Dear Friends,
Once upon a time in the middle 1700's a group of colonist farmers and
shopowners were really angry at paying high taxes to England, much in the
same way Englanders are angry today. These early Americans screamed "No
Taxation without representation!" and then gave England the middle finger
aka "the bird".
King George III was not used to "the bird" so he decided to send lots of
soldiers to talk some sense to the new Americans. Interestingly, France also
liked giving King George "the bird", so they decided to send lots of guns
and soldiers to help out the new Americans. While this benefited the new
Americans greatly, it unfortunately was a small contribution of some
headaches for the French Aristocracy, or as we know it, the French
Revolution.
Holland and Spain soon sided with the new Americans too, but not the
Germans. Brunswicker and Hessian Princes decided to aid England and over
12000 Germans sailed to fight for the English. Not long after, the war of
Bavarian Succession erupted.
What is the lesson here? It does not matter whether you are for or against
the Americans, just being involved means you will probably lose. A lesson
that still stands in today's American Wars.
With that great bit of theatrical history, I invite you to my Independence
day party. It starts after work on Friday, July 4th, or around 4 or 5:00 or
just whenever you get there.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
My Solo Debut
Exactly one week from today I will be making my solo debut for the first time with me and the trusty, slight off tune, violin. I'm not so sure my neighbors are so thrilled or scared as I am. In fact every time I start playing the violin in my apartment, I suddenly hear the upstairs and downstairs neighbors start closing their windows with a bit of overdone foot stomping. I think I would be the same way, as I have been playing the same two songs for a month straight with only a slight improvement from day to day.
In the concert I am part of, I will be playing two songs. A Minuett by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. Haven`t heard of him? Yeah, me either. This is my solo song though, to be played entirely by myself in front all the rest of the parents. I`ll explain the parents in a second. The second song is dance of some sort, in German known as Mückentanz, or the Mosquito dance.
Last Saturday I showed up at the one and only rehearsal where all the violin players play together to make sure we know the Mückentanz very well. I was a little surprised by the turn out. I mean I knew some of the violin players were kids, but I didnt know all of them would be kids. There is about four 5-year old kids, a couple of ten year olds, and then two teenagers about 14 or 15. I knew I would be the oldest, but I didnt think it would be by 15 years. So the practice was a humbling experience.
Despite being the oldest, I certainly wasn't anywhere near being the best. In fact, once during the practice, the instructor stopped in the middle of our group song and asked who was playing so badly out of tune. One of the 10-year olds had no embarrassment about pointing straight at me. The instructor even looked a little shocked at such boldness. It made me laugh outloud actually, with the old feelings of awkwardness--just like grade school had come back to me for 10 seconds. The little brat.
So next Wednesday I will take the solo stand in front of a confused set of parents, wondering why this grown man is in the beginner group with all the young kids. When the time comes--a few seconds before the song begins and all my nervousness is climaxing like the moment before a head on collision, I will be wondering what I am doing there too. But at least my neighbors will be glad. I finally be finished with those two songs for awhile. The time is right to start working on those xmas songs.
In the concert I am part of, I will be playing two songs. A Minuett by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. Haven`t heard of him? Yeah, me either. This is my solo song though, to be played entirely by myself in front all the rest of the parents. I`ll explain the parents in a second. The second song is dance of some sort, in German known as Mückentanz, or the Mosquito dance.
Last Saturday I showed up at the one and only rehearsal where all the violin players play together to make sure we know the Mückentanz very well. I was a little surprised by the turn out. I mean I knew some of the violin players were kids, but I didnt know all of them would be kids. There is about four 5-year old kids, a couple of ten year olds, and then two teenagers about 14 or 15. I knew I would be the oldest, but I didnt think it would be by 15 years. So the practice was a humbling experience.
Despite being the oldest, I certainly wasn't anywhere near being the best. In fact, once during the practice, the instructor stopped in the middle of our group song and asked who was playing so badly out of tune. One of the 10-year olds had no embarrassment about pointing straight at me. The instructor even looked a little shocked at such boldness. It made me laugh outloud actually, with the old feelings of awkwardness--just like grade school had come back to me for 10 seconds. The little brat.
So next Wednesday I will take the solo stand in front of a confused set of parents, wondering why this grown man is in the beginner group with all the young kids. When the time comes--a few seconds before the song begins and all my nervousness is climaxing like the moment before a head on collision, I will be wondering what I am doing there too. But at least my neighbors will be glad. I finally be finished with those two songs for awhile. The time is right to start working on those xmas songs.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Parachutes, Networking, and Organizing.
I'm going through a bit of a self-improvement stage right now--or maybe I am just trying to catch up where all the rest of my peers are--I dont know.
When I was in college-a decade ago-I thought 30 would be a time of family, kids, steady job, and softball in the summers. I never thought it would be small apartments, long work days, and bills that never get caught up. Im not complaining, its just surprising about what you expect to happen, and then seeing the reality never quite compare.
So as said before, I am in the process of self-improvement. I went on Amazon and bought every book I think my life could be somehow improved on. Notice I didnt ask others on what books might improve me--I dont think I have that much money. A couple are downright classics we should have glanced at at one time or another. These Dale Carnegie classics are:
How to win friends and influence people.
The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking.
The first one is a must read for just about anyone. In a way, he just us all on how we can just get along with each other without arguing all the time. Also an easy and entertaining read that explains all his points through personal stories and anecdotes. I read some of it on the airplane the last time I went home.
The next is to somehow keep people from sleeping during my seminars. What makes a great seminar? Usually its funny, excited, or just disasterous talks. I would like to be one of the first two. Hence the second book listed. The last time I gave a talk, I seen quite a few yawns in my audience of 20. Scientific talks are always difficult to give anyway--trying to condense 2 years of study into 1 hr of info, is tough enough, but to try and make in entertaining is a real skill not many of us scientists really have.
I have been reading alot of carreer advice specifically for scientists. The guy who writes the articles is a headhunter strictly for scientists, so he has a lot of insight on what companies want out of their employees. The article name is called Tooling Up. Mr Headhunter says I should be networking like mad. So I bought the book:
How to Work a Room, by Susanne Roane.
It tells all on how to become a Mingling Maven (whatever that is). But I have to learn to be it if I want to ferret out all the good jobs, since it seems most of them are posted secretly, or under rocks where only few people look. It seems if for some jobs, that if you find that it exists, then your halfway to getting hired. I guess the employers hate having to look at 1000 resumes. But Im sure the Mingling Maven's strategy is better than mine, since mine is usually having one too many bottles of wine and then trying to get the whole place to dance. Maybe I should write a book on how to thoroughly embarrass yourself in front of everyone. It would be a best seller.
Next book, also on job finding, is one thats been around quite awhile:
What color is your PARACHUTE? by R.N Bolles.
It is a book of 300+ pages on how to find the perfect job or switch careers. These guys have a great strategy in the publishing business. Find one bestseller and republish it every year with a new prologue and therefore new edition. But I bit and bought the more expensive 2008 version anyway. I actually remember skimming this book when I was 16, bored and nothing to read. At sixteen I had a Deli job that gave me 200 bucks every two weeks and never seemed to worry about money. So if it was a good read when I was 16, maybe it will have aged and gotten better when I really need it.
The last and final self-help book is supposed to organize my life in Tip-Top fashion. I would say these kind of books are for suckers, in which I am now a hypocrite. But it was only six dollars, and I can justify this extravagant purchase by saying I've spent my fast food money for the week, no Turkish Döner for me. This actually makes me healthier and saves me from the '2-burn' chili peppers they have inside them. Ooh, Im gonna miss the spice though. The self help book is called:
Getting Things (checkmark) DONE. by D. Allen.
I wonder how long they had to discuss the book title. I wonder how many times the alternate title Git'ur dun! came up. Probably the wrong demographic for such a book. It has lots and lots of quotes inside the book like:
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought. --Henry Bergson.
Very deep, but after careful contemplation, I still have no idea the hell he is trying to say. So far thats my self improvement plan. I cant wait for the day when we can just insert the chip into our memory card brain, and all the neurons are rewired overnight, for a new, more productive, and more boring you.
I'm full of excitement too. Thats why I spent some of my grocery money on good books too. Mainly the Terry Pratchet Discworld fantasy fiction books. Riding on dragons has always sounded more interesting than organizing my inbox.
So this is 30. Not the rock and roll club I had expected, but its better than 3rd world poverty. Actually I have it pretty good, but I really wondered what day it was that I worried more about how my employers viewed me, then where I viewed myself. And that brings up forty. I should write a list of what I should have done/be doing when I am forty. Then I will laugh and realize what an idiot I am when Im forty and living on the california beach, homeless, penniless, and warm, with all the self help books in the fire.
When I was in college-a decade ago-I thought 30 would be a time of family, kids, steady job, and softball in the summers. I never thought it would be small apartments, long work days, and bills that never get caught up. Im not complaining, its just surprising about what you expect to happen, and then seeing the reality never quite compare.
So as said before, I am in the process of self-improvement. I went on Amazon and bought every book I think my life could be somehow improved on. Notice I didnt ask others on what books might improve me--I dont think I have that much money. A couple are downright classics we should have glanced at at one time or another. These Dale Carnegie classics are:
How to win friends and influence people.
The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking.
The first one is a must read for just about anyone. In a way, he just us all on how we can just get along with each other without arguing all the time. Also an easy and entertaining read that explains all his points through personal stories and anecdotes. I read some of it on the airplane the last time I went home.
The next is to somehow keep people from sleeping during my seminars. What makes a great seminar? Usually its funny, excited, or just disasterous talks. I would like to be one of the first two. Hence the second book listed. The last time I gave a talk, I seen quite a few yawns in my audience of 20. Scientific talks are always difficult to give anyway--trying to condense 2 years of study into 1 hr of info, is tough enough, but to try and make in entertaining is a real skill not many of us scientists really have.
I have been reading alot of carreer advice specifically for scientists. The guy who writes the articles is a headhunter strictly for scientists, so he has a lot of insight on what companies want out of their employees. The article name is called Tooling Up. Mr Headhunter says I should be networking like mad. So I bought the book:
How to Work a Room, by Susanne Roane.
It tells all on how to become a Mingling Maven (whatever that is). But I have to learn to be it if I want to ferret out all the good jobs, since it seems most of them are posted secretly, or under rocks where only few people look. It seems if for some jobs, that if you find that it exists, then your halfway to getting hired. I guess the employers hate having to look at 1000 resumes. But Im sure the Mingling Maven's strategy is better than mine, since mine is usually having one too many bottles of wine and then trying to get the whole place to dance. Maybe I should write a book on how to thoroughly embarrass yourself in front of everyone. It would be a best seller.
Next book, also on job finding, is one thats been around quite awhile:
What color is your PARACHUTE? by R.N Bolles.
It is a book of 300+ pages on how to find the perfect job or switch careers. These guys have a great strategy in the publishing business. Find one bestseller and republish it every year with a new prologue and therefore new edition. But I bit and bought the more expensive 2008 version anyway. I actually remember skimming this book when I was 16, bored and nothing to read. At sixteen I had a Deli job that gave me 200 bucks every two weeks and never seemed to worry about money. So if it was a good read when I was 16, maybe it will have aged and gotten better when I really need it.
The last and final self-help book is supposed to organize my life in Tip-Top fashion. I would say these kind of books are for suckers, in which I am now a hypocrite. But it was only six dollars, and I can justify this extravagant purchase by saying I've spent my fast food money for the week, no Turkish Döner for me. This actually makes me healthier and saves me from the '2-burn' chili peppers they have inside them. Ooh, Im gonna miss the spice though. The self help book is called:
Getting Things (checkmark) DONE. by D. Allen.
I wonder how long they had to discuss the book title. I wonder how many times the alternate title Git'ur dun! came up. Probably the wrong demographic for such a book. It has lots and lots of quotes inside the book like:
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought. --Henry Bergson.
Very deep, but after careful contemplation, I still have no idea the hell he is trying to say. So far thats my self improvement plan. I cant wait for the day when we can just insert the chip into our memory card brain, and all the neurons are rewired overnight, for a new, more productive, and more boring you.
I'm full of excitement too. Thats why I spent some of my grocery money on good books too. Mainly the Terry Pratchet Discworld fantasy fiction books. Riding on dragons has always sounded more interesting than organizing my inbox.
So this is 30. Not the rock and roll club I had expected, but its better than 3rd world poverty. Actually I have it pretty good, but I really wondered what day it was that I worried more about how my employers viewed me, then where I viewed myself. And that brings up forty. I should write a list of what I should have done/be doing when I am forty. Then I will laugh and realize what an idiot I am when Im forty and living on the california beach, homeless, penniless, and warm, with all the self help books in the fire.
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