A good client / a good life

A 'good client' is just a good relationship. Like any relationship, the more you can genuinely 'be', the more that the time and labor of both parties are valued, the better. I think it boils down to that.

This is a really generic observation, but it's important: Work is such a large part of life that, -- as Karl Marx pointed out, and as my mother often repeated -- that, to be alienated from it is 'the pits'. The people we work with and for can make all the difference.

Kinji Akagawa

I became aware of my possibilities as well as my limitations. I knew a lot of defeat. There was a lot of humiliation. Without humiliation I would never have become a human being.

link

Sunday link-roll

Group dynamics

The desire for group belonging is too often satisfied at the expense of one's own true nature and way of being. The pressure to assimilate can be overwhelming, and the immediate payoff of not conceding to this (self-imposed) pressure is often isolation, and even confusion. The long-term payoff, however, can be richly rewarding. Cults, dictatorships, etc. don't apply here. This is about fad-ism, clique-ism, and 'meme'-ism -- which in my experience encompasses quite a bit of human group interaction.

Maximizing profit

Maximizing profit in the context of either beauty or dollars requires a focused effort so that you don't waste your primary resource of time.

"I don't like it."

If a child says that to you about a dish you've made, you won't mind nearly so much as if an adult says that, no matter your opinion of that adult.

Ed. And of course that is because we generally consider their opinion less important. However, as they age and are respected more they notice that our reaction to honesty is different than before so they/we all collectively learn to lie which leads to some pretty awful Sunday dinners ;)

Rainy Sunday Link-roll

Special random edition

Carrboro, NC to Cary, NC Commute Carpool Carpool

Or, How to link-bait G00gle

I'm looking for a carpool partner or two who would like to go from Carrboro to Cary and back everyday. I leave between 8:00 and 8:30, and I leave again between 5:30 and 6:00.

Duke loses

Coach K made them a 28 game winner this year. They aren't big or strong enough, and they rely on the jumper too much. But: if Henderson stays, they'll be an Elite Eight team next year. If he stays two years they'll win the national championship. I think he's that good. So, he probably won't stay. Oh well. Then I can never be proven wrong ;)

Friday roundup

  • Gnarls Barkely releases, but where's the base?
    http://www.gnarlsbarkley.com/
    Ed. I like it a lot, though -- I'd really like to know how much of the lyrical work is auto-biographical and how much is cultural critique. Some of it is very confessional, some of it is very Ben Folds tongue-in-cheek.
  • I've been meaning to do this for some time, but if you don't already know who Nikolai Tesla is, you should do some serious searching. The guy did everything.
    Link 1
    Good lead in
    The thing that touches me is that one of his driving motivations was guilt over the death of his brother. I'm not sure how true that is, but it rings true.
  • First twitter experience today. Found out that somebody I've never met has a boyfriend with a stomach hernia. TMI, no thanks.
  • So much for the Friday roundup. I'm leaving work early!

Self-motivate

It's What you imagine is possible.

Probable outcomes (effects) derive from historically-based (reasonable) approaches to problem solving (causes).

The pursuit of improbability historically requires an irrational approach, especially in the case of personal wants conflicting with crowd beliefs.

Conscious irrationality is therefore a suitable means to achieve or create something unique or out-of-the-ordinary.

Free Tibet!

My daughter as Mia Hamm

Hazel says she wants to be a professional soccer player when she grows up. I'm going to encourage this, even though the odds are long. It's much better to try and fail than not try. Anyway, today she's giving a report on Mia Hamm at school — sort of a first person monolouge. I told her to speak slowly and loudly. Then we're eating a chicken. I think it's best to eat an entire other animal after a long day.

Back on top ... or not

I got my top ranking in Google back. Just like that. So the bottom line is it's very important to link to high-traffic websites you've created in order to achieve a high rank.

Looks like the cache in Google related to my IP was effecting my results, and for most the V****** M***** is still #1.

If you want everyone you know to think you aren't home...

Then park your car somewhere it's usually not sitting. If you have a garage, you'll have to leave it open.

John Herr's V****** M***** has over-taken me in Google

For years I was the top search hit on my name. Always fighting various doctors and the village market. Well, they've over-taken me ever since the recent format change. I think it's because I've stopped linking to some of the previous work I've done, so I guess I 'll add some of that back in under 'About' again. I sort of like being on top of things.

That said, I'm happy for the village market -- they're getting a day in the sun. Plus, I have family in Lancaster County, PA, so I feel OK about it all.

What is a good person?

From the web-o-sphere:
  • A good person is a person who means to do good with his actions.
  • But on the whole, good people; people who are right in the head and in the heart, kind, compassionate people who are generous of spirit, tend to do good things.
  • I think Forest Gump was a good person, but Jenny, I don't think she really was.
  • 'Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.' - Benjamin Franklin
  • It really made me think - where else am I gossiping and not really being truthful to the way I portray one person to another.
  • Whats scary is the people who think they are doing good in their mind, but are doing bad to other people...
  • Our will is always for our own good, but we do not always see what that is.
  • It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions. -- Aristotle
  • It is very hard to be simple enough to be good. -- RW Emerson
  • Good is a product of the ethical and spiritual artistry of individuals; it cannot be mass-produced. -- A Huxley
  • Being good is just a matter of temperament in the end. -- Iris Murdoch
  • What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man. -- F. Nietzsche
  • If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism. -- O. Wilde

I let Wilde have the last thought because his cynical nature, wild spirit and direct way of communicating most appeal to me. Can we really divide things so simply into good and bad? Does it help us live to do so?

From the dictionary: good -- having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified;

That makes sense. What is good, is what I like. Actually, that's pretty scary.

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Despite the great response I got from starting a full-time web service, I've taken an amazing job at a local startup and am giving that my full attention.

-John