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100 Things I am thankful for…

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Afro Kid

So while I had some down time, I thought I would do a post that really only means something to me, but I also thought it would be fun to share. So here are 100 things I am thankful for:

  1. My family
  2. The coffee pot being full when I wake up – thank you digital coffee pot
  3. Rain in Georgia – yes it is RAINING!
  4. The bar at the W on Times Square – the best place to people watch I think
  5. [tag]Live Music[/tag]
  6. Our babysitter, who allows us to see live music
  7. Not having to drink the last inch of a beer
  8. Tivo
  9. The grilled cheese sandwich I had at Kingston Station on Tuesday – [tag]Gruyère[/tag] mmmmm
  10. A cab driver who doesn’t talk to me
  11. The fact that I almost know how to get around [tag]boston[/tag] now.
  12. My new years eve tickets for [tag]Widespread Panic[/tag] for me and my friends
  13. My children
  14. Kids with Afros – see above
  15. [tag]Flickr[/tag]
  16. My dogs
  17. Cool maps
  18. A night at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta
  19. [tag]Sancho’s broken arrow[/tag] in [tag]denver[/tag] – could be the best bar on the planet.
  20. Watching kids have fun – see below
  21. Reading on a plane
  22. A nice pair of new socks
  23. Good [tag]movies[/tag] on a rainy day from on demand
  24. My mentors (Ron, Ken, John and Jim)
  25. My fraternity brothers – go [tag]sigma pi[/tag]
  26. Lazy afternoons at Turner Field, few things are more relaxing
  27. The DVD player in our Van – what did I do without one, the DVD player, not the Van
  28. A day on the beach
  29. Looking at the stamp on my passports and thinking about the places I’ve been
  30. Not having to travel to LA that much, I just don’t like LA
  31. The fact that I have never made [tag]Platinum Medallion[/tag] on Delta
  32. The first night on a new pillow
  33. The comments and track backs my readers provide, I think I’m over 30 regulars now.
  34. The closeness that [tag]social media[/tag] provides with my extended network of friends
  35. Looking at my setlists on [tag]Everyday Companion[/tag]
  36. That logic mostly wins
  37. When I have more that two beverage choices in my refrigerator
  38. The Onion
  39. Amazon [tag]Unbox[/tag]
  40. Emily’s cooking, specifically her pork paprikash
  41. When Hadrian smiles
  42. The day that Jeff said I should shave most days and dress a little better – good advice for everyone I think
  43. The day I decided to give this whole blog thing another chance and started spatially relevant
  44. The [tag]Chicago Institute of Art[/tag]
  45. My crown room membership – TV, free soda and WiFi
  46. That Jen is a great mother of Kevren and Dijouri
  47. My college friends I never seem to catch up with Patti, Drake and Michael J.
  48. My [tag]iPod[/tag]
  49. Everyday I have the opportunity to learn something new
  50. [tag]Google[/tag] for creating [tag]google reader[/tag] – what a time saver!
  51. A nice day on the [tag]Bruce Pennisula[/tag]
  52. Any day I can find my slippers
  53. [tag]American Express[/tag] Rewards – I get things I would never spend real money on.
  54. My Bose headphones
  55. [tag]Jaco[/tag] [tag]Costa Rica[/tag]
  56. When I get upgraded to the big seats on a long flight
  57. When I don’t forget my mom’s birthday (apparently 2007 wasn’t one of those years – sorry mom)
  58. Not having to travel for Thanksgiving this year
  59. That I still have my atlas from my 18th birthday
  60. All the great friends I have in Atlanta
  61. That I have in-law’s that will come to Georgia anytime to babysit so Em and I can travel
  62. Waiting at a random train station in a foreign country and trying to figure out where I’m supposed to be and when I’m supposed to get off the train since no one speak English and the signs are in the local language.
  63. When my kids brush their teeth without me reminding them
  64. When Emily calls bullshit on me – I guess that’s why I married her
  65. The AJC sports section and TV game clips so I can have something to talk about to Georgia Bulldog and SEC fans
  66. Shrek 1, 2 and third – toddler crack let me tell you.
  67. Watching Dijouri skateboard
  68. Watching Kevren “aggressive inline” skate
  69. Watching Prescott drool when watching a movie
  70. When Burning Down the House comes on my iPod
  71. That most people are thoughtful and kind
  72. A $1 grilled cheese sandwich from the heart and made with love in the lot at a show
  73. having very athletic kids – sometimes NOT being like your dad is a good thing
  74. teamwork makes the dream work!
  75. Sometimes a cliché just works – I mean there has to be a reason they exist
  76. The day I installed firefox, got a flickr account and a [tag]twitter[/tag] account – what a great day!
  77. The day I realized that art is as meaningful as science.
  78. Any day I get to golf – the extent of my being athletic
  79. Quiet time just spent remembering past experiences
  80. When the batteries died in the toy saxophone Jeff bought for Prescott
  81. Clearing security at ATL Hartsfield in under 10 mins
  82. Moments when I have the clarity of thought to acknowledge that I can’t control what happens – only how I react
  83. That I almost have the right tools for nearly every job
  84. For the people in Dallas which have let me go through toll road 2 times without paying
  85. When dinner is actually delivered in the 45-50 mins as predicted by the order taker
  86. Every time I type a message on my blackberry which has all the words, correct spelling and reasonable grammar
  87. Big brothers being patient with their little brothers
  88. When my friends are willing to help me on stuff and are willing to let me help them on stuff
  89. A short line for check in at the [tag]Marriott[/tag] Marquis when I get to NYC at 11PM and want to sleep
  90. having nothing left on my itinerary, but having another 4 hours to slack
  91. Grilling outside in the winter, not a Georgia winter, but a snowy Michigan day
  92. An unplanned weekend in the mountains – you decide at noon and your in a cabin at 6PM.
  93. That it all works out in the end
  94. The burn that happens in your throat when chugging a coke on a hot day
  95. No traffic on GA 400 when going home from a business trip
  96. A burger from the Barley House
  97. A perfect steak with a bottle of [tag]Silver Oak[/tag]
  98. That a Little Caesar’s just opened by my house
  99. The Big Chill soundtrack
  100. Any opportunity to share, listen and be with people I care about

I probably have another 100 things I should be thankful for…. What are you thankful for?

Stick around all year, bookmark Spatially Relevant, add the rss feed to your reader or follow me on twitter.

November 22, 2007 by
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Did Morgan Spurlock Damage the McDonald’s brand?

I remember with great joy and glee when I would request going to McDonald’s during my early childhood and I clearly remember it meant anything – [tag]Arby’s[/tag], [tag]Burger King[/tag], [tag]KFC[/tag] or [tag]Wendy’s[/tag] – just fast food please. I also think I remember this word usage in college, but it doesn’t seem to be the case today in casual conversation. This may not even be a reasonable observation by the extremely focused group of folks I interact with, which are effectively 30+ yrs old for the most part.

So the question I have is – Has the McDonald’s brand been permanently damaged for the 30 somethings due to [tag]Morgan Spurlock[/tag]? This question came about due to another post I made on Culinary Gizmodo:

So we all like McDonald’s, most will probably not admit it and seldom not feel guilty after a visit – but we DO like McDonald’s. All of us have new way of referring to a quick stop as Micky D’s. Ever since the movie Super Size Me from Morgan Spurlock we refer to McDonald’s with euphemisms: “grabbing something quick” or “getting a burger”

I’m not saying we never admit we eat at McDonald’s, but if we do the admission somehow includes a salad and Dasani. I think many of use say fast food instead of McDonald’s as well.  So my hypothesis is that at some point since [tag]Super Size Me[/tag] in 2004, Morgan’s work could quite possibly have demoted the McDonald’s brand to a less than synonym status of the like of Coke or Kleenex.

The other option is that Spurlock didn’t erode the brand and my cohort group just isn’t a naturally strong demographic. Thoughts?

October 6, 2007 by
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It takes a little fun and a network

So a couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to catch up with a friend who I hadn’t seen in like 5 years, Chris and meet a voice from the phone, Mark. Both of these guys are currently out in the desert at Burning Man letting off a little steam with 1000’s of other creatives. Chris has been unsuccessfully coaxing me to go since 2001, one of those it just doesn’t work things with my life – so far.

Chris isn’t the only one, so has my friend Rick – these people are polar opposites and both rave about the week every time they get back. So there has to be something to it.

Then I realized is it about letting off steam of getting creative? Burning man is this week long event which is a little hard to explain, in fact even for the organizers:

Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind.

While I’m not sure it’s that difficult to explain – I do think that the dynamics of relationships and people are that hard to discern which is a core component of burning man experience. This event is as much about your current friends as it is about the friends you haven’t met yet and value they can add.

[tag]Burning man[/tag] is effectively a [tag]social network[/tag] for creative expression which leverages an informal barter economy exclusively during the duration. A goal for the event is sustainability through preparation and social interaction in 100+ degree heat in the middle of nowhere with art.

I’m not quite sure the reason for this post, but this observation was conjured up when I spoke to another friend about the weekend, since I completely lost track of the date and was thinking the 2 BBQ options I have aren’t so cool. He and his wife are making it down to Charleston for the weekend. When I asked what he was doing this weekend he only said “Nothing, just catching up with Bolt for the weekend”. He paused and said “take that back, I’m going to relax and catch up on life”

Enjoy the holiday weekend, perhaps a [tag]BBQ[/tag] or two is a good thing.

… continual hard labor deadens the energies of the soul, and benumbs the faculties of the mind; the ideas become confined, the mind barren, and, like the scorching sands of Arabia, produces nothing; or, like the uncultivated soil, brings forth thorns and thistles. – Maria Stewart (1803–1879)

August 31, 2007 by
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The 5 Step: A presentation framework

So [tag]PowerPoint[/tag] is the core medium of marketers, we are asked to give presentations all the time. Sometimes it’s a prospect presentation, some times the executive team or to your reports. Did you know that most EVERYTHING can be effectively explained in 5 steps. The 5 Step process has it’s roots in P&G and is a great platform for communication. The five step can be used for memos, collateral or even wedding proposals. So here is the 5 step framework:

1. Background. Why are you here? Only baseline info in the Background – this is the basis for discussion, basically just the facts or mutually agreed to corporate/industry myths. In a prospect presentation it’s the problem/need.
2. The Idea or Recommendation. What are you proposing? This is typically one sentence, but I cheat some times.
3. How it Works. The details. In addition to How, also What, Who, When, Where. Another way to look at this is plan.
4. Key Benefits. Often these tie to the actions in how this works.
5. Next Steps. Who has to do what and by when for this to happen?

Often when giving a 5 step to the uninitiated they often don’t believe you will proceed against the five steps. It’s a little odd, but it happens. It represents a series of talking points and necessary supporting data or metrics to drive the decision process. The [tag]5 Step Presentation[/tag] can be more than 5 slides, but most things can be done in 5 slides.

August 19, 2007 by
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