Saturday, September 20, 2003
Cindy Crawford Quotation
Dr. Phil's book, The Ultimate Weight Solution, has a terrific quotation. He uses it to launch a chapter on being realistic about your weight loss goals and eating habits. Check it out."Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford."
-- Cindy Crawford
Weighing In
Dr. Phil's book is so much about your head and then, about your body. I'm liking it very much. He knows it all starts in your head, your self-esteem, your self-worth, your self-image. I've been doing pretty well for the last few days ... but it's still tough to rein my eating in. I was getting into really sloppy, thoughtless mouth stuffing lately.The book is rated No. 1 on Amazon and costs $18.20. It's $14.99 at COSTCO but you might gain 10 pounds going over there to save money and eating all the nice ladies sample foods.
Sex-Starved? Take The Test
Men's Health Magazine has the following Test Your Marriage quiz in this month's issue. You really might not want to read it:"Find out if you're in a sex-starved relationship by taking this true-or-false quiz:
1. Sex is more work than it is play.
2. Touching always leads to intercourse.
3. Touching takes place only in the bedroom.
4. I no longer look forward to making love.
5. Sex does not give me feelings of connection and sharing.
6. I never have sexual thoughts or fantasies about my partner.
7. Sex is limited to a fixed time, such as Saturday night or Sunday morning.
8. One of us is always the initiator, and the other feels pressure.
9. I look back on premarital sex as the best time.
10. Sex has become mechanical and routine.
11. My partner and I have sex once or twice a month at most.
If you answered "TRUE" to five or more statements or to number 11, or both, you are in a low-sex or no-sex relationship. ..."
I've put my favorite "death-knell" statements in bold above. If you can say TRUE to them, get the heck out of that relationship.
When You're Not Getting Any
Men's Health is at it again with a great piece on sex in marriage. They say that "a whopping 20 million men are stuck in low- or no- sex marriages." This is not good.Check out the piece by Joe Kita in the magazine. I don't think it's on the website yet.
Rich Hometowns
Check out this cool graphic from Forbes where they show the Forbes 400 by hometowns in the US, over eight years or so. Watch Seattle and San Francisco circa 1999, 2000, 2001. Pretty interesting. Can you see where the Walmart Waltons live?Friday, September 19, 2003
Hurricane Parties
Down At The Twist And Shout LyricsMary Chapin Carpenter
Saturday night and the moon is out
I wanna head on over to the Twist and Shout
Find a two-step partner and a Cajun beat
When it lifts me up I'm gonna find my feet
Out in the middle of a big dance floor
When I hear that fiddle wanna beg for more
Gonna dance to a band from a-Lou'sian' tonight
Well I never have wandered down to New Orleans
Never have drifted down a bayou stream
But I heard that music on the radio
And I swore some day I was gonna go
Down Highway 10 past Lafayette
To Baton Rouge and I won't forget
To send you a card with my regrets
'Cause I'm never gonna come back home
(Repeat chorus)
They got a alligator stew and a crawfish pie
A golf storm blowin' into town tonight
Livin on the delta's quite a show
They got hurricane parties every time it blows
And here up north it's a cold cold rain
And there ain't no cure for my blues today
Except when the paper says: Beausoleil is coming into town
Baby let's go down
(Repeat chorus)
Bring your mama, bring your papa, bring your sister too
They got lots of music and lots of room
When they play you a waltz from 1910
You gonna feel a little bit young again
Well you learned to dance with your rock'n'roll
You learned to swing with a do-si-do
But you learn to love at the fais-so-do
When you hear a little Jolie Blon
Was EVERYONE Hanging Out In Cambridge Last Night?
It was a lovely night in Cambridge, not too cool, not too hot, and seemed like a dream to run into all sorts of great people. I'd been to the eye doctor so my eyes were a little weird, but soon shrunk down to normal person size. Adam Green, a new friend to me and an old friend to many was there hanging with me as we got coffee at the Starbuck's near Harvard Law School. My phone rang -- it was my editor at Penthouse -- yes, the story I sold there is finally getting published. I asked the nice girl editor the only thing you could ask an editor at Penthouse, "Hey, honey, what are you wearing?!" I don't think this did much to change Adam's impression of me -- he already knows I'm nuts -- and as for the editor, she just laughed.I'm so excited my story is coming out -- probably around October 27 -- and here's the weird thing. My HBR story came out the day I had eye surgery for my left eye. I've waited a lifetime to publish something and see my name in print and what happens? It appears on the day I actually CAN'T see it ... I did see it later and even better. So guess when I'm having the other eye done -- the same date the Penthouse story is being published. God works in mysterious ways.
The editor told me about the pictures that are running with my story. The story is about a guy on the high-tech conference circuit who does lots of speaking gigs and likes to screw the maids and then feed them the chocolate mints. The picture will be a half-naked maid being fed a chocolate mint, the editor explains. "THAT'S DISGUSTING" I tell her. It's already to keep these dirty thoughts in my mind, but wait a minute, did I miss something, am I a little confused, are those same private thoughts going to be available on glossy paper to the public in a CVS near you?! What was I thinking?! Actually I'm thrilled. I can't tell you how many zillion people have asked me, "Are you putting your NAME on the story?" Shit, yeah! It's a great story and a lot less about blow jobs and a lot more about grief than you might think at first.
So anyway, we finish our coffee, walk out and just about run into Chris Lydon who asks us if we're going to "Blog City" as he refers to Dave Winer's 7PM Thursday event at Berkman. I am but Adam's got other business in town.
There is a cool crew there as we arrive - Michael, Mary, Martin, Brian, Chris, Sun, Jessica for starters -- and Dave does his blogamatic thing, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Jim Moore pops up late from a Dean event at The Charles Hotel. After that, Dan Bricklin pops up who's been hanging Esther Dyson and others at some meeting that's just broken up and so he joins us for post-Berkman dinner. He insists on taking a picture of my new eye. I tell him how fundamental a change this has been for me. Almost scary to see a brand new world that I've NEVER actually seen. The doctor told me I was born with these cataracts and they haven't returned me to good sight like kids have -- because as a kid I never had good sight -- they've returned me to sight I've never experienced on this Earth. In fact, I told Dan, I feel like I've been transported to another planet -- these earthlings are so lucky living in this beautiful place. My old planet wasn't nearly as nice.
I have so publically announced with my new diet I don't eat after 7:00PM or so any more, that I just CAN'T eat as it's now 9:30, so I have a Diet Coke while they eat. Dan takes pix. Later, Adam returns, lets me hitch a ride home to my house in his bright yellow Mini Cooper which is just too swell. Thanks to all for a fun fun night.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Big Eyes
Went to the eye exam today and it looks like my new eye is well! I can swim! I can jump up and down! I can wear mascara!!!!These damned dilation drops make my eyes SO BIG though, hoping they'll soon get smaller. I look like a drug dealer.
I'm writing this on the 2nd floor of the Berkman Center at Harvard Law, actually early for Dave Winer's Thursday evening 7:00 pm blogging class.
BTW 153!
Ugh!The visit to the trainer at the gym yesterday was great. One bit of bad news -- I weighed in at 153! Ugh! Well, you have to start somewhere I guess. She was very nice about it. One mustn't focus on weight she said. Easy to say. :(
Thursday Night Berkman @ Harvard w/Dave
I should be over at Berkman for Dave's session tonight, if my eye exam later today goes well. They have to give me those goofy drops to diliate my pupil so I look like some wacky lemur from the cover of an O'Reilly book. If my eye gets back to normal, see you at Berkman at 7PM.Hey, Dave, is it on tonight? I didn't notice a post come to think of it.
Total Diet Cheater
I ate the worst crap yesterday but I did manage to workout! Big mistake -- go to COSTCO as you suspect Dr. Phil's book will be way cheap there. Hunch was right, it was cheap there. But, going there at lunchtime wasn't a brilliant idea. I mean all those nice little retired ladies offering me free food samples -- you can't be impolite and say no, right?!And then the hotdog with sauerkraut and a Coke for $1.50 is such a good deal -- I couldn't resist. Hebrew National hotdog -- their logo and tagline had me mesmerized as I sat there eating it under their red and yellow kosher umbrella -- "We Answer To A Higher Authority" Sheesh, their hotdogs are like manna from heaven.
Got a little mustard on Dr. Phil's face -- whoops!
Hope Day Two goes better.
Limited Edition
Wow, I got a great response to my Paypal post below. Thanks to all who bought the extremely cool personally autographed copy of Lesson 1 of How To Become An Alpha Male in 18 Lessons. I'm telling you ... one of these days ... you'll get a pretty penny for it on eBay!Meanwhile, I'm limiting the number I do, so I'll only be offering 15 more today. I can't physically get them signed and out the door in a timely manner if I don't limit the number. So while they last -- feel free to click the Paypal button and get your OWN copy!
What a deal! $19.95 for your own personally autographed Halley's Comment original Alpha Male Lesson 1!
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Paypal Onboard -- Wanna Buy?!
Okay, looks like I actually got Paypal up here on my site. Here's my big one-time offer -- you can't get it anywhere else -- and don't tell Gretchen Pirillo! Remember this post? Well, I've got pictures and if you Paypal me $19.95, I'll mail you ... just kidding, just kidding Chris ... I'd never charge so little for that.Actually, I've got a REAL limited time offer. I will mail you a copy of my first chapter of Alpha Male Lesson 1 -- personally autographed -- for only $19.95. Pay the money via Paypal (wanna see if it really works) and email me what you'd like me to write on the page to you, along with your mailing address and I'll send it to you by snail mail. My agent thinks this book is going to really sell -- might be the best investment you ever made!
Back In The Saddle (Sortof) Again
I have been having so much trouble getting back into my workout routine after the foot injury in July and cataract operation in August. I'm really a big spoiled brat in terms of being fit and strong and thin. Once I hurt my foot in early July, it pretty much made my working out grind to a halt and I've gotten flabbier and put on some weight. I hate hate hate it. Just as I finally got back on my feet (or foot, I guess, both feet were actually affected since my good leg had to take on too much pressure and got sore as a result), I had my cataract surgery. To be sure, this went like a dream, very smoothly and little healing required. Still there were a lot of things I wasn't supposed to do. The incision in my eye had to heal -- no swimming for two weeks right off -- and you couldn't bend down from the waist which puts pressure on your eye. Again, sounds like no big deal but it compromises your ability to workout and makes a lot of your usual exercise routine off limits.And so with those restrictions, you get a little squirrely. Not able to run and jump and splash in my usual way, I get frustrated. And then there's the sheer time you need to take to work-out. It's not easy.
Two really hopeful and wonderful things came across the radar yesterday. McDonald's has hired Bob Greene -- Oprah's original diet and exercise coach -- to design and promote good healthy meals there. I know most of you without kids probably never go to McDonald's but with my son, I'm often there and now I'll have a way to eat healthy food there and not blow my diet. I've been eating absolute junk lately. People who knowme know I'm mostly pretty good about eating well and sticking to salmon and broccolli and other good things on a daily basis. They would be shocked to see the crap I've been eating lately.
Also good news is Dr. Phil's new diet book and his campaign to get us all thin again. I know, Rageboy, you detest Dr. Phil and have busily been dragging him through the mud over at EGR Weblog all summer, but hell, give the guy a break. If he helps me get thinner and a few million other people do the same, my hats off to him. Here's a link to the book: The Ultimate Weight Solution -- 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom.
So ... here's what I'm doing ... meeting a trainer at the gym today at 10:00 (and don't say, oh, she's got lots of money and that's easy for her -- not so, besides, you don't need a gym, most of my fitness happens on my living room floor with videotapes, a yoga mat, dumbells for weightlifting) but they give you a few free sessions with a trainer and I'm taking them up on the offer.
I'm going to post my weight, height, goals and everything here. I'm going to TELL ALL about the crap I eat and when I fall off the wagon. I'm going public with it.
I think I'm 150 lbs and 5'8" -- thank god I'm tall, I don't know how short women manage to stay slim -- but let's see what they say at the gym when they weigh me in this morning. At 140, I'm slim and healthy. At 130, (to my mind) I'm anorexic. I'm aiming for 140, but expect to drop 10 lbs over the next 3-4 months. I don't think there's anything smart about losing weight fast -- I don't think it works. I want to get back into making good choices about what and when and why I eat.
One choice I usually make but have broken this summer is -- NO EATING AFTER 7PM. I try to eat a lot in the morning, a good lunch and snacks in the afternoon with a very light dinner and no eating after 7 PM, since I go to bed around 9 - 9:30, believe it or not.
The problem's been lots of nice generous folks taking me out to dinner, often business-related, but that will just put on the pounds like nobody's business. I like breakfast meetings and I'll eat like a pig at breakfast, but I know I have the whole day to burn it off.
Also, I haven't been drinking enough water. Gotta fix that.
Also, no alcohol. Just isn't good, although one glass of red wine now and then is okay. Luckily that's not a big problem for me. What really wrecks me is going out to dinner, eating late, drinking wine -- because, big surprise, in the morning, I don't feel like getting up to workout and that can throw my routine off for a few days. If I don't work out for a few days, I don't want to get back into the groove for a week sometimes and then WHEN I get back to it, my strength and fitness has really fallen off and it's a big drag to try to get back to the level you were at.
I'll stop whining and complaining and get on with it. There's one good thing I do to keep fit that always works -- Rageboy, you'd even go for it -- turn on some music and dance. Dance, dance, dance. I'll put on Dancing Girl by ABBA this morning and go shake my moneymaker.
Leather Egg
Guess Leather Egg is on hiatus. Don't miss this quote. I don't think I agree with the stupid part, but I do agree with the standing still part.
Something Beautiful For Our Children
Dave is on to something here. Important to remember this, though it's tough as a parent when so many things can get in the way, to remember how to simply cherish, love and nurture our children, without getting in their way.
No More Freedom Fries
What!? Sacre Bleu!? We've decided to stop bashing the French because we need their help. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Now This Is A Cool Zagat's Guide!
How about this for a handy pocket Zagat's Guide -- all the WIFI you can eat.
Are Geeks Chic?
Oh, come on. Everyone knows the answer to that!CNBC is doing a piece this afternoon on it -- really hard to figure out.
Okay, here's the answer:
1. Chic is French for cool, sexy, hot, call it what you will;
2. To be chic you must be sexy;
3. The biggest sex organ is the brain;
4. Geeks got big big brains from what I've seen;
5. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, baby, ... yes ... yeah, sure, you can do it again;
6. OF COURSE, GEEKS ARE CHIC, DUH.
All right, I'll go see if they come to the same conclusion.
HBR Case Study Synopsis -- Glove Girl
Getting ready to do a write-up about my presentation at BloggerCon at Harvard Law's Berkman Center on October 5th. Here's the brief abstract version of the piece I wrote which I'll be talking about. I'll be discussing a lot more than this, in fact.As some of you may know, it has been posted in full text on the web elsewhere, although HBR asked that it NOT be posted. They did say I can post this executive summary below:
"It was five minutes before show time, and only 15 people had wandered into the conference room to hear Lancaster-Webb CEO Will Somerset introduce the company's latest line of surgical gloves. More important, sales prospect Samuel Taylor, medical director of the Houston Clinic, had failed to show. Will walked out of the ballroom to steady his nerves and noticed a spillover crowd down the hall. He made a "What's up?" gesture to Judy Chen, Lancaster-Webb's communications chief. She came over to him. "It's Glove Girl. You know, the blogger," Judy said, as if this explained anything. "I think she may have stolen your crowd." "Who is she?" Will asked. Glove Girl was a factory worker at Lancaster-Webb, whose always outspoken, often informative postings on her web log had developed quite a following. Will was new to the world of blogging, but he quickly learned about its power in a briefing with his staff. After Glove Girl had raved about Lancaster-Webb's older SteriTouch disposable gloves, orders had surged. More recently, though, Glove Girl had questioned the Houston Clinic's business practices, posting damaging information at her site about its rate of cesarean deliveries--to Sam Taylor's consternation. This fictional case study considers the question of whether a highly credible, but sometimes inaccurate and often indiscreet, online diarist is more of a liability than an asset to her employer. What, if anything, should Will do about Glove Girl? Four commentators--David Weinberger, author of Small Pieces Loosely Joined; Pamela Samuelson, a professor of law and information management at the University of California, Berkeley; Ray Ozzie, CEO and chairman of Groove Networks; and Erin Motameni, vice-president of human resources at EMC--offer expert advice. "
Dick And Bush!?
Wow, word comes from David Weinberger this morning ... after I characterized his blog as "solid and deeply thought-out" that there's lots of sexy stuff there, I just need to look more closely. Well, yes I guess he's right, try this -- he used the words dick and bush. Very hot.
More New Fun Please
I was thinking about blogs I read on a regular basis and why I return to visit them again and again. Many people have documented this, but weblogs that publish a lot of posts win out over those which are more modest in posting new content.If the experience of reading a good weblog post is fun, consumers of such seem to be saying, "More new fun, please." A good blog is like the new pop song of the band who just had a monster hit. You want a new song, but you want it to be as hot and hummable and danceable as their last.
If I go back a number of times -- say 3 -- to see if there are new fun posts and there are not, I ususally move on to a blog that publishes more stuff. I want more new fun, more and more and more of it.
Even if there's not that much fun to a site but it's full of new content each time I visit, I want to go back again and again.
Blogs are developing brand experiences for sure. The best blogs deliver a predicable and familiar experience -- like Diet Coke -- you don't want to open a can and find Fresca inside. You want to have the consistency of a good brand, but new content as well.
You know when you go to Doc's blog you will be probably going on some great trip of his -- whether it be a Geek Cruise to Alaska or a trip to the roof with his son to look at the stars. You'll get into Linux, you'll learn about computers, you'll feel happy and content like Doc feels.
You know when you go to Rageboy's blog, you're likely to get some insanely funny, sexy, irreverant shit. That's why you go. He is especially disappointing when he hasn't been blogging on a regular basis, because when he's good when he's on it -- he's so damned good -- and when he's not around, it's a big drag.
With JOHO, you get a little more solid and deeply thought out stuff to engage your philosophical side, but laced with pretty amusing craziness every 4 or 5 posts.
When you go to Scripting, you expect funny anecdotes, industry goings on, a little crankiness, a little wisdom, a front row seat to the Blogosphere.
When you go to Gnome Girl, you get ... well, you know, indescribably delicious. Love you Chey!
Doc Is Having Quite An Adventure
Wow! Wish I were in Alaska with Doc to have drinks at that lovely hotel in Juneau. I'm fine, on the other hand, with missing the rough seas on the cruise ship he's on. Check out the picture of the swimming pool on board -- splish splash! Reminds me of what happens to the toilet during earthquakes when I used to live in California.
How Much Love Do We Need?
I was wandering around blogs here in my early morning fogginess -- it's like walking a wide empty silent beach of wonderful cool wet sand some mornings before dawn -- and all the questions, big and deep, can surface. Who made the ocean? Who made the sun? Why are we here? How do we give love? How do we receive it? How much love do we need? I skip a rock across the blog ocean -- it skips three pretty times across the waves, and comes to rest below the surface of a blog. Looks as if I've landed on some geek's blog who loves computers and just had a birthday, who is he anyway?Reading a blog I've never read by a young man I'll probably never know. He describes his birthday, he's 34 and there is someone wonderful in his life named Erin who gets up early to make him waffles with strawberries and whipped cream and she gives him a shank router bit combo -- I don't know what the heck it is -- but Erin knew he really really wanted one. And I don't need to know much more than that to know this is a lucky man.
Wonderful to have people to care for -- Erin you're lucky too. And wonderful to be cared for. Wonderful to matter. Does it seem a small thing? It isn't. We build a web of context in our lives, sometimes very small with just a few people who wonder if you got in late at night, safe and sound and call to check. People to love you and miss you. We need that. If you do that for someone, don't underestimate how important that is. You've done something wonderful. You've answered my question -- how much love do we need? We all need a little and we all need a lot and we all need to give it to one another.
In his blog, this young man talks about his love of singing Latin. I love Latin too. Read what he says.
I miss singing latin in a way I don't miss German or Italian or French (especially French). Maybe it's the sonorities, or maybe it's the historical weight of knowing these words have been sung by millions for millennia, but there's a certain clarity when singing latin that calms the soul and smoothes the mind.
The only dead language that will live forever. Deservedly.
Click here for an MP3 of the song.
Ubi Caritas et Amor Deus ibi est
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exultemus et in ipso jucundemur.
Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
Ubi Caritas et Amor Deus ibi est.
Amen.
Amen.
Where charity and love are, there is God.
The love of Christ has brought us together into one.
Let us rejoice and be glad in that love itself.
Let us fear and love the living God and let us love from a pure heart.
Where charity and love are, there is God.
Amen.
Happy Birthday Jason Young. Young, but not so young, and wise beyond your years.
Monday, September 15, 2003
September Honor Roll Blogger For Today -- Jean-Yves
Jean-Yves Stervinou -- who else?! He is just plain cool. Salut mon vieux! T'es chouette, JY!
And These Girls Are Very Bad Girls
Honestly, what are these girls staying up late doing prancing around in their panties at the Panty Shop. Don't they know this is the Internet?! You can't do those kinds of crazy things around here!
Remind Me Why They Call These Girls Angels
I think I've forgotten. They seem a little more devilish than angelic, if you ask me.
My Lucky Day
One of the luckiest things I ever did was decide to ditch work one day and watch Oprah. She had her book club pick on that day and I decided to read it for no good reason. In fact I was just starting my business and had every good reason to read a lot of other work-related books, not a novel. But I decided to go ahead and read Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune.After I read it, I decided to write a letter to Oprah about how much I loved it -- because I really did -- and my mom always encouraged me to try everything -- my dad too. So I sat my butt down and wrote her a letter.
They got somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 letters. They invited 4 people on the show. I was one!!! I was so excited! I was working with authors, agents and publishers at the time and a number of them asked me what strings I pulled to get on the show -- NONE -- it really was sheer luck. And I've always been a good letter writer.
Here's my letter. My kid was just going into kindergarten around that time and boy was it a treat to be flown to Chicago from LA and have a two-day mom R&R break at the all-suites Omni Hotel in Chicago where Oprah puts all her guests!
And talk about someone who knows how to turn bad luck into good luck, read Isabel Allende's words here.
Lucky Bastards!
Yes, we're pretty darned lucky, ain't we?! I always feel lucky. Now there's a book to explain why. This is from Richard Wiseman's The Luck Factor: Changing Your Luck, Changing Your Life, The Four Essential Principles.1. Maximize Chance Opportunities
Lucky people are skilled at creating, noticing, and acting upon chance opportunities. They do this in various ways, which include building and maintaining a strong network, adopting a relaxed attitude to life, and being open to new experiences.
2. Listen to Your Lucky Hunches
Lucky people make effective decisions by listening to their intuition and gut feelings. They also take steps to actively boost their intuitive abilities -- for example, by meditating and clearing their mind of other thoughts.
3. Expect Good Fortune
Lucky people are certain that the future will be bright. Over time, that expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because it helps lucky people persist in the face of failure and positively shapes their interactions with other people.
4. Turn Bad Luck Into Good
Lucky people employ various psychological techniques to cope with, and even thrive upon, the ill fortune that comes their way. For example, they spontaneously imagine how things could have been worse, they don't dwell on the ill fortune, and they take control of the situation.
Just A Little Joke
Below I did a post about Dan Pink's review of Richard Wiseman's book The Luck Factor: Changing Your Luck, Changing Your Life: The Four Essential Principles.When Wiseman wasn't busy writing, he was searching for the world's funniest joke. According to Dan Pink in Fast Company, Wiseman tested 350,000 people for their reactions to 40,000 jokes. Here the winner:
"Two New Jersey hunters go hunting. After a while, one of the hunters clutches his throat and falls to the ground, his eyes roll back, and he's lying there motionless. The other one picks up a cell phone, dials 911, and says, "I think my friend is dead! I don't know what to do!" And the operator says, "Just relax. Calm down. The first thing to do is to make certain your friend is dead." There's a pause -- then a gunshot. And the hunter gets back on the phone and says, "Okay. Now what?"
Good Luck
Dan Pink wrote this fun piece about Richard Wiseman's book, The Luck Factor: Changing Your Luck, Changing Your Life: The Four Essential Principles in Fast Company this July, which I never got a chance to read.Read the quote below to give you an idea of what Wiseman came up with. BTW, I love this stuff because I'm such a lucky, upbeat, optimistic person -- I'm VERY biased on this subject.
"Wiseman's four principles turn out to be slightly more polished renditions of some of the self-help canon's greatest hits. One thing Wiseman discovered, for example, was that when things go awry, the lucky "turn bad luck into good" by seeing how they can squeeze some benefit from the misfortune. (Lemonade, anyone?) The lucky also "expect good fortune," which no doubt has Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking , grinning in his grave.
But if these insights aren't exactly groundbreaking, neither are they wrongheaded. For instance, Wiseman found that lucky people are particularly open to possibility. Why do some people always seem to find fortune? It's not dumb luck. Unlike everyone else, they see it. "Most people are just not open to what's around them," Wiseman says. "That's the key to it."
Here's the link to the whole interview with Wiseman, check it out.
I'm a terrible Pollyanna and have had bad things happen that I always seem able to put a good spin on -- it gets almost tedious for some people around me. Screw 'em! I see the good in most situations and almost always see the good in most people.
Listen to this funny experiment Richard Wiseman describes in the interview:
"We did an experiment. We asked subjects to flip through a news-paper that had photographs in it. All they had to do was count the number of photographs. That's it. Luck wasn't on their minds, just some silly task. They'd go through, and after about three pages, there'd be a massive half-page advert saying, STOP COUNTING. THERE ARE 43 PHOTOGRAPHS IN THIS NEWSPAPER. It was next to a photo, so we knew they were looking at that area. A few pages later, there was another massive advert -- I mean, we're talking big -- that said, STOP COUNTING. TELL THE EXPERIMENTER YOU'VE SEEN THIS AND WIN 150 POUNDS [about $235].
For the most part, the unlucky would just flip past these things. Lucky people would flip through and laugh and say, "There are 43 photos. That's what it says. Do you want me to bother counting?" We'd say, "Yeah, carry on." They'd flip some more and say, "Do I get my 150 pounds?" Most of the unlucky people didn't notice."
What's Up With Work?
I remember reading Dan Pink's Free Agent Nation and also hearing Tom Peters speak about the evolution that was taking place with work and in particular white-collar jobs, circa 1999 and thinking they were getting a little ahead of themselves. They made you think there would be a phenomenal downturn and more and more people would be either out of work, or working on their own.Boy were they right. And yes, the economy and 9/11 have had a lot to do with how many jobs have been lost, but now that we reconsider it, you might say they were being conservative!
So what have THEY been working on? Well, looks like both of them are about to publish new books. Tom Peters new book is almost out -- called Re-Imagine! -- and I can't wait to take a look at it, literally. Since it's published by those great VISUAL British publishers DK, it's bound to be gorgeous to look at as well as read. DK is short for Dorling Kindersley, and since they do great kids books, I always think of them as Darling Kindergarteners. But this will be a big grown-up book I'm sure.
And Dan Pink's doing a book called A Whole New Mind -- the Right Brain Revolution by Riverhead Press out in 2004.
Write, write, write, edit, edit, edit guys.
September Blogger's Honor Roll -- Today's Winner
Believe it or not this is getting tough because I've met SO MANY OF YOU GUYS. When I started this, I decided NOT to pick people I'd already met, so that meant a ton or so of bloggers were out of the race right away.Meanwhile, I've thought of two or three I wanted to honor today and darned if they're not all away on vacation. Interesting fact, many bloggers seem to vacation in September -- a very good idea if you ask me, but it's messing me up since I try to pick bloggers who are at the ready -- at their desks or desktops -- to be honored.
All that said, today's winner is coming soon. Keep your eyes peeled.
Sorry J-Lo
Yes, it's true -- it was all Glove Girl's fault. She broke them up. Glove Girl was seen at the Ivy last night with Ben Affleck helping him drown his sorrows. You know he's a Boston boy ... it was inevitable. He likes girls from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts like Glove Girl. No contest. Come on, J-Lo, you saw Good Will Hunting, you can take the boy out of Boston, but you can't take the "Bahston" out of the boy.
Rainy Monday
Yeah, right, great idea. What genius came up with that concept?Sunday, September 14, 2003
Blogfather Says, Leave The Guns, Take The Cannoli
Rageboy is talking about Blogfodder today, but I gotta wonder ... is he the Blogfather? Do I have to kiss his ring? He's doing cool stuff over there at his fishy weblog.
Sunday Afternoon Papers, Coffee, Tea, Movies, Rain
Nice day to do nothing and nothing much to do. Weather's funky, papers are thick, tea is good -- black and green -- also coffee in blue willowware cups, Chinese people walking about under weeping trees and rain to keep us straying too far from home.I'll look for a movie on the 532 cable channels I have and never watch. Might even find one that's just starting, instead of watching the movie from the middle to the end and then the beginning to the middle. Later when people ask if I've seen it, my face gets wrinkly, "Well ..." I say, "yes," all the time knowing I watched it inside out.
Some days like this I feel just like a grown-up -- kindof modern, mysterious, mature -- at least for a few minutes. And then I feel like I always feel -- about age 12, ready for another adventure, not sure what's coming my way, full of spit and vinegar, tempting fate, laughing at most everything and everyone.
You know, I really sound like this in my own head. Weird, eh?