There’s just enough time between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s Eve for people to get bored, but it’s not a good time to launch new TV shows or announce new political initiatives, so we have to have something to keep us entertained.

(As a kid this meant me listening to countdowns of the top one billion songs on the charts for that year, and somehow a Celine Dion or Aaron Neville song always made it into the top five…this was painful, but perhaps reflects more poorly on me and the particular genre of music station I was listening to than it does on all of the music produced in those years.)

But it’s been an unusually full year for me, so I thought I’d take a moment to reflect back on what that has included:

• Started the year newly engaged to be married to Kelly, a decision we made together on New Year’s Eve Day 2010
• Filed as a candidate for Richmond’s City Council, campaigned, debated, interviewed, door-to-doored, won in the primary election, didn’t win in the general election, and had an amazing experience along the way
• Planned a wedding, got married in May surrounded by the amazing support of friends and family, spent some time relaxing on the beaches of Sanibel Island to celebrate
• Traveled alongside Kelly as she experienced the life-changing symptoms of, and was later diagnosed with, Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and supported her as she continues to navigate the Western medical system, seeks paths to recovery, and adjusts to the new realities of her day-to-day life
• Lived in Portland, Oregon for a month during the summer, had some amazing adventures in the Northwest, got to participate in a vibrant and progressive city scene, caught up with some dear old friends and made some new ones
• Drove across the country and back, saw some beautiful landscapes and places including Mount Rushmore, Grand Teton and Yellowstone Park, and lived through a hailstorm in the badlands of South Dakota
• Welcomed three great new staff members to my technology company Summersault
• Adopted a wonderful labrador retriever named Chloe
• Read a bunch of books, watched a lot of movies

And those are just the highlights.  Whatever joys and challenges I’ve experienced this year, I clearly live a privileged life with many things to be thankful for.  At the center of it in 2011 has been the amazing experience of deepening in my love for and commitment to my partner Kelly; I don’t know what a “normal” engagement and beginning of a marriage looks like, but we’ve certainly had a lot of unusual adventures together this year, and I celebrate them all.

That said, I’m ready for 2012 to be here, artificial as that milestone might be.  I hope for more, faster progress in recovering Kelly’s health, continued clarity about ways I can make a real and lasting impact in my community and beyond, simplification of my possessions and personal property ownership, and enjoyment of some upcoming opportunities to have some fun.

What has 2011 been like for you?  What hopes or possibilities does the new year hold?  (Or if that’s too much to consider, which Celine Dion song is going to top the charts this year?)

Wait, that didn’t come out quite right.

If you’re like many people, Facebook plays some part in your daily engagement with friends, family, coworkers and/or your surrounding community.

That’s a little better.

Well, this website now has a public Facebook presence that you can add to that engagement.

If you tend to get your news or look for interesting articles, photos and comments on the Big Blue Isolator – er, Facebook – then “liking” the ChrisHardie.com page will make sure you see posts and updates from here when they come out.    You don’t need to be my “friend” on Facebook to follow this page.

And what’s more fun, through the magic of the Add Link to Facebook plugin for WordPress, post comments left by readers of this site will be mirrored to Facebook, and comments left by Facebook users on the FB page will be mirrored back to posts on this site.

Yes, I’m still a bit of a curmudgeon about Facebook, but there’s no denying its pervasive and growing role in how many people get information and start conversations.  I appreciate that many of my readers/fans/friends (current and potential) spend a lot of time there, so it seems worthwhile to make content here more easily available there.

Thanks for reading!

Despite having lots of overlap in subject matter between my political efforts and my writings here, I will generally continue to keep my campaign-related news and updates on my ChrisOnCouncil.com website (BOOKMARK IT), and on my campaign Facebook page (LIKE IT) and Twitter account (FOLLOW IT).  But, I thought I’d give you a taste of some of the material my campaign is creating as we get back into that season.

You can watch a YouTube video interview with me:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SV8O9WPp4k

You can read about why I think this particular election matters.

You can follow some of my thoughts about the 2012 budgeting process going on right now in Richmond, which will set the budget that (if elected) I’ll be overseeing on Council.

I certainly welcome your thoughts, encouragement, support, endorsements, challenges and admonitions along the way.  If you have the means and inclination, campaign contributions of any amount are also accepted and will be put to good use immediately.

Thanks to everyone who has been a part of this adventure so far.  Here we go!

The most memorable and terrifying part of the trip was our stop at Badlands National Park.  We should have known something was brewing when the gas station a few miles outside the entrance to the park was all atwitter with talk of the weather and the ominous storm clouds in the distance, but we pressed on anyway.

When we got to a particularly beautiful canyon area and went out for a walk, the winds were blowing hard and bringing some serious temperature changes.  The sky continued to darken, and we knew we were in for a storm.  The rattlesnake that lay in our path a few yards up ahead seemed to suggest Turn Back While You Still Can, so we did.

Kelly: “I think we should get in the car quickly.”

Chris: “Oh, a little rain never hurt anyone.  It’ll feel good!”

Kelly: “I think we should get in the car quickly.”

Fellow tourists all around were darting into their cars quickly, so I let go of the “isn’t it wonderful to experience nature up close and directly” shtick and got in the car.

What was left of the ice AFTER it had broken into smaller pieces.

Not sixty seconds after we’d pulled out onto the road, I saw in the distance, in the direction of the ominous clouds, a breath-taking scene: the land and sky were turning white as some kind of wall of moisture moved across it.  Toward us.  I pulled over to the side of the road.  ”I think we’re about to…”

I didn’t even have time to finish my sentence when the first piece of hail hit.  It sounded like the car had been shot, and we both jumped in our seats.  There were definitely some forceful verbal expressions of fear and/or excitement going on.  Popcorn style, the huge pieces of hail continued to fall, although it seemed more like they were being launched – from above, from the side, from all around.  THWAP!  THWAP! THWAP!

When one left a nice nine-inch crack across the windshield, we looked at each other and wondered if we were in more danger than we first thought.  We scrambled to cover our faces with jackets, etc. in case something did shatter, though I couldn’t resist at times watching the balls of ice slam into the hood of the car.  BLAM!  BLAM! BLAM!

After a few minutes, it was over.  We pulled into a ranger station a bit up the road, and got out to survey the damage, along with a bunch of other drivers.  Windshields were broken, sunroofs cracked, and the huge dents in the metal were just unreal.  At least one ambulance went by, and Kelly and I recalled how close we’d been to standing outside when the ice hit.  Strangers became temporary friends as we all recounted our experience of the hailstorm.  The ranger was nonchalant: “we get about two of those per year.”

Fortunately for us, the damage we experienced can be relatively easily repaired, and we made it to our final destination without further weather drama. I have a certain amount of polite resentment for the insurance industry as a whole, but I have to say that I’m certainly lucky to have it in this case.  Ann and the folks at my wonderful insurance agency Harrington Hoch were able to process the claim quickly, and after the technicians at the auto body shop in Portland apparently dropped what they were doing to come see the cottage cheesed surfaces of the car when it came in, they were excited to get to work making the car look like new.

For me, I won’t ever again make the assumption of emerging from a hail storm unscathed, and when everyone around me is running for cover, I will be more open to the possibility (unlikely as it is) that they know something I don’t.

Your own severe weather event stories are welcome in the comment section below.

Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel’s immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way.

I can’t agree enough with this quote by Ralph Crawshaw.  I am always fed by seeing the world from the different perspectives that come with traveling around it, being temporarily away from the routines, habits and comforts of my home.  Indeed, many of my best life choices and decisions have sprung from the thinking and reflecting that I’ve done while experiencing some other part of the country or the world, engaging in new conversations and reacting to new landscapes. I’ve often had my notion of “the right and only way” challenged and redefined by seeing how others live, work and play.  I’m appreciative of the privilege to have had these experiences.

I’m currently having another one.  For several weeks this summer, I’ll be spending time in Portland, Oregon and in other areas of the northwestern U.S.

The trip is a combination of professional development, research in community building and city governance, and personal adventure and reflection.  Because a number of friends and colleagues have asked me about the trip, I thought I’d say a little more about these three areas of focus.

Professional Development

While continuing to work full time at Summersault I’m also exploring how other technology companies do what they do, and seeing what I can bring back to our office in Richmond, Indiana to do what we do better.  In many ways I have exhausted the professional development and training resources available to me in east central Indiana when it comes to leadership, management and building a business, and so I’ve been looking for other opportunities to build those skills.

As I meet with other entrepreneurs and technology workers in the northwest, I’ll be trying to answer questions like:

• How do other technology businesses keep their business model strong and relevant in the evolving landscape of the information age?
• What kinds of environmental factors contribute to having a happy, engaged, creative team of staff members?
• How does the version of managing a team that I’ve cultivated over the years stack up to how other companies do it?  What can I do better or differently, and what have I got all wrong?
• What kinds of things do other cities do to successfully attract and retain technology workers?
• How does Summersault’s community involvement compare to what other companies do for their communities?

Community Building and City Governance Research

As a part of my campaign for City Council in Richmond, I’ve talked a lot about the need to help Richmond think differently about what it’s capable of, and to help the community move forward with a fresh perspective.  I’ve lived in Richmond a long time, though, so it’s just as important for me to step outside “the way things are usually done” there as it is for other community leaders to do the same.  We know that there are other cities around the world that are thriving and growing; some of them are similar to Richmond, some very different, but I think they all have something to offer when it comes to imagining new possibilities for a thriving Richmond, Indiana.

As I attend City Council sessions and meet with politicians and community builders in Portland, and as I travel to other cities in the region (while still working on my campaign back in Richmond), I’ll be trying to answer questions like:

• How are thriving cities operating their city governments in a way that balances quality of life with economic realities?
• What relatively inexpensive, high-impact changes could Richmond, Indiana make to be a more vibrant and self-reliant place to live?
• What are the relationships like in other places between government officials, community activists, non-profit organizations and business leaders?
• What kinds of things do other cities do to successfully attract and retain technology workers? (As above for professional development.)
• If I’m elected to City Council in Richmond, what can I learn from others about how can I be the most effective in that role?

Personal Adventure and Reflection

My life and identity are deeply rooted in Richmond, Indiana.  As a small business owner, community builder and property owner, and just as someone who has come to love that place and that land so much, I don’t spend much time wondering what life would be like if I lived elsewhere.

But I also know that it’s important to me to continue to challenge my own understanding of my identity and sense of what home is, if only so that I don’t become stagnant in my thinking about how to improve and refine those things.  And as I noted above, there’s nothing more perspective-bringing for me than to see my life from the outside for a bit, to put it in contrast to how others live.

So, as I live somewhere else long enough to be more than just a tourist and to get a picture of myself in a different setting, I’ll be reflecting on questions like:

• What is it about Richmond, Indiana that makes it home for me?  Why do I live there and not some other place?
• What things about a neighborhood, a community, a city are important to me to have, and what things can I let go of?
• What parts of my identity and sense of self are done evolving, and what parts do I need to explore more, push on, challenge?
• How can I be the best possible member of the community I live in, the best possible friend to the friends I have, the best possible partner to Kelly, all while balancing my own hopes, dreams and goals?
• How can I have fun and adventure in ways that aren’t available to me in Richmond, Indiana?

Get On With It Already

That’s a lot of questions to try to answer at once, and who knows what I’ll have time for in between working in the “Portland branch of Summersault,” bike rides through the city, trips to the Farmer’s Market, gathering with the surprising number of friends and business colleagues who live out this way, and just enjoying what the days bring.  But I’ll be posting some here about what I learn along the way, and you can also follow my adventures through Twitter and the photos I’m posting to Flickr.

If you have connections in Portland, OR or the Northwest and/or live here and want to connect, please get in touch!

There are many things to say about the institution of marriage that I might normally be tempted to blog about; the legal, political, religious, cultural and social norms involved, the zaniness of the logistics involved when one decides to have a celebration with guests for the spectacle of what Ian Hay called “a ghastly public confession of a strictly private intention,” the total failure of contemporary wedding rituals to incorporate modern technological tools and devices into their proceedings (“what do you mean I can’t read my vows off my smart phone!?”), and so on.

But today, as friends and family gather to witness our commitment to each other and help us celebrate it, I can only speak of my deep appreciation for the community that has held and encouraged our relationship, the sense of adventure and happiness that I feel about what lies ahead, and my tremendous and growing admiration of and gratitude for who Kelly is – in my life and in the lives of so many others.

I am also grateful for the perspective that friends and life experience have helped me cultivate over time, that this commitment is not about “happily ever after” or reaching an end in itself, but instead about a new beginning; a place from which to start and a place to return; a complicated mix of hard work and letting go.

So…here we go!

Thanks to all who have offered words of congratulation and support.

Notes and programs from “must attend” (for a candidate, anyway) governmental and organizational meetings that seem to happen daily now, scattered across my desk.

People giving me warm “congratulations!” and me still not being sure if it’s because I’m running for office or getting married or hired a new staff member at work or because I just did a nice parking job.  “Thank you, I’m very excited!” is a genuine initial response for all four cases, and context clues help from there.

Surreal experiences of driving down random streets and seeing my name on a sign up ahead, still a bit jolting each time, I hope it always will be.

Conversations in coffee-shops and restaurants and on the phone about political strategy and commentary on the horse race, grateful for the advice and wisdom of those who support me or just those who have gone before, always mindful of not taking their time for granted.

More Facebook friend requests than I’ve ever received at any one time before.

Super long days, mostly sleeping well, but once in a while fidgeting nervously awake in the night, “I hope I don’t let them down.”

More hand-written thank you notes than I’ve written at any one time before.

As we go door to door, blushing at overhearing one of my awesome volunteers describing to a neighbor why they should vote for me.

Knowing smiles from those who have already held office, partly as if to say “welcome to the club,” and partly to say “what the heck are you thinking, get out while you can, it’s not too late!”

Gratefulness that local politics are simpler than state or federal politics, and then wondering if that’s actually true.

Wandering the neighborhoods and sidewalks of the city, thankful for what it is, excited about what it could be.

Ready.

I’ve spent much of my time and energy over the last decade of my life investing myself in Richmond in one form or another.  I’ve written many words in this space about what I see as Richmond’s opportunities and challenges, and I’ve always enjoyed observing the local political scene.  Now, I’m taking my involvement to what I think is the next logical step given my talents and passions.

I don’t expect to write much about the campaign here; this blog will continue to be for my personal and unofficial musings on a variety of topics.  I have a campaign website setup, and I’ve got the twitters and the youtubes and the facebooks all ready for you to liketweet if that’s your thing.  If you’re interested in the campaign, my positions on various issues affecting the community, and how you can help move Richmond forward, please check it out.  Even a few words of support will mean a lot!

The house for sale is a grand old place with 5 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms, located in central Richmond within walking distance of the downtown area.  It’s a great space for entertaining, hosting guests or raising a family, and has also been used in the past for small business purposes.

The commercial building for sale is in Richmond’s thriving Depot District.  Upstairs there’s a great apartment that tenants seem to love (just recently available for rent, BTW), and downstairs there’s a space that’s ready to be finished out into a gallery, retail space, coffee shop or office area – lots of possibilities!

I was only scheduled to give one presentation (“How to talk, or not talk, to your clients about Perl”) but after hearing some of the opening remarks at the conference that spent too much time and energy, IMHO, declaring that “Perl is not dead!” I signed up to give a new talk about possibilities for re-framing that sentiment.

You can view a video of the talk, or you can view my slides [PDF].