Stanford Cal football – rainy night

Tim Tebow vs John Elway – statistics in first 8 NFL starts

Pretty amazing comparison

A warning to all Babies

Those darn critters always crawling where they are not welcome.

Cedars Sinai LA

Inception style cityscape maps at the MoMA

Just saw this at the MoMA NYC’s digital exhibit

Being embarrassed and vulnerable

I have recently read two separate items (referenced below) that relate to both business and life in general – having the courage to open yourself up to possible embarrassment.  

Reading the excerpts below made me relate it to what I have been thinking a lot of about recently – new career choices, and inspired me to write the following in my Kindle notes:

“In general starting a company, or getting behind an idea is making yourself vulnerable - to criticism, failure, ridicule.  There is likely to be initial rejection, doubt and even mockery, but by making yourself vulnerable, you exhibit the courage and humility to learn and iterate. Learn from it. Get stronger. Be all in. Besides, being passionate is better than being dull and non-committal – and passion definitely increases the chances for success.”

The quotes below were what inspired this blog post:

“You have to be embarrassed by your first product…If you’re not embarassed, you’re taking too long to get it out there.”  “Done is better than perfect.”   - from nymag article Bubble Boys

Choosing vulnerability means leaning into the full spectrum of emotions—the dark as well as the light—and examining how our feelings affect the way we think and behave. Vulnerability is equal parts courage, mindfulness, and understanding—it’s being “all in.  -noted “vulnerability researcher” Brene Brown in the book End Malaria

Black bottled water? A new product called blk

Detroit River

Taken at Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center

A review of Ted Turner’s Audio Biography: ‘Call me Ted’

Call Me Ted by Ted Turner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Phenomenal book on an amazing visionary. I purchased the audiobook because it is read by Ted Turner himself – a brilliant book. If you have any interest in media, including the development of cable TV and cable programming, the big three broadcast networks (CBS, ABC, NBC), media companies, movie studios, sports leagues, tech and media moguls including Rupert Murdoch, Steve Case at AOL, the Time Warner guys, Jack Welch, Kirk Kerkorian, Bill Gates, Jerry Yang, Malone (TCI), all the other cable companies, this is just fascinating. Ted had his fingers in it all, and helped influence a lot of the media landscape.

You can also hear how Turner’s visits with Castro, Gorbachev & Putin, to name a few, changed his outlook and politics. Plus, hearing firsthand how he created the first 24 hour content stations like CNN, The Cartoon Network, etc, is just fascinating. Plus a lot of the AOl-Time Warner merger.

I am not a big audio book guy, but it was great to hear the story straight from the horse’s mouth.

View all my reviews

US Open view from the blimp of Rafael Nadal

I am not in the blimp. This was from TV

It’s OK to be Different

I have been thinking a lot about what advice to give to my future children, and the one piece of advice that I wish my parents, my teachers, educators, or people I looked up would have told me was: “It’s OK to be Different”.  Ultimately, you have to be true to who you are.

I don’t think I would have been the only one to benefit from this simple yet direct advice.  There are many kids who were afraid to come out of the closet, or ashamed of their heritage, or worried because they were not popular or didn’t fit in….some made it through and realized that things get better, and that diversity is ultimately appreciated. Some however either suffer greatly, eventually even taking their own lives, become miserable, and sometimes even take other people’s lives.  

It’s OK to be Different
It’s OK to NOT fit in 
It’s OK to standout
It’s OK to like things other people don’t like
It’s OK if other people like things you don’t like (be accepting of others)
It’s OK to dress differently
It’s OK to be you