Matthew’s Blog

This came from my friend Steve Farber - author of Radical Leap “If you’ve ever had a flying dream or aspired to be just like Rocket J. Squirrel, you MUST watch this video:”

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Last week I heard a bizarre story on NPR about PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and their new campaign to do a PR adjustment for a much maligned scaly friends of the sea.  A.K.A. Fish.   They are campaigning to rename them “SEA KITTENS” because we would never do to cats, dogs, and hamsters what we do in the name of “fishing” i.e. driving a hook in an animal’s face.    Not sure where I stand on the issue, but it has me thinking – and perhaps that is the whole point.

In the mean time enjoy my “Sea Kitten” Chow Mane which I created on the PETA website.

Create Your Own Sea Kitten at peta.org!

Absolutely. Elections are won by those who are voted for, not by those who didn’t vote.

We put far to much weight on the presidential election and despite the sometimes contentious electoral balloting system for the executive position, every voter and vote does count.  Those electoral votes are representative of the states.  So on a state by state basis, every vote counts.

Now, of far more importance are all the other candidates and positions on the ballot. The US Senate, US House, State Senate, and State House, governors, judges, county, municipal, mayoral, and local board elections, which are on the same ballot, are equally if not more important than the presidential ballot.

Many of these “smaller” elections are won or lost by individual votes.
These “smaller” elections have more impact on our daily lives than the presidential, and we can have a definite say in what that life is like.

Get out and vote!  Your Vote Counts!

Now here’s a different kind of resume.

I fed my resume into Wordle.com and look what came out – Excellent!

Click on it to see the big version

To see it’s source

check out my resume page at http://www.MatthewRochte.com/resume

This came across my desk today. Fascinating presentation by Clay Shirky about gin, television, and the “cognitive surplus” that he gave at Web 2.0. The transcript can be found here

This really speaks to the new thinking that is and needs to continue to be generated as we awaken from our long sleep. This is one form of interaction at play in conscious capitalism. The question is not Where will we find the time?  the better question is – Where is the mouse not? or rather, “every place that a reader or a listener or a viewer or a user has been locked out, has been served up passive or a fixed or a canned experience, and ask ourselves, “If we carve out a little bit of the cognitive surplus and deploy it here, could we make a good thing happen?”

I’ve been doing “vision” videos for several of the projects I have been working on. The first is for Eat Your Elephant. This fun little vid talks about taking the first steps toward your dream and invites you to come make it real at one of the One Day Public Retreats at Eat Your Elephant. The next retreat being May 10th - Register today.

Have a dream? Make it happen. Eat Your Elephant

This story came in the mail today and thought it was worth repeating. I do not know its origin.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’

‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water , they had changed the water.

‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength.

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?