2012: The Year of Less...

Tweet As resolutions go, the loftier, more aspirational the more likely we are to proclaim them. So, here goes. Image used via CC license from @atmosphera After reading this book and watching this documentary in the past few weeks, it sends home the message that I’ve been thinking for a few months: we are a culture of excess. According to this NY Times article, Americans throw away 96 billion pounds of food per year; our hard drives are filled with terabytes of information; (remember, Bill Gates said...

Truth and Perspective: We Can Save A Lif...

Tweet A few minutes ago, I popped open my twitter feed and read a numbing tweet from Jack Harvey. A “Pennington” search confirmed my worst fears; Trey succumbed to the darkest of human conditions–hopelessness. Trey was a man of faith. He was a family man, and if you ever had a conversation with him, you likely had a sense that he was grounded. He was. Depression is not a respecter of education, class, faith, family, fame, or “happiness.” It strikes like a viper and speaks...

Cut Your Own Grass, Make a Million Bucks...

Tweet It’s Saturday morning. Lawn tractors all over the country are in high gear (except for the fact that every last blade is scorched in heat wave ’11). If you listen carefully, you can hear something over the hum of the over-horsepowered engines–it’s ideation in high gear. How many times have you heard someone say, “I had a great idea in the shower this morning” or even “when I was on the mower, I had a thought?” On the other hand, when have you heard...

What Does ‘All In’ Look Like...

Tweet You’ve heard the phrase: “I’m all in.” It’s a poker reference; it means I’m betting all my chips on this hand because either it is so good (there’s no losing) or they’re playing the ultimate bluff. In life, however, being all in means that an idea is so powerful that you will make any sacrifice to protect it. I hear people say, “I’m all in” or “I’ve drank the Kool-aid” or “I’m sold out.” I assume that...

Keeping Up With My Own Shoes…...

Tweet You know the old proverb, “walk a mile in a man’s shoes before you judge them.” The longer I live, I believe my life is about really experiencing a handful proverbs–in excruciating detail. This season I’m learning something about humility. Photo by Kables I can’t recall faces in detail. The judgments aren’t vivid, but the hubris was real, palpable and now laughable. All I can remember is that a younger, pompous guy that looked a lot like me would say things...

Shark Teeth...

Tweet I guess I’m suffering from a vacation hangover. As I drove to work this morning, I shouted “punchbug” with no kids to echo the VW sighting. Sitting at my desk, images of the long days on the beach are flashing on my monitor. In honor of the R&R, I had a vacation observation that I thought I would post for you. People do all types of things on the beach: they play corn hole, ladder ball, paddle ball, frisbee, swim, surf, sing, and sleep. Some curious folks spend hours combing the...

Working Without Vision…...

Tweet Working without vision can leave you with a jacked up crapper and a pissed off wife. Trust me on this one. About a year ago, I set out with a crowbar, a sledgehammer, and an idea. What a nasty recipe. I knocked out some sheet rock, removed a few studs, and created a fine mess. The next weekend I walked into the bathroom and fiddled with a few things, but I knew and the bathroom knew that I didn’t have the vision to complete the project. Worked piled up and the thought of the bathroom slipped out...

Foursquaranoid....

Tweet I am paranoid. I can say it with clarity and without guilt or shame, but turning through the pages of You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier forces me to be down right skeptical. I hope a bit more mature as a technologist. So, with this preface, I approach what is being dubbed as The Next Twitter, Foursquare. photo by @zerok The basic premise to the game/network is to opt-in by registering your mobile device and adding friends by mining your networks Twitter, Facebook, Address Books, etc....

Let it Snow...

Tweet Something happens to me when the 5 day forecast suggests the possibility of snow, a little boy springs up with excitement and a little hope. As the promise of the white draws closer, the childlike anticipation manifests into something that is seldom experienced as an adult–snow day. Image used under creative commons license by skycaptaintwo Of course, I live in the south, so the soft white snow doesn’t stick around long enough to turn into the road-muck, black of northern towns. The winter...

Coaching: Understanding Perfect “i...

Tweet I was thinking about Pat Head Summit, the ladies basketball coach for University of Tennessee, this afternoon and how her goal of the team is perfect execution of the plays. And you’re welcome for stating the obvious, but this really sank in today in a very different way than ever before. I view coaches as motivators, recruiters, promoters, but I have never really thought of them as visionaries of perfect execution. In this sense, the coach may think “if only…player A runs down the...