So far the holiday season has been one big trip through hell in a stolen gasoline truck with zombies hanging off of it. Metaphors aside, Chris has put out a nice piece and was kind enough to give me the lead off spot. You can check it out here:
http://www.christopherspenn.
After probably 40 years or so of service the Angel that would sit atop our Christmas Tree finally disintegrated. When the quest to replace her began I came across a very similar one on eBay. Ours was much like the one pictured at right, except she had golden wings and her dress matched the wings the way this one does. Life at the top is not easy, in the event the tree goes down you’ve got the farthest to fall and the most time to accelerate. She didn’t have a name, had lost both arms, her wings had fallen apart and her stylish headband was falling off, making her hair a hot mess.
The one in this picture is currently on eBay and bidding is up to $200. I’m not up for paying that for a 60+ year old angel that is not prepared to handle the battlefield that is my home.
Having landed a Groupon deal for a tree on Friday, on Saturday we began auditioning replacements for the part. My first check was Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland of Frankenmuth, Michigan. The only thing bigger than this Christmas shop in upstate Michigan is Chicken Dinner. I was surprised that there were only about 30, if that was the selection at the greatest on earth this was going to be much tougher than I thought.
I turned to eBay and there were 27 pages of results. My quest led me to review over 1,500 tree toppers, and as I did I started tweeting some revelations. These were cross posted on Facebook, and got some decent comments so I decided to bundle up and present as a gift to you:
Top 10 Tree Topper Observations:
#1 – Animal heads on human angel bodies look weird. I.E. This tree topper – for King Charles Cavalier Spaniel fans ONLY:
#2 – When shopping on eBay “Vintage” usually means “dirty and/or broken”
#3 – The idea behind the angel is peace and grace, not defending your house from demons or dragons – No staffs for smiting
#4 – like most things for sale, the stuff of good taste costs 20x more
#5 For some reason 99.99% of angels are blonde, unless they are African American (eBay user’s term, not mine)
#6 Angels should have eagle, not butterfly wings
#7 If you are not into angels like Tammi Faye with a hoop skirt add Lladro to your search and think 10 times the cost
#8 Excessive lights or fiber optics result in angels holding weird looking things that look like they are casting a spell
#9 – Like dolls or ventriloquist dummies, there are some that look like they will come alive at night and eat your family
#10 Note: Your Scooby-Doo angel is not authentic unless he is also holding a piece of pizza
@JasonFredlin mentioned checking out etsy as opposed to the normal mall route. There was some killer stuff up there – I would be ALL OVER a Steampunk Angel, but “she who must be obeyed” would give that the NFW.
I would be remiss if I did not add a plug here for a Krinner Christmas Tree Stand. These are amazing devices. Every family that’s purchased a tree has stories about stands that just don’t work, broken ornaments, and domestic violence as a result of tree raising. Well over an hour to put up a tree, get it straight and balanced so it won’t fall is not uncommon.
The key to the Krinner is that it uses a cable to pull supporting arms tight against the tree as opposed to every other system that has you screwing bolts into the relatively mushy tree stump. Instead of spending your day crawling around adjusting one side and then having to tighten and loosen others, you drop the tree in, use the foot pedal to tighten the cable and in 15 seconds you are done. A true Christmas miracle.
Although it’s not cheap at around $80, one of the Amazon 5-star reviews hits the mark with the title “Way cheaper than a divorce attorney”
I often start to panic when the best-laid plans fall apart rapidly. Such was the case with the Cape Cod Marathon Relay last weekend. About a month ago I had the logistics and team together and my only concern was having a good run. In the week before the event the team went from 5 down to 3, a storm that dropped over 20 inches of snow had rolled in and things were getting ugly at an accelerating rate.
Unfortunately, the only way to calm the panic is to create the worst case scenario. In this case, one or more of us getting killed on the way to, during, or from the race. Every time I come to this conclusion, I reach the same decision – “Well, there are other people giving this a shot, so it can’t be impossible, and if we survive, it will make a great story”
So here’s our story. I failed to get my paperwork submitted in time to run my 10th Falmouth Road Race in August, so I thought it would be fun to put together a Marathon Relay Team. The 26.2 mile course is cut into 5 legs, in miles they are around 3,6,6,5,6. I had a couple lined up as part of the team, but they bailed leaving us down to 3 people. Adam had a family event that weekend and would have bailed, but, like a true Warrior, stuck to his word and said if you really need me I’m in. Unfortunately for him I replied “Yes, we REALLY need you”.
I invited Chip months ago because he was just getting into racing (he has his first half marathon coming up in less than two weeks), so I knew he would have fun with it. He was coming down from New Hampshire so he booked a hotel the night before. I was planning to get up around 4:30am and drive to the Cape, but when the storm rolled in I decided to go down the night before and get a room at the hotel Chip was at. Adam was crashing with a friend on the Cape so at least we were all there. Winds were fierce all night (Chip counseled me to park closer to the building to reduce the chance of the trees on the edge of the parking lot falling on my car).
The good news is that things started to move in our favor a bit from this point. The ride to the start went with no hitches. All of my logistical planning for the transition were overkill (off season traffic makes a HUGE difference on the ability to get around), so all that was left was the running.
I had a laugh talking with Adam about doing a relay. The marathoners are able to look down upon the people that are ONLY doing the relay (since they are not doing the whole 26.), Adam had license to laugh at those people since they were ONLY marathoners to him, having done a 50-mile Ultramarathon earlier in the month.
Adam did the first 2 legs, I set him up to start early so he could get off the Cape first since he was good enough to make the trip out. Chip took the middle leg, and I ran the last 11. Considering that’s the longest run I’ve done this summer, I was happy to finish. Looking back, I probably should have swapped with Chip, I think he’s in better shape than I am, but I did want to take the last leg and there was no way to swing that because we didn’t want anyone to stop and start, and I didn’t want to transition at Wood’s Hole (although I won’t let that discourage me next year).
I also had trouble with my insoles 8 miles in, the footbed is not smooth and it created a pressure point that was really bugging me. I actually took off my sock and that helped, the good news was that there were plenty of puddles on the course, so a quick icebath kept me out of pain long enough to get home.
I’d like to thank Adam and Chip for giving it everything they had. To paraphrase Henry V, I’m “Looking back with scars on my feet at we merry few, the band of brothers.” All in all, our time was pretty terrible at 4:31, but given what it took just to get to the starting line, I’m happy with that. For this year…
This week @EllensAdventure asked me if I had any book recommendations. I’ve had this draft saved for a couple of months so this was the motivation I needed to get it written. Here are some of my favorite books (these are all affiliate links, I am making enough per month to buy a box of diapers, that’s not incredible but beats a sharp stick in the eye). These are a few that come to mind but this is by no means a comprehensive list.
Business Books:
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Most business books are all about how to climb the ladder faster, this one asks if you have it leaning on the right building.
Permission Marketing and We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
The first is a classic, the second is cutting edge
New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott
Ignore the Social Media Guru baloney and get pragmatic advice here
Read this First by Ron Ploof
Book to give to your manager if they don’t get the New Rules
Marketing White Belt: Basics for the Digital Marketer by Christopher S. Penn
Starting properly by my Marketing Over Coffee co-host
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
Required reading for selling technology, also applies to how trends and new ideas move through the world.
The Marketing Playbook by John Zagula and Richard Tong
A hidden gem that will give you a set of concepts that allow you to review and discuss any business model.
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen
A classic that explains why well managed organizations are not innovative. Critical to understand the weakness of large corporations.
Drucker on Management by Peter F. Drucker
Applies intellectual integrity to the practice of management. I have an edition called The Essential Drucker that appears to be out of print, this edition is an overview of his thought and is a good place to start.
Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy
If you are in Marketing and write, you must read this.
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz and Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Suddenly you are able to understand why people do the things they do, even when it doesn’t make sense.
And a spoiler – keep your eyes out for Market Like Hero coming soon!
Running:
Born to Run by Christopher MacDougall
A fantastic story about ultra-marathoning, midfoot strike, and the greatest race the world has never seen
ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer
The quest to run more efficiently and without pain. I wish I had read this 15 years ago.
Life Skills:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
This book puts a framework around things you probably already do to succeed – making it a repeatable process.
Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution by C. Robert Atkins
Consult your doctor before changing your diet – that said, this book opened my eyes to the fact that so much of what is taken as fact about diet and nutrition is about as scientific as examining bird entrails. I’d be 300 lbs or dead without this book.
The Art of War (Shambala Press Edition) by Sun Tzu and Thomas Leary
Rock solid strategy.
On Speaking by Charles Osgood
An easy read and a good place to start
You can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen
Just like public speaking, negotiation can be nerve-wracking. And also like speaking, anyone can do well at it if you practice. This book gives you the guidelines.
For Fun:
Harry Potter is worth reading, maybe they will wake up and offer it on Kindle someday.
The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
Argued to be the greatest graphic novel ever, if you like the current Batman movies, you’ll like it.
Superman: Our Worlds at War Epic and grand in scope, with many different artistic styles, this huge graphic novel is a great escape.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore Forget the movie, this is a great story (18 and older only)
Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
is the funniest book I have ever read
Have fun reading and feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.
I cannot wait to check out the latest from Peter Gabriel
I have a bunch of links piling up that are not worthy of their own post, but I did think they were worth commenting on and sharing:
Warren Buffet saying that the rich could be asked to pick up their fair share. I recall Jeff Bussgang with a similar post in the past year, talking about VCs gambling other people’s money and only being being taxed at 15%. It’s an interesting argument, on one hand I see the fairness of it, on the other hand I don’t see congress behaving more responsibly by throwing more money at them.
Speaking of Congress – new music inspired by the Muppet Show.
I have been locked out of XBox Live for almost a month now because of a security breach. This would be a bummer if I hadn’t stopped playing video games 2 years ago.
There’s a whole series of new Swiss Army Knives that are USB drives and have bluetooth slide control. Some of them are blade free to make them TSA safe. If I didn’t already have a logitech presenter I’d consider one of these.
And I am about 80% through the first cut of a book. More on that later. I hope your summer is going well…
If there was a championship belt for comedy the current holder would be Justin Halpern. His book, Sh*t My Dad Says is the funniest book I have ever read. I’ve probably bought 10 copies of it by now, anytime I start talking about it, if somebody hasn’t read it I just kick over to Amazon and order another.
Most everyone has heard the back story, but in case you haven’t, Justin started blogging shit his dad says on Twitter and in short order ratcheted up over a million followers, then the book deal, and even a show with William Shatner (which I should probably set up on the DVR).
So, Happy Father’s Dad to all the Dads out there. As my gift to you, here’s a great Father’s Day story.
I remember when it began, around 1987. I had saved enough money mowing lawns, and managed to talk my parents into driving me to the Lechmere (Best Buy before there was a Best Buy) an hour away in Albany, New York. For $400 I got the second model Discman that Sony made and two CDs – Wang Chung’s Mosiac and Van Halen 5150. I didn’t have enough to complete the 1987 holy trinity by adding Bobby Brown, Don’t be Cruel. Maybe not Sophie’s Choice, but a tough decision. After years of listening to worn out cassette tapes I was blown away. Through college I bought while I still had summer cash to burn, and sold in the spring to get the cash to make it to the next summer.
Fast forward to the same renaissance in video, I replaced my 40 or so favorite films with DVDs, loving that the wouldn’t get eaten by dirty play heads, and the soundtracks were pristine.
Now, 25 years later I’m at a tag sale one of the neighbors is having. They have a box of CDs that people are looking through and a six year old girl asks “Daddy, what are those?”. One of the men thumbing through the box says “Honey, these are CDs, this is how we used to buy music.”
And it struck me there that the transition was over. I’ve been walking around with my music on an Apple device of some kind for years, the last of the CDs in a box in the basement, but it wasn’t until the past two years that I started thinking “If I was going to take the time to watch The Matrix again, there’s no way I’d watch the DVD when I can get it on the Apple TV in HD.” Slowly the bookcase of DVDs is shrinking as they get replaced with their virtual twins. I’ve waited my whole life to be able to watch a movie while traveling on my iPad. My son is born into a world where Toy Story is the first movie he sees, and he can take it with him wherever he wants and watch it at any time.
Although it’s shaken up the media world, I’m enjoying this new thing.
Where have I been for the last couple of weeks? Working on this project:
[youtube width=”560″ height=”349″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBJRsmi5Jlw[/youtube]
I just finished my morning walk with Carter, the special dog. The Marathon Course is coming together. The water crews are showing up to set up tables and the gates are out and ready to be assembled to close off the streets.
It’s sunny and cool (mid 40’s right now) with a decent wind going down the course. Hopefully it will stay that way.
I saw probably triathletes and race workers riding their bikes out to the start, and about 5 ultramarathoners running out to the start.
Today is a work day for me, but I’ll be taking my lunch break when my former co-worker Adam texts me when he hits mile 8 so I can bring the bandit some water.