Ward Bulletin

Does anybody else get bored sometimes with the way Ward bulletins look? Here's my concept.

Braille the World

One of my favorite authors once described the wonder and curiosity of young children in a very memorable way: young children "braille" the world. They touch bark, put blocks in their mouths, and curl up to anything soft and warm. When was the last time you brailled something?

Supersize Me

I finally got around to watching the world-changing documentary Super Size Me. For those of you unfamiliar with the film, a man named Morgan Spurlock decides to eat a McDonald's-only diet for one month.  It's fascinating to watch his physical and mental transformation as the unhealthy food takes its toll on his body.

Watch it free online: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/super_size_me/

And, on a slightly twisted note, I'm really craving McDonald's. But I'm going to resist the urge and cook some of the organic food I bought after going on my Born to Run and Michael Pollan kick.

I'll take "Rhymes with -ineapple" for $1000, Alex

Thanks again Anita!

Posterous

I found the site posterous.com and thought it was a fun idea. Check it out.

Feeling Democratic

I'm happy to report that I voted this morning in the Massachusetts special election to fill the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. It's not the ideal election day - we were greeted by snow and ice - but luckily, my precinct votes at the public library only three blocks away from my house.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703837004575012721465325974.html

in case you were wondering...

I sold the footstool.

Food Rules

Food is fascinating, and has become an increasingly familiar topic of conversation. Michael Pollan has been one of the loudest voices in the debates. At the recommendation of a friend, I picked up a copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma when I saw it at DI. About 30 pages in, I put it down and never picked it up again. That was almost 2 years ago. Well, I've got news for you - Pollan's back.

His new book, entitled Food Rules, isn't a book in the sense of the others he's published. It contains easy-to-remember instructions on what to eat and what to avoid, such as “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” and “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.”

The WebMD article also brings up a great point which Pollan addresses - there is always an "evil nutrient" and a "blessed nutrient," but you should ignore those. This is particularly timely for me because after reading Born to Run I've been tempted to order a bunch of chia and pinole online. Guess I won't be doing that.

I'm picking up this book today at Barnes and Noble during lunch. It's $11. I'll let you know how it is. Both the articles below are fun and informative.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/michael-pollan-offers-64-ways-to-eat-food/
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20090323/7-rules-for-eating

Without Limits

On Monday night I went upstairs to grab a movie to lend to a co-worker and my eye fell on "Without Limits", a movie about the life of Steve Prefontaine. If you ran cross country or track in High School, you know it. It's the classic yet tragic story of a running superstar.

I got the DVD for free, but never watched it. The last time I saw the movie was in High School at a Carbofest before a big meet.

Impulsively, I threw the DVD in and started watching. Wow. It makes you want to go outside and run (a feat which would be much easier if it were spring, not winter). Watch it. Pre was very quotable.

Here Kitty Kitty

Eerily realistic, yet ridiculously funny.

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/cgi-bin/seigmiaow.pl

Resolutions? Not exactly...

Jim Collins, author of the bestselling books Built to Last and Good to Great, wrote a great piece in 2003 about his best New Years Resolution ever - a "Stop Doing" list.

The genesis of the "Stop Doing" list is the following hypothetical scenario:

"Suppose you woke up tomorrow and received two phone calls. The first phone call tells you that you have inherited $20 million, no strings attached. The second tells you that you have an incurable and terminal disease, and you have no more than 10 years to live. What would you do differently, and, in particular, what would you stop doing?"

http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/best-new-years.html

Why Giving Matters

If you haven't read this article yet, you need to. Alternatively, listen to the speech at BYU Broadcasting.

http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2441

What prompted this post? Intersting story. I have 101 points (each point is worth $1) on a corporate perks website. I wanted to convert those points to cash, but in order to do so, one must upgrade their account ($XX per year). I've had the points for months and occasionally browsed to see what I could buy online with them, but always finished thinking I would be better off just upgrading, transferring the points to PayPal, and walking off with the remainder.


Yesterday I went back to the site and saw that they were offering a free 14-day trial upgrade. I signed up and tried to transfer the points. It didn't work. I contacted the Customer Support. I got an email this morning telling me to try again. It worked.


So I saved the $XX upgrade fee (although there was still a $5 transfer fee.) Then I read the article about Haiti and donated the $XX I saved (I was willing to spend it anyway, so I might as well give it to people who need it more). As I was relating the whole saga to two co-workers, they told me I was very different (I think that's a nice way of saying weird).


I sent them the Why Giving Matters article and told them to read it.

Help for Haiti

It wasn't until I read the book Mountains Beyond Mountains that I knew much of anything about Haiti. However, the descriptions in the book opened my heart in compassion for those people. As many of you have already read or seen, there was a devastating earthquake in Haiti yesterday. Thousands are dead and missing, and much of the infrastructure was destroyed.

An already impoverished nation is now facing an enormous crisis. My first reaction was an impulse to help in some way, and the first organization I thought of was Partners In Health. They produce results. I trust them to use any money they receive in a responsible way which will provide the help needed to those who suffer.

Please donate. Skip lunch today. Skip lunch this week. Don't go see Avatar for the 3rd time. A little money from a lot of people is a lot of money.

https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/haiti_earthquake?source=earthquake&subsource=homepage

Read more about the Haiti disaster:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.earthquake/index.html

And, on that note, the Partners in Health homepage had a link to a forum held at Dartmouth where Paul Farmer, Jim Yong Kim, Ophelia Dahl, and Carol Folt discuss Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains. I haven't watched it yet, as it's an hour and a half long. I would, however, love to hear their opinion of the way events were depicted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs0w1e_Z_LU

Netflix by Zip Code

This interactive map is fascinating, and makes a lot of logical sense as well. Who's ordering what, where? How do you fit with your zip code? I've seen only 2 of the 10.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/10/nyregion/20100110-netflix-map.html

The Lost Art of Footstools

I've been posting a footstool for sale on Craigslist for several weeks now without much luck. It came with the couch I bought but doesn't really fit well in our living room. It's been blocking the hallway to the back porch for months now. Time to go.

The first ad only got one Nigerian guy wanting to send me money via Western Union.

The second ad didn't get any responses.

I tried something different with the third ad and got a response within an hour.

"It is a simple statement of fact that everybody loves footstools. The entire recliner industry evolved around the love of footstools, but was geared at people who weren't classy enough to actually own a footstool. This is your chance! Leave the horde of reclining sops and join the footstool movement! Let's take back the industry!! Show people that you're so proud of your footrest, you want to be able to see it even when you're not using it.

The elegant black leather cover says wonders about your personality. You're clearly refined and cultured, yet not overly showy. You enjoy kicking back and contemplating your many accomplishments. Although brown was an option, you found it too rustic. And although tan was an option, you found it too 1990's. Black is timeless. Black is the new black.

The steel base and legs hearken back to the industrial age. Images of Ayn Rand's masterpiece The Fountainhead come to mind as Howard Roark's unique architectural style is embodied in this classic household item.

Act now! Limit one per household."

Need a footstool?

I am finally as technologically advanced as my Mom

Thank you Kevin. I am now the owner of a Bluetooth headset. It's a real shocker, I know. But, like everything else in my life, I can explain.

Obviously, the whole hands-free movement makes a lot of sense. It's much safer while driving, it saves your arm muscles, it allows you to multi-task, etc. And it's not that I've been oblivious to these facts all these years, because I haven't. In fact, I used to have one of those old-school wired headsets the plugged into my cell phone, but it died while I was driving out to Boston. So why has it taken me so long to get a Bluetooth?

I tried. I ordered one of those Aliph Jawbone 2 headsets, but when it arrived, it was broken. I returned it, and then launched into a long battle with the website to get my money back. It wasn't until I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau that they cut me a check for a full refund, including shipping.

Things like that really kill your momentum. I researched, I got excited about something, made the purchase, and then I ran straight into a brick wall.

But, I knew I needed one. So I read the CNET review of tons of headsets and picked one that wasn't too expensive but functioned pretty well - the Motorola H17. I've been happy so far.

A few words about Bluetooth etiquitte - nobody likes the guy who walks around with their Bluetooth in their ear all day (although that is slightly less annoying than the people who have those earbuds with a microphone built in). Take it off when you're not using it.

I had a boss who always wore his Aliph Jawbone 1, and we called him "Bluetooth" behind his back. We also had a pool going for whoever could knock the Bluetooth off his ear. Don't be that guy.

Start the New Year off Right

Two books you'll love:

Made to Stick by Dan Heath and Chip Heath

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Like Statistics? Read This

Ryan sent this to me, and I found it fascinating. Don't let the length of the article dissuade you from reading it.

Those of you who know me also know that I would rather clean the bathroom than watch basketball on tv, but although this is a basketball article, you don't have to like sports to read it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1

M-M-My Poker Face M-My Poker Face

This is why I love having creative friends. Chris, Patrick, Matt, and Chris put together an incredible New Years Eve casino night. The theme? Vegas in the 70's...

I spent most of the night at the Blackjack table and quadrupled my money. At the stroke of midnight we had Martinelli's in plastic champagne glasses and made NOISE! It was a blast. The icing on the cake was that my cousin Robert and friend Terence (with his new bride Kierston) came too.

Casino Night definitely goes down on the list of best New Years ever.

Meet the Griswold's

I saw it with my own eyes.

Music? Check. Spoken Word? Check.