I'm about halfway through the last class of my first year of b-school: Leadership Communications. It is basically a glorified speech class. The focus is entirely on public speaking and in each class we either have to give a presentation or stand up and do some kind of impromptu gig.
For the first time in my life I am coming to terms with the fact that I am shy. I don't like public speaking and it makes me crazy nervous. It inspires in me the same kind of anxiety that other people get from enclosed spaces or flying. It should not be a big deal, but for some reason I can't control my emotional response to it (a fact that I hate). I suppose the only thing that will improve the situation is practice... and possibly a lot of Xanax.
This is my next assignment (to be delivered next Monday night):
"You are to prepare a 4-5 minute persuasive speech. That means convincing your audience (and in this case, it's the group of students in front of you!) to take action concerning a controversial and significant topic. (Understand controversial in this case means people hold different opinions, though the more controversial the topic, the more you will challenge yourself!) And you will use NO visual aids!
A few additional points:
- Your objective is to inspire your audience to take action to support your position. - Your audience is the particular group of MBA students in your breakout group. (I am repeating this point to emphasize I want no role plays for this exercise!)
- Remember the topic is one you feel strongly about; include your personal reasons for the position you take, and/or your connection to the topic.
- Do not forget the emotional impact of a persuasive speech.
- While the topic is personal and emotional, remember the importance of logic. Prove your points. Use good evidence.
- Tell stories to illustrate your points.
- 4 - 5 minutes is not a long time. Limit the topic. Stay focused.
Seems like picking a good topic is going to be the key to a successful speech. Something controversial that I feel passionately about and could handle discussing in front of a room full of MBAs... suggestions?
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Date report from AF
Here is the latest on the experimental Match dating:
"So the first date was a success. We met at a local book festival and immediately hit it off. We wandered around the aisles of books and publishers, learning about each other and occasionally making fun of things/people/art we found. She asks lots of questions, which I liked. I tried to do the same. We listened to a reading by David James Duncan, the author that I asked her about in our first email exchange (he was okay, but overshadowed by the poet Tom Crawford, with whom he read).
After the reading, we went to a popular pub to sit outside, eat dinner, and have a few drinks. We had a lot to talk about and the conversation came pretty naturally. Our senses of humor match up, so we had a fun time. I called her the following night and we chatted for a while. I asked her out again, and now we have plans to see a bluegrass show on Saturday. I'm totally looking forward to it.
P.S. She is as cute in person as her match photos. Phew!"
"So the first date was a success. We met at a local book festival and immediately hit it off. We wandered around the aisles of books and publishers, learning about each other and occasionally making fun of things/people/art we found. She asks lots of questions, which I liked. I tried to do the same. We listened to a reading by David James Duncan, the author that I asked her about in our first email exchange (he was okay, but overshadowed by the poet Tom Crawford, with whom he read).
After the reading, we went to a popular pub to sit outside, eat dinner, and have a few drinks. We had a lot to talk about and the conversation came pretty naturally. Our senses of humor match up, so we had a fun time. I called her the following night and we chatted for a while. I asked her out again, and now we have plans to see a bluegrass show on Saturday. I'm totally looking forward to it.
P.S. She is as cute in person as her match photos. Phew!"
Sunday, April 23, 2006
New photos of Jack
Clare sent some new photos of Jack last week. He's three months old now and looking very handsome.
Momma and Bucky, looking very happy.
It's kinda like bearskin, but it tastes better.
Sit-ups are hard for everyone.
Momma and Bucky, looking very happy.
It's kinda like bearskin, but it tastes better.
Sit-ups are hard for everyone.
Bad choice, Brad
I have been hunting for a picture of Brad Pitt's mohawk ever since I heard that he cut his hair to match his kid's. Maddox is adorable, as always, but I think this photo confirms that hawks are a lot cuter on little kids than they are on grown men.
It may also look better on Mad because it's fluffier and less extreme. The shaved head part on Brad is really unappealing. Maybe if it was all blonde it would be better?
It may also look better on Mad because it's fluffier and less extreme. The shaved head part on Brad is really unappealing. Maybe if it was all blonde it would be better?
Match.com date
AF emailed on Friday to update me on his progress with Match.com. Here's what he said:
"I've finally got a first date through Match.com. I've been corresponding with a woman for about a month now. I find her quite attractive and she seems really fun in her emails. So, disregarding the lesson previously learned (always talk to the potential match on the phone before meeting), we're going to meet at a local writer's festival to hear an author speak who we both really like. In fact, it was a discussion of this very author that started our contact. Date report to follow on Sunday."
"I've finally got a first date through Match.com. I've been corresponding with a woman for about a month now. I find her quite attractive and she seems really fun in her emails. So, disregarding the lesson previously learned (always talk to the potential match on the phone before meeting), we're going to meet at a local writer's festival to hear an author speak who we both really like. In fact, it was a discussion of this very author that started our contact. Date report to follow on Sunday."
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Congratulations. Hot Karl!
Linda is going to be a sister-in-law! Hot Karl has gotten himself engaged to his special ladyfriend, Melissa.
Linda reports:
"They're planning July 2007 in a little mountainy town east of San Diego called Julian. Our family used to hang out a lot there growing up, and Karl and Melissa camped there a lot. Should be cool!"
Cheers all around!
Linda reports:
"They're planning July 2007 in a little mountainy town east of San Diego called Julian. Our family used to hang out a lot there growing up, and Karl and Melissa camped there a lot. Should be cool!"
Cheers all around!
Swedish Easter Twigs
I am accustomed to living in relatively creative households, and my current apartment is no exception. We have a sewing room, a glue gun, tons of yarn and fabric, a couple of sewing machines, colored pencils, markers, pins, needles, I'm sure there's glitter somewhere... You get the drift. Most of the stuff belongs to Anita, but we're all prone to random bursts of crafting.
At any rate, I'm pretty used to coming home to find that the living room has been appropriated for quilting, or that we have new "art" decorating our walls. Last week, I climbed up the stairs to be confronted by one of the more unique creations that has ever graced our home:
The photo doesn't really do it justice. It's an arrangement of twigs with feathers stuck to the ends. The feathers are all dyed in bright colors, and the twigs have little decorative wooden eggs hanging on them.
I've since learned that these feather-sticks are called "påskris," and that they are a traditional Swedish Easter decoration. For real. Anita had to show me pictures in a book to convince me that they weren't just some kooky thing she made up.
Makes my mom's traditional Easter bunny cake (with coconut for the fur) seem really conventional.
At any rate, I'm pretty used to coming home to find that the living room has been appropriated for quilting, or that we have new "art" decorating our walls. Last week, I climbed up the stairs to be confronted by one of the more unique creations that has ever graced our home:
The photo doesn't really do it justice. It's an arrangement of twigs with feathers stuck to the ends. The feathers are all dyed in bright colors, and the twigs have little decorative wooden eggs hanging on them.
I've since learned that these feather-sticks are called "påskris," and that they are a traditional Swedish Easter decoration. For real. Anita had to show me pictures in a book to convince me that they weren't just some kooky thing she made up.
Makes my mom's traditional Easter bunny cake (with coconut for the fur) seem really conventional.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Pssst! We can see your boobs!
I don't understand why it's acceptable for celebrities to wear clothes in public that don't cover up their privates. Take Hilary Swank, for instance. Up until now she's seemed like a relatively normal, down to earth sort of person -- especially for a celebrity. I know everyone forgets to put on a bra every once in awhile... you wake up late, you're trying not to miss your bus, it happens. I assume that she a) owns a mirror, b) does not suffer from any sort of uncorrected visual impairment, and c) couldn't possibly leave the house without realizing that we could totally see through her shirt. If my assumption that it's an intentional fashion statement is correct, doesn't she worry about running into old coworkers, or her dad? If I left the apartment in this get up, people would freak out and then send me home to cover myself. Or at least lend me a sweatshirt.
Then again, maybe they wouldn't. It would be an interesting experiment to wear something like this one day to see if anyone from school or work would say anything about it. Keep the comments clean, boys.
Then again, maybe they wouldn't. It would be an interesting experiment to wear something like this one day to see if anyone from school or work would say anything about it. Keep the comments clean, boys.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Roundtrip ticket to Rome
I have officially purchased the airline tickets for this summer's big trip. I will spend the last few weeks of my twenty-seventh year abroad, with Jeff. Lupo.
This year, we're headed to Italy. Tuscany, to be specific. And we'll be hangin' with all the Lupos, who I may just start referring to as "the pack." Jeff's parents have rented a place called Il Renaccio, near San Gimignano (see red dot on map).
I'm pretty excited about this trip, even though it doesn't seem quite real, yet. I'm looking forward to drinking wine and tasting olives with the Lupos (especially my favorite Lupo), but I also can't wait to do a smidge of traveling on my own. I'm flying into Rome solo and have decided to spend some time there before making my way north to San Gimignano. I haven't traveled very much by myself, and it seems like something I should have mastered by now.
This kind of sunshine and relaxation seems like it will be just the thing to celebrate the successful completion of my first year at Haas.
Just so you can stop scratching your head in confusion, Jeff has made it abundantly clear that he can't fight off the women much longer and will definitely be in a committed relationship by the time I roll into Il Renaccio. All I have to say is that his admirers should keep this in mind: What happens in Tuscany, stays in Tuscany.
This year, we're headed to Italy. Tuscany, to be specific. And we'll be hangin' with all the Lupos, who I may just start referring to as "the pack." Jeff's parents have rented a place called Il Renaccio, near San Gimignano (see red dot on map).
I'm pretty excited about this trip, even though it doesn't seem quite real, yet. I'm looking forward to drinking wine and tasting olives with the Lupos (especially my favorite Lupo), but I also can't wait to do a smidge of traveling on my own. I'm flying into Rome solo and have decided to spend some time there before making my way north to San Gimignano. I haven't traveled very much by myself, and it seems like something I should have mastered by now.
This kind of sunshine and relaxation seems like it will be just the thing to celebrate the successful completion of my first year at Haas.
Just so you can stop scratching your head in confusion, Jeff has made it abundantly clear that he can't fight off the women much longer and will definitely be in a committed relationship by the time I roll into Il Renaccio. All I have to say is that his admirers should keep this in mind: What happens in Tuscany, stays in Tuscany.
That explains a few things
Here's another interesting tidbit from The Science of Happiness about why we stray:
"If love is not involved, the lure of the unfamiliar is often much more important in sex than the quality of the interaction... There are indications that in humans, the inborn amount of dopamine receptors has an influence on a person's sexual promiscuity. These, at least, were the findings of Dean Hamer, as researcher at the National Cancer Institute in Washington, who determined that there is a direct relation between a certain variant of the gene for a D4 receptor -- a receptor for dopamine -- and the urge for erotic adventures. Thirty percent of all men are supposed to have such a 'gene for promiscuity,' and over time they have 20 percent more sex partners that the average man... His finding does indicate that the extent of this urge for novelty must be at least partly inborn."
"If love is not involved, the lure of the unfamiliar is often much more important in sex than the quality of the interaction... There are indications that in humans, the inborn amount of dopamine receptors has an influence on a person's sexual promiscuity. These, at least, were the findings of Dean Hamer, as researcher at the National Cancer Institute in Washington, who determined that there is a direct relation between a certain variant of the gene for a D4 receptor -- a receptor for dopamine -- and the urge for erotic adventures. Thirty percent of all men are supposed to have such a 'gene for promiscuity,' and over time they have 20 percent more sex partners that the average man... His finding does indicate that the extent of this urge for novelty must be at least partly inborn."
Your love is like bad medicine
Today, before leaving the office to head home, I grabbed a copy of The Science of Happiness. I wanted something to read on BART that wasn't about macro economics and we had just been discussing the book's sales at a company meeting.
A lot of it seems pretty dumbed down, but some of it -- especially the parts about the brain chemistry of everyday things -- is really interesting. For instance:
"Recently, the London researchers Andreas Bartels and Semir Zeki have shown that the intoxication experienced in love is also accessible to science. Looking on the Internet for volunteers who described themselves credibly as possessed by "genuine, deep and crazy love," mainly women, Bartels and Zeki examined their subjects using functional MRI. First they showed the women photos of friends with whom they had no sexual relationship and asked them to think of them intensely. During this time the scientists recorded the activity in their brains. Then they were shown photos of their lovers. While their brains were being examined a second time, they were to think of their partner. Comparing the two experiences, the scientists could see what happens when the brain is focused on the lover, and it turns out to closely resemble the pattern of brains activity under the influence of heroin and cocaine."
A lot of it seems pretty dumbed down, but some of it -- especially the parts about the brain chemistry of everyday things -- is really interesting. For instance:
"Recently, the London researchers Andreas Bartels and Semir Zeki have shown that the intoxication experienced in love is also accessible to science. Looking on the Internet for volunteers who described themselves credibly as possessed by "genuine, deep and crazy love," mainly women, Bartels and Zeki examined their subjects using functional MRI. First they showed the women photos of friends with whom they had no sexual relationship and asked them to think of them intensely. During this time the scientists recorded the activity in their brains. Then they were shown photos of their lovers. While their brains were being examined a second time, they were to think of their partner. Comparing the two experiences, the scientists could see what happens when the brain is focused on the lover, and it turns out to closely resemble the pattern of brains activity under the influence of heroin and cocaine."
Trippy
This coming Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after one in the morning, the time and date will be:
01:02:03 04/05/06.
01:02:03 04/05/06.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Fabulous new Wine Country website
One of my friends has just launched this new online guide to Wine Country. Since he also wrote a book about touring the California Wine Country, it seems like it should be a pretty good resource -- an excellent thing to check out before you plan those Easter weekend tasting trips.
AF has a phone date
AF seems to be making some progress on Match.com. He sent this update today:
"I made plans to talk to a person from Match.com the other night. She is one of the first persons I started to trade emails with from the site. They were well-written and she seemed pretty interesting (lots of travel, enjoys the outdoors, now a science teacher), so I was excited to finally chat with her. Overall, though, it was a strange experience. She suggested we talk Saturday night, after 7pm, which seems like an odd time for a phone-date. Why is she not out on a Saturday night? Better yet, why am I not out on a Saturday night?
I called her and we began by chatting about our spring breaks. I got a full run down on every day of her trip to British Columbia. It seemed like too much info. I heard many stories about her teaching job, and again lots of long stories. I tried to ask good questions about her, but did not get many questions from her about me. That was a put-off. After an hour of conversation, I was ready to get off the phone.
In hindsight, the call seemed like a perfect example of the importance of first impressions. She is a nice person and not uninteresting. However, there wasn't much of a connection, so a second call or even meeting for drinks is not in the cards. I suppose that's the beauty of Match.com -- it never matters if any particular person doesn't work out, because there are many other possibilities available at the click of a mouse.
Next up: a dinner date with the old friend who lured me onto Match.com, and possible drink dates with two other Match people."
"I made plans to talk to a person from Match.com the other night. She is one of the first persons I started to trade emails with from the site. They were well-written and she seemed pretty interesting (lots of travel, enjoys the outdoors, now a science teacher), so I was excited to finally chat with her. Overall, though, it was a strange experience. She suggested we talk Saturday night, after 7pm, which seems like an odd time for a phone-date. Why is she not out on a Saturday night? Better yet, why am I not out on a Saturday night?
I called her and we began by chatting about our spring breaks. I got a full run down on every day of her trip to British Columbia. It seemed like too much info. I heard many stories about her teaching job, and again lots of long stories. I tried to ask good questions about her, but did not get many questions from her about me. That was a put-off. After an hour of conversation, I was ready to get off the phone.
In hindsight, the call seemed like a perfect example of the importance of first impressions. She is a nice person and not uninteresting. However, there wasn't much of a connection, so a second call or even meeting for drinks is not in the cards. I suppose that's the beauty of Match.com -- it never matters if any particular person doesn't work out, because there are many other possibilities available at the click of a mouse.
Next up: a dinner date with the old friend who lured me onto Match.com, and possible drink dates with two other Match people."
Business concept
Someone needs to open a boutique that allows people to "test drive" different brands and styles of designer jeans. I'm thinking of a system where you could go in and put down a deposit to check out a pair of jeans for a couple of days. The jeans that you could check out should be pairs that have already been washed, so you could see how the fit and length changes after they've been through the laundry a couple of times. Test driving would also let you see how they stretch out after as you wear them. I feel like you really can't make a good choice about whether or not to drop a couple hundo on a pair of jeans until you know these things. Under this system, if you liked the jeans after testing them, you could just keep them. If they weren't what you were looking for, you could return them, get your deposit back, the shop could wash them with industrial strength cleaners, and they could go back in the sample pile.
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