Go Green in 2008!

I am really enjoying Michelle Kaufmann's blog.

Read her tips for going green:

http://blog.michellekaufmann.com/?cat=9

I will be working this year to make the big conference that I organize, Architecture Exchange East, as green as possible, both in the implementation and the planning. How can you do that? For instance, planning meetings will have pitchers of water instead of bottled, and there will be no duplicated handouts. At the event itself, we will post all powerpoints, handouts, etc., on the web site for download instead of passing out tons of paper. Those are just a couple of things, we'll be doing more. A major agenda item at our first planning meeting on January 23 will be how we can make ArchEx greener.

Feel free to post ideas!

What Have You Changed Your Mind About? Why?

Edge.org operates The World Question Center.
Recently, they asked 165 prominent scientists, artists, and others..thinkers all…this question:

The Edge Annual Question — 2008
When thinking changes your mind, that's philosophy.
When God changes your mind, that's faith.
When facts change your mind, that's science.
WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? WHY?
Science is based on evidence. What happens when the data change? How have scientific findings or arguments changed your mind?
165 contributors; 112,600 words

The results are fascinating. I’ve only just started to read. After I've read more I may comment here, but I expect this to take a while to get through.

This goes to the Question Main Page:

http://www.edge.org/q2008/q08_index.html

This goes to the first answer, if you’d rather just jump there:

http://www.edge.org/q2008/q08_1.html#seligman

Please post a comment with your reaction.

Start Me Up

Dr. Mao's Tips for Jump-Starting Your Energy

An excerpt:

Most people eat too many foods that supply a rapid burst of energy in the form of simple carbohydrates and sugars - which burn out fast, leaving us depleted - rather than foods with a more sustainable energy content.

Eat a snack at mid-morning and another one at mid-afternoon. Good ones to choose are nuts, seeds, fruits, or protein-rich foods like hummus made from beans; these will help you sustain your energy and prevent low blood sugar from setting in. Make your own trail mix with almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, dried cranberry, raisins, or any other combination.

Night Swimming

Something happened on January 1. Before that, everything was going along fine, and I was doing ok at work. Then suddenly everything blew up. Actually, that’s a little overdramatic. I’m still doing fine, and I’m still happy here.

I’m just swimming all of a sudden…there’s a huge amount of work to do. This is both good and bad, because no one wants to be bored at work (not that I was bored before), but still…you want a little breathing room sometimes.

I’m going to come in Sunday to do a little catch up. However, right now it’s 5:30 on Friday and sitting at my desk is NOT where I want to be. See ya ‘round.

A New Year

I'm going to try to keep up with this again in 2008. It's not a resolution, just a desire to get back to writing. I enjoyed doing this back when I was writing entries regularly. It's just hard to keep up and find the time. I used to make resolutions, but I really don't any more. Now I view the start of the new year pretty much the same way every year. It *is* a time to do some taking stock, to look both back and forward, to see what I can learn from the past year, and most importantly to do some thinking about where I can take my life in the coming year. Are there any actions I can take to bring myself closer to the person I want to be? Sounds pretty dramatic.

Anyway, stay tuned and we'll see what goes on. The 2007 pictures are below, if anyone is still looking for those.

2007 Pictures

A few pictures of us in 2007. Click on any picture to view a larger version. I've been asked to enter captions and also to tell people how to comment, if they wish: just click on the words "0 comments" (or "2 comments", or however many there are) at the very bottom of this entry.



Julia dolled up for homecoming.

Julia and Katie O'Donohue ready for the Harry Potter release party.

Julia's birthday...she and some of her pals all in a pile.

Sam running in a cross-country meet.

The World's Largest Frying Pan! How can you NOT stop and see this?

Just a few days ago...Julia and Sam in front of our tree.

On top of Mill Mountain in Roanoke.

On top of Mill Mountain in Roanoke.

Missing in Action

Well...it's been a long time since I posted. I've been absent, but busy.

I started at VSAIA on October 8. Since then I have been ...occupied. Even when I didn't have all *that* much to do at work, it was tiring. I'd forgotten how tiring it can be to be in a new job and just trying to soak in as much information as you can.

So far I like it quite a bit. It has many things that are novel to me...structure, clarity of mission, resources. I'm getting to know the staff, and getting busier by the day.

The main reason I'm busy and will be for a couple more weeks is that our major event of the year, Architecture Exchange East, takes place November 7-9.

So far I like all the people I work with. There are a couple with some idiosyncracies, but nothing truly weird so far. Just odd enough to be interesting. The CEO is very smart and very politically astute. I can learn a lot from him.

What else is new? Well, I bought a new laptop. After having one for several years that belonged to my employer, I got really used to having one. Then I didn't have one anymore, and three of us were jockeying for the one desktop computer, and it got to be too much, so I bit the bullet and picked up an HP Pavilion on sale.

Also, I went back to Weight Watchers. When I was going there over the summer, I lost 15 pounds, then I lost my job and started eating everything. So I went to my first meeting again the other day, and my weigh in was 6 pounds up from what I had lost. not too bad, I expected it to be more.

OK, that's enough for now. more later