A lot of people have heard the phrase “this too shall pass” but few, I think, know the whole story. I was talking to my sister last night and she was telling me about some quotes she had recently framed. “This too shall pass” was one of them and its inclusion made sense with some of the hardships she has been going through. She didn’t know the origin or the full meaning of the phrase so I summarized for her. Here is the version from Wikipedia: (more…)
I was sitting here trying to think of something interesting and smart to write but I couldn’t come up with anything so I decided to tell you a story.
Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down, and I liked to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a… Wait, that’s not the one…
When I was in high school I joined the American Association for Nude Recreation… or I tried, at least. (more…)
I just got back from South by Southwest Interactive and despite the nasty weather had an awesome time. I didn’t go to any of the sessions - I didn’t even have a badge 
What I did do was attend all the parties, meetups, and social things I could. There are some awesome people there if you’ve never been - I heard it described by someone online before I got there as “The entire internet in person.” I agree. (more…)
Management is a tricky responsibility. Erica Burnett wrote to me: “There are only two ways in which companies achieve greatness: by tyranny and by teamwork. The former won’t keep the valuable people around for too long — they’ll move on to a better opportunity. But the latter will ensure that people invest themselves in your company and keep it growing.” (more…)
I’ve always been a car guy and last week I headed out to the Dallas Auto Show to check out the new stuff. I grew up in a General Motors family - my dad always drove a GM or Chevy truck and my mom had a Suburban and later an Oldsmobile and a Buick. I’ve always been a fan of domestic cars - I’ve owned a couple Jeeps, a Z-28, and a Trans Am.
It was easy to figure out why the domestic automakers are in such trouble. I was completely unimpressed with the domestic offerings. There was absolutely nothing from the big three (or their sub-brands) that seemed unique, forward thinking, or cool. (more…)
February 7th and 8th I was in Long Beach for the BIL Conference. If you’ve never heard of BIL, it’s a free, open event held alongside TED. If you’ve never heard of TED, it stands for “Technology, Entertainment, and Design,” is very exclusive, very expensive, and brings in some incredibly intelligent people. Anyway, BIL is to TED as BarCamp is to FooCamp. BIL is a chance for people to experience the same caliber of conversation and idea sharing at a fraction of the cost (actually that isn’t true - you can’t divide by zero). Some great people come out for it, both to speak and as regular attendees. (more…)