While waiting for my flight from St. Louis to Tulsa last Friday, I captured a little video of some WW II vets heading out on a little trip. A year ago in Las Vegas, I witnessed a hauntingly similar scene featuring Marines returning from Iraq.
Anathem
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“What would motivate someone to sit alone in a one-room apartment reading and thinking? What would have to be true of a person for them to consider that a life well spent?”
“What if the places you went and the things you encountered in your work were more interesting than what was available in the physical world around you?”
“They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain that they were right.”
“I am tormented, or tantalized, by the sense that I am almost in view of something that is at the limit of my comprehension.” — Neal Stephenson’s Anathem (pg 543)
“All the story had been bled out of their lives.” (pg 414)
“…in the intervening hours, my brain had been changing to fit the new shape of my world. I guess that’s why we can’t do anything when we’re sleeping: it’s when we work hardest.” (pg 366)
“…we do not perceive the physical universe directly, but only through the intermediation of our sensory organs.” (pg 529)
Cuddling new MacBook Pro
I had every intention of staying offline this weekend. I even left the MacBook back in t Jeff City. But it’s 7:30 a.m. here in Tulsa, Blane and the kids are still asleep, Tonya is making breakfast and Ryan’s laptop is just sitting here. Connected to the Net. Practically begging me to take a spin.
This is Ryan’s first trip home (as in temporary U.S. home) from college (he’s a freshman at Union University in Jackson,TN) and I get to be part of it. Blane and I will take him back to school today, so lots of quality car time.
Yesterday we hit the mall and –lo and behold– found ourselves walking past the Apple store. So we popped in get Tonya an accessory for her new iPod and I got to fondle the new MacBook Pro. I ordered mine online, sight unseen and it’s somewhere between here and China.
I won’t bore you with my impressions. But if you find yourself near an Apple store, just pick up one of the new MacBooks. Hold it. Open and close the lid. Run your hands over it. That’s all I’m saying.
Tulsa Bound
Off the grid for a few days starting Friday. Heading down to Tulsa for family time with Brother Blane. My nephew Ryan will be home from Union University (Jackson, TN) where he’s a freshman. Ryan and his brother and sister grew up in Indonesia and were home schooled. I’m eager to hear his thoughts on college life. If his Facebook page is any indication, he’s having a great time.
I’m not taking the MacBook on this trip so the blog will be dark for a few days (unless Ryan takes pity on me).
Seth on art, love and money
Seth Godin puts his digital digit on why I would never put advertising on this blog (assuming anyone ever wanted to do so):
“Do your art. But don’t wreck your art if it doesn’t lend itself to paying the bills. That would be a tragedy.
And the twist, because there is always a twist, is that as soon as you focus on your art and leave the money behind, you may just discover that this focus turns out to be the secret of actually breaking through and making money.
Loving what you do is almost as important as doing what you love, especially if you need to make a living at it.”
Only pussies complain about the word pussy
Some of you regulars might be aware that I am a big fan of a local (Jefferson City) coffee shop called the Coffee Zone. I’m there every morning and I love the owner/proprietor, Taisir Yanis. There’s not a sweeter guy on the planet.
Last spring I set up a blog for the Coffee Zone and maintain it on my own time and money. Taisir tries to give me a free cup of coffee from time to time but it’s a labor of love.
I recently posted something silly about the Wawa coffee website. They “analyze” your personality based on how you like your coffee. I said something like, “…somebody give these pussies a cup of Rocket Fuel.”
Today I got a text message from Taisir that said: “Pussies.” T speaks English as well as I do but his written English can be a little mysterious at times. So I texted back: “What about ’em?”
To which he replied: “Blog”
Seems he had been getting complaints from customers about my (single) use of the word “pussies” on the Coffee Zone website. I apologized and immediately removed the offending word. T wasn’t offended but he didn’t want to lose a customer so that I might have a full arsenal of comedic words and expressions. And I don’t blame him. Then I started wondering how you lodge such a complaint.
Customer: “I’d like a double-espresso and a latte, please. Light on the foam.”
Taisir: “Here you go, four dollars.”
Customer: “By the way, I was very offended by something I saw on the Coffee Zone blog.”
Taisir: “I’m sorry to hear that. What offended you?”
Customer: (sotto voice) “Pussies.”
Taisir: “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
Customer: (louder) “Pussies!”
Taisir: “Where did you find “pussies” on my website?”
Customer: “Not so loud!”
You get the idea. As this scene played out in my head I was reminded of the scene in Silver Streak where Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor art trying to decide what kind of car to steal to catch up with the train that… never mind. That’s not important. Wilder wants to steal a Chevy and Pryor wants to steal a red jag. Roll the tape, please.
WILDER: “What are you doing? I thought we were gonna take the Chevy out back!
GROVER: (indicates a red Jag) Chevy!? That’s a jerk-off, man! This here’s pure pussy!
At some point later in the movie (I don’t remember the scen), Wilder is screaming at Pryor, “Pussy?! Pussy?!”
There really isn’t much connection between the scene in the movie and the post on the blog, but in the unlikely event the complaining customer also reads smays.com… I want them to get plenty of PUSSY! PUSSY! PUSSY!
Aeron Chair
My Aeron chair was waiting for me when I got back from a client meeting today. I expected a chair this expensive to be comfortable but when I put my toochis down on that mesh seat… aaaahhh. I knew my bottom was home.
The first thing I noticed was how much cooler it was. The next thing I “felt” was the quality construction. It had a solid feel the same way an expensive European car feels solid and well engineered.
I’ll play with the adjustments tomorrow but I can already tell this was a good investment.
Tree House Magic
A tree house is a frivolous thing. No practical value (unless you’re living in the African bush). But if you can recall that childhood rush of climbing to the top of a tree for absolutely no reason other than the joy of doing it, you can appreciate what brings four good friends (and friends of) together every year to re-experience that feeling.
Tree House III (this is the third year of the project) is in the middle of the Prairie GardenTrust, which is managed by my friend Henry. He invited me to to come and be part of TH3 this weekend, which was perfect in every way. We finished the day yesterday by climbing up to the third level (about 30 feet up) to enjoy the view and reflect on project.
Tree House III
A beautiful Saturday on a perfect Ocotober day. Henry and his band of merry tree house architects and slave laborers invited me to join them to help record the event. But everywhere you looked there were MacBooks and iPhones and keeping a steady stream of images, video and blog posts flowing. The crew would stop from time to time to actaully work on the tree house.
Late in the day I found myself 30 feet up on the “bird’s nest” platform with Bernard, my hands scant inches from his roarting chainsaw. My mind constanly evaluating which parts of my clothing would make the best tournequet. And if I fell, should I try to land on my feet on one of the other team members.
It’s Sunday and work has resumed. Another perfect fall day.
Seth: “The growing productivity divide”
I stopped being surprised by what people didn’t know –and didn’t care to learn– about “the Internet” a couple of years ago. My analogy was online ignorance was like not knowing how to use the telephone. As always, Seth Godin makes the point more clearly and forcefully with a little quiz:
- Can you capture something you see on your screen and paste it into Word or PowerPoint?
- Do you have a blog?
- Can you open a link you get in an email message?
- Do you read more than five blogs a day?
- Do you have a signature in your outbound email?
- Do you have an RSS reader?
- Can you generate a PDF document from a Word file you’re working on?
- Do you know how to build and share a simple spreadsheet using Google Docs?
- Do have a shortcut for sending mail to the six co-workers you usually write to?
- Are you able to find what you’re looking for on Google most of the time?
- Do you know how to download a file from the internet?
- Do you back up your work?
- Do you keep track of contacts using a digital tool?
- Do you use anti-virus software?
- Do you fall for internet hoaxes and forward stuff to friends and then regret it?
- Have you ever bought something from a piece of spam?
“Can you imagine someone who works in a factory that processes metal not knowing how to use a blowtorch? How can you imagine yourself as a highly-paid knowledge worker and not know how to do these things… If you don’t, it’s not hard to find someone to teach you.”
I don’t use an email signature but frequently sign smays.com which is almost the same thing. And, for now, no need for anti-virus software on the Mac.
Anyone reading this almost certainly knows how to perform these simple tasks. If you don’t, find someone to show you. Quickly.
PS: If you were only going to read 3 or 4 blogs… Seth Godin should be one of them.