Some of my best work has been catalyzing and facilitating the efforts of others. Awesome cross-pollinator. Excelled in the “state-induction” crew role at Tony Robbins’ UPW. All-around technology / human experience geek. Hands-on or high-level.
May 11, 2010
iPad, Flash, HTML5, and F2F Social
Although I’m big into tech I’m not really much of an early adopter. I tend towards buying 2nd- or 3rd gen products right as they’re released. My theory is that this is the sweet spot for cost/benefit. The iPad is different. After watching the introduction video (twice) I couldn’t get it out of my head. [...]
April 23, 2010
Morning Smoothie
The other day I mentioned my blender breakfast lifestyle and someone asked what exactly I’ve been putting in the BlendTec. Here’s the current recipe with a few options. Notes: When I say, “Tbs” I usually mean “heaping Tbs” – dump the stuff in there! If I use the “~” symbol it means I don’t measure [...]
October 9, 2009
Cherry Table
Dear Friend, I have enclosed a photo of what I believe to be a cherry coffee table. It measures 2′ x 4′ x 17″H and is in very good – really quite close to excellent – condition. The table – it does not yet have a name – was given to us last year by [...]
January 8, 2009
Introduction to Grateful Dead
So, you have a new friend, and one day she says, “You should burn me a Grateful Dead CD because I’m really not familiar with anything they’ve done.” You say, “Sure,” and a few minutes later your head explodes as you reel from the possibilities. It takes a week of full-time leisure-thought to sort it [...]
January 8, 2009
Stop Counting Calories!
It’s amazing!! Did you know salad has almost no calories!?! But a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a coke is nearly a whole day’s calorie budget! You can eat as many carrots as you want! – they’re like free food calorie-wise. But ice creme, whoa! – smaller portions, please. And then, exercise: If I did [...]
September 2, 2008
Labor Day Weekend (Four-Day Edition)
* A beautiful and easy hike in the White Mountains with a friend. * Sunburn. * Great dinner out with said friend and our partners. * Finally, a day to sleep in. * One electrical outlet added. * One closet light and switch removed. * The lawn mowed. * The dining room layout redesigned. * [...]
May 19, 2008
Approximately one in four odds, depending on your bias
Days can be characterized in one of four ways: Outstanding, Fine, Difficult, and Off.
March 28, 2008
FYI
WinXP (hello, ActiveX) & IE7 (welcome, Acrobat Reader 8.1.2) running Online Quickbooks, via Parallels and Mac OS X running on a MacBook Pro, prints checks no problem on the HP color laser connected via JetDirect and Ethernet. Astounding.
February 4, 2008
Thanks Bro
Got a helpful Twitter tweet from my brother last night: @notio: Super Bowl is starting. Just wanted to make sure you know what the rest of the country is doing right now. Thanks bro – I had a head’s up from Fake Steve on Friday… I noticed that many of the proles seemed to be [...]
January 17, 2008
Running Out of Ideas?
Amusing one-line review of Handmeon, pointing to the Boston Globe article: Handmeon.com is a cool idea, perhaps showing that Web 2.0 entrepreneurs may be running out of ideas. Well, I laughed out loud. He goes on to say, “Actually, I do think it’s a pretty interesting social experiment.” Thanks Pito, for taking a look.
January 2, 2008
Handmeon Update
Here’s a status (promotional) update (flogging) on (of) my project (startup) to change the world, Handmeon. We got great press during the holiday season, including the Boston Globe, Vermont Public Radio, Seven Days, and the Valley News (broken link; left here for posterity). Jeff had an epiphanette while in dialogue at GiftHub.org which we’re discussing [...]
December 11, 2007
See Change, Part 1
I remember when I started wearing glasses, in third grade (1970). These days I think they test kids a lot younger, but back in the day that was the first test I took and I needed glasses pretty badly. I used to always sit in the last row of class, and on that first day [...]
November 18, 2007
Quote for the Day
“It is by deferring mediocre actions and by being utterly intent on foreseeing the unforeseeable that we prepare ourselves for being thoroughly contradicted by happiness.” —Gaston Bachelard, The Dialectic of Duration, pg 63. The Unbroken Chain blogging fiesta didn’t materialize (deferring mediocre actions), but it was a rilly rilly great weekend. I met some fine [...]
October 26, 2007
Handmeon RSS
Handmeon now has an RSS feed. It’s a pretty interesting view into the site. Have a look and check out the diverse topics our early users are engaging.
September 27, 2007
Beauty parlor’s filled with sailors…
…the circus is in town. We had The Big Debate here in the hood last night. Good video summary at TPM. Complete with our own freedom pens and everything! It was also the first day of classes, which combined with the media tents, temporary air conditioning, security presence, and pedestrian jostling to wake the whole [...]
August 31, 2007
Introducing Handmeon
Okay, enough with the hints. In January I started a new company with two co-founders, and today we released the second major revision to our first product, Handmeon. To quote some draft marketing material: Handmeon turns giving into a shared creative experience. Inspired by ancient circles of exchange, Handmeon lets people create renewable resources of [...]
August 24, 2007
Yo! This is not cool. WTF.
I woke up about 40 minutes after falling asleep, hearing what I thought was a big moth banging against the window screen trying to get in. It went on long enough that I grabbed my flashlight to see what it was. When I turned it on, something whizzed by my head, and I realized the [...]
August 8, 2007
Shipped
Our project went live an hour ago. I’ll tell you all about it in a couple of weeks, after vacations. For now, just marking the date.
August 1, 2007
Delete and Design
So today Jeff came in for a meeting and after we settled in I asked him, “Should we try to do anything about the Explore page, or just wait until after launch?” Jeff said (I paraphrase), “That tour page has got to go.” We then launched into an hour-long discussion, starting with the presumption of [...]
July 12, 2007
Sticker Bumpkins
About three months ago, I saw that Don had an Obama bumper sticker on his car, and I said, “I want one of those.” So I went to the website, and much to my surprise, there was no way to buy a bumper sticker. No swag at all. Crazy. I decided to send them a [...]
June 22, 2007
Making Happy
via Chris Glass: From Stefan Sagmeister’s presentation at TED: Complaining is silly. Either act or forget. Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now. Being not truthful works against me. Helping other people helps me. Organizing a charity group is surprisingly easy. Everything I do always comes back [...]
April 3, 2007
Firewalk’d
On Friday night, I, along with nearly 4,000 other people, walked barefoot over 12 feet of hot burning coals. At least 1,200 degrees. About eight or ten steps. Barefoot. It’s quite an experience. You can imagine the legal disclaimer (edited for brevity): In consideration of my participation in the seminar I agree to release and [...]
March 11, 2007
Keith’s Song
When I first arrived at Top of The Hop for book group he was playing the piano, and I paused at the top of the stairs. He continued playing, but asked, “Too loud?” And I said, “No, beautiful.” There was another guy standing near him, and I thought maybe they were playing together, or studying [...]
February 28, 2007
Not Yet Within Range
For some reason, I am now craving a Leica M8 digital rangefinder camera, with the 16-18-21mm, the 28-35-50mm, and the 90mm lenses. This is absurd, since that would be about $15,000 in camera equipment, well outside not only my budget, but also my socio-economic caste.
January 2, 2007
Happy New Year
2006 was a forest fire. 2007 is the re-seeding. Welcome to the future.
December 25, 2006
Strong Medicine
Between the rampant consumerism, the killing carried out in the name of God, and your everyday garden-variety family dynamics, it takes a heckofalotof positive, weird, and funky energy to keep the cultural balance this time of year. In an attempt to stay sane, the past three days I’ve deep-listened to: * Frank Zappa’s, We’re Only [...]
December 22, 2006
Coop Holiday Shopping
I went to the Coop at 1:30 PM today, three shopping days before Christmas, and the first day off of work for most people. I knew it would be a scene, but it was such a scene I got a photo pass from the store manager and took a few shots. When you arrive and [...]
December 11, 2006
Monday Blues
Observe the following: 1. It’s 40 degrees F outside. 2. I’m wearing a t-shirt, a flannel shirt, a wool sweater, and a ski jacket. 3. I’m freezing, my sore throat is a lot worse today than yesterday, and I can’t tell if my muscles ache or if it’s tension because I’m cold. Ugg, I hope [...]
November 7, 2006
The World Standard in Studless Winter Tyres
Glen said, “The ultimate winter weapon is still the Hakk 2′s with studs, but if you don’t want to run the studs with the noise and the rolling resistance and everything, then the RSi is what people are talking about.” Better than the Hakk 2′s? “Without the studs; With the studs, Hakk 2′s are what [...]
November 7, 2006
Dear Boloco
Quality control in Hanover has GOT to improve. Today: Regular teriaki with chicken. $6.25 They forgot the chicken. Then realized that this is normally $5.25 if memory serves. Last visit: Ordered extra chicken. Got normal amount of chicken. This is the sort of thing where it’s way too much of a hassle to go back [...]
November 2, 2006
Have You Made Any Meaning Today
Reported at check-in: “I tried to make some meaning from yesterday’s meeting….”
October 17, 2006
Autumn Beauty
Saturday was a stunning late-fall New Hampshire day. We went for another 14-mile bike ride on the rail trail. Bridge Over the Water The ride includes several bridges over the Mascoma River, vehicle gates, dark forest, traveling past open green fields, under an Interstate highway, next to the Mascoma Lake for quite a while, through [...]
October 15, 2006
The Present
From Saturday’s yoga class: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift we call the present.”
October 12, 2006
My Life at Work
Excerpt: * Would it be possible to have the h3 pick up the correct “subhead” style from the div id=”centerwrap” directly? That is, it would be nice if the user didn’t have to enter the class in the edit block. We use the Markdown processor, so typically the user would start an h3 line with [...]
October 12, 2006
ISFP
How the ISFP sees Self * Very affirming. * Sympathetic and trusting. * Good communicator especially where values and ideals are involved. * Hard working and practical. How Others see the ISFP * Difficult to negotiate with. * Won’t follow divorce laws or is naive about what actual law is. * Not serious enough about [...]
October 10, 2006
Rosanne Cash
Saw Rosanne Cash Saturday night at Dartmouth. Fourth row center. Amazing performer. Amazing band. Much more transformative than Amiee Mann a week earlier. Rosanne is Johnny Cash‘s daughter by his first wife (Vivian Liberto, not June Carter Cash). Cash’s husband, John Leventhal, was the guitarist, and my comment after the show was, “Watching him made [...]
October 5, 2006
Addled
I just asked my office-mate: “Addled; is that a word? I just wrote ‘my addled brain,’ is that the right usage?” He replied, “Yes.” F12 to the dictionary: addle |ˈadl| verb [ trans. ] chiefly humorous make unable to think clearly; confuse : being in love must have addled your brain. adjective archaic (of an [...]
September 29, 2006
The Harder They Come
But I’ll keep on fighting for the things I want Though I know that when you’re dead you can’t But I’d rather be a free man in my grave Then living as a puppet or a slave Garcia has a great version from 1978 in commercial release.
September 29, 2006
It Will Become Impossible Not to Speak the Truth
Scheherazade on blogging (reposted in full): I got an email from someone today who started blogging because of stumbling across this blog. I wrote back to her, and said this: I do think that if you blog, honestly, for six months, it will change your life. I’m not sure why, exactly, but it will. I [...]
September 25, 2006
Autumn
Yesterday I stood on the deck and watched the wind blow the leaves off the weak trees. Some of the remaining leaves are turning color, and the nights are crisp and cool. In two weekends my nephew will visit for annual apple picking. The driveway is covered with pine needles. My neighbor mowed the field [...]
September 25, 2006
En Route
Email banter plus blogging, a deadly blow to productivity. Let’s go to lunch.
September 25, 2006
The Power of Mental Models
My friend Peter Pruyn sent this recently: The best advice I ever got was from an elephant trainer in the jungle outside Bangalore. I was doing a hike through the jungle as a tourist. I saw these large elephants tethered to a small stake. I asked him, ‘How can you keep such a large elephant [...]
September 23, 2006
Best Seminar Chair, 2006
I sat in these chairs 32 hours last week. I would not want to work full-time in this chair, but it is, by far, the best seminar or workshop chair I have ever experienced. Very comfortable. They deserve an award for designing a chair that fits the body, and Ford deserves an award for purchasing [...]
September 19, 2006
Social Capital
I’m at a SoL meeting with about 60 people. About 20 of them are in my consulting convergence group, and we’re meeting as a sub-group frequently throughout the four days. The schedule is fairly grueling for white-collar types, mostly 8 AM to 8 or 9 PM every day. Tonight was the ‘open’ night, where we [...]
September 18, 2006
Detroit, Motor City
Arrived at Detroit airport yesterday and called the hotel. “How do I get to you?” “Okay, you take the south exit of the airport, get onto route blah, go 8.8 miles and take exit blahblah,….” I interrupted: “I’m not renting a car. Is there any public transportation?” “Oh. Well, I think there are cabs somewhere [...]
September 16, 2006
Help On The Way
Tell me the cost, I can pay, Let me go, Tell me love is not lost, Sell everything, Without love, day to day, insanity is king