The Parish Family Blog

First Picture of Lily Driving ...

Don't panic, I was in the car (worrying a bit ...).  It's time to get Lily used to starting and stopping the car and learning how to smoothly accelerate and smoothly stop. Just the basics.

Every other Monday we have dinner at Grandma Gerry's, which is here in the neighborhood. I had already taken Lily out a couple of times for very short jaunts ,so I said, "How about you drive the car home?"

She did well and is feeling less intimidated by the wheel. Now it's practice practice practice, along with learning all the rules of the road.

My girl is growing up.

Love
Tom

Artistic Entrepreneurship - An Interview You Want to Make Time to Hear

As you know, I love my show TalkingPortraits where I get to interview people about all kinds of fascinating topics. I've been behind in posting the last 2-3 months due to all of the events in my life.

I'm finally getting going again after a few weeks of absence. I just completed editing a show with Dr. Elliot McGucken. This award-winning physicist teaches a course called Artistic Entrepreneurship, and this unique course is a study of Joseph Cambell's Hero's Journey applied to an artist's quest to be not only creatively successful but financially successful too. And to approach your success with integrity. So if you've ever hit that wall of "how do I make money doing what I love and do it with passion and integrity," then heed what Elliot has to say.

The podcast is now at ITConversations so visit here to download your copy.

Re-listening to and editing this conversation has brought me new inspiration about my life and my creative goals. This interview is nearly an hour long, so allow yourself some time. Plop it in your iPod or MP3 player and make the time. Trust me on this - you'll feel transformed and uplifted all the way to the end of the talk.

http://artsentrepreneurship.com/  - all about the course he teaches.
More about Dr. McGucken at http://22surf.org/a/  and http://elliotmcgucken.com/

Best to you, my friends.
Tom

Sharon's Tombstone - The Final Resting Place

A couple of weeks ago, Gerry, Sharon's mom, brought this picture by for me. She made special arrangements for this grave spot and stone. Though we all know that Sharon's ashes are scattered in many different parts of the world, we now have a place we can call her final resting place.

Wouldn't you know it? I had the address all written down but I cannot find it at the moment. I'll have to get that from Gerry again. It's in Pilot Point, TX. Click on the link to see this on Google Maps.

This is not a fun item to post, yet I thought it important for the sake of completion. I am both honored and appreciative of Gerry's gift.

Sharon was an amazing woman who touched so many souls around the world. I still receive emails and letters each week about her deeds, along with good wishes for our family.

Like all of you, I'm carrying on in my life. Seeing what each day brings. Tending to my health and happiness and finding creative moments to bring forward with myself and others. Experiencing those little and sometimes not-so-little events that bring an opportunity for transformation and gratitude through my disciplines of discernment.

I've been in transition personally and professionally for the month of July. August is nearly here and so I'm sure more is in store. I'll be in touch more.

May you find happiness and peace
Tom

Tom Parish Inc. Blog - Consolidating my Efforts

I'm working on consolidating my energy and blogging into one location at www.TomParish.com. The blog resides at www.TomParish.com/blog.

Many thanks to Jenny Meadows for her copy editing expertise and assistance.

I found myself way too spread out on my work and personal time, trying to keep all the blogging sites current -- so this is going to help. 

I'll be updating this family blog, of course. I have something special to post here shortly.

Tom

Justin - Finding the Right Suit and the Right Fit

Time for wedding number two this year.  Today I meet Justin and Juliet over at Capra & Cavelli on 35th Street. Here are the pics from the big event. It's quite a lot of fun having such splendid attention and service.

Discussing the different types of suits ..

Getting the right fit ...

Ah ... those pants need to be done a particular way ...

More to come in the next few weeks and months. Justin and Juliet tie the knot October 13th.

Tom

Pictures from the Wedding of Lauren and Ryan

Here are some pictures I took.

All taken with my iPhone camera.  All things considered, they are pretty good, I think.

Enjoy,

Tom

Lauren and Ryan Foresman

What a wedding.

It's over, I'm back at the hotel and I'm ready to fall asleep. What a wonderful day and evening. So many moments to cherish. More pictures later from me, and of course there will be a ton of them from the professional photographer there. I did get some 'behind the scenes' video that will be fun to put together.

I'm feeling proud and thankful that so many members of our family were together for this event in Houston.

The newlyweds will take off for their honeymoon on Monday to St. Vincent, a small Caribbean island near Venezuela, for 9 days.

Tom

click to enlarge the photos

Friday Night - Rehearsal Dinner and Some Reflections on the Evening

After meeting at the church for the rehearsal, we headed over to The Houstonian for a beautiful dinner and conversations with so many people. I'm feeling relaxed, happy and full of gratitude. I'm not in a hurry, either, for this day or tomorrow to go too quickly.

I found it quite interesting to see my place as father of the bride. This is a different experience than just attending the wedding. What I did over the last 24 years as a dad played a part in her life (in whatever way that is -- and I'll never really fully know) such that Lauren is happily ready to be married. And I'll have the honor of walking Lauren down the aisle on her right side, hand in hand. I have a feeling I'm going to cry on that walk to the altar to give her to Ryan.

I have Sharon's wedding ring with me. I am going to carry it in my pocket as I walk with Lauren. I know Sharon wanted to be here at this event, as she does with Justin's in October. I will imagine seeing her in the church, full of love and bright as a star, beaming her love for Lauren and Ryan.  I can imagine Sharon holding my hand and trembling some with excitement and expectation.

At dinner I had the honor to speak with a number of young men just leaving college to make their mark on the world (Ryan's friends and relatives) and sit at the table with the grandparents to hear their views of life and their hopes for the younger generation. Just listening and talking and exchanging ideas.  I see the transition for myself and the parts I've played. I see how the cycle continues as these young adults now start their life after college. Getting married, having children and doing as I did over the last 30 years.

Saturday is the big day. I'll have some pics for you.

Here is a shot from tonight with Patti, Katie, Lily and me.

Travel to Houston July 4th Returning the 8th

The time has come to prepare for the glorious event - Lauren is getting married. This happens Saturday in Houston, the 7th of July at 7pm in the year 2007.

Wednesday morning we're off to Galveston to take Lily to Lauren's place where she will stay and help Lauren prepare for the big day on Saturday. Then Thursday morning I'm back in Houston.

I'm going to be in Houston Thursday and Friday with not a lot to do, so if you're reading this and have some time, let me know. I'm hoping to get around and meet who I can during my stay. I'll be at a hotel somewhere in the Galleria area. Mari Hall and I are going to connect up on a project she'd like some help on.

I'll have camera in tow for this trip, for sure!

More soon.

Tom

The iPhone - First Impressions

It's day three for me with the new iPhone. All I can say is it's what I've been wanting in a cell phone. Yeah, I love it. It did not come with a user manual that was heavier then the phone, like the last two supposedly 'smartphones' I had. You just turn it on and it works. The learning curve is tiny in comparison. There was no user manual in the box. Get that.

I've been reading blogs that get so carried away with why they don't like the iPhone.  Geesch, it's a mystery to me why people are so quick to criticize such a marvelous change in user interface for a phone (well, iPod and Internet device all in the same package). I could go on and on about the features it has or doesn't have, but all that does is explain how it works in comparison to the limited way most phones work. I've owned a Blackberry - they are cool but I'm telling you it's a chore to learn to use a Blackberry, compared to the iPhone.

The iPhone doesn't make you figure out some arcane set of weird key sequences to access the Internet or listen to music. Everything is just one or two 'light' taps of your finger away from instantly appearing on a big bright colorful screen. I can walk into any room or building with WiFi and it instantly finds it and asks me if I want to use it.  I've always wondered why it couldn't be that easy - like turning on a light switch.  My MacBookpro is like that with WiFi and it's a wonderful thing to have Internet access at the touch of a button. Yeah - I know the AT&T cell system (for data) isn't as fast as the others right now, but it's fast enough. And it seems I'm really never very far (in Austin anyway) from free WiFi, so the seamlessness of the iPhone's operation with WiFi makes life simple.

I love the way the iPhone feels in my hand and the simple and thoughtful way it just seems to know what you want to do next. The touch screen just 'works' and again takes very little getting used to. Trying to explain the experience of using such a radically different device like this is like trying to explain what you got from attending a More To Life Weekend or Way of a Warrior. It's all about your internal experience and shifts in perspective you bring forward after the event. Using the iPhone will open your mind to how user interfaces are going to change - radically - now that Apple has made this possible. Touch screen user interfaces (designed well) will be quite the rage, I predict, in 2008 and beyond.

So yes I'm going on and on here because I like the phone and admire the engineering that went into it and respect Apple's boldness in being willing to do something different. I predict we'll see the copy-cats coming soon enough.

"Sicko" by Michael Moore - You'll Want to See It ...

Tonight Carolyn and I made it over to Barton Creek Mall to see "Sicko" by Michael Moore. We're sitting here stunned in many ways. Yeah, I know he presents his story his way and he has his bias. So what? His documentary made me think and wonder and question what we're being told and sold here in America. I had my worries and doubts. Now I'm inspired to be more proactive on the topic.

Go see for yourself. Carolyn put it best. She said the feeling she had was like going to the dentist to get a cap put on your tooth and you wake up from the anesthesia only to find your bra on backwards.

You'll get the point when you see the movie and start considering what's on offer for us as Americans to change.  I'll leave the interpretation of the movie to you. I'm just saying go see it and give yourself some time to ask if things could be different in some way here in the United States with regards to health care. And if they can, then let's make a point of voting for those changes, versus being imposed on by big business and the power of their lobbying.

I know our medical system is good. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the advancement of heart surgery for children in the 1950s. But God, is it expensive! And I'm not buying that our care is necessarily better any more.  This is the year 2007 and the world has changed.  I'm wondering why we cannot get behind some kind of program  that provides health care for everyone.

Tom

Patti and Tom - The World of Hugs

So after the memorial service for Dad in Marquette, Patti (my sister) and I started feeling a little punchy about the wide variety of hugs we experienced. I recalled how it was at Sharon's memorial. All of the hugs were full of love and even hope. What we noticed was the various 'types' of hugs that just seem to manifest so differently with people.

Enjoy
Tom