Diana Taurasi, former UConn Husky & NCAA champion

Every great and commanding moment in the annals of the world

Is the triumph of enthusiasm.

Nothing great was ever achieved without it!

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Videodreh mit Elena Lange

Twenty years ago that was the inherent word of the day. Today, I want to be enthusiastic but that requires self-esteem.  Loosing my self-esteem has been a transparent project to me.  I’m approaching 50 and in the span of 10 years I have “made” myself emotionally, financially and materially bankrupt.  Facing this is sobering and my retort to myself is, “You are  pathetic”.

It took significant 2008-2009 events to level my emotional playing field. The death of El’s dad, my mom and my cousin plus closing my company all within 3 months – did a pretty good number on me.  I feel numb and clearly this blog is an attempt to break free, and feel life not just witness it then pass silent judgment.

Again, the movie played on and I watched with great interest and basically said to myself, “I can handle this”.  The truth is I have melted to the bottom.

This is what I know for sure.  I’m very intelligent with tons of commonsense and life experience. Why is it then, that I can go from the clearest thought to being in the most immobile and empty body on earth.  The funny part is I can see it happen almost moment by moment and I feel powerless to stop it’s progress.  I don’t feel sorry for myself and I don’t feel like someone or the world has put something on me. It’s not even a zone of comfort I’m seeking.

I have to rekindle my enthusiasm, my zest, my smile and laugh that everyone I’ve ever know has said is infectious.

Twenty years ago that was the inherent word of the day. Today, I want to be enthusiastic but that requires self-esteem.  Loosing my self-esteem has been a transparent project to me.  I’m approaching 50 and in the span of 10 years I have “made” myself emotionally, financially and materially bankrupt.  Facing this is sobering and my retort to myself is, “You are  pathetic”.

It took significant 2008-2009 events to level my emotional playing field. The death of El’s dad, my mom and my cousin plus closing my company all within 3 months – did a pretty good number on me.  I feel numb and clearly this blog is an attempt to break free, and feel life not just witness it then pass silent judgment.

Again, the movie played on and I watched with great interest and basically said to myself, “I can handle this”.  The truth is I have melted to the bottom.

This is what I know for sure.  I’m very intelligent with tons of commonsense and life experience. Why is it then, that I can go from the clearest thought to being in the most immobile and empty body on earth.  The funny part is I can see it happen almost moment by moment and I feel powerless to stop it’s progress.  I don’t feel sorry for myself and I don’t feel like someone or the world has put something on me. It’s not even a zone of comfort I’m seeking.

I have to rekindle my enthusiasm, my zest, my smile and laugh that everyone I’ve ever know has said is infectious.

Job searching can be serious stuff, so sometimes a little bit of levity is called for here at The Job Quest. I found this short YouTube video, an ad for a staffing agency in South Africa.

Showing enthusiasm during an interview is important. But, as this video shows, jumping on a couch won’t necessarily convey the right kind of enthusiasm.

(So glad I could impart this important information!)

Retweet This Page

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This last week I was able to spend some time in between packing and moving our house for Colorado to read a book called “Primal”.  While I was reading this book there were several quotes, comments, and lines that made an impact on me especially as we step out on a new journey.  One of them was this:

“The word enthusiasm comes from a combination of two Greek words: en and Theos. It means “in God”.  And the more you get into God, the more passionate you become .”

One question that I have is this; “How enthusiastic are you about your relationship with God?”  The way that you answer that question might really point you to where you are when it comes to being “In God”.  I don’t know how many times that I have heard people that say they are following Jesus comment that they are really struggling with being in a relationship with God.  What I want us to think about is are we really “in God” or or are we more into us?  If we were more into God then we would be more enthusiastic about who He is in us.  I pray that this week you are able to see that it is more about you being into God then who you are.  For if we are in Him then we will become more like Him.

May we be enthusiastic about the God that sent us the great gift of Grace when we really did not deserve it.  May we be enthusiastic about the God that loves us no matter what and no matter where we have been.  May we be “in God” today because, we are “in God”.

Another mediocre shot. Sigh…

Until now, I’m still trying to take a satisfying shot of Nagi. I thought these shots were “presentable” but they are by no means good. Hmm.. I think I’m actually starting to get demanding of myself. Good sign? Hope so… Lol.
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Zan Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei

Nozomu Itoshiki is still the bizarre teacher of the even stranger Class 2-H. He attempts to teach his students the negative aspects of the world and society, only to have each circumstance thrown at his face whenever he tries. With more students and friends than before, Zetsubo-sensei’s life becomes harder and crazier than ever before

I’d really like to say that I enjoyed this series. By doing so, it will leave an impression of me being matured and intellectual. That’s what I believe.

However, I didn’t. I dropped it at episode 6. Despite (again) making numerous attempts to get pass the episode 6 blockade. That

Still, I’d like to point out the cool opening theme, Ringo Mogire Beam! by Kenji Ootsuki and Zetsubou Shoujotachi, which absolutely rocks. The video and the song matches well to get your blood flowing. Can’t help but wake my neighbors up whenever I play the opening theme.

I also like the pattern-fill-color-style-palette-styled animation thingamabob. Can’t recall the last time I saw one. But definitely deserves a checking out. Character designs were also appealing. Zetsubo sensei had style while the students were attractive despite being flatter than any other 2d’s out there.

But that’s about it from me. Unfortunately, like the anime title goes. It was indeed Zetsubo for me.

It died years ago. Think about it.

Zan Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei
Dropped
More info: AnimeNewsNetwork.com
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Kanamemo

After her grandmother dies, thirteen year-old Kana Nakamachi runs away from home convinced she will be thrown out of her house anyway. She tries to find a job, but with nowhere willing to hire a girl of her age without parental consent, she is back at square one. Then, to make matters worse, a young girl called Yume crashes her bicycle into Kana and knocks her unconscious! Following this chance encounter, Kana learns of a job vacancy at the newspaper company that Yume works for and quickly applies. Now Kana has secured herself a live-in job delivering newspapers along with her new co-workers: lively Yume; quiet Yuki; drunken and perverted Haruka; money-hungry Hinata; and grade school deputy manager, Saki. From memorizing her paper route to learning how to ride a bicycle to fixing her terrifying smile, Kana’s new life has only just begun.

I did one thing I knew I shouldn’t have. I read an anime review before I completed it. Having thought a decent average of the first 3 episode of Kanamemo, I saw Glo’s post about the series. And how retarded it was. Since then, all I could focus on was the negative aspect Glo mentioned. It’s like the more I try not to take notice, the more my mind thought about it. In the end, Kanamemo is indeed nothing more than a filler of 12 episodes of girls with big eyes, boobs and yuri. All it was missing was incest and it would have been a full circle.

Being mediocrity at it’s best, 3-Stars then because of the countable laughs I had. Yes, I’m being merciful with the rating cause Kanamemo is Moe. Xp
Anyone with a high tolerance of moe will find this right up their alley though. I know I did. Lol!
*cough*I wonder who *cough*

The one and most irritating part for me is not having a closure on the case of Kana’s family, or inheritance (Yes… I’m money minded -.-”). Come on!!! Her parents are dead, then her grandma dies, she runs away from home, and that’s it? Not even a freaking missing person ad? Seriously…

Even till the anime ends, I’m still left with a big fat question mark. At least do a short scene showing a social worker talking to Kana or the Chief (Kana’s employer) or something. Then at least I know SOMETHING happened.
Fark, just show a cop car patrolling the neighborhood having a relaxing time while eating cup noodles. That would have suffice.

Duuuuuhhhhh….

How vulgar sounds like in animes

mMMMmmMMmmm… Yuri.

Kanamemo
Rating:3-Stars
More Info: Anime-Planet
Just a mention, the review for Kanamemo in anime-planet is well written. So much so I feel ashamed with my own (but am to lazy to do anything about it) Xp
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Here’s a short chat I’d like to share with everyone. Between me and a cosplayer.

Chikoness! says:
(kagamine) len in d morning n shana starting 4.30++

Ant says:
from 1 to 4.30? time out?

Chikoness! says:
1.15 to 4.30 rush to fucking exam =w=

Ant says:
o.0!
Exam in putrajaya?

Chikoness! says:
exam in sch lol

Ant says:
lol… *Respect*
hmm… dont think i’ll disturb you study now.. Xp

and i bet you’ll also need to rest…

Chikoness! says:
lol i’ll b doing my props n stuff until 5.30 or so
6 i leave for cf because tats how hardcore i am

.

I laughed. The time we were talking about was in AM mind you.
The enthusiasm is super. And I respect Chikoness! and other cosplayers for that.
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In case you didn’t notice, since I stopped Anime3R and didn’t attach any torrents. That’s right… I’ve stopped posting torrents for animes as well.
I figured anyone who can read my post would be able to go nyaatorrents or something. -.-”

Still, Thanks for all the kind words on Anime3R’s 1 year post.
*bows* Arigato MinaaAARRRRAAWWWRRRRRRAARARWWRRR

(I had to add a roar at the back cause if I didn’t, it would have sound (or read) pretty darn sissy)

Former WiZiQ product manager Vikrama Dhiman responded to one of my tweets with a full-blown blogpost, thereby giving support to Matt Mullenweg’s point that microblogging goes hand-in-hand with “macroblogging.”

My tweet:

enjoys draft æsthetics yet wishes more developers would release stable products. / adopte certains produits trop rapidement.

Vikrama’s post:

Good Enough Software Does Not Mean Bad Software « Agile Diary, Agile Introduction, Agile Implementation.

My reply:

“To an engineer, good enough means perfect. With an artist, there’s no such thing as perfect.” (Alexander Calder)

Thanks a lot for your kind comments. I’m very happy that my tweet (and status update) triggered this.

A bit of context for my tweet (actually, a post from Ping.fm, meant as a status update, thereby giving support in favour of conscious duplication, «n’en déplaise aux partisans de l’action contre la duplication».)

I’ve been thinking about what I call the “draft æsthetics.” In fact, I did a podcast episode about it. My description of that episode was:

Sometimes, there is such a thing as “Good Enough.”

Though I didn’t emphasize the “sometimes” part in that podcast episode, it was an important part of what I wanted to say. In fact, my intention wasn’t to defend draft æsthetics but to note that there seems to be a tendency toward this æsthetic mode. I do situate myself within that mode in many things I do, but it really doesn’t mean that this mode should be the exclusive one used in any context.

That aforequoted tweet was thus a response to my podcast episode on draft æsthetics. “Yes, ‘good enough’ may work, sometimes. But it needs not be applied in all cases.”

As I often get into convoluted discussions with people who seem to think that I condone or defend a position because I take it for myself, the main thing I’d say there is that I’m not only a relativist but I cherish nuance. In other words, my tweet was a way to qualify the core statement I was talking about in my podcast episode (that “good enough” exists, at times). And that statement isn’t necessarily my own. I notice a pattern by which this statement seems to be held as accurate by people. I share that opinion, but it’s not a strongly held belief of mine.

Of course, I digress…

So, the tweet which motivated Vikrama had to do with my approach to “good enough.” In this case, I tend to think about writing but in view of Eric S. Raymond’s approach to “Release Early, Release Often” (RERO). So there is a connection to software development and geek culture. But I think of “good enough” in a broader sense.

Disclaimer: I am not a coder.

The Calder quote remained in my head, after it was mentioned by a colleague who had read it in a local newspaper. One reason it struck me is that I spend some time thinking about artists and engineers, especially in social terms. I spend some time hanging out with engineers but I tend to be more on the “artist” side of what I perceive to be an axis of attitudes found in some social contexts. I do get a fair deal of flack for some of my comments on this characterization and it should be clear that it isn’t meant to imply any evaluation of individuals. But, as a model, the artist and engineer distinction seems to work, for me. In a way, it seems more useful than the distinction between science and art.

An engineer friend with whom I discussed this kind of distinction was quick to point out that, to him, there’s no such thing as “good enough.” He was also quick to point out that engineers can be creative and so on. But the point isn’t to exclude engineers from artistic endeavours. It’s to describe differences in modes of thought, ways of knowing, approaches to reality. And the way these are perceived socially. We could do a simple exercise with terms like “troubleshooting” and “emotional” to be assigned to the two broad categories of “engineer” and “artist.” Chances are that clear patterns would emerge. Of course, many concepts are as important to both sides (“intelligence,” “innovation”…) and they may also be telling. But dichotomies have heuristic value.

Now, to go back to software development, the focus in Vikrama’s Agile Diary post…

What pushed me to post my status update and tweet is in fact related to software development. Contrary to what Vikrama presumes, it wasn’t about a Web application. And it wasn’t even about a single thing. But it did have to do with firmware development and with software documentation.

The first case is that of my Fonera 2.0n router. Bought it in early November and I wasn’t able to connect to its private signal using my iPod touch. I could connect to the router using the public signal, but that required frequent authentication, as annoying as with ISF. Since my iPod touch is my main WiFi device, this issue made my Fonera 2.0n experience rather frustrating.

Of course, I’ve been contacting Fon’s tech support. As is often the case, that experience was itself quite frustrating. I was told to reset my touch’s network settings which forced me to reauthenticate my touch on a number of networks I access regularly and only solved the problem temporarily. The same tech support person (or, at least, somebody using the same name) had me repeat the same description several times in the same email message. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was also told to use third-party software which had nothing to do with my issue. All in all, your typical tech support experience.

But my tweet wasn’t really about tech support. It was about the product. Thougb I find the overall concept behind the Fonera 2.0n router very interesting, its implementation seems to me to be lacking. In fact, it reminds me of several FLOSS development projects that I’ve been observing and, to an extent, benefitting from.

This is rapidly transforming into a rant I’ve had in my “to blog” list for a while about “thinking outside the geek box.” I’ll try to resist the temptation, for now. But I can mention a blog thread which has been on my mind, in terms of this issue.

Firefox 3 is Still a Memory Hog — The NeoSmart Files.

The blogpost refers to a situation in which, according to at least some users (including the blogpost’s author), Firefox uses up more memory than it should and becomes difficult to use. The thread has several comments providing support to statements about the relatively poor performance of Firefox on people’s systems, but it also has “contributions” from an obvious troll, who keeps assigning the problem on the users’ side.

The thing about this is that it’s representative of a tricky issue in the geek world, whereby developers and users are perceived as belonging to two sides of a type of “class struggle.” Within the geek niche, users are often dismissed as “lusers.” Tech support humour includes condescending jokes about “code 6″: “the problem is 6″ from the screen.” The aforementioned Eric S. Raymond wrote a rather popular guide to asking questions in geek circles which seems surprisingly unaware of social and cultural issues, especially from someone with an anthropological background. Following that guide, one should switch their mind to that of a very effective problem-solver (i.e., the engineer frame) to ask questions “the smart way.” Not only is the onus on users, but any failure to comply with these rules may be met with this air of intellectual superiority encoded in that guide. IOW, “Troubleshoot now, ask questions later.”

Of course, many users are “guilty” of all sorts of “crimes” having to do with not reading the documentation which comes with the product or with simply not thinking about the issue with sufficient depth before contacting tech support. And as the majority of the population is on the “user” side, the situation can be described as both a form of marginalization (geek culture comes from “nerd” labels) and a matter of elitism (geek culture as self-absorbed).

This does have something to do with my Fonera 2.0n. With it, I was caught in this dynamic whereby I had to switch to the “engineer frame” in order to solve my problem. I eventually did solve my Fonera authentication problem, using a workaround mentioned in a forum post about another issue (free registration required). Turns out, the “release candidate” version of my Fonera’s firmware does solve the issue. Of course, this new firmware may cause other forms of instability and installing it required a bit of digging. But it eventually worked.

The point is that, as released, the Fonera 2.0n router is a geek toy. It’s unpolished in many ways. It’s full of promise in terms of what it may make possible, but it failed to deliver in terms of what a router should do (route a signal). In this case, I don’t consider it to be a finished product. It’s not necessarily “unstable” in the strict sense that a software engineer might use the term. In fact, I hesitated between different terms to use instead of “stable,” in that tweet, and I’m not that happy with my final choice. The Fonera 2.0n isn’t unstable. But it’s akin to an alpha version released as a finished product. That’s something we see a lot of, these days.

The main other case which prompted me to send that tweet is “CivRev for iPhone,” a game that I’ve been playing on my iPod touch.

I’ve played with different games in the Civ franchise and I even used the FLOSS version on occasion. Not only is “Civilization” a geek classic, but it does connect with some anthropological issues (usually in a problematic view: Civ’s worldview lacks anthro’s insight). And it’s the kind of game that I can easily play while listening to podcasts (I subscribe to a number of th0se).

What’s wrong with that game? Actually, not much. I can’t even say that it’s unstable, unlike some other items in the App Store. But there’s a few things which aren’t optimal in terms of documentation. Not that it’s difficult to figure out how the game works. But the game is complex enough that some documentation is quite useful. Especially since it does change between one version of the game and another. Unfortunately, the online manual isn’t particularly helpful. Oh, sure, it probably contains all the information required. But it’s not available offline, isn’t optimized for the device it’s supposed to be used with, doesn’t contain proper links between sections, isn’t directly searchable, and isn’t particularly well-written. Not to mention that it seems to only be available in English even though the game itself is available in multiple languages (I play it in French).

Nothing tragic, of course. But coupled with my Fonera experience, it contributed to both a slight sense of frustration and this whole reflection about unfinished products.

Sure, it’s not much. But it’s “good enough” to get me started.

My boyfriend is taking his qualifying exam today for his Ph.D.. In front of a committee of four faculty members, he will present an area of research which he believes is interesting and important. As they ask him questions essentially designed to allow him to show that he can think like a scientist, there will be an intellectual give and take as the five of them discuss his research, methods and thought process.

This made me think about why I want to be an elementary school teacher. After all, at what level can lower elementary school children really participate in an intelligent give and take? Many teachers want to teach older students because they think that a child’s ability to think past himself doesn’t appear until around the 7th grade. Maybe so.

However, I find that by the 7th grade, children have already lost much of the childlike wonder which characterizes their elementary school years. Even by the 4th grade, many become slightly jaded and are much more worried about what their peers think than what their teacher does. While delight in learning may not necessarily have vanished, older students are less likely to show their excitement about something in the classroom. They become posturing mini-adults, hiding behind false bravado and jokes.

Of course I would love the higher level of conversation a 7th grader might be able to have. But I also love hearing about my third graders’ pets, daily trials and triumphs and favorite foods because they do so with such enthusiasm. There’s no holding back.

Hey, it’s (almost) Christmas. This is what I would like, neatly wrapped and served under a tree:

• A world where people settle for obtaining and maintaining a medium level of material wealth, and then start looking outside their own little bubble of comfort.
• A world where no one can make money from telling people they are inadequate.
• A world were we use things until they are worn beyond repair, rather than buy something new because of “fashion”.

I want these things not because I think today’s society – where we have the means and desires to buy stuff we don’t really need, largely thanks to clever manipulation of our insecurities and a redefinition of the concept of “need” itself – is so terribly bad. In fact, I know that we have it incredibly good here. It is the complacency engendered by this knowledge – in me and others – that makes me want to scream.

Things could still be so much better in the world, and it should be simple. This is why: I believe we have the resources to ensure that everyone on the planet has their basic needs covered. Once people don’t have to worry about mere survival – food, shelter, warmth, sleep, safety – they can start focusing on being happy/self-actualization/taking care of others.

The key to achieving this “basic-need-satisfaction” (to coin a rather awkward phrase) for everyone, is redistribution of basic goods. Except I don’t want to get into that old and boring argument of “communism: statecontrolled redistribution” vs “capitalism: free market redistribution”; they both work in theory but are massively flawed in practice. It doesn’t really matter how this redistribution of  is achieved. In fact, it is to me overwhelmingly irrelevant. I just want someone to tell me what I can do, or at least be willing to help me work out what to do, what we can do, and then I want everyone to do it.

I don’t want the answer to involve acceptance or resignation, no excuses, and definitely no “That’s just the way the world works.” I hate that phrase.

I JUST WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD, is that too much to ask?

——-

ps. I could elaborate on each of the points expressed here, but as far as I’ve gathered manifestos should be simplistic and/or catchy. Feel free to ask/contradict me though, and I’ll willingly go into more detail. I’m just not sure whether I make sense, yet.

Poem:

by Atisha Dipamkara

In the language of India: Bodhisattvamaṇyāvalī
In the language of Tibet: byang chub sems dpa’i nor bu’i phreng ba
In the English language: The Jewel Rosary of the Bodhisattvas

Homage to great compassion!
Homage to the masters!
Homage to the deities who inspire devotion!

Put aside all doubt and hesitation,
And take delight in earnest practice,
Abandon entirely lethargy, dullness and laziness,
And exert yourself constantly with enthusiasm.

With mindfulness, vigilance and carefulness,
Guard the doors of your senses at all times.
Again and again, thrice by day and by night,
Examine the continuum of your mind.   (to be continued)

The Two Sons

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.”

Reflection

After cleverly avoiding the issue of His authority, Jesus countered the priests with the parable of the two sons. The first son represented the religious outcasts who were defiant of God’s teachings. Later they repented and obeyed God’s word. The second son represented the religious leaders who appeared to be good in their responses. In reality, they did not do anything. When the priests were posed this question, they answered that the first son was the one who did the right thing. In choosing the first son, they convicted themselves because all these while, they behaved more like the second son. Then Jesus summarised what they had intuitively knew all along – that it is right to listen to God and to do His will, not just pay lip service and not do anything at all. Ironically, the people they despised, who were obedient to God’s will, were entering heaven.

Corporate Leadership

What type of staff does management prefer? It depends. Sometimes, management may label those who voice their objections initially as “rebellious”. They are the people who are “marked” as anti-establishment and sidelined for promotion. For those who are “yes-men”, they are viewed as compliant and co-operative. Jesus encountered such people in His days. However, His point was not the initial reaction to God’s word but what actions came after that. Those who enter the Kingdom of God are not those who only preach and instruct others but those who do the will of God. Likewise, a good leader may face objections initially. However, if he persists, those who question may raise genuine concerns to be resolved. Once done, they will carry out instructions. On the contrary, those who agree with no follow-up action are people who only pay lip service to management. Over time, their words become meaningless. – XW

Family Leadership

Young children are, by nature, curious and they question their parents on many things. However, it is in their manner of questioning that parents find irritating at times because they ask the obvious questions. Instead of silencing them, parents can pose a question to direct them to the obvious answer. This was the technique that Jesus used against the priests. For example, parents can ask, “Who do you prefer? The boy who always pack up after playing so that he can find his toys later or the boy who loses his toys?” “What do you prefer? Getting up early so that we can set off for an exciting trip or waking up late and do the same boring thing tomorrow?” However, this technique works only if the child has the maturity to think and parents have to discern if the child is ready to act on the obvious. – XW

"The boat sails by, the shore remains." Cambodian.

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/bluedawn/?c=484

foto – iluka ferry wharf dec 09

A few weeks back, Seth shared this interesting anecdote on his blog:

“At the farmer’s market the other day, three perfect strangers
asked me what sort of apple to buy…
People are now afraid of apples: afraid of buying the wrong kind;
of making a purchasing mistake or some sort of pie mistake.”

From a certain perspective, I understand what he’s saying: it’s widely accepted that too much choice can actually lead to ‘decision-making paralysis’.

However, there’s an alternative interpretation of Seth’s apple episode that’s equally intriguing:

Maybe the questions weren’t asked in fear.

Perhaps those three strangers struck up conversation because they were excited about this abundance of choice.

In recent years, the apples available in Western supermarkets have become commoditised: the same few varieties, in the same standard sizes, with the same bland taste.

But people who visit farmers markets tend to care deeply about their food: they’re passionate about taste, colour, texture, perfume, and about the gastronomic experience in general.

So, when they’re presented with an exciting array of new apple varieties, it seems natural that they’d want to share their excitement.

Here are some alternative reasons why people might have asked Seth a question:

Questions quickly establish rapport by engaging people in active conversation. They give the respondent a chance to share their own excitement without feeling challenged or inferior, fostering a freer exchange of information and opinions.

Each farmers’ market offers different foods and different varieties, but a good proportion of visitors tend to be regulars. Faced with a wide variety of unknown apples at a new farmers’ market, I’d seek the opinion of those around me too, because foodies love to share their passion and recommend favourites to others. Indeed, this sharing and conversation is a central part of the market experience.

The broader appeal

There’s a more general truth here that offers marketers a fascinating opportunity.

When people are passionate about something, their passion often spills over: they like to share their excitement with other people, and their own enthusiasm often extends into adjacent areas of interest.

For example, a love of wine can easily extend into passion for Scotch and Cognac.

And while it’s unlikely that we’ll ever succeed in arousing everyone’s passion for our category, those who do get passionately involved are worth a lot more.

This is because people love to indulge their passions: wine enthusiasts tend to spend a lot more on wine than ‘average’ drinkers, and they often buy a range of expensive accessories too.

Putting it in context

The trick is to understand where your brand sits in people’s world, and how it relates to their passions.

Part of this involves understanding that people can get passionate about things that we’d never expect, and as a result, even seemingly mundane brands can become highly relevant to their lives.

For example, I know many people who are passionate about their homes, and who spend hours researching new ways to make their home cleaner and fresher.

Although these people are unlikely to get excited about bleach as a category, a household cleaning brand that extends its relevance beyond simple product attributes to offer advice and solutions for the houseproud is much more likely to engage them.

As we’ve seen before, the task isn’t necessarily to become their favourite brand ever; rather, it’s about demonstrating how good your brand is in relation to everything else it competes with.

This is more about two-way engagement rather than advertising: finding more immesrsive ways to share things with them, and more importantly, helping them to share things with us and their peers.

UPDATE: Just noticed this wonderful post by Spike over at Brains on Fire – some very wise words that add an important focus to the words above:

“…many [people] are still treating people’s passion as something a company can find and then own. Find? Yes. Own? Never. Passion is not a sales transaction.

Passion is sacred. Passion is a part of a person’s life. Their soul. To find it, you have to clear away everything else. You won’t find it in a focus group that is created to talk about you and your product. You won’t find it when you do all the talking. And you won’t find it wd a tree until it falls for it.

Passion is not a commodity. It is a gift. Treat it like one.”

Go read the rest here.

Just a quick note:
We communicate through our emotions.  We are motivated to buy products and services by our emotions.

If you have a business or are planning to start one, getting clear of the negative *doo doo* your inner voice is feeding you about the economy, the importance of your product, your ability to make a profit, etc. might be your prime priority.

Dr.Carol Look is an EFT (an energy psychology) Master and highly skilled at helping you clear the “negative noise” that is drowning out your enthusiasm.

She just released a new program today to help you do just that and it is on sale for 60% OFF for the next 4 days.

Get rid of that “noise” so people can really hear what you’re saying about your business!

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This post is about two of my close friends. [Disclosure: Both are awesome & both have a bright future. And, I myself look upto them for advice.]

Here I have decided to do a sort of personality post mortem. I am listing 5 of their traits which can be compared. But due to obvious reasons, I shall not disclose their identities. And to those, who eventually do realise who these guys are, it is my humble request to kindly refrain from making any disclosures.

If I say that I have never been judgemental about both of them, then that would be wrong. I have been.  But that is irrelevant. All I want from the readers is to think. To compare and if possible, give their views.

So why do I want to do this? It’s because, I want to know what others feel about these 2 guys. I know a lot about both of them and sometimes try to analyse where both of them are heading. It’s because of this that I have an urge to know what others feel about them. Or you can say that I want to test a new concept called crowd intelligence.

So let’s get to the point.

Let’s call my first friend as F1.

• Believes that he can do anything in life, if he wants. But does not ‘usually’ put in the required effort. But when he does, it’s magical.
• Believes in proper planning & preparation. But when it comes to the execution part, his interest or motivation starts going down.
• Has a good enough job, which he wants to be his last. Wants to start something of his own. But there are also times when he wants to join his dream company; which contradicts his vision of starting his own venture.
• Wants to do many things at a time. This sometimes leads to him doing nothing. But when he does something, it is really class apart.
• Is ready to go to any length to nurture a relationship, even if it is not being reciprocated from the other side. This sometimes leads to, you know what…pain.
• Passionate, different, unsatisfied & questioning [Words that are apt for F1]

Now here is my second friend F2.

• Believes that one can’t get everything in life. So, does not think king size. But he knows what to do in his limited capabilities.
• Knows the power of planning and preparation. But believes that its better to get into action straightaway and then change the plan as per existing circumstances. Is not a firm believer of the concept of detailed planning.
• Has a good enough job, which he wants to be his last. No, he does not want to start any company. He just wants to retire from his present organization when he reaches 60.
• Focuses on one thing at a time and completes it before touching anything else. Does not believe in doing things ‘awesome’ly. Just wants to complete things.
• Is not ready to put much effort into relationships. Believes that relationships grow as they ought to grow and are eventually decided by destiny (God).
• Result oriented, protocolish, satisfied & abiding [Words that are apt for F2]

__________

In the end, I have 3 questions to ask –

1. Is it better to be like my friend F1 or F2 and why?
2. Who is more likely to go higher in life? Assuming lady luck is equally favourable to both of them.
3. Why am I playing the God here? [OK, no need to answer this one]

So, the question was, “What inspires you?”.  This was a little intimidating, but a quick little internal edit changed it to, “What are you enthusiastic about?”. I narrowed it down to three general themes, 3 things that I enjoy doing and would gladly put some effort and time into doing well. The first is creating art, I am a watercolor artist primarily but have fun playing with other media. I love having a thought growing into an idea that becomes a picture in my head that I have to get out and onto paper.  The second is teaching, my day job is teaching in the public school system. Specifically, I teach in special education, which means my job description changes frequently depending on student needs. This year I am teaching a lot of small group math classes, which I am enjoying immensely. And the third is learning new things. I am constantly reading new books, trying new recipes, experimenting with new art supplies and techniques, and trying new things like writing a web log.

It is very fortunate that I get to do those things that inspire me, but…More thinking occurred along the lines of wondering how I could combine my three inspirations, work on my time schedule, make money, and have fun. So earlier this year I had an epiphany and decided to start my own small business. Things are going well, but…more thinking! I decided to write this blog to share my journey so far in case it is helpful to someone starting their own adventure and hopefully to be advised by others who have gone on ahead.