Saturday, December 15, 2007

I want to go to work

When I say I'm going to work on the weekends, people look at me as if a puppy died. When I say I want to go to work, because I have an obligation to finish what I committed to, the expression changes from sympathy to skepticism.

You may think I'm crazy, and it's true, I like my free time as much as the next guy, but I think what's important to this story is my sense of duty. If I don't do the things I say I'll do, if I don't be the person I say I am, then I'm nobody.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Invention

When I was in elementary school, there was a contest, Invent America! (yes, with the stupid exclamation mark just like Yahoo!, only Yahoo! wasn't around then). It was a sweet contest. The challenge: Solve a problem with an invention. My first year I came up with a table that you load up with all the plates and silverware. It was an "[Alr]eady Set Table", no need to get the dishes from various places throughout the kitchen. The task of setting the table was eliminated. It was brilliant. And the cool part is you have to make it. So I got some wood working bonding time in with my dad.

I think that was 3rd grade. Between 4th and 5th grade I made a floating chess set with magnetic pieces (a product I later saw in a Sky Mall magazine), a trash can that attached to your belt so you could throw stuff away at any moment, a zip line for garbage bags to take your trash to the curb... I was brilliant.

I've been thinking I want that for the kids here, but maybe on an older scale. Imagine the same contest, but for high schoolers. And throughout the contest have people in from the patent office, or bring in a venture capitalist, or an angel, a lawyer to talk about legal ramifications/insurance, and maybe a marketing guy. Maybe hook them up with college kids who can draw their stuff up in CAD and crank it out in a CNC machine, or crank out a program that makes a sweet web site.

Maybe make it a summer program... at the library? Hmmm.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Self: Too Low Maintenance?

I was listening to the [not so great] DJ's of Sunny 107.7 FM and they were reading Cosmo's tips for the month. One of the tips was "Don't be too low maintenance." The follow up went a totally different [and vapid] direction, but it got me thinking.

I thought the point they were going to make was that people need to feel needed in a relationship. I think in a relationship I've learned to do many things well, but one thing I do not do well is let others know I need them. I know I want to feel needed, appreciated, but I don't do it well myself. I want to correct this without going overboard and becoming a needy wet nap of a person.

The Little Things

I told her I don't like talking on the phone, so Melanie sends me text messages. It's the little things that can make a big difference.