Sunday, August 25, 2013
Shot of Vanilla
Hey World! Let's get this party started...
Word: Dilettante - n. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.
Song: "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5
Color: Perennial Green - The weather is nice, birds are chirping, and the police sirens are only faint, so things are well over here in Dorchester.
Real breakfast, you know, the kind that threatens our longevity and always includes at least one farmland animal, is certainly my favorite meal. I'm fine with fruit and hot/cold cereal on any given weekday morning, but I always wake up on weekends excited by the prospect of eating something much more substantial. However, I rarely eat the Paul Bunyan-style breakfast even when I have the time. While I love checking out local restaurants for their takes on the traditions, I enjoy cooking, especially for company. My most successful breakfast item is a stack of pancakes of which I adapted a recipe from the Allrecipes app.
Recently, my sister called me after my pancakes randomly crossed her mind. Yes they are THAT dope...but not really. She's always encouraging me to do something (ex. this blog) and sees an opening over at the Food Network with my name on it. When I told her that I basically only add vanilla (sometimes I sprinkle other things like cinnamon) to an already good recipe and shouldn't get too much credit for it, she replied saying that adding my extra step is what made it mine. Now, hold the phone, I'm not ignorant to the daily battles that inventors, music producers, choreographers, playwrights, and other creative minds engage in to protect what they've created; adding more snares to a Dr. Dre beat or slang to Shakespeare doesn't make it yours. This is not that. For generations, recipes have been passed down, sold, and adulterated. What I take from adding your own flare to a formula is that there's much to be gain from even a small step.
We're always following preset rules and practices, which is generally great when considering how the only thing keeping us from regularly crashing into oncoming cars 3 feet to the left of us are painted lines and stoplights. Again, this is not that. I'm thinking more along the lines of how we treat ourselves and communicate with others. Too often, we sacrifice giving more of ourselves for fear of rocking invisible boats. That's why too many office and civic cultures suck. It's not that these places are devoid of generous, humorous, caring, and loyal people, most people just don't feel comfortable enough giving a little more of who they really are...that shot of vanilla.* Some of the most successful people, regardless of profession, achieve greatness by simply adding a little more. The extrovert might speak up during a meeting while the introvert might put thoughts in writing. One person might pollinate the office asking every colleague how his or her family is doing while another might invest a lot of time in helping one stranger with an immediate issue. You get it. We can do more, not only because we're capable, but because it leaves an impression that is often both reciprocated and multiplied.
Alors, have a little more fun showing people who you are, even if it's subtle and seemingly inconsequential. Keep that work email professional and relevant, but you don't have to be a robot. Not everyone has to be your best friend, but I'm sure you have more in common with many of the people you frequently interact than you think. Cook up better conversations, even if only for a few extra seconds. Life tastes better that way.
Happy Sunday! Don't stress about Monday.
*For those who quickly saw the irony in adding a shot of vanilla to spice things up or give more of your unique self, I chuckle with you. Thanks for seeing the big picture :-)
Friday, August 23, 2013
'Centless
Welcome to my blog!
I hope you enjoyed my Web 1.0 salutation. If not, don't worry, as I just exhausted my tech vocabulary.
I'm both excited and apprehensive to start a blog for the same reasons most people are. I'm excited because I believe it's a great outlet to share what's on my mind while communicating in a way much less formal than a work email, but much more in depth than personal text message. I'm apprehensive because I don't know who my audience is, or should be, and while I'm not the most unique person ever, my interests, friends, and feelings vary greatly, and I fear that I can't keep a voice that fully captures all of who I am. However, I'm fresh off a conversation with my sister who encouraged me to take the plunge, which just so happened to follow a great exchange with a friend +Ashley Hazelwood about taking action, the truest enemy of mediocrity. Here begins my assault on the status quo, of sorts, as I realize that I joined an army of millions.
I love words, music, and colors. Whenever I write in my journal or record any of my personal videos, I always start with something from each category such as words learned or used interestingly, songs on my mind, colors representing my mood at the moment, or any other random story or connection. No need to deviate.
Word: Acerbic - harsh or severe, as of temper or expression: acerbic criticism.
Song: "I Gave You Power" by Nas
Color: Smoky Gray - I'm in a hazy state of mind where some important areas of my life are cloudier than I would like, but smoke always clears and I'm not worried about seeing past this.
Spoiler Alert! Most of the words, songs, and colors don't relate to the entry's main topic. This is especially true today because the aforementioned WSC gives a sense of brooding contemplation, and I'm not about that life right now. Trust me, deep thoughts and emotions are always brewing, and I watch too many TED talks and read too many news articles to go long before pouring those out to you. Until then...
'Centless! I'm both without much money and my favorite cologne, Amber by Prada. We all know the powerful impact of scent - studies tying smell as the strongest sense to memory and kids being made fun of for stinking up the classroom on a hot day - so I don't need to convince you of the cognitive and social benefits of good hygiene. This is personal. Although compliments are always welcomed and appreciated, I straight up just love the way it smells on me. As someone who is almost eerily concerned that I consistently might smell a little less than fresh (probably because I sweat a lot), I try hard to find the right deodorants, body washes, and the rest to keep me on point throughout the day. I have plenty of other options beyond Amber, and they're cool, but that's my Bottom Bottle, feel me??? No? Well, sometimes I peruse bookstores and libraries and buy/borrow books if the title catches my attention. I'm currently listening to an audiobook called Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim. You might ask, "But why, Que? You're nice and you went to college?" To that I reply, "Quit your yappin' and finish readin' this blog, fool!" Well, my curiosity was piqued after a cursory glance of the overview which began with, "A blueprint. A bible. What Sun Tzu's Art of War was to ancient China, Pimp is to the streets." C'mon, son! How could you not at least want to know what's inside, even if only for a second. Plus, it was at the library, so turning down free was hard to do. Anyway, I'm learning all types of antiquated pimp vernacular that I'll never use in daily language, so subtly incorporating it into this blog is the only way to go, baby. Back to Amber, it's far from the most expensive cologne on the market, running about $80 at Macy's (less on Amazon, but reviews of its integrity there are dicey). My nonprofit budget and Suze Orman sensibility deny me of indulging at the moment, but it makes me wonder, how much austerity is much is too much when living within your means is a goal directly at odds with enjoying your youth to the fullest?
I don't have the answer, and I'm sure that there's too much to unpack for a simple and universally acceptable one. However, my guess is that most people would say there's some type of balance to strike, but when I think of balance, I think even. And when I think of even, I think 50/50, which doesn't make sense to me concerning time and finances as a man in his late 20's. I'm a firm believer in preparing for tomorrow because it usually comes for most people. I don't have a loaded retirement fund and years worth of canned goods in a bunker, so I'm not living too conservatively, but making decisions like holding off on one type of cologne when other priorities need attention makes sense to me; it's more about the behavior than any particular purchase or incident. But I still wonder how many of those actions coming that thinking are needed. Recently, I listed to a Ted talk (reference came sooner than expected) which touched partly on how the health benefits of running at certain speeds diminish as it increases. I don't remember specifics, but perhaps running at 9mph doesn't do more for your body than running at 7.5mph, and the increase could potentially cause harm. Can't this thinking apply to how we spend or save? Too often we're either suckered into spending all of our dollars on useless things and unremarkable experiences or chastised for not doing enough to prepare for the future. We all have a pretty good idea of the type of individuals we are. If we're honest, we probably can get closer to that elusive balance than we think, but I also believe we need more older and experienced people on our team to give us insight, not just instructions. All I know is that YOLO is an incomplete thought and tomorrow isn't today.
That's all for now. This blog surely was lengthy, right? Well, we don't need the introduction going forward, and I'll get better at distinguishing what makes the final cut, so more brevity really soon.
Stick with me, I'm going places :-)
I hope you enjoyed my Web 1.0 salutation. If not, don't worry, as I just exhausted my tech vocabulary.
I'm both excited and apprehensive to start a blog for the same reasons most people are. I'm excited because I believe it's a great outlet to share what's on my mind while communicating in a way much less formal than a work email, but much more in depth than personal text message. I'm apprehensive because I don't know who my audience is, or should be, and while I'm not the most unique person ever, my interests, friends, and feelings vary greatly, and I fear that I can't keep a voice that fully captures all of who I am. However, I'm fresh off a conversation with my sister who encouraged me to take the plunge, which just so happened to follow a great exchange with a friend +Ashley Hazelwood about taking action, the truest enemy of mediocrity. Here begins my assault on the status quo, of sorts, as I realize that I joined an army of millions.
I love words, music, and colors. Whenever I write in my journal or record any of my personal videos, I always start with something from each category such as words learned or used interestingly, songs on my mind, colors representing my mood at the moment, or any other random story or connection. No need to deviate.
Word: Acerbic - harsh or severe, as of temper or expression: acerbic criticism.
Song: "I Gave You Power" by Nas
Color: Smoky Gray - I'm in a hazy state of mind where some important areas of my life are cloudier than I would like, but smoke always clears and I'm not worried about seeing past this.
Spoiler Alert! Most of the words, songs, and colors don't relate to the entry's main topic. This is especially true today because the aforementioned WSC gives a sense of brooding contemplation, and I'm not about that life right now. Trust me, deep thoughts and emotions are always brewing, and I watch too many TED talks and read too many news articles to go long before pouring those out to you. Until then...
'Centless! I'm both without much money and my favorite cologne, Amber by Prada. We all know the powerful impact of scent - studies tying smell as the strongest sense to memory and kids being made fun of for stinking up the classroom on a hot day - so I don't need to convince you of the cognitive and social benefits of good hygiene. This is personal. Although compliments are always welcomed and appreciated, I straight up just love the way it smells on me. As someone who is almost eerily concerned that I consistently might smell a little less than fresh (probably because I sweat a lot), I try hard to find the right deodorants, body washes, and the rest to keep me on point throughout the day. I have plenty of other options beyond Amber, and they're cool, but that's my Bottom Bottle, feel me??? No? Well, sometimes I peruse bookstores and libraries and buy/borrow books if the title catches my attention. I'm currently listening to an audiobook called Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim. You might ask, "But why, Que? You're nice and you went to college?" To that I reply, "Quit your yappin' and finish readin' this blog, fool!" Well, my curiosity was piqued after a cursory glance of the overview which began with, "A blueprint. A bible. What Sun Tzu's Art of War was to ancient China, Pimp is to the streets." C'mon, son! How could you not at least want to know what's inside, even if only for a second. Plus, it was at the library, so turning down free was hard to do. Anyway, I'm learning all types of antiquated pimp vernacular that I'll never use in daily language, so subtly incorporating it into this blog is the only way to go, baby. Back to Amber, it's far from the most expensive cologne on the market, running about $80 at Macy's (less on Amazon, but reviews of its integrity there are dicey). My nonprofit budget and Suze Orman sensibility deny me of indulging at the moment, but it makes me wonder, how much austerity is much is too much when living within your means is a goal directly at odds with enjoying your youth to the fullest?
I don't have the answer, and I'm sure that there's too much to unpack for a simple and universally acceptable one. However, my guess is that most people would say there's some type of balance to strike, but when I think of balance, I think even. And when I think of even, I think 50/50, which doesn't make sense to me concerning time and finances as a man in his late 20's. I'm a firm believer in preparing for tomorrow because it usually comes for most people. I don't have a loaded retirement fund and years worth of canned goods in a bunker, so I'm not living too conservatively, but making decisions like holding off on one type of cologne when other priorities need attention makes sense to me; it's more about the behavior than any particular purchase or incident. But I still wonder how many of those actions coming that thinking are needed. Recently, I listed to a Ted talk (reference came sooner than expected) which touched partly on how the health benefits of running at certain speeds diminish as it increases. I don't remember specifics, but perhaps running at 9mph doesn't do more for your body than running at 7.5mph, and the increase could potentially cause harm. Can't this thinking apply to how we spend or save? Too often we're either suckered into spending all of our dollars on useless things and unremarkable experiences or chastised for not doing enough to prepare for the future. We all have a pretty good idea of the type of individuals we are. If we're honest, we probably can get closer to that elusive balance than we think, but I also believe we need more older and experienced people on our team to give us insight, not just instructions. All I know is that YOLO is an incomplete thought and tomorrow isn't today.
That's all for now. This blog surely was lengthy, right? Well, we don't need the introduction going forward, and I'll get better at distinguishing what makes the final cut, so more brevity really soon.
Stick with me, I'm going places :-)
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