Blog Tag: Cultivate
When Yahoo Calls, You Have A Couple of Minutes
3 Comments | Latest by: Phil | Add A Comment! »»
"Hi, is this Phillip Harrington?"
"Speaking."
"Hi I'm [an internal recruiter] calling from Yahoo. We'd like to speak to you about a full time benefited position. Do you have a couple of minutes to talk?"
When it's Yahoo calling, you have a couple of minutes.
Paternity
I'm watching Maury Povich. He's doing is greatest riff: the paternity episode. It's got 4 permutations.
- Man doesn't want to be the father of the kid, but the woman wants him to be (most popular).
- Man doesn't want to be the father of the kid, and the woman doesn't want him to be either (not as popular, unless the woman wants child support without his involvement).
- Man does want to be the father of the kid, but the woman doesn't want him to be.
- Man does want to be the father of the kid, and the woman wants him to be the father too.
The last case is the most heart wrenching when it turns out that the dude is not the father. In those cases, I tend to think it's the saddest when the dude walks out simply because of biology. We used to say "God makes families." I think if the mom wants the dude to be the father, and the father wants to be, and the "bio-dad" aint in the picture, then hey - it's a matter of paperwork at the courthouse.
As for these fools who are looking desperately for any way to get out of it, it makes me sick. Dammit, man-up and take care of your kids, jerk!
How pathetic am I right now? There must be a book I need to read around here somewhere...
Planning and Living
1 Comment | Latest by: Karin | Add A Comment! »»
An old saying on my mind lately is:
Plan as if you will live for 100 years,
Live as if you will die tomorrow.
And, I'm reminded by Josh Rouse that it might all end in a Car Crash tomorrow.
I got so much left to give
So much left to live for
To think that it's finally over now... I should have called my family
All their generosity
Just how much it meant to me
("She's Spanish, I'm American", the Josh Rouse record linked above, reminds me of mi caliente Cubana and me, a little bit)
Think Better Without Concentration
James Hong posted an interesting entry about thinking better when he's not concentrating. I especially liked the thought experiment he does sometimes with interviewees.
One time I was interviewing a guy for a job position, and he was close to the solution but for some reason couldn't get it. So after 10 minutes of frustratedly watching him almost getting it, I told him to stop and that I wanted to try an experiment. I aksed him to put the paper aside, and i asked him a series of random questions.. "what is your favorite fast food restaurant," "what is your favorite tv show", "what books have you read lately", and then i immediately told him to look at the problem again.. and within 10 seconds, he got it!
James Hong
The entry made me think about my own process. Honestly, sometimes I'm not thinking about the task at hand. I'm learning more and more to focus on the thing my brain wants to focus on (if at all possible), think it through, and get something done with it. It feels like my brain is running the show, but I would rather take advantage of it's "natural proclivity" to be thinking of a certain thing and dig in than try to turn a river.
Also, I get most of my best ideas in the shower.
Superbowl Thoughts
4 Comments | Latest by: Jeff | Add A Comment! »»
I'll admit I'm not a football fan, but Michelle was out of town, and I had the house and couch all to myself. I rounded up some snacks and watched the Superbowl.
Cool game tonight! Here's some random thoughts:
- Were people booing Muhsin Muhammad when the team captains were introduced? Please correct me if I'm wrong on that and it was like a "Bruuuuce!" thing for The Boss.
- What an exciting game! Close and lots of action.
- People seem to play football in Florida during rainfall about as well as they drive in Florida during rainfall - Badly!
- I respect the camera men all the more when they get wiped out!
- It was fun for a while to watch the Colts offense just bounce off of the Bears defensive guys. Those guys are huge! Run run run! *Bonk!* Fall down!
- How much would it suck to be Rex Grossman right now? How bad do you gotta fowl up in a Superbowl?
- Can Manning shut the hell up for once and just throw the ball? OK, I get that's like his thing but it gets a little obnoxious to watch. Although, you can't argue with success - or a trophy.
- Two African American head coaches battling it out in the Superbowl (not to mention an African American half-time show headliner). Finally. It aint over yet, though, people.
Lastly, when I hear stories of people like Tony Dungy, who has never raised his voice or sworn in front of his players (except when saying he would go on The Best Damn Sports Show Ever). I'm inspired. I think, "Gee, I should be like that guy." They say he commands respect not because he inspires fear, but because his players don't want to let him down. What a cultivator! Good work, Dungy.
Immature?
No, immature would be starting a cronjob that emails "fuck you" to you every morning.
Cultivate
We are Gardeners. Cultivate. Grow. Develop. Upgrade. Hack. Tinker. Improve. Help. Beautify. Promote. Nurture. Foster. Make friends. Extend goodwill. Balian Sup up your car's engine. Practice your guitar and get better. Do Toastmasters. Paint the wall in the living room. Read a book on improving your business. Install more ram on your computer. Install more ram on your wife's computer. Make sure none of the kid's clothes have holes in them; replace the ones that do. Fix the ceiling fan so it stops rattling. Ballance the checkbook. Do the dishes. Get a ring holder for the sink so your wife won't lose her ring when she does the dishes. Get your broom out and sweep up the glass in the parking lot so your neighbor's kids don't step in it. Pick up trash when you see it. Talk to your kids. Get to know them. Help them with their homework. Teach them something. Buy your wife new underwear (not sexy underware for you - new comfortable underware for her). Tell her she's beautiful. Help her do the thing that she shines at. Build up her self-confidence. Encourage her self-esteem. Remind her how much you love her. Make her more beautiful to yourself and the world. Put some time and energy into improving your process and enabling others around you to succeed... Undo some of the damage others around you have done. Make this wilderness outside of Eden better than when God entrusted it to us. Make the world a better place for you having been in it today.What man is a man who does not make the world better?
The Kingdom of Heaven
