Pursuing Happiness - tag, your It!

Everybody - including me - deals with compressed time. But usually, I'm in a playful mood. Maybe it has something to do with Valeria's post from yesterday - what kind of games do you play? Do yourself a favor - deep breath - play a game like you're kid again. Lewis tagged a bunch of us with the 8 random things about me. In the process, I learned a bit about LG and Anna (who tagged him) - thanks to both of you.

As I breathe deep and smile, these are the 8 things you may or may not know about me:

1. Grew up in Iowa and moved to Spokane, WA 31 years ago. Its a tough place to leave once your here.
2. Umpired high school and college baseball for 20 years.
3. Notorious sweet tooth - DQ Blizzards the most tempting treat in my lifetime!
4. Deadhead through and through.
5. Cleaned volcanic ash from city roof tops for 6 months following eruption of Mt St Helen's in 1980.
6. Two life goals achieved - spring training with my dad and visiting the Sistine Chapel. Still want to see the Rockettes and go to a World Series game.
   
7. My favorite fishing fly is the Tom Thumb - a Canadian concoction made of deer hair that is simple to tie.
   
8. Paper or plastic? "That's OK - I have my own bag"

The game rules say I get to tag 8 people. Some of you I know better than others. Always random, of course - Play if you'd like!

C.B. - Flooring the Consumer
GLS - Going Like Sixty
Jackie - Consult Cameron
Cord - Marketing Hipster
Arun - Arun Rajagopal
Gavin - Servant of Chaos
Char - Essential Keystrokes
Mark - Transmission Marketing

Above all - have fun!

Psssst - Shhhh - its a secret

Absolutely cannot resist. I first saw it at Logic + Emotion during my Friday afternoon runthrough. Opening my big yap and leaving a comment only made me wonder more. Then it pops up on my feed reader at Mike's Converstations. Then Chris puts the same graphic up. When DA called me a perceptive SOB...well, that's all it took. Add persistent, too! And whether I'm right or wrong - it doesn't matter because at this moment - this very moment - I am having too much fun! My body is reacting to my emotions and they are running at a fever pitch. It's a blog high! The feeling you get that can't be described. I'd go so far as to say - and I KNOW Midwest winters...they are cold - I wish I was gonna be in Chicago on Sunday Feb. 18.

You can take the boy out of Iowa but you can't take Iowa out of the boy. The curious gene grows deep. So I wander over to Liz's place. And there it is! Eureka! Imagine this - a few bloggers show up somewhere and a celebration of sorts takes place. Its a not-so-secret bunch that thrives and flourishes on blogging - and more to the point - they thrive on conversation and the resultant success. Who's calling who an SOB? :)

I'm guessing that many - if not most - of you reading this post already recognize the value of community and conversation. I see many of the same names and faces in all kinds of places. What kind of crowd did I stumble into? What is fascinating to me is the conversation takes place across vast distances. This little path I've been on has taken me to Alabama, Australia, Des Moines (I been there), NY, Rhode Island, Russia, Texas...and those are the places just off the top of my head. The community ain't so small, but its pretty tight!

What does this mean for organizations? The organizations that we are part of and that are part of us? The communities we live in and SHOULD be making stronger? Here's what I think. Some see communication via pixels on a screen (blogging) as impersonal. The reasoning goes something like this - its a solitary activity consisting of ego driven ideas. How can it be of any help? Here's the reality - it might be solitary but it touches many - one at a time. It's an intimate connection. Its about sharing and giving to each other. Its about helping one another grow into our human potential. And its fun!

The buzz around Pssssst is hive worthy. I'll know this time tomorrow. And soon will find out whether David is right about me being an SOB! Great fun and happiness!

Geeks on Steroids!

Geeks on steroids! I don't consider myself a geek - too scattered. I certainly would not condone the use of steroids...or any other drug (besides caffiene and nicotine).

I love measurement and metrics - even though I may not understand completely. This entire exploding blogosphere has captured my imagination. The bunch over at Technorati is at it again. Suddenly, my entire account looks a little different. At first I was confused, then walked through it step by step. It was a bit clunky getting to my account - but get there I did.

This weblog post by Brian Pinkerton explains a little about the ranking metrics they use. I love the pictures and graphs - plus the hoorays they add for the blog that is climbing. I'm a little confused about the 180 day cycle they use...but can live with it as an arbitrary number. Currently ranked at 584,706 - an uptick from August 804, 617 :)

Anybody else notice the changes? Or is this a case of me being late to the party again.