Retro Music?

I don't know about you patron, but I really love music and can't seem to get enough these days! There are some amazing things out there right now. One of the trends I am seeing has some funky retro feel incorporated into the music....and most of this stuff is on mainstream radio as well.

Right now I really am digging on Gnarls Barkley and his song Crazy. It has a great bluesy/R & B feel to it. The first time I heard it this summer it just made my head bob, a great sign. My brother says that the rest of his album is good as well, but I have not had a chance to check it out.

I also am really digging on the new song by Christina Aguilera, Ain't No Other Man. It has a great jazzy feel with the horns and beat. My 18 month old loves dancing to the song when we play it at home. Beyonce and Deja Vu has the same sort of jazzy feel with the horns....maybe horns are the new big thing. You just cant beat Jay-Z either, he has always been one of my favorite hip-hop artists out there, such a distinctive style to his music.

Which leads me on a tangent.....living in Wisconsin you would not think that I would be seeing a better string of diversity then in Iowa (meaning that they both have a reputation as pretty white states). However, I have to report that I am very enthused to see so much diversity around these parts...perhaps it is the closeness to Milwaukee and Chicago that makes it so. To that end I have discovered an urban/hip-hop radio station in my area that is the kind of thing you only find in diverse places. I have to admit that I really love the station and the fresh sound of minority voices over the radio, not to mention that I get to stay current on the newest hip-hop tracks out there. The humor of the morning team on this station is great.

Finally, I have always had a soft spot for songs that sport classic lyrics...the rest of the song may be crap, but one awesome lyric can cement a song with me. Now, I was not a fan of James Blunt and his song Beautiful...sounded to whiny to me, but another of his songs, High, is really etched into my thoughts due to this one lyric, "Thought I was born to endless night, until you shine." The song has a powerful refrain and while I think it is intended as a love song, I really see a huge parallel to drug addiction in the song...which is always fun to think about if that is what it is REALLY about.

Check out the new music out there and let me know what you are digging on....unless it is Fergie and London Bridge....which will probably be stuck in my head next week!

Management

One of the delightful aspects of new job here in Wisconsin is that I am transitioning from being in an entry level position the past four years into the first stages of the dreaded "middle-management". Now granted that the position I hold is not the truest form of middle management, but it does have it's share of the duality of reporting to those you "oversee" while also being accountable to those that "oversee" you.

Part of the reason I went out looking for new work was in fact to move up the proverbial food chain to get more experience with the dual role that a mid-manager must face. It is too early to tell how I like it so far, suffice it to say that it involves more meetings then I am used to having (and that is saying something if you know the field I work in).

Added to the structure of my position are the responsibilities overseeing student leadership on campus, as well as helping to coordinate and define an emerging learning communtiy program on campus that has some strong support from academic faculty and administration. Somehow on top of that I am also now the departmental representative to campus programming bodies, advisor to an honorary student leadership organization, and in charge of fundraising programs for student leadership groups living on campus. It results in a long list of responsibilites, especially when you add in the expectation of supporting the departmental efforts that my two other central staff colleagues are engaged in.

In many ways, the move out of the residence halls after 10 years has given me greater personal freedom with my life, but the complexity of new job has siphoned off that freedom back into the work that I am doing.

Don't get me wrong, I think I will enjoy the work that I will get to do, especially as it prepares me to be a more engaged and effective learning administrator, but it is kind of a shock to see just what goes on at this level.

Wish me luck!