Obama Leans in for a Hug

Here is my good friend, Lynn Straus, posing with Barack Obama in Chicago. Thanks to Lynn's tireless efforts -- and so many people like her -- we've got a good man in the White House, and a chance for significant change.

You, Too, Can Be Wildly Successful!

My mom recently made a gift subscription to me of Reader's Digest, a magazine covering material that generally appeals to an older audience. But occasionally there are pieces aimed at younger readers, too, like this month's Q&A with Malcolm Gladwell, author of THE TIPPING POINT and BLINK -- books that discuss, respectively, "how ideas and products catch fire, and why gut decisions are often better than well-thought-out responses." His new book, OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS (Little, Brown), is about "people whose achievement exceeds every expectation."

Gladwell speculates that these wildly successful people -- Bill Gates, for example, or The Beatles -- have talent, yes, but they also spent a significant number of hours mastering their crafts before hitting the big time. "The magic number for them, for Mozart, and for so many outliers, as I call them, appears to be 10,000 hours."

As a writer who has spent six years on her craft, and who has written two novels and landed two agents, but who has still not sold a book, I wondered where I stood in that equation. Naturally, I penciled it out:

52 weeks x 5 days a week = 260 writing days per year.

260 days per year x 6 hours per day = 1,560 writing hours per year.

1,560 hours per year x 6 years = 9,360 writing hours.

Which explains why I haven't yet made it! By my calculation, I've got to put in another 640 hours before becoming as wildly successful as The Beatles!

Now, that's something to shoot for.

Save the Date

The 12th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count -- sponsored by National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology -- is slated for February 13-16, 2009. Participants in the 2008 count submitted more than 85,000 checklists and identified 635 species. With your help, organizers are hoping to break those records this year, so give them a hand by adding binoculars to your Xmas list and marking your calendars now!

Cedar Waxwings -- The Mark of Zorro

A group of about 20 cedar waxwings popped in this morning on their way south. Steve shot this photo in the backyard at 8:30 a.m.

Nearing "I Do"

Jena Thompson and Jeremy Meredith on the beach in San Diego. John Gonzalez, officiant.

J & J's Big Fat Beach Wedding

Crazy few days, having just returned from San Diego, where our oldest daughter Jena Thompson married Jeremy Meredith on Saturday, November 1. Beach wedding was beautiful and vows heartfelt, and music was outstanding -- Ira Gonzalez performed at the wedding itself, and then at the reception, along with his brother John. Local rock cover band, The Trip, played at the reception.

Fantastic fun -- even for passersby; Steve and I were taking a breather outside when we noticed a guy (22 or 23, maybe) on a bicycle who had stopped to take in the festivities. Band was playing "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield, and bike kid was really digging it, pumping his fist in the air and singing along. After the song was over, he drove past, grinning and yee-hawing, telling us how awesome it all was.

We thought so too.