Got back from Seattle yesterday. A full day of speaking engagements on Sunday wore me out, but they went really well. I'd like to welcome all of the new Kim & Jason readers in the Pacific Northwest...thanks for the warm reception! I'm glad to be home for a sense of "normalcy" before Kim and I are off to Rhode Island and Boston in a few weeks, but I can't wait to go back to Seattle for another visit. Great city, great people. It reminds me of Madison on steroids. …
Archives for October 2005
Not Sleepless in Seattle…
...my feet won't let me. Kim and I had a chance to get out and explore Seattle yesterday. We're big walkers, and we did a lot of it. I think you just get a much better feel for the city by walking as much as you can; you get a real vibe for the place. By the end of the day, my feet started to revolt, but by the grace of New Balance, they are still here to talk about it. We parked in the shadow of the Space Needle, and walked west toward Puget Sound, then south to the famous Pike Place Market. It certainly lived up to its billing as the soul of the city. Being from Madison, I am no stranger …
Smelly Hands
As some of you know from Jason's blog, we are currently in Seattle, WA. Jason is putting on four speaking programs here in the Emerald City. One of the things I was looking forward to the most about visiting Seattle was getting the chance to see the fish being thrown at Pike Place Market. Who would’ve known that by the time it was all said and done, I would be holding one of those famous fish. The smelly hands that followed the experience were well worth it. Speaking of smells, Jason and I commented on the amazing mix that filled the air at the market. There were fresh flowers, a plethora of …
Real Sophistication
By whose standards do we measure true sophistication? Today I 'caught' a man, about mid-40's, in a suit and tie sneaking some notes on a hotel lobby piano. He had a childlike smile on his face until he noticed Jason and I in his peripheral vision and then he quickly left. The other day I saw a guy driving a convertible at 6:15 am wearing a Santa hat. A few weeks ago I saw a 'Harley guy' decked out in leather from head-to-toe, with a stuffed bear strapped to the back of his motorcycle. “The most sophisticated people I know- inside they’re all children. We never really lose a certain …
Hello Seattle
Kim and I flew into Seattle yesterday morning for a week of speaking engagements. I'm writing this from my trusty new Apple PowerBook one suburb away from Redmond, the worldwide headquarters of Microsoft. It's beautiful here this time of year. This tree is right outside our hotel window. We are hoping to do a bit of sightseeing tomorrow -- if the rain holds out -- but for now I'm in my temporary command post in between drawing comic strips and coloring the October 30 Weeekend strip. My favorite childhood moment so far was the plane ride. …
I Love Fall
It really is my favorite season. Growing up with a yard full of trees offered many options for piles of leaves to jump into. My favorite thing to do was to rake up a big pile at the bottom of the slide on the swingset, climb those endless eight steps and fly into the crunchy sounds of happiness. The first fire in the fireplace was also a big deal. We had to break open the bag of marshmallows. Even though fall always seems like the shortest season it is filled with some of my favorite things in life: The crisp cool mornings. The traveling birds overhead. The gorgeous leaves. …
Suprise Your Brain
Maybe you're a businessperson trying to figure out how to appeal to a younger demographic. Maybe you're a teacher wondering how to connect more with students. Maybe you wish you could be more like those people you know who always seem to be enjoying life enthusiastically. Or maybe you woke up this morning and just felt, well...older. In her blog Creating Passionate Users, Kathy Sierra poses the question: "Is there something you loved to do when you were younger but that you stopped doing? Did you stop doing it because you truly outgrew it... or because you got older?" …
Childlike v. Businesslike
What did YOU have for lunch two years ago today? Adam Seifer could answer that question. He's the CEO of New York City-based Fotolog, a photo-blog web service. He has taken a picture of every meal he's eaten during the past three years, and posted them for all to see. I found out about this from Inc. Magazine, which adds, Most of Seifer's favorite pictures were taken on major life-changing days, like a shot of a sandwich held above his newborn daughter's incubator at the hospital -- his first meal as a father. …
Perfect Example of Faith
I once heard Billy Graham say that the biggest reason for atheism in the world is Christians. "They acknowledge Jesus with their lips," he said, "and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." It's hard to be a Christian in today's world. Not as hard as it was, say, maybe 1,900 years ago in Rome, but still, it can be quite a challenge. Also challenging is actually figuring out what a true Christian is supposed to look like. We've complicated things with our superfluous rules and nostalgic traditions, not too much unlike …
Truth or Dare
Maybe it was just me, but when I was little I always dreamed of staying up all night. I always wanted to have the freedom of being a grown-up. Staying up all night was a very concrete action I could do that would 'show the world' that I was in charge. Bed times were so annoying as a child. If I was allowed to stay up all night I would do tons of cool stuff...like...um...well where do I start, there are so many things...hmm...give me a minute. Exactly! I really had no clue what I would do all night, but it was still one of my life goals as a child. …