May 2012
6 posts
5 tags
The Fear Factor: Did we stop dreaming?
Our $850 billion bank bailout debacle was greater than the entire 50 year running budget of NASA. I can’t believe our government is saying to the greatest “dream creator” the world has ever known, “we don’t have the money.” Really? Did we stop dreaming? Neil deGrasse Tyson tells it like it is in this short video and his plea to increase NASA funding I hope will...
6 tags
Happy 50th! Seattle World's Fair
A keepsake given to me a few years back by my friend John. This is the original guidebook to the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. Note the price, $1.
I was 12 years old when the Century 21 Exposition opened on April 21, 1962 and of course unaware it had been re-purposed to demonstrate we were in fact leading the way in science, technology, space, and the future.
Now looking back 50 years...
4 tags
Three Womannequins
1000 Random Acts of Kindness
Sean O’Conner of Boston, Massachusetts has an uncle Scott Widak who’s 47 years old, has down syndrome and terminal liver disease. I heard an interview with Sean a few days ago on CBC’s radio show, As it Happens.
Currently Scott is bedridden and near the end of his days. He lives with Sean’s 85 year old Grandmother. One of Scott’s pleasures in life is opening the mail regardless if it’s a bill,...
Happy Mother's Day, Mom...
Happy Mothers Day, Mom…
When mom passed back in 1999 I was asked to give the eulogy. I was honored to accept but it threw me into a total panic; “What am I going to say?” After a few days of sheer fright obsessing over scribbled notes a phrase appeared that I clung to. “Mom was the keeper of culture in our family.”
Mary Lee Larson was the youngest daughter of three. The 3 M’s as she’d...
What’s your latest hardware or software purchase?
What hardware or software have you recently purchased?
Is it changing the way you work?
Two years ago I asked the opposite question: What was the very first piece of personal technology you owned?
That post was a fun project. I traced my personal technology all the way back to 1958 when I received the HearEver Germanium Crystal Rocket Radio for a Christmas present. I was just 8 years old then...
April 2012
2 posts
6 tags
Art for the People
The role of the artist is to connect with the human spirit. My favorite quote about that is from Pablo Picasso, “Art is the lie that tells the truth.” Richard ‘Rich’ Beyer was the embodiment of that ideal.
Richard Beyer
Master sculptor Richard S. Beyer passed this last Monday, April 9, 2012 in New York City at the age of 86. He was one of my artistic heroes and a genius at displaying subjects...
A Pilgrim's Progress...
The Monaghan mansion has been in my heart for over 30 years. It’s where the Gonzaga Music Department resides. I was in Spokane teaching social media clock hour classes for local real estate agents. My hotel is only a few blocks from here by the Convention Center. I’ve been thinking about this pilgrimage for many years and I finally had the opportunity to drop by on Tuesday, March 27th after...
March 2012
2 posts
2 tags
Seattle's Smith Tower sells at auction for...
The Smith Tower sold this morning at auction for $36,795,000. The sale concluded at 10:08 a.m. outside the King County Administration Building with only one minimum bid by Delaware Limited Liability Companies CPUSI Co-Investment Payment LLC and CPUSI Co-investment Payment Sub LLC. According to auctioneer T. J. Parkes, the current tenants will be able to stay.
More about the Smith Tower:
Smith...
We Changed...
Clay Shirky gave the keynote address at the 2011 Penn State TLT Symposium (the symposium for teaching and learning with technology). I appreciate Clay for his keen insight and his ability to articulate how socially adopted advancements in technology change the social and economic landscape. Simply put, when we change the way we communicate we change the way we behave.
It’s a great...
January 2012
3 posts
3 tags
They called us, Snow Wimps!
It’s not like we’re suffering in quiet indignation or anything. But it’s been a while since I’ve witnessed the people of the great Pacific Northwest rally in spirit and come together in agreement about any one thing.
The catalyst was Wednesday afternoon’s blog headline from the Los Angeles Times…
Snow wimps: Seattle is shut down by first real snow of the season
Then add insult to...
3 tags
So you're clear about SOPA & PIPA, right?
There’s something terribly wrong when our elected officials even contemplate the systematic dismantling of our citizens ability to freely share its own creativity with each other.
Scene 3 - (In the not so distant future): “I was so excited to share this really cool idea I had with y’all but I just got a DM from Congress.” The Committee on the Suppression of Creative...
2 tags
12th and Jackson
On my way over to Capitol Hill on 12th Ave in the heart of the International District at Jackson St.
December 2011
5 posts
4 tags
The Regina House, a day of good tidings.
I had a wonderful day yesterday, December 22, 2011. Our sales team at First American Title volunteered to help out at the Providence Regina House located in Seattle’s South Park Neighborhood. Among its many services the Regina House operates a food and clothing bank.
During the months of November and December the Regina House sponsors a holiday program that distributes baskets of food,...
Steve Jobs: 20 Life Lessons →
My feelings about Steve Jobs have always been a little mixed. I long admired his entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen and was in sheer awe of his natural instincts for what appeals to consumers. On the other hand I bristled at what I saw as his — and by extension Apple’s — occasionally …
Back in 1980-1983 on Capitol Hill in Seattle,...
Happy Holidays 2011
A long long time ago… In a galaxy far far away… I’m talkin’ Christmas here in the 1950’s. That was a time before time before time when we didn’t have high speed internet, social networks, or On Demand TV with a thousand channels to watch. (We only had 3 on a very very good day.)
René meets Santa Claus in person, 1955…
It was so long ago we used a rotary dial phone and...
2 tags
Taking it to the MAX... 737 that is!
I can’t think of better news for this holiday season than the announcement that the new Boeing 737 MAX is going to be built in Renton, Washington.
Boeing’s history in the Seattle area dates back to 1910 when William E. Boeing purchased the Heath shipyard on the Duwamish River. This would later become his first airplane factory in Seattle near the Museum of Flight. Boeing took his first...
November 2011
4 posts
2 tags
It's Popcorn Brain!
First it was, I’m going to go blind from staring into the glaring monitor, then it was carpal tunnel from too many keyboarding hours. Then, I’m going to get fat and flabby from too much sitting. Then, it was tendinitis in my thumbs from too much texting on my cell phone.
And now? It’s Popcorn Brain. Doesn’t that bring up a lively assortment of images…
Man… I never knew Technology...
6 tags
You’d a Thought it was a Saturday Night...
AR, we’ve been hanging out now, steady like for 3 years. I spec’t some might be think’n we’re get’n serious or something. But I gotta admit, I like be’n round ya.
Funny… but, when we first met I wasn’t all too sure about it. I mean I like you n’ all, but it was a little intimidate’n. I kinda kept my distance. You were always attract’n so much attention.
All those...
In the beginning...
When did it start? What platform was the first social network? In the beginning there was the word. Well in truth it was probably just a grunt. “Ugh, he say’s loudly,” pointing upward toward the bright harvest moon. His gaze slowly follows round the fire briefly stopping in silence to touch each face dancing in the dark through flickering flames. It’s autumn and the night sky is...
I'm going to Mars and I'm blogging all the way!
It struck me that blogging is a lot like going on a mission to Mars.
Talking to groups I often use the phrase, “We’re not going to Mars when we do social media. It’s right here and now.”
This morning, it showed up different.
Often, I ask the room, “Who blogs?”, no hands raise, eyes lower (hem haw hem haw)…
I love Q & A sessions with clients who don’t blog but think they might, feel...
October 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Charlie, your friend Blackie say's hello.
I had to make a run to the grocery store this afternoon. I’m out of just about everything, except canned food.
I’ve been busy working on projects the last couple of weeks (and admittedly over obsessed about getting my laptop rebuilt because it got taken down with a lethal virus forcing me to opt for the last resort total nuke restore back to the original factory W7 2009 install) that I...
5 tags
I was here!
In the midst of moving from our Seattle Eastlake office to Kent I took a few minutes to document my space with a few photos before packing up all my stuff. A lot of good memories here. I started with The Talon Group back in February 2010. I spent a good deal of my time in this space during the past 20 months. I want a few mementos.
I’ve learned a lot being back in the city and it’s been great...
2 tags
I learned in kindergarten it's important to tell...
I started kindergarten in the fall of 1955. We lived in the Renton Highlands then in one of those little cracker box homes built in 1942 to house the great influx of people who came here to work for Boeing and Pacific Car & Foundry (PACCAR) during World War II…
Our kindergarten class met in the basement of the neighborhood Baptist Church about five blocks from our home. I don’t recall...
September 2011
2 posts
911
On this 10th anniversary of 9/11 I remember it like it was yesterday and I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when this terrible event took place. Hardly a memory has been engraved so deeply and clearly. For a guy like me who talks a lot about everything everywhere, I find it hard to articulate my thoughts and memories this day. The words don’t come easy and they seem feeble under the...
4 tags
Sit down, get started, and keep it simple
I studied music composition with Lockrem Johnson back in the 1970’s and I fondly remember and cherish to this day a story he once told. Back in the early 40’s he was an up and coming composer and studying with George McKay at the University of Washington.
Bela Bartok, one of the great composers of the 20th century was in town and George McKay introduced him to Lockrem. As the story goes, George...
August 2011
4 posts
Happy Birthday Dad
Dad would have been 90 years old today. He was born in Newcastle, Washington in 1921 in a coal mining camp. The second son to George and Pauline Fabre. As a young boy he was inspired to be an accordion player like his Uncle Pete Delaurenti. That was in the midst of the Great Depression and money was scarce. But his Grandma Céline Boulanger believed in him, bought the accordion, and helped him pay...
3 tags
Live Music is Best!
At the Renton Farmers Market last Tuesday I stopped by to pick up some fresh veggies. I drive right by the Piazza downtown Renton most weekdays on my way home.
I’ve blogged about the Renton Farmers Market a few times but today it’s about the music. As I drove by I could hear a small ensemble rocking out on an old Ramsey Lewis tune, The In Crowd. I parked my truck a few blocks away and as I...
Check the Rear View Mirror!
I was in that blissful state of not quite half a sleep, not yet awake, and dreaming. I was well into a sci-fi like dream about how we were all in a big hurry trying to get to the future first. “Is it a race?” It seemed paramount, “where is ‘first’ in the future anyway? Then Poof! To late, so sad, I’m awake, and it quickly fades then the alarm goes off.
I’ve been kicking this idea around the last...
4 tags
Renton Farmers Market, on the Piazza Tuesdays
Serving up some giant Shave Ice Cones at the Renton Farmers Market.
August 9, 2011 on the Piazza, downtown Renton, WA 98057
Every Tuesday from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm, June through September at the Piazza in downtown Renton. This year the market is celebrating it’s 10th year anniversary and as we approach mid August, this is a great time to enjoy everything grown local.
Yelp Review:...
July 2011
2 posts
The Desoto, Forward thinking but not fast enough.
Looking over the hood of a vintage Buick… Loving that hood ornament! They don’t make them like that any more. The car in the background is a 1952 Desoto.
Great visor and grill. My Dad had a 1952 Plymouth. Not a luxury car like this Desoto, but they were similar in body style and the seats, well, they were like couches!
DeSoto
The DeSoto has an interesting history and it...
Summer Tech Summit, Seattle
What a fun Friday afternoon! My dear friend Linda Aaron, Training and Development Manager for Coldwell Banker Bain and Coldwell Banker Seal invited me to their Summer Tech Summit in Seattle today. What a blast!
Funny, but I don’t have to think but a minute to realize how much my life has changed via the world online. As I looked around the room, today was a great example of the power of...
June 2011
1 post
3 tags
Shrubbery Cats and other Creatures
I was at Tacoma General the other day to see my sister in law Kathy. Yet another cancer operation. My brother Terry looked tired. He was hungry and wanted to get something from his car. He needed a brake so we went for a walk. On the same campus is Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.
It was a gray afternoon with a little rain but the sun was peaking through the clouds. There’s a...
May 2011
1 post
My Heroes of Joplin
I’m really not quite sure how to even begin this little story. It certainly isn’t a plea for sympathy nor is it the seizing of an opportunity for a hot blog topic. If it were, I’m a little late. As some of my friends here on Activerain know my oldest daughter lives in Joplin, Missouri with my three grand kids.
Tawnya is a single mom working two jobs to make ends meet like many of us in this...
April 2011
2 posts
Imagination #703324
I’ve had this Imagination Rock for several years. It was given to me as a gift. It just dawned on me last evening that it had a bar code stuck on the back of it… I was a little surprised to see that it said:
WARNING Keep away from children.
I wonder what that means? You could take that a number of ways…
I’m sure the intention is to avoid any liability issues that could...
2 tags
Easter Dinner
I was hanging out with my Brother Terry and sister inlaw Kathy for Easter. My brother bought a turkey breast and a ham. We had a great day hanging out in the kitchen. The smells were divine.
A wonderful feast, good company, and I’m loving the left overs!
March 2011
8 posts
2 tags
Syn March Bigan Thritty Dayes and Two
We’ve all felt like a fool at one time or another, some of us maybe more than others. Yet we proud fools of western culture have a rich history dating all the way back to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in 1392.
“Syn March Bigan Thritty Dayes and Two” the story begins in the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” with the protagonist rooster Chauntecleer soon to be tricked by...
3 tags
We are not going to Mars today
I love talking about Social Media and lately I’ve had some great conversations that started with the question: “What is social media?”
With that said it went suddenly quiet and I looked across the room of concerned faces staring back as if to ask, “Is that a trick question?” No, I laugh. Not at all.
Then the responses began to chime out… Facebook Twitter Blogs FourSquare Linkedin...
3 tags
Lessons learned from Johnathan Livingston Seagull
I was grilling some marinated steaks for my son Jeff and I this past Friday night. We splurged! After a busy week it was fun to be home. I had a little more energy than some Friday’s. Instead of dead tired I was inspired to make a “real” dinner with all the fixings, tune out work, and watch a movie.
While I was making sure my math was correct for timing everything I put on some music and ran...
2 tags
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Wishing you all a great St. Paddy’s Day…
These things I warmly wish to you- Someone to love Some work to do A bit o’ sun A bit o’ cheer And a guardian angel always near.
Irish Blessings and Sayings, author unknown.
4 tags
March Storm
Thursday, March 10, 2011… Heading home from work this afternoon the windstorm we’ve been hearing about is finally hitting Seattle. Stuff is blowing sideways all over the place and you can see the wind bucking cars back and forth. I got home a few minutes after 6:00 pm and looked off my deck to the west.
The clouds were rolling by very fast. I could see 3 layers blowing in...
I agree...
Last weekend I got to be “Mr. Domestic” as I like to put it. Everyday the week before was about major events. Network meetings, conference calls, a sales meeting, the Northwest Video Summit, RE Barcamp, and we ended the week with Mike Mueller doing a couple of great Facebook Business Page workshops…
I did a little work on Saturday, but realistically that distinction blurs more and more....
3 tags
A Home is a Home is a Home...
I missed this one. We had a closing last Wednesday (March 2, 2011) just as I was leaving for the Northwest Video Summit with Frank & Brian of Think Big Work Small. A young couple was closing the purchase of their new home and had their 5 year old with them. He was a really cute, intelligent, and well mannered young man.
I had a lot on my mind. Last week was super busy with the TBWS video...
3 tags
March... and the Lion Roars
As the old saying goes, March, in like a lion, out like a lamb. I’m thinking that might qualify this year. I’m looking forward to the lamb as the month goes by.
I know this is only the evening of the 2nd day and already I’ve seen sun, wind, rain, hail, and snow. I love the kaleidoscope of it all. It’s moody and bursting with energy at times. The air smells so fresh and...
1 tag
Snow on top
I was heading up Interstate 5 into Seattle late Friday afternoon, February 25th, 2011… when this car passed me an turned in front of me into my lane. That’s over 12 inches of snow on top! I’m not sure where they came from, but the car had Washington plates.
I was a little nervous if he hit a bump or the brakes… that has to be near 100 pounds of snow!
The Blackberry...
February 2011
9 posts
1 tag
Please... Bring your crazy idea...
2 tags
RE Barcamp Seattle 2011...
Taking it clear to the top.
2 tags
Squall over Lake Union
We’re having some dramatic weather in Seattle today. I noticed the light change coming through the office windows and looked out to see this squall moving north over the lake. I was surprised when I looked at the photo that it appears to be in black and white. It was taken in color yet the low clouds and shadows have muted everything. Can you see the Space Needle hiding in the mist?
...