Invitation to the Madison Event
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:55 am
Dear friends,
This is a post inspired by Wybe's slideshow that he made from the recent Haiger walking weekend. Perhaps he can post it here, too.
I just have to post about how great it is to get together with these folks. In 2001, my daughter Emily visited me in my office on campus and I shared how I had registered for the event on Hydra in 2002. She said something to the effect that it was a real "honor" to have parents that were "beautiful losers." There are not many regrets that we have about our life-but our one regret is missing the event in Montreal (and Edmonton). Hydra was a magical time for us. Anne had insisted that we make plans to tour other Greek sites after the event, but by the time we had met our new friends, she wanted to extend our time with them.
Making these friends is what it is all about. Many of us have seen a lot of terrific Leonard Cohen concerts and while they are great, they are very similar to each other. What gets us there is the chance to see all of these new wonderful friends. I am working hard to make the 2012 event very enjoyable and, though, there is nothing I can promise from a performance standpoint (yet)-what I can promise is a wonderful time with new friends.
I read a number of years ago that people rarely make new friends after high school. I am convinced that the Leonard Cohen community is making terrific in-roads against those statistics.
Nothing has changed my life more for the better than the inspiration to click on an email to Jarkko to say that Anne & I were going to attend Hydra. Our friends now are more like family. One of the things I want to emphasize in the 2012 event is to introduce the newcomers so that they don't feel that they are outsiders from those who have attended past events. Look at the pictures from past events and image your self there and look at the new friendships that you have in store for you.
Joe
This is a post inspired by Wybe's slideshow that he made from the recent Haiger walking weekend. Perhaps he can post it here, too.
I just have to post about how great it is to get together with these folks. In 2001, my daughter Emily visited me in my office on campus and I shared how I had registered for the event on Hydra in 2002. She said something to the effect that it was a real "honor" to have parents that were "beautiful losers." There are not many regrets that we have about our life-but our one regret is missing the event in Montreal (and Edmonton). Hydra was a magical time for us. Anne had insisted that we make plans to tour other Greek sites after the event, but by the time we had met our new friends, she wanted to extend our time with them.
Making these friends is what it is all about. Many of us have seen a lot of terrific Leonard Cohen concerts and while they are great, they are very similar to each other. What gets us there is the chance to see all of these new wonderful friends. I am working hard to make the 2012 event very enjoyable and, though, there is nothing I can promise from a performance standpoint (yet)-what I can promise is a wonderful time with new friends.
I read a number of years ago that people rarely make new friends after high school. I am convinced that the Leonard Cohen community is making terrific in-roads against those statistics.
Nothing has changed my life more for the better than the inspiration to click on an email to Jarkko to say that Anne & I were going to attend Hydra. Our friends now are more like family. One of the things I want to emphasize in the 2012 event is to introduce the newcomers so that they don't feel that they are outsiders from those who have attended past events. Look at the pictures from past events and image your self there and look at the new friendships that you have in store for you.
Joe
Anyway, everyone concerned, but especially yourself, deserves the best out of it 
