Voting along party lines

I'm sure to hear a lot of reasons why I'm wrong on this from both Democrats and Republicans, but I really dislike it when people vote entirely along party lines. I feel like there is a tacit acceptance that the party's position or candidate is the best person, and relieves the voter from the responsibility of examining the issues or persons sufficiently in-depth.

It's almost like our political parties have become larger-than-life versions of college mascots. I will unabashedly vote for Duke over Carolina every time, and will happily question anyone's intelligence who likes the Tar Heels. But at least I know that I'm being biased. Correctly biased, of course, but biased.

But when it comes to the people who are going to run the country, or the decisions we're making, shouldn't we pay a bit more attention?

I'm not saying that Republicans won't end up voting for the Republican position or candidate anyways, but at least take a serious look. I guess you could argue that this is the role of the primary, for the party to identify the best candidate. I can sort of buy that. But if my best candidate is still not as good as yours, shouldn't I vote for yours? There's no pride as stake here, just our future.

Of course, I'm one to talk. I'm an independent, and theoretically should be paying close attention on both sides of the fence, but the reality is that I'm overwhelmed with work and life and end up trying to catch up at the last minute anyway. I'm the reason we have an electoral college to begin with. But then again, so are people in each party who blindly pull the party lever without looking under the covers...

Hiring good people

Every book on management or successful business talks about hiring great people. But very little of what I've seen suggests how to *identify* those people.

However, I went through a recruiting/interviewing class that was fantastic earlier this week. The guy leading the class (who wrote a book on this subject), said that the absolute key thing to interview for is "motivation", which you can *only* tell from past performance. His 3 take-away messages were:

1) Write a 'real' job description - Write specifically the person needs to deliver in the first month, first quarter, etc., not what characteristics or background they need. That way you get people who self-identify that they can and want to do what you need.

2) Don't make an in initial impression until you've finished interviewing the person. People who are affable, nice, etc aren't necessarily good candidates. Don't get sold by their outward presentation; focus on what they've done, and if it matches what you need them to do.

3) Never hire people who competent but who are not motivated. Motivation is what sets apart people who make your team great and people who make your life a lot of work.

It was an awesome presentation. I am sure I can put it to good use, too.

The best of CES 2008

I never do get around to blogging about CES while I'm actually there. Too much walking, too little sleep, too hard to get internet access.

But as usual, CES was insane. Tons and tons of people. Enough electronics running to be seen from space if it wasn't all under a roof. And of course lots of TVs and other electronics. Like 100 Fry's electronics stores all in one place. Heaven and Hell, all mixed together.

There wasn't much new this year, but here were my TOP TWO things from the show:

#2: Panasonic 150" Plasma
This is like, the biggest TV EVER. It's the size of a number of the walls in my house. Wow. It was so big that some of the videos made me ill to watch... almost gave me vertigo.

#1: BUMBLEBEE!!!
The DTS (surround sound) booth had an *enormous* replica of the transformer Bumblebee from the movie. It was like 2 stories tall. AWESOME! Now if only it transformed.

Vegas is ridiculous

I end up posting about Las Vegas every time I go there. I can't help it. The place is completely ridiculous on so many levels. I don't know why, but it makes me think of Rome back in the gladiator era. Completely dedicated to personal pleasure (aka sin) and excess, and bragging about it all the way. Very tantalizing, even fun, but ultimately very empty.

Everything is huge. Everything is about pleasure (e.g. sex, gambling). Everything costs a fortune.

On the one hand it's impressive, but for the most part I really dislike it. You are forced to walk endlessly through a complex maze of slot machines, shops, and past numerous adult entertainment opportunities just to get to the elevator to your room. Or the bathroom. Ugh.

I was sitting "outdoors" on the patio of a restaurant for breakfast this morning that was INSIDE the lobby of my hotel. It is freaking enormous. And they are *constantly* building new and bigger casinos, etc. Complete insanity.

However, I did get to spend some quality time with coworkers, have some nice food, and maybe most fun, went to two different dueling piano bars, which I've never done, and had a great time both times.

But I'd be ok not going to Vegas.

Compuslively helpful?

A co-worker of mine made a very interesting observation about me today, which is that I'm "compulsively helpful". What she meant by that is that if I see something that could be better, or more efficient, whether in my domain/responsibility or not, I almost cannot help but offer assistance or input.

I think she's right. It's interesting for me to reflect how the best intentions can have very unintended and opposite results.

My sister would probably second this if I think back to all the unsolicited advice I gave her growing up. And I'm sure Soph would resonate with this.

That co-worker is correct, though. It *is* compulsive. I have a hard time even imagining a case where I would see something and be able to hold myself back from offering assistance. Wow. Clearly something to think about/grow in.

The Elves of 2007

Since I posted about the existence of Christmas Elves the other day, I thought I'd follow up with a list of some of the Elves that came to visit this year:

The Like-it Elf
The Cozy Elf
The Naughty Elf
The Here & There & Back Again Elf
The Early Morning Elf
The DC Elf
The Lounging Elf
The Rival Elves (apparently from NC State and UNC)
The Asana Elf
The Shiny Elf

And I know that at least a few different Elves showed up out in North Carolina this year at my sister's house (where most of my family was this year):

The Sartorial Elf
The Chance Elf
The Self-Serving Elf

T-Minus 48 hrs to Orange Rolls

My family has a number of long-standing Christmas traditions, most centered around food in one way or another. One of my favorites, though, and one that I've continued since leaving home, is to have Orange Rolls (family recipe) and bacon for breakfast on Christmas day.

Orange Rolls are light and fluffy (at least how I make them) with a mild Orange taste and an orange glaze. And bacon is, well, salty. Salty-sweet perfection. mmmmm.

And it's the perfect breakfast to eat over the course of the gift-opening marathon that takes place Christmas morning.

[sigh] so good.

can't wait.

Christmas is for the Elves

You may not believe in Santa Clause, but at least his Elves are real. At least in my family. Every year I get a number of gifts from various Elves, most nice, some used, some, well, mischevious. And I love it.

My family loves to give gifts, and we give (and get) a lot of them. The typical Christmas morning takes maybe 3-4 hours because of the number of gifts, and because we open them one at a time. Awesome. (plus orange rolls and bacon, double awesome, but that's for another post)

And a lot of those gifts are from Elves. For example, I frequently get great books from the "Used-Book Elf", who must frequent used-book stores looking for the books that other folks in the family have read and enjoyed. I *never* get a used book from someone in the family, even though they have obviously read the same book the Elf is giving me, but then, who gives a used book on Christmas? It's just not right. But the Elves have their own thinking about what's right and what isn't. And the "used-book elf" is a personal favorite since that Elf has particularly good reading taste.

And of course there's the "Sartorial Elf" who leaves me looking dapper. Or the "Cozy Elf" who keeps the whole family warm. There are even college-specific Elves. I know of ones from Duke, Florida State, Miami of Ohio, Vanderbilt... they're everywhere.

And let me tell you, the Elves are multiplying. Every year some new Elf shows up. Or a whole cadre of new Elves. It could be scary to think of this hidden race, slowly propogating without most of humanity's knowledge, except that for the most part they're benign, even benefecial; I mean, the gifts are usually good!

So long live the Elves.

+3:54 of fame

A month or so I ago I presented to the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) in Los Angeles. Afterwards I was interviewed by BnetTV, an online news source. I'm only mentioning it because I clearly need to add it to my "fame counter" (previously at 15 seconds). However, I really can't watch it; maybe you can.

Fame Counter Total: 4:09

Still don't have my face on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, so I haven't won the $5 bet with my college roommates about who will end up there first.

Modern gift giving to the nth degree

More and more I see friends and family members either giving or asking for gift cards for Christmas. On the one hand, this is great, because they can buy exactly what they want, and if they like shopping (many of the women in my immediate family don't seem to mind), they get to enjoy that, too.

However, it does seem a bit strange to me when two people exchange gift cards.

"Here, I got you $50 to REI".
"Oh, thank you! That's so great. And here's your Christmas present, a $50 gift certificate to Macy's!"
"Awesome!"

Ok... so why don't we just spend our own money on ourselves on behalf of each other? For example:

"Hey! I spent $50 (that I saved myself) to buy a new fleece at REI for myself on your behalf! Thanks and Merry Christmas!"
"Oh, that's great. I spent $50 to buy a new coat at Macy's for myself on YOUR behalf! Merry Christmas to you, too. "

Not quite the way it worked with the Wise Men, I suppose, but seems like the logical conclusion to this trend.

Of course, half the fun of gift giving is *giving* the gift, and figuring out what to give the person is what makes it both fun and meaningful. So while I don't mind getting gift cards, I much prefer to give a tangible present.

Strengths Finder

I realized that I never blogged about this, but I found it on my desk today while cleaning up a bit. A number of months ago my team went through the Strengths Finder program, which is sort of a businessy version of a personality test, to find out what our underlying strengths are (so that we can theoretically focus on leveraging them, rather than trying to fix our weaknesses).

Here were mine:

Futurist
Ideation
Strategic
Communication
Activator

Here are the definitions:

Futurist: People strong in the Futurist theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.

Ideation: People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Strategic: People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Communication: People strong in the communication theme generally find it eway to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Activator: People strong in the Activor theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.


Fits me pretty well. The really interesting part for me, though, was in the more detailed descriptions, which I'll post later if I can find them. Basically, at least 3 of the first 4 strengths all say that I should partner with an "activator", which is my 5th strength! Split personality?

An unbelievable home-grown dinner

My dinner at home tonight was AWESOME! I got home late after working late and working out afterwards, so just grabbed things from the fridge.

But the key thing I grabbed and that made the dinner amazing was a bunch of *enormous* mission figs from the fig tree in our back yard!! The figs were so ripe they were like jam inside. Ohmygosh.

So I had fresh figs, fresh figs with prosciutto, fresh figs with goat cheese, and fresh figs with goat cheese and prosciutto. What an intensely luxurious but simple dinner.

Figs are the bomb. Now if only I could get mangos to grow in Northern CA...

Quintessential UK, Ireland, Hogwarts, and Vancouver

I was out in the UK and Ireland last week for a few days for work, and had a few really quintessential experiences.

On Tuesday I had a great Indian dinner, which is, of course, pretty British.

On Wednesday I went to Ireland and had a Guiness, which was noticeably better than what we get in the states. It's apparently not pasteurized in Ireland, since it gets drunk fast enough not to need preservation, and it's on tap, all of which meant it was sweeter and slightly less bitter aftertaste than the US variety. And then I had an amazing Moroccan dinner back in the UK later that night. (We were unable to eat dinner before 9pm any night, no matter how hard we tried.)

On Thursday I was back in the UK and took off for Hogwarts. For proof check out the pic of me above at King's Cross Train Station. (Don't mess with me; I know some bad-ass spells now.) I also had a fantastic Tapas dinner that night, which underscores the international flavor of the UK.

On Friday I got up early and went for a run with a co-worker and had the most amazing run. We left the hotel, made two turns, and just jogged along a random street. We ended up passing through Trafalgar Square with the statue of Nelson, and then on past Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and down along the Thames, then back again. Amazing. I got all my touristing done in less than 30 minutes.

Unfortunately we were late leaving Heathrow on Friday night, and so missed our connection in Vancouver, and were forced to stay the night. We were hungry (even though we'd eaten dinner twice already that long day), and went for Chinese! There were only about 20 Chinese restaurants within a 3 block area of the hotel. Food was good, too. It was a good trip for eating dinner. Lunches were another story for the most part, which is why I haven't described them here.

Is oneSearch one of Yahoo!'s Top 10?

ReadWriteWeb has an article on Yahoo!'s top 10 services, and oneSearch came it at number 9! Considering that other products on the list are things like Yahoo! Mail or Yahoo! Answers, that's pretty cool.


Of course, it should have been number 1...

(thanks to Danny Chai for the link)

Real Ultimate Power

One of my college roomate, RD, and his wife Maria are town for the weekend for a wedding, so we had a "traditional" steak dinner last night with them and the Camps. yummy.

RD mentioned a pretty hysterical YouTube video to me called "Ask a Ninja" (and this particular clip is a great explanation of what podcasting really is), which made me remember a very old but also very funny website, which is all about Ninjas.

Workaholics Anonymous...

Is there any such organization? I think I have a problem. Every time I come back from a vacation, I'm so energized that I go completely nuts at work and risk burning myself out too quickly. I know I should take it slow, but I don't *want* to.

I've been back at work after my vacation to Alaska for 1.5 weeks, and have been working some serious hours every day since then (weekend excepted). And I find myself wishing their were more hours I could put in. I even find myself thinking about doing stuff over Labor Day weekend - for fun - but thankfully I'm not so far gone that I will actually do that.

Nevertheless, as I mentioned once before, work can be incredibly addictive, especially when you're doing something you love, and when you are needed. I'm addicted right now.

At least I've managed to stay away from caffeine for the last two months, even in the midst of all this insanity. I have to admit that I feel better overall as a result, even more awake in the mornings than when I used to drink coffee (although now I drink decaf, since I like a hot beverage).

Upside Down

Soph and I took a 3 hr yoga workshop this Saturday that was all about "inversions", which is a yoga-ese way to say "upside down". We did two types of headstand, handstand, forearm stand, and shoulder stand. Amazingly I got upside down for at least a split second on each of these. Easily the most fun, though, is forearm stand, although I can't really explain why.

I'll probably keep practicing hand-stands the most, though, since I've wanted to be able to do them since I was a little kid.

For what it's worth, a 3 hour yoga workshop is exhausting. I slept 11 hours Sat night and still needed a 2 hr nap on Sunday. Whew!

a Voice in the Wind

I don't know the last time i read a book that made me tear up, or if that has *ever* happened to me, but it did last night. I am reading a series of books by Francine Rivers that Soph read and recommended to me, and as I finished reading "An Echo in the Darkness" I had to stop and take my glasses off to wipe my eyes so that I could see the pages. That's a new experience for me.

The story (fictional) and the characters are just unbelievably challenging on a personal level for me. Some characters represent me, and others who I wish I could be. I can't really explain it. But it moved me.

Pink elephants

I got an SMS from RD today saying something to the effect that he was "on vacation, and what do you use to catch pink elephants?".

I think the answer is obvious, and gave it to him.

To catch pink elephants you use pink elephant bait, without the bobber.

Is GMail the leader in Mail?

Um, no. People in Silicon Valley have a bit too much Google fever, sometimes.

According to comScore Media Metrix over 80 million people used Yahoo! Mail in May, vs. 15 million people using Gmail. Yahoo! Mail also accounts for almost half of all online duration spent in the Mail category, 10 times the amount of duration spent in Gmail.

Yahoo!'s the leader.