Category: Thoughts

Week’s highlights

by MAÔ, posted in Social

Some of the interesting things I came across this week:

  • Social network gaming. How gaming has become the go-to place for people to connect, taking the place of social networks, or at least supplementing them.
  • Make me Smart on Alexa – courtesy of APM’s Marketplace. One of my favorite radio programs on NPR is Marketplace, and I’ve been listening since first getting into the public radio scene in 2007. This new feature for Alexa smart speakers is wonderful to have.
  • It’s good to be the dumbest guy in the room. Robert Kiyosaki wrote in Rich Dad, Poor Dad something along the line of “a successful business person will hire people smarter than themself.” This is basically the same concept, and it’s one I often find myself thinking about. Coming across this during the week was apt timing…
  • How hangovers started Brunch. Just for fun. Subsequently, this caused my rant on avocado toast.

Avocado toast

by MAÔ, posted in Social

Just a quick rant…

Where in the hell did avocado toast come from, and why is it suddenly so in vogue? It’s bread, toasted, with a slice of avocado on it. It’s fatty oils, and carbs. Avocado toast.

Yet, it’s representing a whole segment of millennial dining culture. Toast, and avocado.

Perhaps I just don’t get it.

Dreaming dangerously

by MAÔ, posted in Advice, Mountain

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. ~ T. E. Lawrence

A dream is a powerful tool, and one which, if fully invested in, will transform the lives of all who come in contact with the dreamer. The greatest results come from a full and unwavering commitment to the dream – I think of those who dedicated their lives to the pursuit of one thing (or at least a specific track) and climbed their way to that mountain.

Many books have been published on the subject, such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, or Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins. The fact is, the mind is the greatest resource we possess, and learning to harness it is a challenge. Especially in the world of cluttered lives and information overload that we inhabit.

Think on your one thing. Meditate. Maybe it’s more than one thing. That’s okay. Find your focus, and make forward motion.

Deleted content

by MAÔ, posted in Writing

While updating some posts on my phone, I thumbpressed trash rather than update on a post. So everything I’d scribed was now lost. No big deal, as it’s only one post a was just a few paragraphs. But it is an annoyance.

One downside to the digital world is the likelihood of deletion of content. When you consider how hard it is to delete handwriting from notebooks, it certainly gives that column a plus. However, it’s much more difficult to disseminate notebooks than it is a blog.

Week’s highlights

by MAÔ, posted in Social

Some of the things that caught my interest this week:

  • Brain Pickings – My Heart. The openness and closedness of a heart is one of those things I’ve pondered for several years. Long before the emotional breakdown in 2016. This children’s poem beautifully covers the spectrum of heart acrobatics in a sparse way.
  • A throwback to The OC. In this interview with Olivia Wilde she chats about the perceptions of including a queer character on the early 2000s pop culture juggernaut. (I still own the series on DVD).
  • Pollution is a problem in our National Parks. I’ve only recently begun exploring the outdoors – last three or so years. So the National Parks have grown in my purview, and I even entertained becoming a park ranger for a time. Caring for our natural resources, and the places we’ve set aside to visit the wilds, is of crucial importance.
  • Booming Broadway. The NYTimes reports, spoiler alert, another record year for performances on the Great White Way.

Effective management

by MAÔ, posted in Work

What does a manager do? How does one motivate employees? When does a supervisor make the leap into leadership. These eight steps are hallmarks of leaders:

  • They asked, “What needs to be done?”
  • They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”
  • They developed action plans.
  • They took responsibility for decisions.
  • They took responsibility for communicating.
  • They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.
  • They ran productive meetings.
  • They thought and said “we” rather than “I.”

Making space

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

Everything we do is a matter of finite resources. Some things may be abundant, and others may be scarce – but nothing is infinite.

To allow room into our lives for new possibilities, we must be willing to make room for them. That means not overextending our time, not collecting more than we need, and not encumbering ourselves merely to fill a void.

Music consumption

by MAÔ, posted in Radio

Driving from a to b one day, I was thinking about the radio. I’ve had satellite radio for about a year, mostly to listen to Symphony Hall, Metropolitan Opera, and Broadway, but it isn’t a necessity. Early on, there was just wireless telegraphy. Over a century of radio broadcasting, with the first 60 years shaping the nature of music and entertainment.

Then it started to change. The take-home market, bootlegs, and audio recording devices for personal use. Not a phonograph, but cassette. As the size of data decreased, the ease of consumption increased. Now, thousands of songs are instantly available from the phone you’re carrying, likely hooked up to your Bluetooth in the car. Not thousands. Not millions. Every song ever recorded is virtually accessible in some way through most mobile devices. Not needing to carry cassettes, or cds, your tastes can expand, but your curatorial sense may be reduced.

We rarely listen to complete albums any more, so maybe we miss gems from our favorite artists. But we’re constantly exposed to new artists, ones we may have missed otherwise. As in all other arenas of modernity, it’s a trade-off we’re still learning to come to terms with.

Memorial Day

by MAÔ, posted in Social

Today we pause and think on those who came before. Those who gave their all to make a difference.

Sometimes I wonder if the mentality has changed, and what do memorials mean to people. A few years ago I was touring Auschwitz, and the cold bleakness of the grounds stands as memorial to those who lost their lives there. I remember thinking how unimpressive it looked, and yet it stays with me. In its unassuming way, it burrowed into my mind and makes me think about the decisions I make.

I believe that is the missing element of memorial – that we don’t let what it means change us. We nod, give thanks, and say a well-wish one day of the year, but the other days we go about unchanged. Memorials stand for something bigger than itself, as Memorial Day stands for something bigger. To let it change you should be the intention for the day, and to maintain that change throughout the year.

Last week

by MAÔ, posted in Work

Last week was a hard one. It never seemed to coalesce into something resembling free time. It was two days of training, followed by three 11-hour workdays. After a weekend that was filled with more work, volunteering, and an awards banquet, I didn’t have a chance to work on much actual work – the creative stuff.

I’m looking at my spreadsheet, and realizing that I need to be better. But, we all have that week sometimes, when nothing seems to go the way it’s planned. So pick it up, brush it off, and start over. Now is better than later.