Jump David Jump

Children. Not Intended for Commercial Use.

As far as I can tell, I have taught my baby sister 3 things:

1. How to tackle (go low and wrap the legs)

2. How to play catch (and spit)

3. Ben Folds Five (a band which I believe was the beginning of her taste of good music)

It's safe to say that (besides item 3) I pretty much wanted to teach my sister how to become a brother. But since gender reallocation wasn't working out, I began to see Heather's natural talents develop. She truly is a unique blend of her 3 older siblings. From Leslie she received a strange quality I know absolutely nothing about... she became fiscal. I barely even know what that word means. From Angie she became a giver and a lover of all, which leads to a lot of crying. She is always looking for someone to help. In fact I have to laugh when she recounts the time she and her husband took a homeless guy to a chili cook off to make sure he was fed, but instead he ended up getting drunk and wandering off. So much for helping the homeless... Or when she came to me to brainstorm a clever way to deliver gifts to the strippers at the local strip-club to show them that they were loved. (Ha! I love it!)

And I don't know what she got from me, but it probably wasn't anything positive.

2010 Starts.... Now.

It's so good to be home! I have a stack of mail on my desk, a laundry list of things to catch up on (including laundry) and two needy cats who are so cuddly because they think I'm probably going to walk right back out that door. Not to mention, we've got quite a bit of work ahead of us at Dot&Cross as we're prepping to launch the "Blessed Earth" series this April and film 4 new Francis Chan films in February. Busy, Busy.

I was trying to review my calendar, but I don't think I've spent more than about 10 days at home since about October. But it looks like I'll be here for a while so I'm finally starting to settle in. I still can't quite get over the jet lag which is causing strange things to happen right now - I get tired about 8 pm. Then I wake up around midnight... wide awake. Then I quietly whisper to ask if Amy's awake (she usually is) and lay in bed coming up with crazy new business ideas or trying to figure out what time it actually is in New Zealand. Considering I am slowly returning back to Eastern Standard Time, I must be slowly flipping backwards through the time zones as my body tries to find a time-home. But right now I'm pretty sure my body thinks I'm in Romania.

I'm a huge New Year's Fan. I love goals. I love to mark out what I want to accomplish, form new habits, etc... But this year is a little bit different. I'm not going to to get too worked up over what I want to accomplish. If anything, I discovered that our human plans are nice and all, but honestly, each day is a gift and I have to quit thinking 2-3 months down the road like I usually do. I just need to, in the words of Ray LaMontagne, 'Be here now'.

Grand Rapids is "America's Greenest City" according to...

FAST COMPANY!  Read about it!

Go figure.  I was simultaneously shocked and proud to read this article in the October Issue of Fast Company.  It's fantastic to see stories like this being told!  It's both great for Grand Rapids, but also smaller mid-west cities who are doing their part to move city architecture and energy consumption in line with the green movement.  Check out the article!  Even better, they reference Peter Wege and Steelcase's initiatives which ties directly to one a film projects we did with Steelcase which you can check out here.

Compassion Forums In Pennsylvania

Headed off to the Compassion Forums in Pennsylvania this weekend.  DOT&CROSS was lucky enough to be offered some tickets from the ONE organization, one of the supporters of the event.  Faith in Public Life is the organization behind the event, hosted at Messiah College.

It's incredible how the tables have turned this year.  On the Republican side McCain, a.k.a. 'Conductor of the Straight Talk Express', isn't sure where he stands on simple issues and the Democrats are waving the faith banners!  In fact, McCain isn't even showing up to this faith and morals forum.

It will be broadcast live on CNN, so check it out.  Here's a CNN article on the event.  I'd love to post some photos when I get back but they are cracking down... no cameras, no phones.  Apparently, there will also be no weapons allowed.

Hopefully Hillary will have some compassion on both herself and her party and dutifully remove herself from the race sometime soon...

I like maps, but I am 'in love' with strange maps.

As I browse the internet, I love to find pertinent (or at least amusing) information displayed in new ways. So, e-props to Dan Pink (thinker / author / speaker).  He is the author of A Whole New Mind - Why Right Brainers will rule the future.  He points us to a blog entitled Strange Maps.  Click on this photo to enlarge it and check it out. 

It is a map of the US showing states renamed with countries of similar GDPs.  I must say, there are some shockers on here!  Ohio = Australia, Illinois = Mexico... Rather fascinating stuff!

Take a special look at Alabama... 

And for those of you who slept through the 8th grade:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a convenient way of measuring and comparing the size of national economies. Annual GDP represents the market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year or...

GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + (exports – imports)

Here is another "Strange Map".  It is the geographical representation of the Pop vs. Soda debate.

Time to get Naked.

Well, this blog is about one month overdue, but I finally got around to reading the "Naked Corporation" article in Wired.  It was a great read.  It's pertinent to me now because of some of the projects I'm currently working on.  My wife, who also has a blog, and I were discussing the fear of being truly naked (via blog) in front of your potential clients, your competitors, your associates, etc... It's one thing to share your business struggles but what about personal struggles (or accomplishments) that undoubtedly affect those business struggles?

I figure if CEOs of major corporations can pull it off, I probably can too, but it doesn't remove that initial fear.   There are so many issues that might be nice to hide or "disclose at a later date" but the truth of the matter is, people will always find out.  Information is incredibly easy to access and if you attempt to disguise it, you'll get nailed for it.  And the worst part is, if you start-out naked, then progressively start hiding things, you're really screwed.  Once you go naked, you can't go back.

So, the new remedy?  Be Naked.  Preempt being stripped of your dignity through scandal by being open and honest about it up front.

Here is a naked blog by Guy Kawasaki that shows off his new "truemors" venture in a rather naked fashion.

 

OK.  I've been naked about my desire to get naked.  But shall I do it?  Stay tuned...

Here is something else really important to think about.  A picture of a cat with bacon taped to it, courtesy of Whatever.

Great Interview

Here is a great interview with Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin. Definitely worth checking out. It includes Microsoft, Apple, MP3 Players, Violins & Iraq.