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. …
Get Curious
Wonder Full
I dug up this quote my brother sent me a long time ago. It is from the television show The Wonder Years, which depicted a gentle, nostalgic look at Baby Boom youth and adolescence. Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers; the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. …
Erase Your Way of Thinking
A reader pointed me to a column by D.L Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Mr. Stewart eloquently describes the nostalgic details of the first days of school: Like Christmas Eve and the night before milestone birthdays, the first school day after summer vacation was a special time. It may have been the end of freedom, but it also was the renewal of hope. The promise that this school year would be different from all the ones that came before it. A fresh start. On the first day after vacation, clothes were unwrinkled and unstained. School bags were filled with fresh supplies: …
The Gooey Gray Gift
This morning as I was leaving church, I remembered that the priest had mentioned there would be cement trucks outside getting ready to pour the new sidewalks. As I was walking to my car, I noticed an older man 'park' himself about a foot from the area that would soon be freshly poured concrete. He looked on with great anticipation, as if it was 9:15 pm on the 4th of July. When I drove past in my car, I noticed a middle-aged man, holding his three-year-old, walking back towards the cement show, from his car. He must've thought they could just walk past without stopping, but the three-year-old …
Get a Clue
In my book I mention the idea that the things we dreamed about being when we were kids are clues. Clues to what, you may ask? Clues to what you're supposed to be doing with your life. I was fascinated with all things Star Wars as a young tyke. I dreamed of being just like George Lucas. While I don't live in California and am not secretly involved in writing Episodes 7, 8, and 9, I do spend a good portion of my time developing characters, telling stories, and entertaining people. (And fortunately, my special effects budget is several million dollars lower than that of Mr. Lucas.) …
Oozing Gooey Grilled Cheese
My book promises that my prescription for Adultitis doesn't require a steady diet of chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese (I think that if kids had a hand in re-writing the food pyramid, it would probably have four food groups: chicken, macaroni, cheese, and sugar.) But I didn't say anything about grilled cheese. …
Does This Mean I’m Napoleon Dynamite?
Today I went to a National Speaker's Association meeting near Milwaukee. I got to meet and talk to the current President, Scott Friedman. Funny guy and great motivator. He totally gets the "Escape Adulthood" thing and used the term "Adultitis" several times after I shared the concept with the group. We traded books, which was also very cool. He spoke about adding humor to your presentations, but a couple things I took away are applicable to everyone: • Humor is pain, embarrassment, or stress distanced by time. • Comfort never produced greatness. • Don't make a living, design a life. …
Sleeping with the Jellyfishes
I thought I had been fairly extensive in coming up with 88 ways to escape adulthood for my book. Somehow, I completely missed this one. According to a Japanese newspaper, the hottest ticket in town is a slumber party with some spineless sea creatures. Thirty lucky people won a lottery to experience the Enoshima Aquarium jellyfish tour. The experence includes dinner and educational behind-the-scenes access to the exhibit, followed by the opportunity to cozy up in sleeping bags in front of the jellyfish tank. According to the article, …
NASA Has Adultitis
In my last post, I commented on Mr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the first (and only) guys to walk on the moon. In 1962, in a speech given at Rice University in Texas, President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to put a man on the moon: We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to …
Asking Why
In my book, I have a whole chapter devoted to the importance of curiosity (somewhere, some three-year old invented the word "why"). I like these quotes about asking questions: "The smart ones ask when they don't know. And sometimes, when they do." - Malcolm Forbes "I had six honest serving men - they taught me all I knew: Their names were Where and What and When and Why and How and Who." - Rudyard Kipling …