May 19, 2010 · 2:09 pm

Guest Post – Eric D.

My friend Eric has been mentioned in this space before as one of the “Ralph Moneybags” crew.  He sent me an email recently in which he raised a few thoughts I think are worth sharing.  I hope you do as well, and I’ve taken the liberty, with Eric’s permission to post an edited down version.

If you live in the Bay Area, you should check out Eric’s band, the Jack Aces.  Search around – there are videos!  I know we try to keep this space pretty apolitical, but although some of what he writes is in a political content, they’re really more substantive issues that aren’t part of the conversation, no matter how you feel about one answer or another.  The point he gets to toward the end was summed up nicely by old Kris:  Nothing ain’t worth nothing but it’s free. Let’s hear what you think! Continue reading →

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May 18, 2010 · 3:37 pm

Chargers

I’ll bet you have a few chargers. No, not the football team. The things into which you plug your various electronic devices or the holder for your NiMH, NiCD, NiZN, Lead Acid and Li-ion rechargeable batteries so they keep you going and going. It’s become part of the nighttime routine: brush teeth, wash face, plug in things that need charging.
I’ve just spent the last few days plugging myself in to my own personal charger. Some folks do the spa thing, some folks lie on the beach. I play golf with 12 buddies and spend 19 hours a day laughing. We laugh at our games, at our jokes, at each other, and at how unbelievably complex and pressure filled our “real” lives are sometimes. Mostly, we recharge. Our days are more like when things didn’t run us down to the “needs recharge” line each day.

So I’m just back to my “real world” post after arriving home quite early this morning (or late last night) having only been held up by Air We Don’t Care for four hours.  I’m recharged and ready to rock but I’ve got lots of catching up to do.  Brief post now, more tomorrow, but in the interim, ask yourself how you’re keeping up with your iPhone or Blackberry and recharging.  Because if you’re not, just like them you’ll stop functioning at some point and be terribly useless.

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May 14, 2010 · 7:56 am

Goose bumps

You know what’s a weird thing?  Goose bumps.  You know what I’m talking about – that phenomenon when your skin gets all bumpy and the hairs stand up.  Sometimes it happens when we’re cold.  Here’s the basic explanation:

Goose bumps, also called goose flesh, goose pimples, chill bumps, chicken skin, or the medical term cutis anserina, are the bumps on a person’s skin at the base of body hairs which may involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong emotions such as fear or awe. The reflex of producing goose bumps is known as horripilation, piloerection, or the pilomotor reflex. It occurs not only in humans but also in many other mammals; a prominent example are porcupines which raise their quills when threatened, or sea otters when they encounter sharks or other predators.

I get these most often when listening to music.  In fact, that’s my litmus test for how good a piece of music is – if the hair on my arms stands up, it pretty damn good!  Lots of Clapton solos do that, plenty of moments at a Bruce concert – it’s a long list.  Which of course got me thinking.

What do you and I do that gives others goose bumps?  No, not the kind from fear, but maybe awe?  Do our products do that to customers?  How can they?  In my mind, that’s a great goal.  How about in yours?

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