Spring!

First, flowers!








It's so great to see all this color.

Work has been really fun lately. It seems like spring has really amped up my creative process. I spoke at a conference in Austin a few weeks ago called RISE, it was really fun. It was especially great to be around a bunch of entrepreneurs. It reminded me of the first time I went to music/arts summer camp in high school. Instead of being a weirdo, I was with my own kind, people who shared my values and ideals. In this case, it was fun to be with other irrationally optimistic, creative, driven people who persistently see our country's financial difficulties as an opportunity for growth and change. It was cool.

My session was on defining and identifying core vision, values, and mission. It went really well, and has got me thinking about some very exciting possibilities to expand on the parts people responded to especially well. Next week, I'm guest speaking at Wisdom at Work, which you can read about here, if you're interested.

Speaking of entrepreneurs, I got to meet one of my idols yesterday, Perez Hilton. What? That snarky gossip blogger who draws on pictures of movie stars in MS Paint? Yep. I have to admit his blog is a guilty pleasure of mine. But what I find more interesting is how he's managed to go from just some dude who writes a goofy blog to a media mogul. Seriously - the guy had one of the hottest shows at SXSW, has a clothing line at Hot Topic, a book, tv shows, and more. I expect him to be in the company of Oprah as far as media influence is concerned in the next ten years. He is wicked smart. Anyway, I'll quit gushing and just show you the picture:



I am such a dork.

I've been better about keeping my business blog updated, but less so here. I've got some new website stuff in the work, so stay tuned for updates. Oh - and I also have a new article in a journal called The Systems Thinker. Sweet! It's on organizational politics and ethics, if you're interested email me and I'll send you a copy.

That's all for now. I have to go wash some terriers.

Rather a lot of updates

I've been neglecting my blog lately, mostly because I don't know where to start. Life has been, well, crazy.

My Nana (paternal grandmother) passed away a couple of weeks ago, and that has been really hard. She was a really important part of my childhood and early adulthood. She suffered from dementia in her final several years, and was at a rest home in Santa Barbara near my parents and one of my aunts. I didn't spend very much time with her over the last few years, and when I did it was hard to relate her to the woman I knew during most of my life. So I have regrets, and sadness, and the usual anger and confusion and stress that comes with grieving. I like to think that her always free spirit is really free now and that she's in a joyful place.

It's impossible to encapsulate the things that she shared with me, and I'm not ready to go public with all those memories. I'm finding it strange to be grieving again at the same time of year last year I was grieving my dog Simon. Then last night I found out a friend from my early days in Austin passed away unexpectedly a year ago. She was 50. Her name was Breeze, and she taught me how to read tarot cards when I first moved back to Austin in 2001. She was quite a mystic, so I hope she's enjoying the next part of her journey.

Meanwhile, on the career front things are coming together. My company, DiamondMind Consulting is going to be officially incorporated in the next couple of weeks. We're making connections in the community and working on a case study. I'm also writing articles and developing presentations and workshops. I'm starting to get the hang of this entrepreneur/consultant thing:

1. Try Stuff
2. Make Mistakes
3. Try More Stuff.
   

Maybe I can expand that into a workshop...

Most of my ethics/business/OD blogging is going to be moving to my company blog. Please do check it out if you're interested in that sort of thing. My partners will be contributing their considerable wisdom as well.

Also on the happy front, David and I celebrate our Halfiversary on Monday. Six months of matrimony, and we haven't killed each other yet. And I think I've managed to actually send all my thank you letters for wedding presents. Please let me know if I missed you...

I'm going to try to be a better updater. Stay posted for more dog and food pictures.

Long time no blog

My days feel scattered and hard to nail down. Having a day job puts this nice delineated structure around my time, and I'm still trying to deal with the lack of it, much as I enjoy being my own boss.

I realized I wasn't taking enough time for my physical-mental health, and instituted a bit of a morning yoga stretching and meditation routine. To the left is my new Ganesha statue for my meditation altar. I looked around quite a bit to find one I liked. Ganesha is a god of success. He clears obstacles and represents wisdom and intellect. Ganesha is here to help me stay focused on my endeavors, but also to stay grounded.

I have a thing for elephants, I find them beautiful and mesmerizing. It's probably projection, but they seem very soulful and deliberate. One of the most touching things I ever saw was a baby elephant playing by itself at a zoo. It seemed so intelligent, and so much like a little kid just entertaining himself and having fun being little.

So I consider elephants to be my totem animal. I collect elephant stuff, though I'm trying to limit that collection to a reasonable one. David would not be happy if we had elephant stuff everywhere. These are some carved stone elephants. I found both these and the statue at White Crane, a store associated with a holistic medicine school. The store has some cool stuff and the prices are pretty reasonable.

Next weekend we head to Santa Barbara for our second wedding reception. We're really looking forward to seeing people, to Shaun's awesome dinner, and to dragging our camera EVERYWHERE to take pictures. Austin has some nice scenery this time of year, but Santa Barbara has a plethora of vistas. Everything is a vista. So keep an eye on my Flickr page, hopefully we'll have some good stuff up late next week.

End of an era

The next seven weeks mark the end of my time in the MSOLE program. It turns out I'm a total school nerd and am all sad and shit that it's almost over. So much that I'm looking at PhDs and other advanced degrees, in addition to searching for the right job (the test that shall-not-be-named went okay, I'll know my score in a week or so).

All that aside, the last chunk should be fairly intense, as we have a rather large report to write and at least three presentations to do. The project has been really interesting and has been a great learning experience.

I do miss working (and having a refillable bank account) and am looking for contract work or a full-time gig. A good job would certainly make me re-think my whole I Love School perspective. School is awesome, but pay the bills it does not. It also does not pay for shopping sprees at Sephora, Nordstrom, Anthropologie or the 24 hour basket of goodies that is the internet.

Also, a good job could fund the distance PhD program I'd really like to do, but currently can't afford. Or, I could get a job and get one of those life things and actually do other stuff in my spare time. What is that again?

The big icing on the graduation cake is David is taking me to Hawaii in December. I've never been, and am totally looking forward to it.

Mostly it's going to be very strange when MSOLE is over. What will I do with myself on Weds. nights and Sun. afternoons? Who will listen to me yammer about ethics and philosophy and theology and not be bored silly? I think I may go back and try and beef up some of my papers and submit them for publication. Because I'm not a nerd, no not at all.

Redesign!

David and I have been re-doing several rooms in the house for the last few months. We hired my friend Robin to consult on colors and do a design plan for the living room, and we finally finished it yesterday. I took a few pictures - I'm a crap photographer, hopefully Robin will take some good ones and put them up on her website. In the meantime, here's some eye candy for you.

In other news, I have a really crappy cough. The only thing that seems to be working for it is a homeopathic remedy I found online. Apple cider vinegar simmered with cayenne pepper and honey, diluted with a litte water. Tastes foul, but can render me cough free for an hour or two. I probably smell like a salad.

My new job is great. Tons to learn, I am not going to lack challenges in this position. School starts on Weds, and thus begins the ball-buster year that is 2007. Wish me luck.