Friday Donuts

Dear Members and Constituents, What sets a great work of art apart from the rest? Take a musical masterpiece, for instance. It uses the same notes as lesser works (88 on a modern piano). It is arranged according to a set structure dictated by the scale the piece is composed on.  It has themes that repeat, like all the rest. It follows a certain rhythmic pattern. Yet there is something about an inspired composition that stands-out. While there are many dimensions that go into making a magnum opus, it seems to me a key variable is knowing the rules intimately and then selectively choosing which ones to deliberately break. That unexpected sharp or that silence where a note should be create a certain element of surprise. An anomaly which contrasts with the familiar fabric of the expected. Like salt on a dish, break a couple of rules and the experience is enhanced; break too many and you’ve ruined it. That’s why we don’t enjoy the sound of a child pounding a piano (unless, of course you

Dear Members and Constituents We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Bill Gates was onto something when he said this (or was it Abraham Lincoln? I can never trust Google anymore). Ten years ago Mr. Gates was still running Microsoft, and Ashton Kutcher had not yet invented the iPhone. The word Facebook might have triggered thoughts of your church's photo directory -not the new religion it’s become- and Twitter was just the glitter in someone's eye. In the ten years since I started Level 3's Friday Donut Club, two of my kids have gone into college, my youngest was born, I got a second master’s degree and a brand new hair color -gray. I sometimes joke that telecom years are like dog years. That being the case, the club was founded a lifetime ago. What will you do this next lifetime? (time will pass whether you want it to or not, might as well do something with it, right?) This m

Dear Members and Constituents, They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The content density of an image can simultaneously speak to many storylines without using a single word. For instance, imagine a basketball player. He drives for the hoop, his eyes set like flint on the basket, as he flies past his flat-footed contender. The crowd holds their breath, mouths half-open. The young Dayton player exudes a strong sense of purpose. The Buckeye seems stunned. You can almost feel the air getting ready to go out of the room as a sense of destiny begins to set-in. You are starting to get a sense for this powerfully charged image and yet this is but a sketch of the full picture (perhaps, because I only used sixty seven words). So, what do a thousand pictures tell us? It turns-out they are worth one word. The word “donut” to be precise. This morning Andrew Labbe (donut boy) donated the mosaic depicted at left to the Friday Donut Club (don’t worry he also brought four dozen crazy Voodo

Dear Members and Constituents, Imagine human history as an ocean. The present, a giant wave sweeping into the future. We rise and fall as the wave advances. To me, this begs a question: is life contained in the particle or is it the wave? Our bodies (the water molecules, if you will) are the physical manifestation of this life, but, when the wave has passed through us does our life end? Or, is our life the wave itself? I’d like to think it’s the latter. We see the wave when it effects the particle, however, the wave goes-on after the water molecule has been left behind. We no longer see it but it’s there nonetheless. Regardless, whether you think life is a particle or a wave (or some quantum interaction of the two), now is your time. You are surfing the wave and this your opportunity to make your mark. Do some good! And, if you’re bent on evil and good is not an option, at least have a donut. I brought-in four dozen treats from THE 5280 Donuts. Enjoy! Happy Friday! P.S. Even