Yesterday my absentee ballot arrived in the mail; a reminder the US elections are only 17 1/2 days a way. 

Before technology became my passion, I lived and breathed politics and political campaigns, 24×7.   I was a paid campaign staff member for two presidential, two congressional, and two state representative races in states which included North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Oregon.  I originally moved to Washington state to work to work as a fundraising consultant for a long ago gubernatorial race.   Sandwiched inbetween was two awesome years working for U.S. Congressman Mike Synar, in his DC office.  

Despite my sitting out the 1992 Presidential campaign, I knew and/or had worked with a number of the folks featured in the documentary “The War Room.”  Instead that year I put in 70 - 80 hour weeks working for one of the top campaign media consulting firms; which was a great experience but not one I’ve ever wanted to repeat.  I am still thankful while in that role I was part of Synar’s media consulting team for his last winning U.S. Congressional race.  Mike was an amazing person; it would have been too heart breaking to have been in the trenches for his last campaign.

Eventually all things must end.  One day I hit my limit for being a professional hack; and that was it - I was done.  Now I’m a politician’s worst nightmare.  Some years I vote, some years I don’t. 

I’m definitely voting this year.  In four years John McCain will be 76 years old -  and Sarah Palin is scary.  VERY scary.  I wouldn’t want her as my next door neighbor; or as our President. 

So - while I think Obama is a flawed candidate, this weekend I’m casting my ballot for Barack Obama.  Plus, my friends overseas, as well as my friend John, a permanent resident of  US who has paid US taxes for 13 years but still carries a UK passport are all counting on me to vote in this election since Sarah Palin is even scarier to them. 

I wish I could vote for Darcy Burner but unfortunately I’m just inside the 1st Congressional District, and just outside the 8th.  Damn.

Tonja, Douwe, John  - and Mark -  I won’t let you down.

Obama 08

Serendipity occurs when one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.

The good and the bad of internet surfing - and also of life -  is unless one is very regimented while searching - and so it too easy to choose a few links/forks and then end up someplace totally different than where I originally meant to be.

Sometimes I end find and/or learn amazing new things that way; and if the destination isn’t that worthwhile or intriguing, I can usually find my way back to my original starting point, and then try again.

I’m lucky to work from home several days a week; during which I often have my iTunes running on my laptop.  Friday I listened via iTunes to several versions of the song “You Remind Me of Home.”

It’s a song with quirky lyrics; and out of curiousity I did a quick websearch on it.  I was surprised to learn that song wasn’t written by Ben Gibbard or anyone else in Death Cab for Cutie, but by Sam Kinison, former preacher and then comedian. 

Wow.  I remember Sam Kinison doing his comedy bits, long haired and wild eyed as he reeled off bitingly sharp and funny sacrilegious shots at Christianity, and also famous then-current Christian evangelist scandals. (Jim and Tammi Bakker, anyone?)

Kinison’s wikipedia entry concludes with the unattributed quote on his tombstone - “In another time and place he would have been called prophet” - and when I read that quote I knew immediately that was the prize, and would be a starting point for me for a short story, maybe even a book - something.  And - sooner or later - it will.

More than a few people who are very important to me came into my life through serendipity as well.  Sometimes it took me - and them as well - a while to realize this was a fortunate event as it wasn’t always apparent at the start <G>.

Hindsight is always 20-20, including choices made during research, web surfing, and life;  and like many things, timing and circumstances may help define what is a serendipitous find to one person is not necessarily one to someone else.

I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be. 

- Douglas Adams

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.

- Douglas Adams

“If you aren’t pissing someone off you are not trying hard enough.”

“I got tired of mediocrity years ago, so I will leave you to it?”

This one she credits to me; and I have to say I now vaguely remember ranting about this late one night in Zürich, most likely after having sat through yet another weekly global staffing meeting, as always conveniently scheduled for Pacific US time :

“Why are you doing these terrible things - and why do I have to be there watching you do them?”

And - software engineering wisdom overheard one day by LH:

“This is why I love the mediocrity of others, I don’t have to be awesome, I just have to not suck.”

There’s a truly brilliant job posting which is making the rounds on some of the developer email lists here in Seattle.

I’d love to meet the programmer who wrote this job posting - it’s engaging while still full disclosure; I can already visualize the blog entries about meeting the client and actually interviewing for this one - the experience and entertainment value alone would be well worth the inconvenience of having to cram mysql and php programming to meet the bar.

I think I may already have worked for this programmer’s client equally odd twin; do a  global search of ”mysql/php programmer” in this job ad and replace it with “recruiter” and this would become an awesome job posting to hire a recruiter for an org I worked for in the past.  (although you’d have to change the second line to “sometimes the client’s honest, and they pay.  I guess 1.5 out of 3 ain’t bad.”)

If you wrote this job posting - please, please ping me; I really want to meet you and buy you a beer (soda, coffee, prozac, whatever….).  You wrote the job posting i will spend my whole life wishing i wrote… but I’m so glad you did… THANK YOU.

Around 2000, during the height of Seattle’s technology boom, one of my friends was a staffing manager for a large Seattle area software company and I was an independent consultant.

Periodically she wanted to hire me to work onsite for her as a contractor; but I had more work than I could handle and earning more consulting than she could pay me as an hourly contractor; and once or twice she said “I wish I could find a contractor who can do what you do.”

Those comments were the spark for a startup which has burned a hole in my head ever since.  I finally decided “now is the time, this is the year” to take it to the next level but will also bootstrap fund it myself.

Start ups come and startups go, but Loic Le Meur founded uBlog (merged with Six Apart), organizes the annual Le Web conference and created Seesmic.  So his advice, when given, is worth listening to.

His ten rules for startup success:

1. Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible
2. Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
3. Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
4. Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
5. Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
6. Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
7. Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
8. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
9. Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
10. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.

So - stay tuned for Matryoshka - the next generation of … <the new new thing>.  

Steven Jobs, cofounder of Apple, has been labeled many things, from visionary to egomaniac.

Often I think he is inspirational too:

• We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?
• Innovation is the distinction between a leader and a follower.
• The system is that there is no system. That doesn’t mean we don’t have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that’s not what it’s about. Process makes you more efficient.
  But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.   And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.
• Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.
• When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
• I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
• Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life.
• Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
• Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
• Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
• When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
• I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to [learn calligraphy]. I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful. Historical. Artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture. And I found it fascinating. None of this had any hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would never have multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them.
• Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.
  So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma,whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
• The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.
• Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
• Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Do what you love to do a make a difference! The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
• Be different. Think different. “Better be a pirate than to join the navy.”
• Do your best. Do your best at every job. No sleep! Success generates more success. So be hungry for it. Hire good people with passion for excellence.
• Make SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don’t hesitate in throwing bad apples out of the company.
• Be entrepreneurial. Look for the next big thing. Find a set of ideas that need to be quickly and decisively acted upon and jump through that window. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. Just take it! Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
• Start small, think big. Don’t worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future.
• Strive to become a market leader. Own and control the primary technology in everything you do. If there’s a better technology available, use it.
• Focus on the outcome. People judge you by your performance, so focus on the outcome.
• Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
• Advertise. If they don’t know it, they won’t buy your product.
• Pay attention to design. “We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.” “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
• Ask for feedback. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you’re at the top of the chain, sometimes people won’t give you honest feedback because they’re afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources. Focus on those who will use your product – listen to your customers first.
• Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower.
• Delegate, let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much.
• Concentrate on really important creations and radical innovation.
• Hire people who want to make the best things in the world. You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together.
• Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
• Learn continually. There’s always “one more thing” to learn! Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners. If you partner with someone whom you don’t like, learn to like them – praise them and benefit from them. Learn to criticize your enemies openly, but honestly.

I’m back in the Great Northwet - and no, that wasn’t a typo, it’s raining here. 

While it’s nice to be back in my house, it’s also really nice to be able to reconnect with friends.

Leslie and I didn’t make it up to the cabin after all; but Plan B was possibly even better - we bummed around the SF for a bit, headed back to the South Bay for a bit shopping, then spent the rest of the time at back at the Ranch and enjoyed several hours of house renovation as well as technology discussions with Ben.

I know - imagine me having any interest at all in either of those topics.  Surprise…!

Eventually we piled into Ben’s car to drive to Willow Glen to pick up dinner from a sort of dive restaurant there; I’ll ping Leslie for the name and will then post here - since they serve really awesome Mediteranean food you might want to try yourself.

Willow Glen was new to me, but I was taken in by its charm.  I was surprised to discover that interesting of a neighborhood within the San Jose city limits.  Occasionally I toy with the idea of moving to the Bay area but never really seriously consider doing so due to housing prices, etc. - but I’m going to really check out Willow Glen again during my next trip south.

Leslie and I then spent more hours on their deck, watching the stars and talking through life and all the pieces that go with it.  Ben popped in and out in several times in between his trips to his new office building since he couldn’t wait until Monday to set up his workstation, etc. However, the construction crew was still hard at work Saturday night… go figure.

Eventually, we headed into the den to watch a couple of movies on dvd while also doing fun art projects (yes, really!).   Leslie is really getting into scrapbooking; and I’m finally ready to get back into making traditional miniature quilts, which combine my interest in history and design; and the smaller size and scope allow me to see progress/success quickly enough to keep me motivated for more…

 “Days up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But don’t turn none away
Everything is not enough,
And nothing is too much to bear
Where you’ve been is good and gone
All you keep is the getting there
Well, to live’s to fly, both low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes.”

                    - Townes van Zandt 

I’ve become a fan of last.fm.  Most of the time I just let it run while I listen to my itunes, and don’t think about it.

Sometimes though I actually listen to last.fm instead,  using either the “friends” or “neighborhood” feature; which I’m actually doing right now, and so am listening to “Bad” by U2 thanks to Malc64.  Utilizing last.fm’s neighbors and neighborhood options is often more fun because even though the “scrobbling” engine does a fairly good job of grouping last.fm users by musical genre, so the range of my neighbors’ radio stations goes from “spot on ” to “wide-ranging” to “incredibly random.”

Right now i’m really enjoying lizzmac’s radio station with Colby Caillat, Tyrone Wells, etc. - thank you lizzmac, whoever and where ever you are…

Check it out; and feel free to send a friends invite to andi7910 (particularly if you’re a fan of Ryan Adams, Eli Young Band, U2, Abdel Wright, or…..

:-)

I’m a big fan of Randy Pausch, and rewatch his Last Lecture about once a week. 

I had hoped he would outlive us all, but he died early this morning.

I believe in wakes and not in funerals, and appreciate the world is a better place because Randy was here:

The Academy is… I am Superman (R.E.M Cover)

Barenaked Ladies I am Superman (R.E.M. Cover)

Remy Zero I am Superman (R.E.M. Cover)

And - one more for the man who achieved his childhood dream of experiencing zero gravity - Jason Mraz’s awesome cover of Elton John’s Rocket Man.

Life Lessons from Randy:

• You’ve got to get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff isn’t going to work.
• When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care.
• Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
• Head fake learning is absolutely important, and you should keep your eye out for them because they’re everywhere.
• The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.
• It’s pretty easy to be smart when you’re parroting smart people.
• It’s very important to know when you’re in a pissing match. And it’s very important to get out of it as quickly as possible.
• And he (Andy Van Dam) said, Randy, it’s such a shame that people perceive you as so arrogant. Because it’s going to limit what you’re going to be able to accomplish in life.
• You just have to decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eeyore.
• I have a theory that people who come from large families are better people because they’ve just had to learn to get along.
• Loyalty is a two way street.
• You can’t get there alone. People have to help you and I do believe in karma. I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth. Being earnest.
• I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short term. Earnest is long term.
• Apologise when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.
• Don’t bail. The best of the gold’s at the bottom of barrels of crap.
• Get a feedback loop and listen to it. Your feedback loop can be this dorky spreadsheet thing I did, or it can just be one great man who tells you what you need to hear. The hard part is the listening to it.
• Don’t complain. Just work harder. That’s a picture of Jackie Robinson. It was in his contract not to complain, even when the fans spit on him.
• Be good at something, it makes you valuable.
• Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.
• Be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.
• It’s not about how to achieve your dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.

An amusing if not likely debate culture occaisionally reoccurs - where if an infinite number of monkeys sit at an infinite number of typewriters and randomly press keys, they will eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare.

I’m not sure they would eventually produce Shakespeare - but I do think they could come pretty close to reproducing the Bible… :)

In 2007, the theorem was listed by Wired magazine in a list of eight classic thought experiments.

My other favorite:

What have you typed lately…?