Blogs in Plain English

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Pencil Sharpener...

I was writing the birthday card for the nameless one (today) and thought it would be fun to use a colored pencil (don't ask why).

It had a broken tip.

I put it in the electric pencil sharpener.

When I did, I paused, "How long has it been since I actually used one of these?"

Years.

Whoa, how the world changes.

Economics Principles...in a Rap

10 Principles of Macroeconomics in a Rap.

Just brilliant. Thanks to Greg Mankiw's blog.

 

Backup Generator...

As if this month weren't expensive enough :-) (see minivan entries), I decided that we "needed" a backup generator for the house.

It was delivered today. Installation is next week.

The good thing is that the "nameless one" actually wanted it more than I did.

As if you need proof that people can justify anything to themselves, here's mine:

• Our neighbors will verify that our area is disproportionately prone to electrical outages
• I work from home a lot, so if I'm out of power, my ability to generate revenue is affected
• When you lose power, you run the risk of having to throw out spoiled food from your fridge/freezer
• While you can leave w/o AC (uncomfortable though it may be), it's hard to live w/o heat and having to pack up 3 kids and drive through (most likely) snow to my parents, for example, is more than hassle and inconvenient [we did this last year w/2 and it wasn't easy]
• General inconvenience and disruption that it causes
• We do live in DC and thus a 9/11 type scenario is not out of the question (I am definitely not joking on this one)

That being said, you could still do a ROI/Payback analysis and easily determine that it wasn't worth the price I will be paying.

So, here's the ironic thing...

For me to "feel good" about my purchase, I need the power to go out. Otherwise, I feel like an idiot.

Irony? Schadenfreude?

I will let you know how it goes.

Oh, by the way, I'll get referral credit if I send you to "my generator guys," so once/if I'm satisfied, go through me!

Movie Review: Deja Vu

Ok, this movie is just AWESOME.

Denzel is, of course, the man, but this one was just completely engrossing.

It sparked, a bit, of recall to the old Back to the Future flicks, but with more contemporary themes-terrorism-and greater consequences-death.

I like how it raised ethical issues about surveillance and whether we should change history, plus law of unintended consequences.

5 stars, definitely.

Your Global Micro-Brand...

If you think about how you brand yourself, you may enjoy this meme: Marketing Blocking and Tackling (from my work blog)

Listen to your mother...

My mom has a poster of "Life's Little Instructions" on one of the bathroom walls.

One of them says, "Listen to your mother."

I was thinking today about a saying she always used from Mies van der Rohe, "God is in the details."

So true.

Too bad it took so long for me to realize how right she is!

So, you want to be a change agent?

Start a blog.

I'm not kidding.

Why?

Well, for a moment, let's leave out the reasoning of your argument and think about the method.

If I call you or email you and begin to pitch my idea, you are being interrupted. I am forcing you to react in real-time. It's an intrusion, either way, into your life.

If, however, I just put my thoughts out on a blog and you voluntarily go there, the nature of the conversation has already changed.

Now, you are, potentially, more open to my ideas.

You don't have to agree, that's fine, but because you are willingly putting yourself into the dialogue and thoughtstream, the conversation is likely to be more productive.

We've all been in conversations where the manner of presentation destroyed the content.

And, don't worry about numbers, worry that the "right" people are reading it (be it internal or external).

A quick example...

I have a friend who is a lawyer in DC working in pharmaceutical regulatory issues. He's a big reader of this blog and he decided that he could be a blogger.

He's got 300 readers a month, not huge, but you know what? It's the right 300 people. He's viewed as an expert in his industry and that helps him build out his business.

See Seth's post (a slightly different take) on an internal blog.

Before and After...

My mom is a professional organizer. You can hire to pretty much solve any problem

Import a rare bird from Costa Rica?
Sell a library of ancient Akkadian?
Put your life together?

You name it, ConciergeAmerica can get it done.

Here are the before and after pics from a job she did in 1 day!

Before














After

Politically Incorrect Ads

From another era....Feminists, stay calm :-)

Netiquette Question....

Netiquette is Internet Etiquette. The following question came in from an FOJ, who shall remain anonymous :-)

What do you think is the correct answer to his dilemma?

(My thoughts are at the bottom)

He writes:

I am emailing you because I consider you to be an expert on email etiquette and online networks.

By now you may or may not have seen my invitation to you to join Doostang.

I wanted to "connect with" perhaps 10 people and I inadvertently invited my entire gmail address book who aren't already Doostang members to join Doostang. You might be able to imagine how this happened.

I wanted to find friends who were already on Doostang and "connect with" them so I used my gmail email address and password on the Doostang website to do this. It then found and checked the boxes next to everyone in my address book who were already members AND it checked the boxes next to everyone in my address book who are not yet members.

So I unchecked the people who are already members who I did not want to "connect with" (like someone in the Admissions Office of Fordham Law School who I don't know at all). I then neglected to uncheck the boxes of everyone else who isn't already a member. I then carelessly clicked on "Connect with Friends".

There are over 400 email addresses in my gmail address book and voila, I had just sent an email to nearly all of them.

I just wanted to make sure that my instinct is correct and I should not email my entire address book to apologize. Rather, I am just going to apologize if people respond to me asking me what is going on or to remove them from this list. One person already has and please see the PS for the text of what I responded. I am assuming that most people who don't know me or barely know me are just going to delete the Doostang invitation.

On a somewhat surprising note, a partner at the law firm where I used to be a paralegal, and with whom I am not all in touch, accepted my Doostang invitation!

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thank you,

 

(Name withheld)

PS Here is the text of my response to someone who responded to me.

Mr. [Name Removed],

I am really sorry. I wanted to send the Doostang invitation to perhaps 10 people. I inadvertently sent it to my entire gmail address book.

Once I did that, though, I did not want to send yet one more piece of unnecessary email to my entire gmail address book apologizing for doing so. I am sending a personal apology to whomever responds to me as you did Mr. [Name Removed].

My apologies again,

It's a tough call to generalize about all 400 people's responses, of course. For those who already like you, like me, I'll just ignore it and move on. It's not enough to damage our relationship and you don't do it very often (unlike those annoying Vampire=referrers on Facebook), so you are probably ok just moving on.

Your response to the person who wrote to you was right on, so that was ok. No need to contact all 400 probably.

The last part, I would think is that, possibly, you can use this as an opportunity for a segment of your 400.

Not all of your contacts are equal.

• some will not lose any respect for you (like me)
• some will respond (like the guy who did)
• and some may be on the fence

You can write to those in your gmail book in group 3 w/whom you have less contact and offer them an apology, acknowledging that you made a mistake (which can be a great sign of strength), and then use that to strengthen your personal bond with them.

Work and enhance your network relationship and linkages.

Follow up with a call for 5 minutes to chat, send an article that you know s/he might find relevant. Re-connect in some way so that, next time you mess up, you can count that person as "solidly in your camp," the way you can count me.

Will it take some time to go through your list of 400 and figure out to whom you should reach out? Yes, of course, but you are only as valuable as your network is strong (I've blogged about this a lot, here and here, for example), so it is probably worth it.

And, thanks for considering me a guru, though it's probably not deserved.

Wonder what others think...

Book Review: Bit Literacy

 

I didn't get a whole lot from Bit Literacy, but after 20 pages, I quickly realized why.

It's not written for me. It's written for you.

How do I know?

When you shut down your computer at night, how many emails do you have in your inbox?

I have zero.

Mark Hurst is one of my favorite Internet thought leaders. He's the mind behind Creative Good and ThisIsBroken. He's been in the industry for the last 10 years and knows what he is talking about.

What Mark is writing about is how do you manage all of the electronic bits that fly at you each day. Are you effective in dealing with them? Are you productive?

• One of his key metrics is, have a completely empty inbox at the end of each day.
• Another is: how long does it take you to find a specific picture in your collection?
• do you have macros, one-touch command, keyboard shortcuts at your disposal?
• can you type using the Dvorak keyboard (ok, I can't do that one, but I can do about 85 wpm in touch-typing...another big beef of his..thanks mom, for making me take typing in 8th grade!)

I did walk away with a few ideas for improvement, which was great. And I will use them.

The challenge with Bit Literacy is the challenge of most self-help books, it requires you, when all is said and done, to actually implement the techniques you have learned.

In my experience, that is where most people fall short, be it diet, exercise or Bit Literacy.

Regardless, if you feel overwhelmed by the amount of info coming your way daily, this is as good a place as any I have seen for you to start getting a handle on it.

But, remember, it's not about the technology or the tools, it is how you use them.

And for fun, check out his list of "good experience games"

Peer Pressure, Part 2

I get to Tonka's classroom the other day and one of the mother's says to me.

"You should know that peer pressure works.

Jane saw that Calanit had her nails polished. Jane wanted her nails polished as well, so she stopped sucking her thumb.

Then, Joanna, who started sucking her thumb only because of Jane, said she wanted her nails polished as well, so she stopped sucking her thumb."

I called my sister, Kira, who was the first person to paint Tonka's nails and told her about the revolution she had caused in the nursery school.

 

Peer pressure can be good, eh?

Note: names changed :-)

What I Want in Facebook...

I think the honeymoon may be over for me with Facebook.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the service a lot (it's still got a lot going for it), but I think, in some respects, it needs some modifications.

1. I am tired of getting invites for vampires and zombie apps. I'd like to have a "stupid" filter of stuff that I don't want to receive or, better yet, vote down the people who send me the stupid stuff and disqualify myself from getting their invites.
   
2. I need major flexibility in sorting through my friends. Why does everything have to be in alphabetical order when I find something I do like and want to pass it on? Why can't I sort by location/interests/religion/political views? That'd be great.
   
3. If someone removes me as a friend, I'd like to know about it. I'd also like to know why. Ok, that's probably a stretch.
   
4. More on #1, but as it relates to people I see in my newsfeeds and status updates. Some people are just more interesting than others and better communicators.

My friend (on Facebook and otherwise), Sean posted some other good ideas.

"Tough" "Love"

Paco was just out of control temper tantrum this morning.

It was stressful, very stressful.

Nothing I did could calm him down.

At moments like this, when you are exhausted (it began at 4.30am when I wouldn't let him crawl in bed with me), all of the "expert parenting advice" stuff that you read goes out the window.

You are in survival mode.

In hindsight, I think I did too much "tough" and not enough "love."

Usually, he responds to cause-and-effect punishments, like losing DVD-watching privileges or "no popsicles" or taking away a favorite book.

But when you do three or four of these with no results, it may be too much.

And I've done it in the past, just held him (or Tonka) close, gave a hug and talked in a soft voice.

But, in high stress moments, it's not always so easy.

Another live and learn moment, I guess.

The Minivan and Masculinity...

I took the kids to my parents yesterday in the new Odyssey.

While I was there, I had to run an errand over to my grandparents' apartment.

I asked my mom if I could borrow her car. I wasn't ready to drive the minivan alone...not just yet.

Look, it's a great car. It's safe, handles well, has some great features, and is a smooth ride. Nothing against the car.

I think it's what the car represents.

Though I never may have been the image of masculinity, studly, or whatever, what the minivan does is destroys any remaining illusion of "cool."

Yeah, yeah, I know the ultimate masculinity is being a good father. I get it.

Let's put that aside for a moment though and let the superficial stuff come through. Just humor me.

I'm the picture of suburban dad now. I've got 2 (soon to be 3 car seats) and I'm driving a Honda. That's about as uncool as you get.

I'm sure I'll get over it, but it sure feels a bit weird.

Ok, rant over.

On the Jewish Question - WSJ.com

This is the closest I've seen to the idea I've expressed for 15 years, "It's Israel's Existence, Stupid" and why I don't think anything will come out of Annapolis.

Subscription required:On the Jewish Question - WSJ.com

Playdates and the kitchen...

At Microsoft, we talk about "scaling through partners."

What that means is "how do you work with others that aren't on your payroll to achieve the same goals more cost-effectively?"

Well, I live the same motto at home as at work.

On Friday, we had synchronized playdates as Paco and Tonka each had a friend and I was the only adult in the house. (Tonka had another one in the PM). And, again, this AM 4 kids in the house.

The playdates are my partners, as it were, in keeping my kids engaged.

As far as managing the kids, it is just like preparing a nice meal with a lot of pots on the stove at once. You just need to stay aware of the situation with each kid.

• who is probably going to be hungry?
• who is going to need a change of activity/environment?
• who should be advised to go the bathroom?
• how long is the right amount of time?

Like a good chef, if you can keep this in mind, you will have a successful series of playdates.

Movie Review: Bridge to Terabithia

I had heard of this book/movie and thought it was along the lines of Chronicles of Narnia and to some extent it was, but I thought, in the end, the story had a few solid lessons.

The plot took a bit longer than I would have liked to develop, but once I did, it reminded me of the power of the child's mind and that, as I watch my own kids grow, I should be careful to let that develop on its own and not force adult views on them prematurely. That will come soon enough.

The bonus part was really good, an interview with the author that gave additional depth and context.

3.979 stars.

Empty Chair on a Sunday Afternoon...

Had the sad task of going over to my grandparents apartment today to pick out some clothes from my Poppy's closet.

Now, he was a good dresser, so that part was fine. It was how empty it was. How cold. How quiet.

I turned on the Redskins-Bucs game and watched a bit as I sorted through the closet.

I thought of the countless Sundays past I spent there watching football, even until last season and how it has become part of our family identity.

I looked at Poppy's chair, empty, and felt the shivers go down my spine.