Reinventing Healthy Extrovert…. do you agree?

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I’m a

Reinventing Healthy Extrovert

I am also a pawn in 43 things ploy to sell books.

Despite my resistence to becoming a sheep of viral marketing… I love the Boom De Ya Da!

Boom De Ya Da!

Have you dedicated yourself to anything at this level?

What’s the “Quote”-ient?

Play is the highest form of research. – Albert Einstein

The Good, The Silly and the politically correct…Nicknames and Mascots.

I am prejudiced when it comes to college nicknames and mascots. Nicknames and mascots serve as a rallying cry and source of pride to all those affiliated with the school. Some schools only have a nickname, others have a nickname and mascot which are different, while the majority have a nickname and mascot which are the same. I love the ones dripping with folklore and traditions. Every time I hear some crazy idea, like oh the students have voted to change the colors or the mascot, I think… they’re missing the point. They must have no soul or school spirit. Most people don’t realize that nicknames were created by the press in the early days of organized sports. The nicknames came from an either inspiring moment or  a coined phrase that gained popularity over time.  Though not a college team, a great example are the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were just plainly the Pittsburgh Baseball Club until they pioneered the art of buying out another players contract to “steal” them from another team. Hence the Pittsburgh Pirates.

My Nickname / Mascot Criteria:

• Penned by writer, journalist as a characteristic about how they’ve played, or reference to folklore in their region.
• Regional Folklore.
• Stories that gathered a following and taken on power of its own.
• Mythical beasts or apparitions rate very highly with me, as well as ordinary creatures with extraordinary names, particularly when the names aren’t readily identifiable by most people without reference to a dictionary or encyclopedia.

Criteria for Soul-less Nicknames for institutions that feign as impostors of higher education.

• Any decision voted on by students in any given year. Since when did a poll taken from one body of students represent the whole body of the community who embrace the ideals, and have contributed to the identity of the university?
• Any ferocious animal that doesn’t have regional/cultural significance or folklore.
• Native American Tribal names – I defer to the delicate sensibilities of some tribal members; , but don’t get me wrong I don’t think the NCAA’s championship rule was right.(This could be a whole other blog. I’ll leave for another day.)

The Point

It’s a matter of pride and celebrating who you are, rather than trying to create a moniker for things you think are cool, or things you’d like to be.

History, Traditions, Real History and Evolution.

The Alabama Crimson Tide

The origins of the Crimson Tide first developed with Alabama’s first football teams.  Dressed in crimson attire and described as malnourished, they were known as the Thin Red Line or the Crimsons. Two former writers are credited with the name evolution to Crimson Tide.  Hugh Roberts, the sports editor for the Birmingham Age-Herald is said to have first used the nickname when he described Alabama’s efforts in a muddy 6-6 tie against Auburn in 1907. During a World War I experience, Zipp Newman noted how the “tide incessantly pounded on the seashore”; When he returned to cover Alabama Football he made the comparison of how the team was a “Crimson Tide” that continue to pound on their opponents.  It was this 1919 description that many say was the catalyst for the name’s popularity.

The University of Wisconsin, Badgers

The team’s nickname originates in the early history of Wisconsin. In the 1820s and 1830s, prospectors came to the state looking for minerals, primarily lead. Without shelter in the winter, the miners had to “live like badgers” in tunnels burrowed into hillsides.[1] As a result, the territory was dubbed the “Badger State,” and the team took its name from that.

Louisiana State University Tigers

Although LSU adopted the Tiger nickname in the same time period that many other schools were selecting ferocious animals as their nickname source, the Tiger term lept into LSU tradition as a tribute to a group of State Civil War heroes. The LSU “Tiger” nickname first roared into existence in the midst of the school’s undefeated 1896 season. The name reflected the honor once achieved by another band of Louisiana men that had distinguished themselves on the field of battle during the “War Between the States.” The Confederate soldiers consisting of New Orleans Zouaves and Donaldsonville Cannoneers were dubbed as the fighting band of Louisiana Tigers by other Southern troops thanks to their fighting spirit displayed at the Battle of Shenandoah.  LSU’s nickname became more closely matched with the state’s military heritage in 1955 when it evolved into the “Fighting Tigers.”

University of Michigan, Wolverines 

If  you’re ever watching the television program “Unsolved Mysteries,” don’t be surprised if the University of Michigan nickname isn’t examined.  Since the earliest memories of Michigan athletics, its teams have been known as the Wolverines.   However, there is no known reason why this animal was ever associated with the university.  There has never been a verified trapping of a wolverine inside the state, nor have there been any skeletal remains of a wolverine found that would suggest a history with the state.
The nickname topic has been debated through the years.  Legendary Michigan football coach shared his theory when he wrote about the subject in the 1944 Michigan Quarterly Review.  Yost thought the nickname evolved from the trading of wolverine pelts at a Sault Ste. Marie trading station.  The fur
traders may have referred to the Michigan trappers as “Michigan Wolverines.”  This fact would have
led to the state nickname and eventually to the University. Albert H. Marckwardt described another theory eight years later in the 1952 Michigan Quarterly Review.  His thoughts focused on when the French first settled Michigan in the late 1700s.  Their appetites were so gluttonous or “wolverine-like” that the wolverine name was given to them. A border dispute between Michigan and Ohio in 1803 is the catalyst for the third nickname theory. While the two sides fought over the proper establishment of the state line, the Michiganders were
said to have called themselves wolverines for their fierce negotiating skills.  The Ohio version leaned
more to the wolverine name being more associated with gluttonous “wolverine” habits of the
Michigan natives.

University of Nebraska, Cornhuskers

The term husker might confuse college football fans that lack an
understanding of an ear of corn’s anatomy.  If your only acquaintance with
corn has been the canned variety, then you might know that the starchy
vegetable comes complete with a husk.  A husk is a thin dry covering of a
seed or fruit and a husker is something or someone that strips the husk
away. While Nebraska grows its fair share of corn, it was the University of Iowa’s
football teams that first were labeled the Cornhuskers.  However Iowa
followers preferred Hawkeyes, opening the door for another school to adopt
the name. Sure enough the nickname finally ripened in 1900 when former Lincoln
sportswriter Charles S. (Cy) Sherman grew tired of Nebraska’s nicknames
that included Antelopes, Old Gold Knights and Bugeaters.  Sherman was
aware of the Cornhusker nickname that Iowa had used and began applying
it for his Nebraska stories.  The Cornhusker name grew tall in Nebraska
circles and eventually became the state’s nickname as well.

The Ohio State University, Buckeyes

One of college football’s most puzzling nicknames is the term “Buckeye.”  Unless you hail from Ohio, you might have driven yourself “nutty” by wondering where this nickname “sprouted” from.  Have no fear, you’ll “leave” this page with a new understanding. A buckeye is a tree that is common in Ohio.  The tree’s “standing” in the state is so tall, that Ohio citizens have been referred to as buckeyes and Ohio is know as the “Buckeye State.” The buckeye tree produces an olive sized mahogany colored seed and leaves that are replicated on OSU football helmets for player achievements.

University of Southern California, Trojans

The Trojan nickname took its first steps when Warren Bovard, director of athletics and son of university
president Dr. George Bovard, asked Los Angles Times sports editor Owen Bird to choose a more suitable
nickname.  Bird was later quoted by USC sports officials on how he selected Trojans to symbolize the
school.
“At this time, the athletes and coaches of the university were under terrific handicaps,”  explained Bird.
“They were facing teams that were bigger and better-equipped, yet they had splendid fighting spirit.  The
name ‘Trojans’ fitted them.”    “I came out with an article prior to a showdown between USC and Stanford
in which I called attention to the fighting spirit of USC athletes and named them ‘Trojans.’  From then on,
we used the term ‘Trojan’ all the time and it stuck.”

University of Indiana, Hoosiers

The Hoosier term certainly has received vast exposure through the years. The Indiana Hoosier basketball team has long been a household name in college basketball circles.  Despite the common usage of the word, it seems there have been more theories of its origin dribbled around by historians than
basketballs in Indiana.One theory that was fostered by Indiana historian Howard Peckman, was that the nickname might have resulted from the work performed by crew that was directed by either Samuel Hoosier or Hoosher.  The men, most of which hailed from Indiana, were building a canal on the Ohio River in 1825 and were referred to as “Hoosier’s men.” Perhaps the most popular “Hoosier” tales is the one that echoes a response to a knock on the door.  Apparently when early Indiana settlers were alarmed by a knock on their cabin door, they would respond with the question: “Who’s there?”  Eventually according to the theory, “Who’s
there,” evolved into “Hoosiers.”

I cite my sources:

http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/23743.html

http://www.mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?qAnswer4751=12298&qAnswer4752=12346&qAnswer4765=12351&qAnswer4766=12354&qAnswer4767=12355&qAnswer4768=12358&qAnswer4769=12363&qAnswer4770=12366&qAnswer4771=12369&qAnswer4772=12372&qAnswer4773=12376&qAnswer4774=12373&q=466&mode=multiple&adserved=1&p=1

http://www.smargon.net/nicknames/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._college_team_nicknames

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-top10.collegenicknames.pg.1210,0,4155456.photogallery

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/blog/the_huddle/2008/11/the_list__best__worst_college_nicknames

http://www.theheismanwinners.com/CollegeNicknamesandMore.html

http://www.sportslogos.net/

Long lost notes…

A few nights ago  I purged some of  the clutter sitting in odd places around my house…. here are the notes written in various places

” I take a problem and chew on it like a stick of gum… then I stick it in my hair.” – Unknown

“I hate it when it’s right in front of your face and you miss it.” – Unknown

“Find where you need to be. Then live. Be where you are.” -Rob

Oct 4, 2002 “The Utz guys. They are chip masters.” Nate Jones

Oct 5, 2002 “The girl………. she just don’t know her football.” -Some random guy at Neeland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn.

Nov 2, 2002 “I think we’ve been duped. We’ve been duped about what the true measures of success are.” -Cheryl Smith

“Find the person who has your best interests at heart, and marry that person.” – Cheryl Smith

“Ricks College taught me the attitude of gratitude.”

“In the world, peace is the absence of conflict. In the gospel peace is the presence of the spirit. Learn to keep and recognize the spirit.” – unknown

“You can do a lot of good things, but if it’s not the right thing , it won’t make you truly happy. You must live your life with purpose, there are fun times, but that purpose must be supported by faith.”

“By the time you’ve become that person with the option to have that experience, you’ll have surpassed that which you once desired.”

“Let me tell you about my wrestle with God. I forgot who I was……I have infinite potential.”

“It’s OK when things fail because another door always opens. You must be in  motion to and have the hope and faith to go through it.” -UNKNOWN

Positive things and YES! things that BUST attitude busters.

I figured I’d follow up my last post with the antidote to attitude busters. Can’t leave that negative energy floating around. Direct quotes from  Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude.

Yes! Attitude

Positive things and YES! things that BUST attitude busters.

• Looking at “material” things as “replaceable” things.
• Anything Funny.
• Personal Meditation
• Taking a walk.
• Personal positive self-talk.
• Helping others without expectation.
• Random acts of kindness.
• Small daily success.
• Persist to small achievement.
• Hanging around successful people.
• Anything inspirational.
• Anything motivational.
• Killing people with kindness.
• Most things educational.
• Something that you do with passion.
• Talking to a child.

How do negative thoughts and feelings affect you?

I’ve often thought I was a pretty positive person, with a few brooding tendencies. But been discovering that I may need to work on this. Here are interesting thoughts on how negative thoughts and feelings affect you. straight from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude.

• They drain your energy – Think about this. How do you feeling after an argument?
  

  Yes! Attitude

• The BLOCK positive thought
• They cause stress. – Think how often you feel under stress… is it your fault or someone elses?
• They cause worry.
• They cause illness.
• They BLOCK creative thought.
• They cause errors.
• They reduce productivity.
• They cause anger. – Anger is a secondary emotion. You always feel something first.
• They prolong painful situations.
• They affect the way you listen to others. -  Think of how important that is to your successes.
• They affect the way you communicate with others.
• They affect the way you deal with others.
• They take the fun out of your life.

Just thought I’d share this quick nugget of wisdom. There’s a lot of material in there. Imagine the opposite of these points and how much happier you can be if you find ways to have positive feelings. “Attitude busters have two elements: things and people. The secret to keeping your positive attitude: (while others are trying to bust it) is hesitation, thought, and questioning before making a statement. Your reaction to the negative crap, or the negative people who enter your life, is the fate of your attitude. If your instinct is negative, you can reverse it by revering your thoughts and actions.”

Ode to the Mothers Across the world….. give THEM the noble peace prize for saving the environment

This is my ode to mothers of the world who forced their kids to use wonder bread bags to help slide their galoshes on, who wore macaroni necklaces and proudly displayed artwork made from junk for YEARS.

While mothers have always taken a bit of flak for being “frugal” tight with money, today they’d be rewarded by numerous amounts of people for reusing and recycling. For that matter Sanford and Son ought to be the kings of reuse for running a Salvage yard.

I’m amazed at the amount of goodwill, marketing value and sex appeal, being frugal has become. They all say it’s about saving the environment, but believe it the principals of frugality that they’re rewarding.

This is the perfect example

1. Carboard Laptop holder. Even 5 years ago, the mainstream media, and the hoigthy toighty fashionistas not only would have ridiculed you for using cardboard to hold ANYTHING up, they whould have tried to sell you a $25 piece of plastic made in china but with Italian style and make you believe it was the only way to hold your laptop off the table.

http://greenupgrader.com/7603/diy-cardboard-laptop-stand/

Get over yourselves and LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!

Liberals, Conservatives are not whole without each other.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html

I don’t necessariliy agree with all of his statements, but I think this is a courageous speech given the fact that he called audience with which he identifies with to a challenge of their own perspectives.

The birth and death of an IA

I recently took a new position as a Sr. Manager of Information Architecture for Marriott.com. (A property that creates $6+ billion dollars of revenue annually.) While I’m proud of my new position, the term Information Architect actually kind of creeps me out. It’s really an old term and does not accurately describe what I perceive to be the greatest value of my work nor my personality. I much prefer the title User Experience Designer, UI Designer or even Storyteller. The whole “industry” of UI/UX Design has been self defined for years, but now as colleges and universities, actually have majors in the field, it seems appropriate to settle on some common terms of description. The general level of understanding of the principles and importance of the user experience, has been elevated and so therefore, the traditional role of wireframes, is losing, or already has lost, it’s power and need. Very often product ideas are expressed from concept to code within days. I still believe those that focus on and claim some expertise in the user experience to be of supreme value, but the demands of the role have changed so that the soft skills of being able to communicate the right experience in the right way has become much more valuable. The business sponsor may have an idea of what they want, the coder make it all work and enhance it with great creativity, but the User Experience Designer is still the only one totally focused on how the story of how the product should work with the expectations and limitations of the primary beneficiary. The user. A good User Experience designer should understand people, cognitively, with a sensibility of empathy and intuition. A good User Experience designer must be able to communicate that story effectively and motivate others to be able to execute their special skills to build the most optimal experience. I sometimes call myself the head cheerleader. But to ad the right sense of professionalism let’s just keep it at User Experience Designer. But don’t just take my word for it. Here are some similar comments from Chiara Fox.

Originally posted at uxdesignlife.wordpress.com (April 28, 2009)

…And the Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

My natural tendency is to be cynical of shows like Britain’s Got Talent to be as not much more than modern day freak shows. But if it can focus attention on helping everyone be reminded that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, it’s got something going for it.
I site these examples…
Paul Potts

Andrew Johnston

And last but certainly not least….Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle BGT Audition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Here’s a great post that sums up this sentiments exactly.

Susan shows her grace in this article …The meek truly will inherit the earth.

This guy is my hero!

Wake up America! Watch the Wushee Finger! Check out the future!

http://www.wimp.com/lessworld/

http://www.wimp.com/makenoodles/

http://www.wimp.com/newphone/

Keep on Keepin on!

So the other day a good friend of mine pinged me on Facebook, and states; “This facebook thing is killing me. It doesn’t let me leave my past, in the past!” She had been “friended” by an old acquaintance of hers to which she hadn’t spoken to in years and would much rather have kept it that way. Not that time doesn’t heal all wounds, but that she felt no need to get back into contact with. Ironically I had just a similar experience with this very blog.

What ever happened to leaving your mistakes behind you?

We all know how fun it is to get re-acquainted with an old friend or colleague by chance, or after a long period of time.

Aren’t there some situations that we should be able to not have to deal with again? I suppose never having gone through something of the likes of a divorce, this situation is new to me.  But the likelihood that your 6 degrees of separation just isn’t enough from certain experiences in your life, is far more evident now that every week you have the possibility of getting a visual reminder of people, places or experiences you’ve left behind in the form of the “You may know” invitation from any one of the popular social networks.

I certainly have not handled every situation with grace and emotional fortitude. In fact just the opposite. I’m the epitome of “Fumbling towards Ecstasy.” I try real hard, but more often than I’d like things just don’t go the way you’ve imagined they might. It’s always nice to move on from a place of failure. A little distance usually does people some good. The power of being able to re-invent yourself or re-discover yourself has always made life quite exciting.

On the other hand all this connectivity makes it real easy to collectively get things done. Think of how fast an idea can be defined from players all over the world on Wikipedia, compared with the old way of publishing an Encyclopedia submission. I guess the negatives get trumped by the positives. And besides I suppose it just might forces us all to grow up a little.

Over obsessed with sexy products.

I’m a tinkerer. I also to love to sit around and dream up plans for cool stuff. That’s probably why I love being a User Experience Designer. But very clearly there is a ying for everybody’s yang. Or maybe I should say everyone has a double edged sword, where your strengths can also be your weaknesses.

A while ago I became obsessed about making diy projects that have a professional look to them.  I kept thinking of little problems in my daily life that I’d want a cool solution to.  It wasn’t hard to think of a couple of nuanced things and decided my life could use a charging station for all things hand held.

First I searched to see what commercial products there were and indeed that solidifed my mind as to why I didn’t need to buy one. most of the cost anywhere between $20-$45. So I searched all my DIY blogs to find cool ways to make one makezine, hacked gadgets, gomistyle, instructables all provided neat examples.

Finally I had to sit down and ask myself…What is a charging station? Hmmmmmm.

Charging Station = Powerstrip.

Here’s pic of my DIY Charging station Cost $4.95.

“Perfection is attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away…”

-Antoine DeSaintExupery

Patience and Charity

Randy Pausch

“If you wait long enough people with impress you and surprise you.”
Wait long and people will surprise and impress you.

“When you’re pissed off and angry with someone, you just haven’t given them enough time.
Just give them a little more time and they’ll almost always impress you.”

- Randy Pausch – The Last Lecture

Connectivity is killing my confidence

Every mistake that I’ve left behind.
Every forgotten embarrassment.

They’re back on my facebook.

Comedians on Moral Issues…. puh-lease

As one who loves to laugh, I often love a good comedy act. I’ve spent a fair amount of time actually understanding comedic performances, including practicing with an improv group.

Comedians have a very convenient position when it comes to moral issues.  You should never forget that their first and foremost goal is to make you laugh. They will use everything they can to make you laugh. If you think they’re making some super philosophical point, you’re the one being duped. They have the luxury of not “having” to weigh all the options or consider all the facts. They’re point is to make a statement that’s funny in any way, and present it in a way that’s entertaining. In fact to make something entertaining you must commit to one point of view/shtick. You can’t consider all the options. You must commit to one point and nail it.  So for all of those out there who think George Carlin is a philosophical genius, who by the way I think is very funny;  he’s not a philosopher he’s a comedian. He did his job very well. He built up his audience and deconstructed the rest of the world as if you say you are the smartest people in the world and we’re going to laugh about all the other F&^%#*$# out there. (I think I actually heard him say that in one of his routines.) Don’t forget that even the most genuine comedians have a performance persona. It’s not them just being smart. Even Bernie Mac who’s persona I prefer to Carlin’s must commit to a certain point of view to be entertaining. Comedians create an escape for 45 minutes that makes you feel good and laugh so you can face the real world. The one outside the theater. The one where you have to make decisions based on all the information available, not just isolated truths or opinions. So laugh, enjoy yourself, but if you’re drawing your inspiration and direction from comedians they’re the ones getting the last laugh… all the way to the bank$

What phone should I get?

Whenever someone asks me what kind of cell phone they should get, despite not having one I always respond “iphone” without hesitation.

Their response is always why? I don’t need all that… and I usually go into a 10 minute diatribe about how when something doesn’t work the way you want you always notice it. (My Crackedberry) But when it does work the they you want it to, it’s easy to not appreciate what makes it so great.

I’ve finally found my 3 second quote that explains all if this much more succinctly and efficiently. Check out the Uplaya.com site and mouse over the mobile icon. Nuff said…. I’ll be upgrading very soon.