All in Random Stuff

I don't often need to blow my nose, because I never get sick. If I get the sniffles once every two years, its a lot. I'm pretty sure I didn't get sick in 2007, so when I found myself a little congested last night I figured I was due. I feel just fine, though.

Anyway, anytime I blow my nose, I think of my grandfather. He got Lou Gerhig's disease (ALS) when I was in high school and had very quickly lost the ability to lift his arms at all. That meant that noseblowing was out of the question....so when I went over to his house to help out, I always had to help him blow his nose. He'd yell at me because, instead of just putting the tissue to his nose, I'd squeeze it, like most of us do. Of course, squeezing makes no sense because if you're trying to clear your nose, closing off your nostrils only impedes the process.

Anyway, I don't squeeze my nose when I blow, or at least, try not to... but everytime I do, I think of my grandfather.

I made a last minute trip up to Boston to go see Mere (@ptrain) because we hadn't seen each other in a while. We weren't planning on seeing each other after Christmas and we were both insanely busy, but I made time to go up anyway.

So, when she brought up the fact that I wasn't doing some of the little things, like asking her how her day was enough or wishing her good luck on her finals, I was kind of thrown. In typical male fashion, my first response was, "But I drove all the way up here!" and "But you don't even care about your grades...you're not going to law school...you don't need the ranking!"

I totally didn't get it... not until I compared it to my own experience with our angels, who are pretty good at this kind of thing. A week or two ago, Pete and Josh just "checked in" to see how we were... not to pressure us, but just to see if there was anything they could do for us and just to catch up. When the Silicon Alley list came out, I got a note from Fred saying that he was more excited that I got on it than being on it himself.

Little emails...they just take two seconds to write, but sometimes they feel just as important as any money we got from these folks, introduction they could make, or strategy they could advise on.

When you're in any kind of relationship, be it dating or an investment, its easy to mark time with big events--board meetings, anniversaries, vacations, launches... but what does the relationship feed on in between? Neither startup life, or, in my case, long distance relationship life, is easy. Sometimes you need a little quick fix to keep you going... cheap love.

I'm generally no good at cheap love in relationships. It feels too easy... a text message, a rote "How was your day?" I'm a big things kinda guy, but now I get it. You just want a ping every now and then just to let you know that the other person is still out there, still thinking about you, and still excited to be part of this relationship.

Send your significant other or angel investment some cheap love today!

  • Both make a person look fake
  • Both provide a physical advantage in the entertainment industry
  • Both are tied to serious medical side effects
  • Both are influencing younger and younger kids to have unhealthy self-images and seek out enhancement
  • Both don't really fool anyone
But only one is the subject of a witch hunt at the moment.  Can we get George Mitchell to investigate Hollywood and the modeling industry to find out who's cheating?

And please, no jokes about stiff penalties.

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DailyIdea is a cool video blog run by some friends in Louisville.   One of their staff, Jason Falls, had a run-in with mall security and let 'em have it on their site.

Best quote:

"Interpersonal communications lies at the keystone of the consumer experience.  If applicants for jobs that interface with the public don't have that, don't hire them!

If you're interviewing someone for a low level job, here's a test.  Ask them this question:

"How are you?"

If they respond, "I'm fine, and you?" they're hired.

If they lapse into some saga about their ex-girlfriend, car trouble, or mild case of shingles, cut 'em loose.

"How are you?" is rhetorical.  No one cares how you are.  We just wanna know you're not a mouth breathing sociopath who's going to scare off our customers."

Here's the whole video:



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