Book twenty-two: Positive Leadership: Strategies for Extraordinary Performance by Kim Cameron.

The second book in the book club sponsored by the HR department at my office is Positive Leadership: Strategies for Extraordinary Performance by Kim Cameron.  I liked this book better than the first book probably because it felt different than most management books I've read (which isn't many).  Oh sure, the second half of the book devolves into prescriptive "do this, not that" guidance that makes up the bulk of "be a better manager" books.

So it's the first half of this book that I found most interesting. Here's a book that uses research to suggest truly successful corporations promote ideals such as love, hope, compassion, forgiveness, and humility. Those are words and ideas that seem out of place in a business book. Consider this passage: "Inducing positive emotions (such as joyfulness, love, or appreciation) enlarges perspectives and enhances the ability of individuals to attend to more information, make richer interpretations, and experience higher levels of creativity and productivity."  That's a sentiment that appeals to my nature.  The book even hints that organizations that worry less about profit and more about fostering a positive environment are more likely to succeed.  

Positive Leadership is a short read and may be the first management book I might recommend to a friend.  But then again, I'm one of those touchy-feely liberals, so your standard business conservative might not find this book as interesting.

Ladies and gentlemen (mostly gentlemen): The FlirtCam is back!

Everyone who knows me, knows that I love the Polaroid instant camera.  I've been taking instant photos since my early teens.  But my fascination with Polaroid really took off sometime in the late 90s with the purchase of my first Polaroid i-zone.  That was the birth of the FlirtCam.  I spent the next six or seven years hanging out at night clubs and taking i-zone pictures of late night revelers.  I gave most of those away, but I still have hundreds, maybe even thousands of postage-sized photos from those fantastic nights.

Even now, some of my best friends are people I met through the FlirtCam, taking their i-zone photo and handing it to them.  And it wasn't just the i-zone.  After it was discontinued I pressed forward with the Mio and the Polaroid 600.  

A Polaroid picture can do more to make a friend than just about anything I know. So you can imagine my sadness when Polaroid discontinued all instant film production a couple of years ago.

But now, I'm celebrating the return of the FlirtCam.  I just received my new Polaroid 300.  So look out ladies and gentlemen (mostly gentlemen), because the FlirtCam is back.  And I'm looking to make some new friends.

Here's a picture of just a few of the i-zone cameras I own (including some customized face plates).

And here is my brand new Polaroid 300.  As is tradition, the first photo is a self portrait.

Country Kylie.

As I've previously noted, my song of the summer is Kylie Minogue's All the Lovers.  So I just couldn't resist posting this update.  At a recent Scissor Sisters performance in Melbourne, Australia, Kylie joined the the band for a performance of their bluegrass version of her summer hit.

Enjoy!

Book twenty one: Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Here's one reason I like book club: It encourages me to read books I likely wouldn't otherwise consider.  For example, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.  This is the story of a young Jewish girl (Sarah) whose family is taken by the French police and delivered to a concentration camp.  I don't want to spoil the story so I'll try not to give too much away about what happens to her and her family.

Interspersed with her story is that of a mother living in modern Paris.  She's a journalist assigned to cover the events that lead to Sarah's imprisonment.  And since she has a daughter, roughly the same age, she takes more than a professional interest in the story.

Sarah's Key is a nice read that helped me better understand the horrors of World War II.  And many of the characters are endlessly likeable, like the older couple who help Sarah when she needs it most.  I also like the way the book seriously dealtswith the morality of abortion, exploring the gray areas instead of embracing the traditional black and white attitudes.

But the book isn't without its problems.  There are some surprisingly convenient plot twists that didn't make much sense and seem designed simply to allow the story to continue.  And sometimes the writing is simple and uninspiring.  But overall, I give this book a thumbs up.  And certainly anyone interested in compelling, historical Holocaust stories should consder this read.

Art everywhere.

Seriously, there's so much art crammed into Washington, D.C.'s mall that you can't walk more than a few blocks without literally running into it.  On a walk back to my hotel I stumbled across the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden. Of course I had to take the detour.  There was lots to see.  Here are a few of my favorites.


Joan Miro delights with his bronze interpretation of a Lunar Bird (1944 -1946, enlarged and cast 1966 - 1967, bronze).

I love the surrealist dream represented in Judith Shea's Post-Balzac (1991, bronze).

Yoko Ono brings her peace-y, love-y art attitude with Wish Tree for Washington, DC (2007, live tree and mixed media).  In this work,  visitors write wishes on paper tags and hang them on a tree in the sculpture garden.  Yes, I wrote a wish but I refuse to divulge it for fear of jinxing it.

Yes, I stole one of the Yoko Ono Imagine Peace pencils.  Sorry.

Finally, how can you not love Roy Lichtenstein's massive Brush Stroke (1996, painted and fabricated aluminum).

What I didn't expect to find at the National Museum of the Amercian Indian.

With the unbelievable concentration of museums in Washington, D.C., you're bound to run across a surprise or two.  On my cab ride to the National Botanic Garden, I noticed banners for an exhibit of Brian Jungen's work called Strange Comfort.  It was showing at, of all places, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. While I enjoy historical and cultural museums, I'll almost always pass them up in favor of some good contemporary art. So it was a big surprise that the NMAI was featuring Jungen, who's a bit of darling in the  art world right now.  I quickly learned that the museum not only features the types of exhibits you'd expect, it also celebrates the art of living native Americans. (Although I had no Idea that Jungen qualifies as a Native artist but it does make sense and gives his work new meaning.)

Just this past year I've run across Jurgen's work twice.  First, I saw one of his massive sculptures at the Vancouver Art Gallery during my trip to the 2010 Olympics.  (Jungen lives and works in Vancouver.) Then this spring I saw one of his masks at the Flag Art Foundation.  Since the NMAI is just across the street from the National Botanic Garden, I decided to pay a visit. I'm glad I did, because it was the favorite thing I saw in Washington.

Jungen is a master of taking the ordinary and making it magical.  And he has an uncanny knack for cultural criticism; whether it's suggesting that our plastic, throw-away culture has consequences or pondering our cultural worship of the sports god.

Skull (2006-2009, baseballs, softballs) may not be about social criticism.  But it sure is cool.

There were several carved plastic gas cans.  This one is called White Death Camas (2007, carved five-gallon gasoline jug) and features a poisonous flower that can be found all over British Columbia.  What an interesting juxtaposition of ideas and a strangely beautiful object.

People's Flag (2006, recycled textiles, natural and synthetic fibers) was created on site at London's Tate Modern. The flag was inspired by a 19th Century socialist anthem and more modern banners created by environmental groups like Greenpeace. This massive red work is mesmerizing.

Shapeshifter (2000, white polypropylene plastic chairs) is similar to the sculpture I saw in Vancouver.  There is so much you can read into these works.  There's the fact that whales were hunted to near extinction in the 19th Century for their oil.  And today, oil of a different kind seems an equally hazardous threat to citizens of the ocean, a fact that is more ominous when you consider that this work is made of plastic, a substance manufactured largely from oil.

The Prince (2006, baseball gloves and dress form) is a little scary.  Instead of commenting on the work, I offer this response from Jungen when asked why so much of his work features sports imagery: "Mainly because I've always been interested in sports.  But I've also thought that if it's okay for North American sporting teams to use imagery and language and even some crude ceremonial practices of Native Americans, then I feel I have the right to use sports equipment.  What sports fulfills in contemporary North America is this kinship ritual among fans.  It's essentially a ceremony that's very specific and has rules and colors."

My favorite works in the show were these amazing totem poles.  Each one is created as a remembrance of the past six decades of British Columbian history.  For example, 1960 saw the Canadian Bill of Rights paving the way for Native voting rights.  The Oka rebellion of 1990 was sparked by the expansion of a golf course on Mohawk lands.  And in 2010 the Winter Olympics in Vancouver showcased native art and culture to an international audience.  Here is an installation view of 1960, 1970, 1980 (all 2007, golf bags with golf balls and painted golf tees), and 1990 (2007, golf bags, cardboard tube).  

And this is a detail from 2010 (2007, golf bags, cardboard tube).

I love shows that offer interesting facts about the culture I live in.  For example, did you know that Michael Jordan was fined $5,000 every game he wore his Nike Air Jordans because the NBA didn't think the colors were appropriate?  I learned that tidbit while looking at several of Jungen's ceremonial masks created from Air Jordans. Here are three of the masks which I can't accurately identify by title due to some sloppy note taking on my part.

I'm end with a bonus surprise from the NMAI.  This is an object that wasn't created by Brian Jungen.  I found it included on a wall of amazing beaded items.  It's a meticulously beaded American flag titled Nations created by Jenny Ann "Chapoose" Taylor. It's constructed from 130,910 glass beads, leather, and nylon thread. If you look closely, you'll notice that words about our nation are carefully beaded into the flag.  It's like a sparkling, shimmering Jasper Johns painting.

The nation's gardens.

If there was a cultural theme to my recent visit to our nation's capitol, it might be gardens.  First there was my visit to Hillwood.  Then there was my visit to the White House where I saw the first lady's new kitchen garden. 

And finally, I paid a visit to the United States Botanical Garden, the highlight of which is the conservatory. I've been to better conservatories, but this was still fun.  The building was recently remodeled, resulting in a beautiful facility that explores plants from around the world.

Outside the conservatory, the botanical gardens offered delightful, edible garden ideas including these entry arches that demonstrated how you can garden up instead of gardening out.

Inside, visitors are greeted by delightful topiary bears holding flowering treasures.

The main hall of the conservatory is dedicated to the jungle.  And it's hot, steamy environment with its sky-high walkways makes you want to visit the tropics.

And while Hillwood boasted about its dedication to orchids, their greenhouse couldn't compare to the stunning orchids in this conservatory.

I end with a self portrait from the nation's botanical gardens.