on the evening news as true science. The wide discrepancy from one channel to another suggests the use of a variety of methodologies to forecast the weather. While I can accept most as merely educated guesses, the pageantry thrown behind the weather segment strikes me as an attempt to boost ratings. I am not sure why some have resorted to saying that they have "the most accurate weather forecast" to "keep you and your family safe", as if the other guys use tin cans and barn weathervanes.

All of this reminds me of the old saying, "The only reliable, 24-hour weather information comes from looking out your front window."

I know that I need to make a better effort of extending invitations to friends that I have not seen in a while. It has been difficult in the last two years keeping tabs on when people are in Nashville. It is also tough to coordinate schedules if they have come into town for something else entirely. Still, I do not want to feel so out of the loop that it is as if I have to keep a paper checklist of people I have talked to in the last year to make sure we do not lose touch completely. I have an account on Facebook, but I believe that particular Web site has done more harm in interpersonal relationships than good; Just because I read your status message two weeks ago does not mean that we talked.

This is particularly important in times when my day job has me so wired into thinking about pixels, pages, bytes and budgets that I forget the whole "life" component of the work-life balance.

Nashville voters went to the polls today and defeated two charter amendments that would have specified that all business of metro government must be conducted in solely English (with very few exceptions). The second charter amendment would have relaxed requirements for qualifying to place an amendment on the ballot. My wife and I early voted the very first Saturday to defeat these measures. I took the time to look the proponent's talking points and could not help but dismiss every last one of them as either misinformed or disturbingly xenophobic. I am pleased with the outcome of the night's returns, but I cannot help but wonder how more than half of a million dollars could have been better spent.

I will refrain from attacking Councilman Eric Cartman Crafton's character.

Monday morning was our first significant amount of snow for the year. It barely amounted to more than a dusting, covering only vehicles and frozen puddles in the parking lot. It was just enough to play a bit in it before heading off to work.

My morning routine needed a bit of excitement, and that seemed to do the trick. The same group of gas station attendants greet me most mornings as I grab my Coke, breakfast of choice and perhaps a newspaper. I have spent more time with these people than many of my friends and mentors from college in the past year. That is a tough realization.

Polls, politicians and pundits have cluttered the news landscape with statistics and opinions. George W. Bush will end his presidency as the least popular on record. The economic outlook is bleak for 2009. The bank bailout has not stopped the bleeding on Wall Street. Retail stores are marching to bankruptcy and out of business. Unemployment continues to climb. State budgets are bracing for devastating cuts. You do not have to look far in your circle of friends and family to find someone who has been affected by our ongoing recession.

Bright lights and microphones will fill our televisions.

And, then, a moment of tranquility.

On Monday, January 19 the country will recall the memory of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., 80 years after his birth and more than 40 years after his death in Memphis, Tennessee. We have heard echoes of Dr. King on the campaign trail this past year and with good reason. Some will say that it would be opportunistic for any politician to associate themselves with a man synonymous with equality and social justice. I disagree.

Without the movement championed by Dr. King, I believe that there is little doubt that the social injustice of the 1960s would have persisted for decades to come. Would we live in a country that on Tuesday will inaugurate its first black President?

"Why are they so excited?" was a question someone asked me on Election Day in November. The inquirer was slightly put-off by the enthusiasm that people of all walks of life had for Barack Obama. The question focused particularly on the black community, where the jubilation spilled out onto street corners in neighborhoods all across the country. I struggled a bit to answer, because my level of excitement for what would be the eventual outcome of that election was much more political, and far less personal. I actually looked at the pictures coming in from colleges in Georgia that night and thought back to that question, "Why are they so excited?"

Overcome.

They were overcome with joy. They were overcome with excitement. A community identified, but not defined, by race had overcome four decades of cynicism that believed that a Dream died with a man in April of 1968. The unexpected rise of another man in 2008 to the highest office in our land stood in such stark contrast to what too many had perceived to be a mountain too high to climb. When King said, "we as a people shall overcome," he did not have to specify that black or white people will see the injustices of the world and work to correct them. We, all of us, are those people of which he spoke. And that is why we are so excited.

The challenges we face have forced us to set our aspirations high but our expectations in line with what can be accomplished in only a few short years. Tuesday, January 20 will mark the end of a time when the old administration can be reasonably saddled with what happens in the coming days, weeks and months ahead. They are effectively off the clock, and Barack Obama and his team will be held accountable for where we go from here. Indeed, a new generation of leadership is entering the White House.

Obama's background as a community organizer in Chicago helped him win an election. It will be that same strategy that can help him find the kind of grassroots support it will take to rebuild the domestic confidence and global goodwill that we believe to be essential in this new century.

Tune in not for what your news channel of choice has to say about this time in our history. It needs no introduction, and what will unfold will be a defining moment in history regardless if their microphones are turned on or not. We lift up a prayer that this President will lead honorably, be a champion for the weak, the poor and the downtrodden, be a beacon of hope. No matter your faith or creed, it is these wishes that I believe we can all support. And that is a reason to be excited.

Tennessee's legislature is almost evenly split on party lines, 50 Republicans to 49 Democrats. Rep. Jimmy Naifeh (D) had been unable to convince a single Republican house member to vote for him to keep his Speaker post, and it was all but certain to end as scripted.

A single click off a button changed all of that.

Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R), a freshman member, pressed the wrong button and voted with the Democrats to allow for a short recess. At the recess, the Democratic House leaders put forward a backup plan to nominate another Republican instead. Rep. Gary Odom (D) came forward and nominated Kent Williams (R) for the seat, an old high school basketball teammate opponent. After the roll-call vote, Williams voted for himself, ensuring an extraordinary rise from obscurity to one of the highest offices in state government. Rep. Weaver will likely never hit the wrong button again.

The papers say that state government is in disarray, and many are still a bit stunned of how it happened. Williams has a one-way ticket out of his party, and Democrats suddenly have a bit of hope at not being marginalized by a group that rarely breaks rank with its party leadership. I have watched my Facebook News Feed fill up with comments ranging from outrage, denial, disgust and a few cheers. I believe that it is just another day in Nashville.

One of my favorite things about Tuesday's events is the number of e-mails and text messages I got about it. I rarely get to check the news during work hours unless looking up something related to our industry. Still, I am grateful for friends that make sure that I do not miss out on anything.

Wrong.

Perhaps it was the temperature in the low 40s. Perhaps it was frustration that my iPhone kept changing songs mid-stride to something not even on that particular playlist. Maybe it was the shoes. More than likely, it was the simple truth that comes as a bit of a disappointment: no matter how much energy you think you have, your body will make the ultimate decision as to whether it has been properly conditioned for running. Mine has not. It does not matter that I have a habit of taking stairs two or three at a time, or that only a few years ago I would sprint to places on campus just to burn off some pent-up energy. That does not mean that I am in any sort of physical condition to run a race on a whim.

I still intend to run most of the race, but I will likely fall back into the walking crowd faster than I want to. A Sunday afternoon for a month is not going to make it much better, but it is the only time I have to give until the sun stops setting before 6 p.m. I need to take the nurse practitioner's advice and go in for a physical; something that I have not had since I was a camp counselor five summers ago.

In lighter news, our social calendar is actually full for the next week. It is a pleasant change of pace from our usual aimless wandering around Nashville.

That would appear to be the overarching theme for 2009: slow but steady progress. A recent survey at work indicates that most in our industry do not see this year as having much of a chance at being better than the last for the overall economy, but are staying upbeat about their own businesses' prospects. My wife has requested an embargo on talking about the state of the economy while at home unless it relates directly to us. I can certainly empathize with her sentiment there.

On two separate occasions, someone has told me how they wish we could catch a break in the nightly news docket of economic doom and gloom. If someone would go into the mainstream media and just tell us things are getting better quickly (read: tell an outright lie), the psychological boost to our nation would be enough to get the economy's gears moving again. I am not sure I believe that it would happen, but I suppose it is good to have that as an option if we run out of all others.

One of the things I am doing to strike a more positive note for 2009 is to set a few goals. We are already a week into the new year, so to call them "resolutions" is likely impermissible. I hope to get to more networking events in Nashville this year to stay current on what all is happening in the Music City technology crowd. Like many Americans, I want to concentrate a bit more on physical fitness this year. Signing up for the Nashville Predators Fangtastic 5K in February is a positive step in that direction. Other goals include reading more and a slightly wider variety of books as well as eating out less and contributing to our savings account more often.

Unlike the talking head due on television any day now, I hope that I am telling the truth when I commit to those goals.

• Wrote one letter to the editor
• Joined my employer's 401(k) plan
• Bludgeoned with primary election season coverage
• Enjoyed a nice, long period of quarterlife angst
• Endorsed a candidate for president
• Saw Ani DiFranco and Over the Rhine at the Ryman
• Received a tax refund and stimulus check
• Signed another a lease for another year at our apartment
• Attended my first Stanley Cup Playoff game (Predators 3, Red Wings 2)
• Re-activated my Twitter account
• Designed the "Go Green" theme for my Web site
• Attended the East Nashville Hot Chicken Festival and the downtown fireworks
• Endured a long summer of staff transitions at work
• Received first post-college promotion
• Attended the Tomato Arts Festival in East Nashville
• Turned 25 in August; received a bit of a discount on car insurance as a result
• Marked my second year with my employer in September
• Finally purchased an NHL game for the Wii, much to wife's chagrin
• Posted (almost) every day for the month of September
• Attended the second annual BarCamp Nashville event at the Sommet Center
• Became the proud owner of an iPhone 3G
• Celebrated two years of marriage and five years of being with my wife in October
• Early-voted in my second presidential election and third for a U.S. Senate
• Launched a site for NCAA All American candidate Lester Hudson
• Attended my first wedding for a college friend
• The wedding was the only time I left Tennessee in 2008 (5 miles over state border in Kentucky)
• Joined a Disciples of Christ congregation
• Accompanied my wife as we purchased a new car for her
• Donated our minivan to the National Kidney Foundation

Today at church, an older man found it difficult to make it through a prayer when he arrived at the note from the nightly news that 500 servicemen and women had lost their lives this past year in the two ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He held no personal connection to any of them, but their loss weighed heavily on him as it does our national conscience. His voice cracked, he paused and then continued.

I admire those that can keep their composure no matter the circumstance, but the authenticity of those that struggle to maintain it also stands apart in my mind. Whether the courage to continue comes from inner strength or the twenty-third Psalm, everyone watching feels in that moment connected to the circumstances they describe.

Few can say that this is an easy time to live in our great country. Despair and desperation have started creeping their way into the headlines, whether it be stories of violence from a psychological breakdown or people arrested for stealing food for their family. While not all news today is bad, these are certainly not times of peace and prosperity in America.

Yet.

There is also that retrospective component of the new year that guides us to reflection. I believe 2008 was, on the balance, a very good year. The two of us remain in good health and gainfully employed in stable jobs in spite of the economic outlook. A testament to that can be found in our decision to donate the van that I had been driving back and forth to work to charity instead of selling it (either to a car lot or junk yard). Proceeds will go to benefit National Kidney Foundation of Middle Tennessee. It will not help much as is valued at less than $200 in the books, but we are thrilled to do it.

The Nashville Predators downed the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 tonight, so optimism reigns supreme. Here is to a prosperous and exciting 2009!

But that is not my favorite part of Christmas.

I like the quiet and stillness of the winter evening. The parties and fun are good, but I feel most at peace with the rest of the world with soft music in the background and huddled up on the couch with nothing but the Christmas tree lighting the room. It is during that time that I seem to always have the clearest of perspective on the past year and the most eagerness for the year to come.

There would be instrumental music playing softly in the background. I would have my wife resting next to me, with neither of us reaching for our iPod, iPhone or laptop. If I had a home with a fireplace, it would be burning bright, with the cards from friends and family lining the mantle. There would be a light dusting of snowfall outside, blanketing the neighborhood. That would be my idea of the ideal Christmas Eve.

At least, for now.

Jesus did not arrive into this world to a lot of fanfare. It said that it was a very quiet and still night in Bethlehem, mostly because even in those times the notion of awaking a sleeping infant would not have been advisable. It is a stretch to even imagine the serenity of that evening.

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2009.

The Economist published a preview for 2009 recently, highlighting numerous countries' challenges and opportunities for the next year, including the United States. An article by Leo Abruzzese titled "The bucks stop here" chronicles how the average American household went from saving as much as nine percent in the 1980s to less than half a percent in 2005. That drastic shift gave rise to the manufacturing prowess of China and other Asian countries to meet increased demand at a lower cost. That trend has continued for almost two decades.

Abruzzese says that the savings rate rarely shifts more than a half percentage point in a year, but admits that these are extraordinary times. With credit harder and harder to come by and recession that is leaving few unscathed, it is likely that there will be a fundamental shift in our way of thinking, even if only temporarily. That change could send a shock wave through world markets that depend on the insatiable appetite of the American consumer.

It would appear to me that we are in the kind of mess that has no good solution. If responsible consumers increase their savings rate, the damage done to the global economy will be significant, perhaps driving some to the verge of deep depression. If the consumer continues to spend recklessly, the bad debts will further clog the financial sector, leading to more bankruptcies, foreclosures and an even deeper recession.

Aside from this Catch-22, the most profitable industry of late would appear to be those that manufacture antacids. Just when one piece of good news hits the wire reports, another blurb follows close behind warning of impending disaster. Headlines like bailout fails, bailout succeeds, investor bilks billions, states run out of money and so on scroll across our television screens and morning newspaper headlines.

It is times like these that I am glad there are relatively smart people looking at these problems and trying to find the best solutions. Meanwhile, my only anxiety stems from a $180 electric bill from NES for the month. They would likely trade with me.

I have taken to reading a few professional development books a month, although my budget will dictate that I start using the public library instead of picking them up at Barnes & Noble. "Read more" was one of those resolutions that I am just now getting around to doing. Yes, this is the final month in 2008.

Of the five, my favorite is The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance by James A. Autry.

This book is a direct answer to the slash-and-burn practices of the 1980s and 90s where "downsizing" and "restructuring" were buzzwords meant to drive up stock prices -- where loyalty was measured by an employee working long hours and living in constant fear of losing his or her job. It had taken a different meaning from the days of the gold pocket watch for faithful service.

Autry brings his decades of experience as a magazine executive and consultant to an easy to follow handbook for navigating the common pitfalls of management. He uses anecdotes to illustrate his point in such a way that they can be applied to just about any organization.

Beyond the dust jacket review above, I like to believe that servant leadership is one area that I have not had much trouble making the transition from college student to working professional. I spent three years each in two organizations that held the concept of servant leadership above all others. To illustrate that point, here are the mission statements for both:

• "Building Leaders for Tomorrow" -- Youth Incorporated (camp counselor and ropes course instructor)
• "Building Balanced Leaders for the World's Communities" -- Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity (member, standards board official, AVC trustee)

Neither of these organizations shared a mission statement writer, despite the obvious similarities. Youth Incorporated was founded in the 1950s, while the fraternity adopted their statement within the last two decades. So what exactly are these "Leaders" that are being built?

The concept of a leader under construction plays a central role in both.

If I could pick one of the better illustrations for the summer camp, it would be a low ropes activity where participants took positions over two railroad ties with ropes coming up through the middle. The goal was for the group to move the beams without stepping off of them or letting go of the rope handle to a fixed point on the ground ahead of them. If either happened, they had to drop one rope (or leave it dropped). They were not given any additional instructions beyond that.

We would observe the group for a couple of simple takeaways:

• Who had an idea of how to accomplish the goal? -- Problem solving is critical to the success of the group.
• Did this person explain it to others in the group? -- Communication of the idea in simple terms so that everyone was on board.
• Who was the leader of the group? -- It seldom dawned on the campers that the person in the back of the group, not the front, had the best vantage point to call out "Left" or "Right."
• If the idea was not working, how did the group react? -- It never works on the first try, no matter how many times they had watched it before.
• Was the loudest participant necessarily the right one? -- Almost never the case. More of a life lesson than they will ever realize.
• Did anyone drop their rope when they stepped off the beam? -- Somebody inevitably "forgets" the rule and keeps their rope anyway.
• What does integrity mean? -- The forgetful camper hates this discussion, but we tried not to single out any one person for the infraction.

I still count those afternoons as some of the more rewarding experiences of late teenage years. I personally believe that the organization's mission statement is best exemplified through that single activity.

I have tried to practice servant leadership in my fraternity involvement, stint as a newspaper editor and even in my current position. I can think of numerous times where I have fallen short, but the core aim is still there, no matter the outcome. Autry closes his opening chapter with an interesting take on what makes the servant leader and what benefit it is to be one:

If you, in a leadership position, can attain the authenticity, vulnerability, acceptance, presence and usefulness to become a servant leader, then I believe that is the highest manifestation of your spirituality in the context of work.

At its core, servant leadership is about transcending the preconceived role of a manager and moving it into something that can be a very fulfilling experience beyond the title on a business card. I believe everyone would set that as a goal at some point.