Bill DeSmedt, author of the incredibly rich and exciting novel Singularity, is putting the final touches on his second book in the tale, Dualism. I really enjoyed Bill’s hard-science approach in the first book, plus his fantastic Russian accents. But he never will say “moose and squirrel” to me…
Anyhow, before he launches Dualism, he’s going to release a series of “Soapbox Seminars” given by his fictional astrophysicist John C. Adler, Ph.D. “Doctor Jack” will be talking about the science behind the Tunguska Event, and in particular about the Jackson-Ryan hypothesis — that it was a submicroscopic black hole that impacted the earth a hundred years ago this week. We’re going to start putting these lectures up on Podiobooks.com on June 30th so everyone can enjoy them, but first, we’ve got to attend to one crucial detail that Bill forgot — namely THE COVER ART!
So here’s to hoping there’s a fan of Bill’s initial work out there who has the necessary design and layout chops to make a killer cover for this new “extra” content. Oh, and did I mention you have DAYS to do it? Interested parties, please email Bill directly. And be quick about it! The artist whose work is chosen for the cover will receive a free autographed copy of the Singularity hardcover as a thank you present.
Anytime I’m asked “where did you get your start in [insert trendy new way to say The Stuff You Do here]?”, I reflect all the way back to my first job at a production company back when I was in college. The lessons learned there shaped me into what I am today. (Hi Jane. Hi Joe. Hi Suzanne. Hi Rob.) College just gave me a place to drink.
This post is in tribute to that young entrepreneur who gave some smartass kid from the sticks a chance to prove himself. He died in a small plane crash last week.
Thanks, Forrest, for all the lessons and opportunities you provided me some 20+ years ago. Though our paths later in life diverged and we rarely saw eye-to-eye when I worked for you, I wouldn’t change it for the world. My time with you was a milestone and the first course-correction of my adult life.
So my first First Friday at Phoenix was a blast. I’ll go again. Need a Seqway or something.
Anyhow, I captured these ladies slinging fire as we were heading back to the car. My first Flickr video upload!
I was bitching to the Twitterverse about the terrible muzak I was subjected to while waiting on hold. Several responses of sympathy — and a few strange “not all muzak sucks” replies — came in, but this was the bestest.
Followed!
What do you do when you get in a cab driven by a driver with this name?
Try and be nonchalant as you snap a photo of his license
Try and control your sophomoric (at best) giggling
Upload it to Flickr
Post it on your blog so everyone can make fun of your sophomoric antics
Hey, I’m a giver.
Sorry for the longer-than-anticipated hiatus.
When I returned from the trip to NYC, I spent my time hanging out with Philip from Australia and my father. I wasn’t sure how that paring would go, but it turned out rather good. I think they both found the other strangely fascinating. 
Today I had a great surprise. It turns out that some of my tips on promoting your podcast were picked up by Entrepreneur.com. So thanks to Catherine for running them, and also for cleaning them up and making me sound a lot smarter than I really am.
I get the occasional message, post, or tweet something to the effect of “why don’t you post more frequently?” It’s a valid question, and one that has a very good answer.
Though I really enjoy exploring the implications of changes in the web, social structure and just about anything else that strikes my fancy, sometimes I need to engage in another activity:
Listening
Contrary to popular belief, I do not know it all. In a similar vein, I cannot instantly process it all. Listening leads to consideration. Consideration leads to exploration. Exploration leads to understanding. Understanding leads to knowledge. And somewhere in there, the Force is supposed to be mentioned, but you get where I’m going.
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of listening. Who do you listen to? Other than me, of course.
I hit this briefly on a recent post, but it’s worth going deeper. Rather than join the fray and argue my point, I’m going to make a statement.
I hereby promise to try out each and every social media application that one of my listeners/readers is using, upon request. I may not stick with it, but I’ll join, make a profile and try it out.
Why am I doing this? Because I understand that I do not and cannot control *all* of the conversation. Sure, I could draw a line in the sand and tell you which methods of communication I prefer. But honestly, that’s bullshit. It’s your intraweb. You get to pick where you want the conversation to take place. If you send me an email, you probably expect me to email you back — not call you on the phone. Understood. And welcomed, actually.
So the ball is in your court. How do you want to communicate with me? While I can’t promise to respond super quickly, most of these services have a notification system in place, so it should not take me long. And who know? Maybe you’ll help me discover something that somehow enriches my life and communication style.
Bring it on!
Note: this picture is not me right now. I took it last week before I moved in a little coffee shop in the town I used to live in. You don’t want to see me right now. House is a disaster (just moved), I’m half nekkid and rather pissed at a home warranty company. Three things make it a not pretty picture.
