A different music in Hill Auditorium: a conversation on Buddhism and art

Last night a different music resonated in Hill Auditorium, as Gelek Rimpoche, Richard Gere, Bobby McFerrin and Philip Glass shared thoughts on Buddhism and art with a sell out crowd.

There is no easy summarizing of their conversation, but some key points emerged.
1. That the student/teacher relationship familiar to many musicians, artists, and other vocations is related to the guru/student relationship in Buddhism.
2. Similarly, that the tradition and practice are conveyed from one person to another.
3. As an artist becomes a master by fully embodying a tradition, so too for the Buddhist who approaches enlightenment.
4. Practice in artistic disciplines is very similar to practice in the Buddhist sense -- meditation, compassion, right livelihood. It is in the repeated doing of the thing that one simply becomes it.
5. Although Tibetans in Tibet are suffering brutal repression of external expressions of Tibetan art, the spirit of the practice cannot be extinguished. It resides in people.

Those hundreds of Ann Arborites who waited happily in a block long line to pick up their tickets certainly got their money's worth at $5!

"You have to keep changing" -- Sondra O'Donnell on small business

Yoga practitioner Sondra O'Donnell is a small-business success who shows the power of starting where you are and building on what you know. Three years ago she opened Sun Moon Yoga Studio in Ann Arbor, a university town with almost as many yoga studios as coffee shops. With nearly 20 years experience practicing and teaching yoga, O'Donnell had a solid client base, understood her field and was ready to create her own studio.

She did just that and succeeded. O'Donnell has proven herself  in business and warns of the hardships of a start-up. "Small-business owners work hard. It's quite a juggle. You have to do everything, and you don't know what is going to come in."

Finding a niche bolstered O'Donnell's staying power in Michigan's struggling economy and in Ann Arbor's competitive yoga market. She offers the only teacher certification program in Ann Arbor. "My main goal has been to do teacher certification. That is really what my heart and soul are in," she said. Her students come from as far as Grand Rapids and Howell for the certification program.

O'Donnell stresses that businesses and the people who run them must be responsive to changes around them. "You have to keep creating and innovating. You can't sit and look at how things were; you have to keep changing." She has done that by creating classes to meet student demand and interest.

Her own family had to grapple with changes wrought by the declining domestic auto industry. Growing up in the downriver Detroit area, O'Donnell was aware of the auto industry as the lifeblood of Michigan's economy. Five years ago, after 30 years in business, her father's small auto-parts-packaging company was bought out by a larger competitor.

Bad economic news hits us daily in Michigan, and it is easy to feel demoralized. The mainstream media present economic news principally in terms of multinationals, yet millions of people across the country are self-employed or own small businesses. These small and micro-businesses strengthen local communities and affirm the human scale of economy as a path to a successful and satisfying life.

In 2006 about 10 percent of Michigan's work force was self-employed - 480,000 people in a work force of 5 million. The self-employed account for more than half of the state's 849,500 small businesses, according to U.S. Small Business Administration data.

O'Donnell advises people starting small businesses to work within their means and keep expenses low. "I didn't take out a single loan. We have kept the costs to a minimum. I got a lot of building materials from the Re-use Center," she said.

In fact O'Donnell single-handedly transformed the building she rents from a warehouse into a welcoming yoga studio -- installing a cork floor, insulation, drywall, lighting and more on her own at night after her children were asleep. "I would come here at 9 p.m. and work until 4 in the morning," she said. "The next day, I'd have to make sure the tools were put away before teaching classes."

If she needs to expand the business, her vision is to take the training program worldwide -- teaching on location around the globe. She is currently developing a second portion to her certification training for this purpose.

O'Donnell attributes her business resilience to her yoga practice and knowledge of the sutras, sacred Hindu texts. "What gets me through is nonattachment to the studio. I just take it as it is today, this moment, without expectations," she said.

Advising a balanced perspective for business owners, she said: "The bottom line is if you are so engrossed and attached that the business becomes everything you are, you are going to go crazy. You have to let the business be what it is."

Helping students find balance in the midst of difficulty is at the heart of O'Donnell's teaching. "We take our stress into our bodies and see ourselves as caged in our current situation. If we can create a sense of peaceful strength, we find a balance between release and strength."

She empowers students by helping them find their inherent wholeness. "People don't always want to hear that yoga is not about fixing you. As teachers we come here to teach you that you have the tools inside you. You are fixed; you just don't realize it."

Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Football on a Friday Night

Ann Arbor 58, Lincoln 13

Ann Arbor Pioneer High School's Hollway Field looks down on University of Michigan's Big House from the south. Claiming some of Ann Arbor's highest ground, several stadium light poles double as cell phone towers.

Tonight the brisk northwest wind evoked October in the UP or perhaps a summer dip in Lake Superior. It was cold, really cold. The band was great and the home team won.

An entire parking lot at the high school was cordoned off for tailgaters spending the night before tomorrow's University of Michigan--Notre Dame match. Large, fully appointed RVs filled the lot looking like a beached fatty seal herd.

Tomorrow will bring barbeques heaped with meat products, drink cozies snuggling beer, street vendors with knock-off block M merchandise, and ticket scalpers.

Pioneer High School profits from its proximity to the Big House. The school provides parking for hundreds of cars and safe space for revelers every Michigan home game. We take it for granted, but shouldn't.

Our students' graduation rate is among the highest in the state, as is their rate of college admission. These are hard working kids with a lot of advantages, all things considered; but they are not unscathed by the economic realities of today's Michigan.

Their parents work hard and stress over paying for college while saving for retirement. A number of them were employed at Pfizer, a larger number, in the auto industry. Many are successful professionals striving to provide every advantage for their children. And some live in subsidized housing.

Tonight, all was well at Hollway Field. Kids cheered on their classmates. Parents cheered their kids. And the band rocked the house, punctuating touch downs with funk. They'll be playing Carnegie Hall in the spring.

Ann Arbor Art Fair

If you live in Ann Arbor you either love or hate the annual Art Fair. There is no middle ground on this issue. It brings commerce, but it jams up the city. Thousands of people from around the country converge on downtown and the University of Michigan for four days in July. They shop, amble, eat, listen to music and soak in Ann Arbor's coolness.

The corporate and the non-profit collaborate to put on the Art Fair. As a result, there is much more than art at the event. Thursday and Friday Survivor will be having a casting call; visit the booth near the corner of University and Thayer.

Be sure to walk the gauntlet of non-profit organization booths on Liberty. Participants include: Draft Al Gore, the Republican Party, NOCIRC (an anti-circumcision group), Right to Life, Dingell for Congress, Michigan Atheists, Mott Children's Hospital, Planned Parenthood, Parents Without Partners, the ACLU and more.

And you can't avoid the many food courts. Your menu choices will include enormous portions of funnel cakes, sweet potato fries, gyros, ice cream, shish-ka-bob, elephant ears, Thai stir fry, hamburgers, chicken on a stick, and much more that you should eat only in moderation.

And good news for animal lovers--dogs are welcome.

P.S. If you find parking in a metered spot with a one or two hour limit, don't sweat. The $10 ticket you get will still be cheaper than special Art Fair Parking.

Small is Beautiful: Conversation with Glenn Bourland

Glenn Bourland, owner of Ann Arbor's By the Pound, says business is good. I met with him today to get his take on the current economic conditions in Ann Arbor and Michigan.

The store, celebrating its 25th year of operation, has been in Bourland's ownership for the last 12 years. Offering bulk foods, ethnic specialty foods and gourmet products, the international inventory ranges from tea and coffee to nuts and grains, spices and candies. Located in South Main Market, the store enjoys sustained business from a regular and loyal clientele. Bourland attributes his steady business success to his focus on products that are staples in the kitchen. "I sell things that people will buy even if their discretionary income is lower. Some of the products are specialty items, but none of them are very expensive," Bourland shared. Even in what most believe is a very weak economy, By the Pound is doing well.

Contrary to conventional business wisdom, Bourland didn't have a business plan when he pitched into running the store 12 years ago. But his instincts have proven sound and the store is thriving. His approach to running the place is very common sense. I asked Bourland for any insights he had to share with people contemplating starting a new business. "It takes a lot of work and thinking outside the box. You need to keep overhead low. I don't hire out anything I can do myself. I do my own bookkeeping, taxes, payroll, ordering, inventory, and maintenance,"Bourland said. He also mans the cash register much of the time. And that is where easy conversation cultivates longterm customer relationships.

Bourland considers customer service central to the success of his small business. "I like to talk with people. I'm not Kroger or Busch's, so the difference I offer is friendly customer service. I want to shop somewhere I enjoy going even if it is a little more expensive." And this is clearly the sort of welcoming environment Bourland fosters in his store.

In a word of caution Bourland said,"I remember reading once that if somebody likes your store they'll tell seven people, but if they don't like it, they'll tell twenty two."

Bourland's strategy is instinctive; he listens to customers and stocks what people want. He pays attention to competition and tries to keep a distinctive and high quality set of products. And he prices products carefully to ensure continued profits.

In January, a European deli called Copernicus opened next door. Bourland says business has improved with the arrival of this new neighbor. Over the years, different stores have come and gone in South Main Market. And those ups and downs have had an impact on By the Pound. Bourland has had to adjust product selections and inventory during those changes at South Main Market. For now, though, a healthy synergy is stimulating business among Bear Claw Coffee, Copernicus, By the Pound, Brazamerica, and Back Alley Gourmet.

Perhaps the effort to develop high density residential real estate downtown will add to this promising synergy. Time will tell.

U. of M. Speaks; Wall Street Reacts

Stocks Drop on Consumer Confidence

No, they don't just interview Michigan residents.

From the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia website:

"Consumer confidence surveys measure individual households’ level of confidence in the economy’s performance.
The monthly Survey of Consumers is a nationally representative survey based on approximately 500 telephone interviews with adult men and women living in households in the co-terminous United States (48 states plus the District of Columbia). For each monthly sample, an independent cross-section sample of households is drawn. The respondents chosen in this drawing are then re-interviewed six months later. A rotating panel design results, and the total sample for any one survey is normally made up of 60 percent new respondents and 40 percent being interviewed for the second time."

Interestingly, "Exclusive distribution from Reuters - Effective January 1, 2007, Reuters has the exclusive right to distribute the headline survey index numbers through its news and media services, reaching an estimated 1 billion people a day. Additionally, Reuters is offering a more in-depth view of this important consumer opinion data exclusively to its customers, building on the strong base of current subscribers. The new media partnership and distribution model via Reuters establish a stable source of funding for this important survey and also provide greater transparency and disclosure of the survey results."

So really it is: Michigan Speaks; Reuters Distributes; Wall Street Reacts.

Chi Miigwetch

Sunday's Grand Entry at the 35th Annual Dance for Mother Earth, Crisler Arena, University of Michigan

Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Inc.

Ojibwe at MSU

Michigan Native American Arts Initiative

Nokomis Learning Center

Center for Native American Studies, Northern Michigan University

U.S. Attorney, Western Dist. of Michigan

April First on Main Street, Ann Arbor

Can't Keep a Hipster Down

Ann Arbor, Cool City, home to thousands of peace loving armchair liberals, recently took a blow to the gut from Pfizer. But that will not keep Ann Arborites from pursuing diversity and celebrating Spring. This weekend will see the first annual FestiFools, a parade on Main Street Sunday from 4p.m. to 5p.m. including, I have heard, huge puppets. Laugh in the face of uncertainty; thumb your nose at bad news.

Ann Arbor will also be hosting the 35th Annual Dance for Mother Earth Pow Wow at Crisler Arena. This event takes place Saturday and Sunday (click the link above for more details) and features traditional Native American dancers and drum circles from around the US and Canada, fabulous food, and a huge number of vendors.

Quench your thirst for fun and diversity in Ann Arbor this weekend.