May 2008
I'm reading "The Breakthrough Company" by Keith R. McFarland. It's dense reading, but worth it. Keith and his team conducted a five-year longitudinal study of more than 7,000 companies to understand what it takes for high-growth companies to get to the next level. His research debunks many entrepreneurial myths. Great insight. If you are low on time read the last two pages of each chapter to get to the essentials.
—Cécile
Please don't think I am strange or foolish, but I have a confession to make: My name is Mike E. and I am an avid gamer. I passionately follow the industry (yeah, I planned my social life around the release of Grand Theft Auto IV this week, and your point would be...?). My alter ego is GiantLakeOFire. I'm good too. I just won the brigade round of my Call of Duty clan's "Free for All" championship. But what I'm most proud of is the way I've managed to make my gaming addiction look like work.
—Mike
When I started working at STRA, my wife, Jenny, and I relocated from Portland to Seattle. Of course I hit the ground running at work and it's only now that we're getting around to buying a house in Seattle—one of the few cities that isn't seeing much of a downturn in the housing market. Between selling our old house, looking for a new one, and desperately trying to read the tea leaves of the subprime meltdown, I now fancy myself a real estate tycoon. My dad says he paid less than $30,000 for the house I grew up in. Of course, he didn't have Zillow, so I guess that's a fair trade.
—Mike
This summer the city girl that I am will be tapping into my agricultural side. Local community activists have started a program called The Community Fruit Tree Harvest (there are similar programs all up and down the West Coast). I am one of the neighborhood volunteers who will gather the bounty from backyard fruit trees that are producing more than people can use and deliver it to local food banks. What a savvy way to redistribute resources.
—Sandy
April 2008
Had a chance to hear Daniel Pink describe the "Manga Industrial Complex" and its influence on Japan's economy and indeed on publishing general. Pretty fascinating – many parallels between Manga and websites and indeed the new social marketing / user-generated media trend. Definitely part of the shift to more visually-based world. Check out his new Manga-based book, "Johnny Bunko: the Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need."
—Gail
Just finished teaching "Introduction to Clinical Medicine for the Gastrointestinal System" at the UW. It's stressful because my "regular" life doesn't slow down while I teach, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. I absolutely love seeing the light bulbs turn on as these kids go beyond rote memorization to figuring out solutions to real-life situations. They actually stand up straighter as they factor in variables, learn to respond to the unexpected, realize they can do things they never thought they could. Throughout my life I've benefited from the generosity of a whole bunch of people who have taken the time to teach me. This is my way of paying that forward. I'll always make time for that.
—Bruce
One third of the food we eat is the result of the work of pollinators ... bees to most people. In the last few years bee populations have declined because of serious threats like Colony Collapse Disorder, which has reduced the honey bee population by one third and now is attacking bumblebees. I responded to an Internet recruitment for "bee watchers" and am participating in The Great Sunflower Project. I watch and record the bees who visit the sunflowers in my garden to help researchers understand the challenges the bees are facing. It's easy, it takes less than 30 minutes, I get free sunflower seeds for planting, and no prior knowledge of bees is required.
—Sandy
Three days after it opened, I got to visit the Newseums in DC. It's an expensive ticket but worth the price of admission. It's a beautiful building. The sixth level shows front pages from newspapers all over the world—a great reminder that what you care about may be of no interest to a person 10,000 miles away and vice versa. The exhibit on important books made me want to go back to the basics to the work of others who have worked so hard on making freedom of speech an essential right. The Journalist's Memorial is a reminder of how much risk reporters take to bring us news. We should not take it for granted.
—Cécile
Jenny and I just got back from a 10 day trip to Japan during Sakura—the cherry blossom festival. The trees were amazing of course, like natural fireworks of color. But so was the food. We hit both ends of the price scale, eating the most expensive sushi meal ever at an upscale Ginza restaurant, and amazing bargain sushi for breakfast at the Tsukiji fish market. We had a wonderful time in Tokyo, Kyoto and Takaragawa Onsen, a beautiful, relaxing hot springs next to a mountain river. I'll have to explore hot springs in the Northwest now, searching for a comparable experience—and a good bacon cheeseburger.
—Mike
March 2008
February 2008
Anyone who knows me knows I love Japan. I just went to Vietnam on my honeymoon. The country is bursting with energy. It's full of entrepreneurs. There's a very high interest in technology. I met a 21-year old kid named Phong. He graduated from the University of Hai Phon and was our translator when we went to Halong Bay. His English is impeccable. But he wants to improve it. We got to talking and he told me he only had access to computer in office of the boat company he works for. I couldn't get him out of my mind. So I bought him a computer. All I asked was that he teach as many people as he could. He just wants to get out to the world and understand what things are like outside of Vietnam. He was very interested in PhotoShop so I got him a copy. He didn't even know Intel was building a factory there. I put him in touch with the right people and now he's interviewing for a job. I may bring him to the States next summer. Just to show him the world.
—Bruce
January 2008
After four years away and nine back surgeries I got to ski again this year. I didn't know if I would ever ski again. Now I literally feel like I have a new lease on life. It's incredible. I have no pain after the last surgery. NO PAIN. I was with Rose Abello from Holland America (Cécile was supposed to be there, but she punked out!) and we hit a storm in 18-inches of snow. It was great. I'm actually skiing better form-wise. I have to stand up straighter. The mechanics are different, so I had to adjust. Now I mostly ski through my hips. I'm taking my son helicopter skiing next winter. All of my Intel buddies have gotten to go all of these years, and next year I'll be back there with them. I've been skiing since I was four years old.
—Bruce
Just finished reading "The Brain that Changes itself" by Norman Doidge. It's insightful, accessible and reads like a detective novel—for nerds. If you want to know the latest on neuroscience and the brain—a very important organ—you have to read this book.
—Cécile
December 2007
I went home to France for the holidays and to visit my family. We went to Les Machines. Imagine an old natural science museum with life-sized elephants, a giant octopus, and humongous shrimp—all made out of wood and steel. And all "alive" through the magic of hydraulic presses. Imagine a giant steel tree with hundreds of plants that started from seeds from all over the world. Then imagine getting on the elephant and going for a ride. Pure magic.
—Cécile
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