HELLO MOTO

You don't know what you got, til it's gone. I think that's a line from a Guns 'n' Roses song, probably from some ultimate love ballad of a classic hair band. It certainly goes beyond relationships. It's sick how dependent I am on my cell phone. It is my connection to friends, family, and just about any information I need. After losing it on a rainy night, I figured it was either taken or ruined. But like it always goes, as soon as you cancel the service, you find it, as I did. I just switched to an Explorer and didn't realize the seats can capture pocket items. Lesson learned. No real moral to this story. I should just switch to always wearing the nice shorts that have the pocket in the pocket to make sure it doesn't happen again.

My brother and I visited a traveling artsy thing in Memphis. It was hanging banners displaying different genres of quotes. The categories range from power, fun, relationships, money, politics, and more. I love quotes, and it was very interesting to see the different types of people from different time periods speaking to the same thing. It showed me two things:
1) There are consistencies in society that will never change
2) There are problems that will not go away unless we learn from the previous generations
It's a neat idea. They're filming a documentary to get peoples reactions. I don't expect to see my own face on film or anything, but it only takes one interesting thing to happen to make the film stand out. The creator of the project is the great-grandson of a famous Italian general (Garibaldi I think). It's become so cheap to film and edit movies; I think we're going to see more in depth coverage of things. It will probably be mostly things we don't care much about, but some things could be eye opening.

never be without it

It's no mystery that I like photography. It's definitely a part of my life, and something I get from my family. My grandmother once showed me what she called her "Wedding Album". It consisted of one poor quality 3x3 picture of her and my grandfather exiting the chapel. That was only about 70 years ago, a very short time in the grand scheme of things. Today I can take video with my cell phone!! It's hard to take too many pictures, but there is something to be said of the idea of not fully enjoying the moment because you're more concerned with capturing it. Digital has given us the ability to take as many photos as we like without sinking any cost into film and developing. I don't think my photos are as good as most because sometimes they are that one that turned out of the fifty I took. I might have the best picture from something because I was the only person who would think to bring a camera. You just never know.

Michelangelo once said, "If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." For me, it's more like, if they knew how easy it was to take those photos, they surely wouldn't think it was that special.

Our lives are so well documented. In 20 years they will be using old Facebook profiles to find dirt on political candidates. I like the bumper sticker that says "one nation under surveillance" (I'm sure there's some uber conservative that thinks they're trying to take God out of that phrase, but that's a subject that needs it's own post). Bloggers have been credited with being the best journalists because they can post pictures of an event immediately. I don't know where things will end up, but it will be interesting to watch.

Memphis to Shreveport – 11 hours

It was a usual Monday. I arrived well ahead of my flight time to get through some paperwork, only to find out that the flight was canceled. No sweat, there's one in the afternoon, and I'd have a chance to get some stuff done during the day. But that flight was full. Determined to get me to my final destination, Northwest rerouted me through Minneapolis/St. Paul, then through Cincinnati, and arriving in Shreveport, LA 11 hours after I arrived at the Memphis airport. It looks like I'll bank 4000 FF miles today, and I may write them a letter to see what else they're willing to do for one of their best customers. It will give me a chance to enjoy my new book, The Tipping Point. Someone compared it to Freakonomics, but that's a hard one to follow.

I met someone who told me he had never been on an airplane before. I don't hate flying and even enjoy the window seat most of the time. It still amazes me that something that weighs this much can keep itself off the ground, especially with engines made by a company that built itself on toasters. It is a privilege that I may never fully grasp. In the history of the world, probably less than .0001% have ever gotten to experience what I am doing right now as I type this.

The Apple Way

The bottom line is very powerful. It's what made Wally World the empire it is today. These days people want more than bottom line, and Target (pronounced with a French accent) is benefiting because people are willing to pay more for a better experience. The same could be said for Apple. I try to explain to people that it's better to pay 20% more for the computer because you'll use it a lot more for different things and save time trying to fix it - how valuable is your time? Don't jump over a dollar to save a dime.

"We don't underestimate people . . . Rather than making a far inferior product for a hundred dollars less, we gave the people the product that they want and that will serve them for years, even though it's a little pricier. People are smart; they figure things out." Steve Jobs

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=36099539665548298&q=microsoft+ipod

travel

i've learned a lot in traveling. like many say you should fly into vegas at night, if you're ever flying at sunset, pick the window seat that faces the west. the best is memphis to dallas, where you can fly at an angle to chase the sun and still see it out the right side windows. it's great for pictures, except in this case when you leave the camera on the flight and stupid northwest airlines is stuck in the 20th century when it comes to communication. so i'll be waking up at 5am to try to retrieve my prized possession. i'll know what it's like to be a pilot on the pond-hopper they call a plane.