Category: post

Just a bit of detritus not yet fully baked or otherwise worthy of their own post for your enjoyment and consideration…

• I’m writing this in Vim, the powerful terminal-based text editor all the true geeks have long loved and espoused the virtues of. I’m just learning it. It has long been on my list of things I wanted to learn for quite a while. It came up as I was reviewing my 3-5 year goals and I thought, “Why not now?”. To teach myself, I looked at several online tutorials but found that Learn Vim Progressively seemed the most suited to my learning style. Going slow so far but that is how the tutorial is designed — learning the basics and using only those for a few days/weeks before moving on to the next lesson.

• For the truly geeky, the monospace font I’m using in Terminal is Inconsolata. Not sure I have settled on that as the right one for me but it is good enough for now.

• Despite the many other issues some (understandably) may have with him, one thing I can appreciate about Richard Stallman is that when it comes to his computing habits and usage he is dogmatic about his dogma. I don’t know how one could not appreciate someone who so steadfastly walks what they talk, even if you don’t fully agree with the talk or think it is (perhaps, rightfully) nuts.

• On the flip side of that, it recently occurred to me that the most important and valuable lessons my wife and I try to instill in our little girl are empathy and kindness. For instance, when meeting a stranger, she often picks out something she likes — a necklace or shirt for instance — and compliments them on it. She is one of those kids who goes out of her way to find something nice to say about everyone — even if she doesn’t like or agree with them. She also does her darndest to try to see a situation from how it might look from someone else’s perspective. She’s not always perfect at these but she works darn hard at it. It’s something we could all be better at for sure.

• If I were to, say, build a swing for my little girl out of wood, the project is not done when the swing is done. The project is done when the tools are put away, the scrap wood picked up, and the sawdust is swept away. That is to say, clean up after the project is part of the project as well. If you have not picked up the mess of making then you have not finished. This applies to more than just building swings.

• My friend and all around smart and talented guy (lucky too, I kind of hate him) Mike Rohde is bringing his wonderful Sketchnote Workshop to Chicago, IL on June 26th. I got to go to the very first one in Milwaukee last year and it was fantastic. It’s about way more than just how to make fun little drawings in your notes. It’s about how to be a better listener, a better thinker, capture key concepts, process them in ways that are meaningful, and take better notes in general. If you are in the Chi-town area at that time or close enough to drive you should really consider it.

• Far too often, we confuse what is urgent with what is important. Most of what is urgent is not important. Most of what is important is ruined by urgency. When pressed by urgency, we rush through things. We become sloppy and careless. If it’s important, you should take your time and care. Most of the important things in my life took/take a long time. For example, I’ve been working on a short story off and on for about 20 years. If I can get it just right, I think it might end up being one of the most important things I’ll ever write, that’s why I’m taking such time with it.

• I loved what Mandy Brown had to say about what consent has come to mean on the Internet versus what it means in the offline world, especially when it comes to privacy. Basically, it has become distorted online in ways that are meant to oppress and commodify us. This is a dangerous path.

• A lot of people don’t know that Bill Gates is a voracious reader and often travels with several tote bags of books just to feed his habit. Therefore, when he gives you some summer reading list suggestions it’s probably worth paying attention to. And, if you really want to go deep and long, he also has a page on his website of his personal book reviews which are smart and full of wit and personality.

• As someone who has killed a few projects recently (and am considering a few more), I can relate to and agree with Christine Xu’s assertion that our projects deserve a good death.

That’s all for now. This is more than enough to keep you busy. I should likely do these more often and perhaps not decide to publish them in the middle of everyone’s busy week. So sorry. Save it for the weekend or use it as an excuse to take the day off. I won’t mind.

My Grandmother was a piano teacher. She was also a world renowned concert pianist. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Piano Performance from the University of Iowa. She was also a freedom fighter, quite active in the civil rights movement in the south. She was also the author of three books about the life of a blind pianist named Blind Tom Wiggins. She was on the Board of Trusties at Dillard University for many years. She was a college professor at the University of Minnesota for about thirty years and Chair of her department for ten of those.
My Grandmother passed away many years ago. If you asked one of her former students who she was, they would likely say, “Dr. Southall was one of my college professors.” If you asked someone who read her books they would reply, “She was the author of the Blind Tom books.” And, if you asked one her friends from college they’d say, “Oh, the girl who played piano? She was pretty good!”
When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them I’m a Writer and a Technology Consultant. I find it interesting that most of them then follow up with questions about either one of those things, but almost never both. If they latch on to the “Writer” they will ask what I write and I’ll direct them to my site and tell them about my books. If they latch on to the Technology Consulting part, they usually want to know if I can help them in some way with their Mac or their PC or their Website. I give them a card and let them know I can help. My bet is that if someone were to ask them only minutes after we speak what I do, they would likely only tell you the one thing that mattered to them.
This goes not only for the things you do but also for who you are. People will remember what mattered. Do you want to be remembered as the guy who screamed and yelled and flipped other drivers off from behind the wheel? Do you want to be remembered as the person who never had a nice thing to say? Do you want to be remembered by your children as a harsh, strict, and unforgiving parent? Of course no sane person would want any of these things — we all have had our bad moments and made our mistakes. Yet, if we do such things often we risk being remembered for them.
We are all many things. We all do many things. We will do many more things throughout our lives. Yet, when we are gone, most will primarily remember only one of them. They will pick from the lot and remember you as that. What they pick will, in their mind at least, be all that you are. Therefore, it is our job to ask ourselves with all the things we allow ourselves to do, with each and every one, “Is this something I want to be remembered for?”
This is why it is important to make “No” your default response to most things. Those things that seem like great ideas should get a “maybe” until they earn a solid answer one way or the other. But “yes” should only be given to those things that, if you were gone tomorrow, you wouldn’t mind being remembered for.
Note: This came out of a conversation I recently had with my friend Jeff Sandquist. You can read his take on it here: What Do You Do?

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I’m a writer. Writing is how I make this world better, friendlier, stronger place. If these words improved your day, please let me know by contributing here.

I actually find myself designing a fair share of logos for ious web and branding projects for myself and clients. I freely admit that I’m not a graphic designer in any traditional sense. I certainly wouldn’t call myself one. I don’t know own or even know how to use Photoshop or Illustrator. When I set out to make a logo for my own use or a client’s, I set the expectations as low as I can. I let folks know up front they will not be getting anything fancy — I don’t do fancy — but they will get something strong, utilitarian, and unique. If they want something more than that, they should hire a real designer.

Yet, when called upon, I design using the simplest tools I know and have at my disposal — ious fonts, Apple’s Pages ’09 (which I find far better for this purpose than the latest version), and Acorn. Despite the fact that I don’t consider myself a professional designer and am using what the professionals might consider amateur tools, I’m always proud of and impressed with what I’m able to achieve. Here are a few examples:

In many ways, I think for the purposes at hand it is an advantage that I’m not a professional. I’m forced into the constraints of both my ability and using what I have on hand. In many ways, this forces me to be more creative. To do more with less. And, that is something I believe in.

Of course, if you like the work you see above and think my skills and sensibility are a good fit for your needs, please get in touch.

They don’t care about the perfect shot, nor do they wait for it. They have no clue what the “rules” are. Everything is interesting to them and worthy of being shot — especially what’s happening right now. They bring true meaning to the spirit of “point and shoot”.
Kids are not only used to telling stories, they are used to listening and watching for them too. Kids shoot what’s there. It may be blurry. You may end up with half of a face or a torso. It might be crooked or upside down. But it will likely be as authentic and real as anything you might shoot. Kids live the moment and shoot the moment.
Kids have the wonder and curiosity that adults have spent many years replacing with logic and skepticism. To a kid, what looks like some moss on a rock is, in fact, a fairy chair. That skyscraper is a rocket ship. A few trees in a park are a mighty forest where woodland creatures come alive. A kid will shoot the truth they see.
At the least, giving the camera to your kid will teach them that making art and telling stories is something everyone of all ages can do. It will teach them to respect the value of the equipment and how to handle it properly. It will let them know you trust them and that you care about what matters to them.
So, the next time you have the chance, give your kid a shot.

When you are in a relationship with someone, especially a close one, there are going to be things that they do that drive you nuts. Whether it is a spouse, sibling, parent, friend, etc. There are just going to be those things that are different from how you would do them or diametrically opposed to who you are.

This is OK. It’s natural. People are different.

We can’t really ignore these things. It’s not like we can just shut off our feelings. It’s very, very, hard to turn off the way we feel.

If we just simply accept these things, that might be OK — for a while. Every time your partner does that thing you can just shrug it off. Pretend it does not bother you. Let it go — until the next time. And then the next. And all of this shrugging takes a fair amount of energy. Eventually, you will tire. It will wear you down. Then the resentment will creep in. Then, those tiny little annoyances will either become much larger annoyances or add up cumulatively be the thing that breaks your relationship in two.

I’m here to offer another path. One that I have taken.

Find a way to appreciate these things. Find the something in them that leads to why you love this person. The motivation behind the thing that drives you nutty might be the thing that makes that person a really good friend or great at their job. Find that, see it for what it is, and above all learn to appreciate it. Instead of a path to resentment, this then will become the path to deeper respect, understanding, and love.

"Pay attention to detail!"

I was in the Navy for a period of my young adult life. It was not as long as I had hoped. A medical issue just a few weeks into boot camp led to an early general discharge. But, boot camp is designed so that lessons that take years in the civilian world are packed into every single day there. I learned so much then that remains with me and makes me a better human today.

One of the ideas that pops up in almost every lesson in military training is that extreme attention to detail matters. That in every situation, focused and unbroken awareness matters. That, in the worst cases, it is the difference between life and death. And so this level of attention to detail is stressed at every turn.

On the way to RTC San Diego, several of the new recruits I was traveling with and I ran into a couple of young soldiers at our layover in Denver. Nervously asking them about what Boot Camp would be like — how hard it would be or any tricks to make it easier — they responded "Just pay attention to detail. If you don’t you will be in a world of hurt." As soon as we arrived on base, and the yelling began, "Pay attention to detail!" was a refrain so constant it could have been a rock anthem chorus being blasted in our ears. And, in those coming days, when punishment would come, it would usually come only when the details were ignored or missed. And as our hands bled and burned from the few dozen push-ups on freshly gravelled blacktop amidst the Southern California heat our ignorance had brought upon us, the number of repetitions due was increased if each and every man failed to execute the punishment with attention to detail and precision.

Because, when it is the hardest to maintain focus — a fire fight, when you are scared and lost, when death is almost certain — is when it is most important to pay attention to every detail and execute extreme awareness in the situation. The safe path away from the battle, the weakness in the enemy defense, the ally you could signal for help, if it’s there at all it is there in the details.

The lesson that remains with me is that this is true of any situation in everyday life. That if an answer exists at all, if not obvious, it is only found by paying attention to the details. If you get into a bind, that will show you the way out. In tough spots, the answer is being mindful and aware of all of the available options. By having situational awareness in every direction you will find the your way out of the darkest certainties.

“No such thing as spare time
No such thing as free time
No such thing as down time
All you got is life time”
— Henry Rollins, Shine

The Power of When is now available. What is it? Read on…

Realistically, when you take away the time for sleep, the time for eating, the time you want to spend with the people that matter, travel time, and the minutia that makes it all run, most people have about six hours of useable work day.

Six hours.

Looked at another way, that’s only about 25% of every day. All the meetings, all projects, all the deadlines, all the tasks, and everything else you need to do to keep the money ball rolling must fit in there somewhere. And, the only way to do so is to ask one simple question of all of these things.

When?

My friend Garrick van Buren and I have been thinking about and discussing this subject off and on for years now. In the process, we have been able to distill this idea into a simple set of tools to dramatically improve your productivity, eliminate your procrastination, and achieve your most important goals. We have turned this conversation into a ninety minute audio program that is available for purchase.

Here’s a 2 minute sample of what to expect:

Want to unlock your productivity and gain more free time? Want to banish To Do Lists forever and be confident you’re not missing anything? Want to achieve your most important goals while maintaining inbox zero? Want to know the one question that unlocks all of this?

You need The Power of When

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P.S. Want to get a sense of some of the ideas discussed? Check out my post, A Time For Things and Better Things.

the wonderful thing
about offering
a shoulder to cry on
is that you have another
dry and ready
to accept more crying
and once the other
is accepting more tears
you can continue
to console the suffering
while the first one
is drying

There are times in our life when we simply kick ass.

It’s OK to kick a little ass sometimes. In fact, I argue that it is imperative to kick a whole lot of ass when the demands of life call for one to do so.

Like the revolution, the kicking ass will not be televised. You don’t have to prove that you have kicked ass. The fact that you kick ass will be obvious to everyone who knows you. You can go about your life, kicking ass along the way, and know deep inside yourself how much you kick ass.

That said, it is also OK to be proud of it. When one kicks ass of any amount, it is OK to declare that you have done so. Let the world know of your ass kickery.

In either case, make sure to take time to reflect on your ass kicking. Especially if the asses kicked are in amounts higher than the average. Enumerate and take pride on the number of asses kicked.

Personally, I see little need to take the names of the asses kicked. That will only slow one down. One cannot both kick ass and take names at the same time. One must kick ass, pause to take the name, then move on to the next ass kicking.

Unless one needs to keep detailed records of each ass kicked for tax or expense purposes. If so, then by all means, take names as well. Just be intentional about the trade off you are making by doing so.

Regardless, the reason I write this straight forward message is simple — we need everyone to kick more ass. The world has changed. There are increasingly less instances of both ass kicking and those that are ass kickers than there has been in the past. Ass kickers were once admired and plentiful. Ass kickers were desired. They are less so now. In fact, some believe they are actively discouraged. There are even those that claim our institutions of learning are turning ass kickers into ass kissers. So, those that kick ass are desperately needed in these hard times and the harder times to come. Those that do kick ass need to make themselves known as far and wide as possible in order to inspire others to kick ass. As an ass kicker it is your duty now, for the future.

Now, go forth and kick some ass.

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I’m a writer. Writing is how I make this world better, friendlier, stronger place. If these words improved your day, please let me know by contributing here.

Here are some of the things that have passed through my head and have been captured, recorded, and, now, let go of.

• My daughter says "It doesn’t care" in place of "It doesn’t matter". I love it. I think this should become a "thing". I’m going to try it out for a while just to see if people catch it.

• I’ve come up with something I’m calling "The Universal Sandwich Theory". Follow along with me here: A sandwich made with bad ingredients and poorly made bread will be a horrible sandwich. A sandwich made with good ingredients but poorly made bread will be a bad sandwich. A sandwich made with great ingredients but poorly made bread will be a mediocre sandwich. Conversely, a sandwich made with bad ingredients and great bread will be a mediocre sandwich. A sandwich made with good ingredients and great bread will be a great sandwich. A sandwich made with great ingredients and great bread will be a fantastic sandwich. Bread is the most important ingredient of any sandwich. When making a sandwich, focus on getting the best bread you can. It makes whatever is happening in the middle better. (This also applies to way more than sandwiches.)

• It’s getting really hard for me to believe that any of this is an accident.

• I’ve been thinking a lot about turning age 50 in about 2.5 years — which is strange for me. I’m not one who has ever concerned myself too much with age or with "milestone" birthdays. In fact, in so many ways I don’t think of getting older with the passage of time, I think of getting better. But, for some reason, this milestone has especially been on my mind. Not in any alarming way. More in a "what I want to make sure I accomplish by age 50" sort of way. I want to make sure I have a plan for where I want to be and what I want age 50 to look and feel like.

• I really enjoyed the Lord of The Ring movies as I was a big fan of the trilogy as a young teen. But, I was an even bigger fan of The Hobbit, which I had read first. There was something about Bilbo that really connected with me. So, when it was announced that a movie version was to be made I was excited to see what Director Peter Jackson would do with it. But, it was quickly followed by disappointment when word came out what he actually planned to do with it. Namely, stretch it out, somehow, into a trilogy and not at all staying true to the plot line and central story of the book. Therefore, I have yet to see a single one of these films. I already know I will be saddened and angry. Therefore, it makes me so happy that someone has taken it upon themselves to try to right this great wrong. A re-edited four hour single movie version available via torrent. I’m still waiting for it to complete but I’m excited once again. My faith in Humans and Hobbits alike is restored.

• A short poem titled, About more than a coffee shop:

We live in a world where we pay
Three dollars for happiness
We could easily have
For thirty cents at home
But here, happiness is made for us
Delivered with a smile that pretends to care
At home, we are responsible
At home, we have to make our own

• The way one arranges a living space tells me a whole lot about what is important to the people that live in it.

• The fact that I’ve been pretty quiet on many social internet fronts as of late is both situational and intentional. Situational because I’ve been especially busy with client work and trying to fit writing into the spaces in-between and that leaves me little time for tweeting and sharing. Intentional because I’ve been trying to be better about simply sitting back and listening. Sometimes it feels like I’m just adding noise, even when I feel what I’m saying has value. I’m unsure it has a value greater than the noise it creates. So, for now, I’m trying to simply listen.

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